In a moment of self-reflection, Edward Norton's character in the film Fight Club says: ''Like everyone else, I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct."

He continues: ''If I saw something like a clever coffee table in the shape of a yin and yang, I had to have it. I would flip through catalogues and wonder, 'What kind of dining set defines me as a person'?"

No doubt the range of options of self-defining tableware at IKEA is endless.

Beautiful, conceptually designed furniture is becoming more prevalent in mass-market stores and, even though we don't have IKEA in this country, @Home, Coricraft and Mr Price do a pretty good job of making good design available.

But what if you would like to fill your home with something more select?

If you want your dining set to say that you're aware of the young, talented designers, you should probably be on the lookout for what Hannah Booth of The Guardian calls ''design art" - limited-edition furniture and homeware that's treated as modern art.

Pieces made in small runs by exciting names, displayed in artisanal fairs like the Food Wine Design Fair - being held at Hyde Park Corner in Johannesburg this weekend - are being collected by a young generation of design fundis.

These collectors ofteninsist that products are not only original (handmade), one-off designs, but that they're environmentally friendly.

Design curator Libby Sellers says shopping for one-off designs is sustainable: ''You show them more respect and keep them for longer - a great deterrent to over-consumption."

Gregor Jenkin's Migrant/Migrate collection of twisted, deconstructed and collapsed steel tables, which were shown a few years ago at The Johannesburg Art Fair, shows that the public is starting to celebrate aesthetics over function, though most young designers are still trying to achieve both.

The Food Wine Design Fair includes an initiative called Batch, which is a platform for promoting young South African talent through a web-based store .

It markets and distributes work like Jared Odell's Fullbright range, Fanie van Zyl's Jozi Black range and Johan Botha's Vonk.

David Krynauw, a farmer who is trained in viticulture, uses sustainable methods to produce furniture from discarded timber or from trees felled on his farm - and he replenishes the timbers.

Another design company, Dark Horse, which will be showcasing its range at the fair, also supports environmentally conscious creations.