As I get older I find I want fewer things, but I'm a lot more persnickety about what those things are. I like knowing who made my desk, our reading lamp, or the wrought-iron railing at our back steps. I enjoy the quirky charm of the slight imperfections as much as I do the care and conscious creative choice behind every aspect of these handcrafted pieces.

It's indisputable: You're going to spend a bit more on the front end, but these pieces bring so much with them that their mass-produced cousins can't. Fine craft is indelibly marked by the warmth of the human hand that fashioned it. These beautifully made pieces aren't mere furniture, they're heirlooms.

If you find your preferences heading the same way, check out "The Well-Crafted Home," a fine craft exhibition now at the Grand Hand Gallery in St. Paul.

The St. Paul gallery has scads of meticulously fashioned work on view, much of it by Minnesota artisans — from finely woven textiles to handcrafted furniture, beautiful clay pieces and decorative metalwork.

"The Well-Crafted Home" exhibit of furniture and handcrafted accessories by regional artisans will be on display at the Grand Hand Gallery, at Grand Avenue and Dale Street, through March 29.