Inanimate objects as characters?

I have had a couple great ideas for stories lately, but I have not been able to realize them fully. I'm not sure if this means the ideas are bad, or I am just going about it the wrong way. My characters (which I think are usually pretty interesting) seem flat and lifeless. I have not been able to engage with them. I'm not sure what their purpose is, or if I even like them. 

I have considered writing a few short shorts with inanimate objects as main characters. Maybe that would get me out of this funk and back to real people again. As I write this I realize it probably sounds crazy to anyone who has never been a writer.