Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

Outdoor furniture used to be pretty much limited to those ubiquitous plastic lawn chairs and the occasional wicker beast. With outdoor living the trendy new thing, people have been looking for fabrics and materials that can stand up against mildew, fading, bad weather, and corrosion. Oh, and we want it to look good, too. After all, outdoor living areas are also a way to increase the value of a home.

For ideas on what’s out there, try Sun-Sentinel article New fabrics and finishes allow outdoor rooms to be stylish.

Bathrooms and kitchens are the most popular rooms in the house for remodeling projects (everything from changing out the counters to completely gutting everything and pushing out walls). The website for the Home & Garden Channel has a big section devoted to Bathroom Design Ideas that includes before and after pictures, video clips, and tutorials. If you’re in the planning stages of your bathroom remodel and looking for ideas, it’s a good place to start.

Light Tiles from Villergoy & Boch are both practical and cool. They are floor tiles with embedded LEDs (light-emitting diodes). LEDs, previously used mostly in electronics, are nice because they don’t consume much energy, they don’t emit much heat, and they don’t have filaments that burn out like light bulbs.

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Ever notice how most washers and dryers are white? Or–if they’re daring–”bisque” (off-white). How… boring. Kenmore’s new HE4t washers and dryers are breaking new ground, or new colors at least. Sears is introducing three colors for 2005: champagne (beige), sedona (burnt orange), and pacific blue. Both heavy-duty appliances are front-loading and can handle big loads (23 towels in a single load).

Also read: Infusing Bright Colors into Home Appliances

Whirlpool bathtubs are one of the most popular bathroom remodeling projects. According to the book 101 Cost-Effective Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home, this particular upgrade can even increase the value of your house. One thing to keep in mind, the author warns, is if you decide to install a Whirlpool tub, you may also need to install a larger hot water heater. These luxury jetted tubs are typically deeper than standard bathtubs and as a result hold more water. A hot water heater should hold about two thirds the amount of the tub. So, if you currently have a 40 gallon hot water heater, and are not looking to upgrade it, shop for a tub that doesn’t have a capacity of more than 60 gallons.

A vacation home can be a great getaway, but one of the drawbacks is the inability to check in on it often. Vacant homes can be an appealing target to thieves, and even simple problems like leaks or power outages can be problematic when you live hours away. Devices like Sensaphone’s CottageSitter help vacation homeowners keep track of their real estate assets and provide peace of mind.

The CottageSitter allows you to remotely monitor temperature, sound level in the home, possible water leaks, and power. If an alarm is tripped, it will call up to 8 people to relay the problem.

Sensaphone CottageSitter.

Thinking of a backyard project that might involve pouring cement? New Eco-Cement actually takes CO2 out of the atmosphere for its first year of use, and beyond that, it’s made from recycled waste so the creation process doesn’t use fossil fuels. Though weaker than traditional cement, it’s still strong enough for many projects.

Read more about Eco-Cement at ABC’s New Inventors: Eco-Cement and Eco-Cement Removes CO2 from the Air!

If you’ve ever thought it would be nice to rock out in your backyard, you might want to look into outdoor speakers. They are made to withstand sun and rain in order to deliver your favorite tunes all year round. Don’t like the idea of big black boxes infringing on your landscape? Some outdoor speakers are designed to blend in to their surroundings. They can be painted green, installed in the ground, or even look like rocks themselves.

For more information, here are a couple articles on outdoor speakers.

As winter is on the wane and spring and summer approach, we’re starting to think of our yards and making them look good. If you’re the environmentally conscious type, you may feel a twinge of guilt from pouring water onto your lawn, but it’s no secret that a well-maintained green yard can increase your home’s value and make your neighborhood feel warm and inviting. So, what are you to do?

Water Timers are just one way to save water by only watering at the time of day when grass and foliage can most efficiently use the moisture (between 4am and 6am says “Green Yards: Less Water” in the March/April 2005 issue of Smart HomeOwner). These devices are easy to install as they simply fasten onto your outdoor faucet and turn on the water flow at preprogrammed times during the day.

For other tips on saving water while maintaining a green lawn, check out Landscape Watering Advice or Watering Tips by American Lawn Irrigation.

36″ kitchen counters have been standard since the 1940s, but we may have had it all wrong. According to “The Countertop Uprising,” an article in the March 18th, 2005 print version of the Wall Street Journal, more and more homeowners are remodeling and installing higher kitchen counters. This prevents the need to hunch over when handling food, especially for people of above average height. 42″ counters, about the height of a bar, may become the next trend. The taller counters have the added perk of allowing for more drawer and cabinet space as well. Since we are seeing, in new houses, larger kitchens with soaring ceilings, the old standard counters can also look awkwardly small from a design point of view. So, if you’re in the kitchen a lot, you may want to consider your counters in your next redesign.