Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned how the Troy Bilt TB-50 string trimmer got a nod from Consumer Reports this year, and quite a few people came by looking for information on it. Here’s a more in depth look:

Unlike the gas-guzzling string trimmers out there, the tb50 is a corded electric trimmer. With a $60 MSRP, it’s less pricey than most gas models too. Consumer Reports said the tb50, a dual-line model, has “excellent trimming and edging” capabilities, making it a solid purchase for the price.

Beyond that, there’s not a whole lot of information out there on the web on the string trimmer (I couldn’t even find it on the Troy Bilt site). Your best bet is probably to see if you can find the tb50 at the local hardware store and handle it yourself to see if you like the feel.

There’s nothing like the soothing gurgle of water to help you relax at the end of the day. That’s what they say anyway (it usually just reminds me that I have to go to the bathroom). Aside from that, residential fountains can be great additions to the home if you live near a busy street. The sound of water will drown out the traffic noise. This multi-tiered stone fountain is available from China Stone, a company that makes everything from fountains to planters to bathroom sinks from materials like granite and marble. They have a lot of pictures on their site, so it might be worth browsing even if you’re still in the looking-for-ideas stage of fountain shopping.

China Stone

LED lighting is hitting the mainstream and making its way into the home. You can find LED lights that replace your existing bulbs and provide white light, or you can get something a little more interesting. Enlux Lighting offers unfiltered, saturated colors such as red, blue, green, and amber. (In the picture here, you can see the blue LEDs in a bathroom setting.) The company offers indoor lights, appropriate for any room, or outdoor floodlights that brighten up your whole yard. One of the perks of LEDs is that they don’t burn out for a long time, so you don’t have to change them out nearly as often as light bulbs.

http://www.enluxled.com

As water conservation becomes more of a concern, high-efficiency sprinkler systems that minimize over-spraying and evaporation are becoming more popular. Micro sprinklers that are designed to work with drip irrigation systems (which are much better at conserving water than standard sprinkler systems) operate at a low-pressure range of 15-30 PSI. They have small-sized droplets and provide uniform coverage, allowing for a longer watering time with less runoff. Micro sprinklers still have enough kick to green up your grass, but they’re friendlier for the environment. They’re usually not any more expensive to install than standard automatic sprinkler systems.

http://www.dripirrigation.com/

The trend in bathroom faucets today seems to be that they not look much like faucets. According to Kohler, its Silkweave draws its inspiration from Japanese silk-screened fabrics. The faucet “crafts an intricate geometric pattern with a delicate contrast of Tea Green, blue and White, highlighted with fine platinum threads.” I think that’s a fancy way of saying this faucet looks way cooler than your neighbor’s faucet. For those bragging rights, you’ll have to pay though: the price is around $530.

Silkweave

It seems like the one thing we’re all looking for more of is extra storage space. If your closet is bursting at the seams, one economical way you can add storage is by hanging hooks or a peg board on the back of the closet door. This peg board is designed to be a belt rack that holds up to 12 belts. It comes in a package that includes the hardware to mount it to the back of the closet door or a wall. At $15, the price won’t set you back quite as much as one of those fancy California Closets organizers. It’s available from the Hookstore.

Here’s a look at another eco-friendly countertop material. Squak Mountain Stone is comprised of paper and cement to give it the look of real stone (but no land-damaging quarrying is involved). The material is a little lighter than traditional concrete and doesn’t require rebar or reinforced steel, so it’s supposed to be easier to handle, ship, and install than concrete countertops. Five different colors are available: natural (grayish), thunder (dark gray), latte (beige/coffee), otter (brown), and quinault (blue-gray). Prices are comparable to other countertop materials, and if you want to save money by getting creative, the company offers flawed “seconds” that are still structurally sound.

http://www.squakmountainstone.com/

Earth-friendly products aren’t exactly a new idea, but today you have more options than ever before, and competition in the market has brought prices down, so they’re generally no more expensive than traditional housing products. Eco-friendly versions may even be less expensive, such as in the case of countertops. We’ve mentioned counters made from recycled paper before (Richlite countertops), but there’s more than one manufacturer making them. Paperstone composite countertops look like regular countertops, but they’re made of 100% recycled paper and water-based resin. They won’t cost you nearly as much as something like granite, which has to be quarried from the earth, a process that is destructive to the land. The Paperstone countertops come in sheets of 3/4″ to 1 1/4″ in thickness (it’ll cost you about $780 for a 30 inch by 10 foot sheet that is 3/4″ thick), and they are available in several colors. Some of the material’s qualities are: heat tolerance, stain resistance, durability, and warm softness. You can find more information on Paperstone from the Environmental Home Center.

Traditionally, backyard barbecues have been the man’s domain. At least that’s how it seems due to all those stainless steel and black metal grills lining the aisles of the home stores. Can we get some nice girly colors? A little variety at least? Well, ask and ye shell receive. Check out this pink barbecue grill. And, uh, it’s not just pink–it’s pig shaped. The Lil’ Pig is put out by Traeger, and it’s designed to burn wood pellets instead of charcoal or natural gas. This infuses your food with that yummy wood aroma you can only get from, well, burning wood. You’ll have to pay a pretty pink penny for this pig though. The MSRP for the grill is $1,495.

http://www.traegergrills.com/novelty2.htm

One of the easiest things to change in your kitchen and bathrooms is the cabinet knobs. It’s a relatively cheap way to update the look of the cabinets. Some people go for ultra modern stuff, but you can go retro too. The latter is particularly popular in older homes, where homeowners want to be true to the time period and style of the architecture. These “Moonglow” glass cabinet knobs reproduce cabinet hardware from the early 20th Century. One of the fun effects of this particular knob is that it glows in the dark, so they could be big hits in a children’s bathroom. At $14.80 a piece, they’re not the cheapest cabinet knobs out there, but if you’re doing a bathroom, you may only need a few knobs anyway. The Moonglow is available at Crown City Hardware.