Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

Is someone always making off with your wine? Need a fierce bulldog to protect it? Or maybe you’re just looking for a whimsical way to display your latest find on the table or counter. This bulldog wine holder is made entirely from recycled materials. The bare metal creation is one of several “Junkyard Dogs & Cats” wine caddies (there’s even a moose and a horse in case cats and dogs aren’t your style). If you prefer a wine holder that’s lying down, there are wiry metal animals doing that too. This little fellow is available from the DecorativeHardwareStore for about $60.

For those of you who get excited by bathroom gadgets (come on, I know there’s at least three of you), the Swaba may pique your interest. It’s a residential soap dispenser that attaches to your faucet, and when you press the little button, it mixes with the water coming out to create an already sudsy flow for washing. This eliminates the need to grab a bar of soap or a dollop from a soap bottle and proceed to lather up, then wash and rinse. All the lathering is done for you. Even better, there’s no more cleaning the counter where that crusty soap ridge develops under the soap bottle. Everything here goes right into the sink. With this high-speed faucet accessory, you can take all the wasted time and effort out of washing your hands. (Hey, you might need that 5 seconds somewhere else in your day.)

http://www.swaba.net

If you’ve got tools and a workshop, chances are you’ve got a pegboard where you hang your most frequently used hand tools, such as hammers, wrenches, and screwdrivers. You’ve got them all perfectly organized, maybe by height, size, and use. And then what happens? Someone else in the family comes along to borrow a tool and then puts it back in the wrong spot (if they put it back at all). Then you can’t find your favorite tool the next time you need to use it, and an argument ensues. Well, with tool shadows you can put an end to such frustrations. Ameritech Lighting came up with these little tool-shaped shadows that you place on your pegboard in the appropriate spot. Then people can easily see where a tool should be replaced when they return it. Not a bad idea.

Tool Shadows

If you’re looking for a unique room divider, this wood and iron screen panel from India could give you some ideas. It’s obviously not completely solid, so if privacy is your primary concern, it might not work, but if you’re just looking for a way to delineate different areas in a loft-style setting, it’s a little more handsome than some of the paper room dividers out there. If you’ve got a knack for do-it-yourself projects, you could even turn a couple of these panels into sliding closet doors for the bedroom. This particular panel is on sale over at Pier 1 Imports, a notoriously fun place to shop for furniture and knick knacks.

Pier 1

If you live in a condo or an older house where there’s not a lot of extra room, you can save space by buying furniture that has multiple uses. For example, this table lamp doubles as a planter for your favorite flowers or shrubs. The Eurofase Biosfera Table Lamp takes one 60 watt light bulb (inserted via the bottom of the lamp/pot). It measures 13 inches high and 18 inches in diameter, though it’s not clear from the picture how much inside space there is for the actual dirt and plant. The one growing out of the top looks to be a decent size however. I’d love to have one of these table lamp potters, but the price is a bit high for me at just over $830 (considering how often I kill my plants, I don’t think I can justify that). If you’re better off than me, though, you can buy the lamp at HomeClick (or maybe just visit it there):

Biosfera Table Lamp

Some storage is just meant to be functional, but if you like to put a little personality into even your bookshelves, check out the Design Can’s SKEW shelf. I think this is a shelf for all you people who like to put beds, couches, and rugs at an angle in your rooms. The modular shelves can be put together in countless arrangements (well, assuming you buy more than one) that will act as a focal point on the wall as well as a place to store your knick knacks. The 8-pound shelves are made from 18 gauge powder-coated cold-rolled steel and can support up to 40 pounds each.

Design Can

Here’s a mailbox for anybody who lives in a busy street. If it seems like there’s a car zooming through to mow you down every time you get the mail, you might want to consider a box with two doors, one on each end. This Special Lite curbside mailbox is available in several finishes (i.e. black, white, verde green, copper, and hand-rubbed bronze), so you can get a unit that matches your house nicely. The mailbox costs just over $300 at HomeClick, and it’s not clear if the post comes with that (I’m thinking not since there are a number of posts on display on the shopping page), but it may be a small price to pay if a mailbox with a back door keeps you from dodging traffic while you’re collecting your parcels.

Curbside mailbox with Two Doors

If you live alone, you may not really need to do a full-sized load of laundry all the time. But then it’s a waste of water if you can’t fill up the washing machine, right? Well, maybe the “Wonder Wash” is the solution. According to the company, this compact portable washing machine can wash a 5-pound load of laundry in just a few minutes. It also uses less water and detergent than a traditional machine, thus saving you money (and even putting less strain on the environment). It’s also an option for anyone who doesn’t have a regular washer hookup at home; it can be used in campers, college dorm rooms, apartments, etc. The compact washing machine is less than $50, so it’s quite a bit cheaper than a full-sized model too.

Wonder Wash

If you like to line up the carved pumpkins outside the door at Halloween, you’ve doubtlessly had trouble with the candles blowing out. This is a case when the real thing can be a pain in the butt, and going fake might save you some time. Realistic-looking LED candles are increasingly popular–they flicker just like the real thing, and if it’s tucked into a pumpkin, nobody’s going to be able to tell the difference anyway (except that your candle actually stays lit when the wind kicks up). It’s an easy way to make your jack o’ lanterns maintenance-free this Halloween. This particular LED candle is from Grandin Road and costs $50 for a set of four.

Grandin Road

Looking for some fall decorating ideas? Leaves aren’t the only things that fall from the trees in autumn, and if you’re from an area where evergreens are common, you’ve surely stepped on a few pine cones. You might not have considered using them in your decorating scheme though. Well, these scented pine cones are not only bright with autumn colors but they bring the “rustic fragrance of the forest floor indoors.” The “sustainably harvested cones dipped in cedar- and sage-infused wax,” so the scent will last for quite a while. The cost is $99 from Smith and Hawkens, which includes the handsome hand-carved pine tray for holding them.

Smith and Hawkens