Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

When you think of cooking outdoors, you probably imagine cooking hot dogs on a stick over a fire or something equally rustic. Well, here’s an interesting appliance that let’s you cook just about anything outside, the same way you would inside–as long as there’s some sun around.

The Global Sun Oven can reach temperatures of 360-400 degrees Fahrenheit, without using gas, electricity, or any sort of power other than what Mother Nature provides. You can bake, broil, or steam your favorite recipes. The results may even taste better than when they’re made in your home kitchen. According to the manufacturer, “the slow, even rise in temperatures in a Global Sun Oven gives the complex carbohydrates time to break down into simple sugars allowing subtle natural flavors to emerge. Sun baked foods stay moist, the natural internal juices do not bake out, resulting in a superior, moist taste and much less shrinkage.”

It looks like a fun idea for anyone who wants to cook outdoors or just reduce their environmental footprint.

http://www.sunoven.com/

If you have a workshop in the garage, you probably know how easy it is for the area to become cluttered with tools, hardware, and various small pieces left over from your projects. Adding some organization to a garage workshop can make it a lot more efficient; you’ll actually be able to find things when you go looking for them. Pegboards are great for hanging tools, but they’ve traditionally been somewhat limited in what can go on them: if it doesn’t have a hole, it won’t hang. But this 8-pocket wall-mounted organizer can fit nicely onto a corner of your pegboard.

Put out by Case Logic, it’s designed to hold fasteners, washers, electrical components, and whatever small items you want to keep within easy reach. Little display windows on the front of each pocket make it easy to see what’s inside each one without having to root through everything. The organizer is $10 through Organize.com.

If you’ve been spotting a few too many spiders, ants, cockroaches, or even rats loitering around your house lately (one is too many of those), you may be looking for pest control products. There are lots of chemical-based solutions out there, but those can be dangerous for humans too. Pest OFFense employs a different tactic.

You plug the device into a wall outlet, and it issues a noiseless beam that irritates animals’ and insects’ nervous systems, which makes them leave the house of their own volition. This is one of those as-seen-on-TV products, but the reviews over at Amazon suggest it actually works. The electronic pest control gadget is on sale there for $18.

Pest OFFense

If you’ve got the DIY bug but you’re not that experienced with tools (or maybe you forgot to get in line when they handed out hand/eye coordination) and your thumbs take a beating whenever you try to hammer a nail, maybe this little tool will help. The ThumbSaver holds your nail in place with a strong magnet while keeping your hand several inches away, so you’d have to have a pretty creative swing to whack yourself while using it. The tool can be used on “nearly any job from fine trim or craft work to the largest framing jobs, building fences, decks or installing joist hangers.”

Available from Awesome Tools, it comes in a package of two (one big and one “mini”) and sells for $13.

We’ve mentioned Japanese soaking tubs before (rather than the long shallow Western style bathtub, they’re deeper and designed for sitting in with the water up to your shoulders), but the Nagano from Neptune’s Onsen Collection is a little different. It has massage jets and all the other options you find in luxury lie-down bathtubs.

If you get all the bells and whistles, you’ll have an inline heater (wouldn’t want the water to cool off while you’re reading your favorite book, would you?), mood lighting, a chromotherapy system, and of course a neck pillow. The bench for you to sit on is built into the shell. (You can also get a weatherproof outdoor version of the tub if you’d like a little spa bath for your backyard deck.) The Nagano is designed for one person, but there’s also a two-person model in the collection, just in case you don’t like to bathe alone.

http://www.bainsneptune.com

Installing a new front door can add curb appeal to your house, and it’s kind of fun to shop for a good looking doorknob and lock set, and maybe a matching doorbell. But if that door is still looking a little plain, you can add some decoration in the way of a handsome door knocker. You can get really fancy by delving into the many reproduction pieces out there, built by companies that specialize in historically accurate hardware.

This impressive Davide knocker from Baltica can be purchased by itself or matched up with several levers and latches in the line (there’s even one with a dragon head built into the handle). The company specializes in high-end European architectural fittings, such as custom door and window hardware made in Gothic, Baroque, and Moderne styles.

http://www.baltica.com

Beadboard can add a lot of character to walls, but using it in the bathroom can be a problem, since the frequent damp conditions can cause the wood swell. This opens up gaps and takes years off the life expectancy of the material. Hastings Tile has come up with an alternative: ceramic beadboard.

Their Grazia line is made of 100% glazed ceramic beadboard that’s designed to look just like the real thing. It can be used in bathrooms, kitchens, or any place where high humidity might damage wood. The company also offers ceramic wainscoting panels that look like applied moldings.

Hastings Tile

Though granite countertops aren’t likely to go out of style any time soon, they’re certainly not your only choice when remodeling the kitchen. If you like the idea of natural stone but want something a little warmer than granite, you could check into slate countertops.

The Woodland Jade slate shown here is manufactured by RMG Stone, and it’s promised to be stain-resistant and immune to bacteria. It also resists etching from wine and other acid-containing foods and drinks. Honed to a smooth but not shiny finish, slate is often considered warmer and more homey than cold granite. Long-lasting and low-maintenance, slate is comparable in price to granite, Corian, and other high-end countertop options.

http://www.rmgstone.com/slate/

Are you tired of jostling for space in the bathroom with your significant other every morning? If you both get ready for work at the same time, fighting for sink time can be quite hassling. If you’ve got a small bathroom, you probably figured there was no room to ever add in a second sink. Well, Aquaware has come up with a solution that might just work.

The company’s space-saving Sydney duo Pianilavabo double sinks come as one unit with the basins located side-by-side, but at different angles so you won’t be bashing elbows. A towel bar encircles the front, and an optional shelf below adds some storage space (something else that’s usually at a premium in small bathrooms). So if you need more sink room, put something like this on your wish list for any future bathroom remodeling.

http://www.aquawareamerica.com

There are lots of way you can decorate your bathroom and put some personality in there that go beyond hanging matching hand and bath towels. This southwestern toilet seat cover (which features… well, that’s a skull) probably isn’t going to be popular outside of the bathroom in a cattle ranch, but it’s a great example of how you can find toilet seats that match your tastes.

Perhaps an ivory seat with a lacy frame is your style. Or a field with butterflies floating across it. You can find lots of ideas at various online stores. This Texas-style cover is from the BedBathStore.com and sells for $50.