Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

If you’re looking for pendant lamps that are out of the ordinary, check out the Protea from Boiler Design Office.

It’s styled after plants with thermo tropic leaves, which move away from heat. (Hey, don’t sweat it if you didn’t know what thermo tropic was… I didn’t either until I read the description of the lamp.)

“In a closed state (i.e. the light is off), the shade is cold and hugs the bulb closely. When the lamp is turned on, the petals move away from the hot bulb. It is a lot of work keeping cool, so they like it when you blow on them.”

$150 per lamp.

If you’re decorating for the holidays, you don’t have to stick to things you can hang from walls and drape around Christmas trees. It can be fun to have a couple special holiday pieces that can set on tables or even light up the room.

This Christmas tree lamp, complete with packages below, is from Meyda Tiffany. It’s made from red and pine-green stained art glass with yellow, blue, and colorful jewel accents. It takes 2 14 watt candle bulbs and would be a fun way to light up the house with Christmas spirit.

The company also features snowman, Santa, and penguin lamps in the same stained glass style.

Meyda Tiffany

I confess that I’m not the most girly girl, and lace wouldn’t normally be my first choice for window treatments (or any other decorations in my home), but the folks at Cottage Lace have some appealing designs available, especially if you’re decorating your house in an Arts and Crafts style.

They have a line of 100% cotton Madras lace panels that offer fun texture, detail, and design to your home. Glen’s Edge, shown here, is one of a handful of their lace window treatments:

“Whether you live in the city or the country, you’ll always look out upon the entrance to a quiet forest when you place Laura Wilder’s Glen’s Edge in your window. Its boughs will sway with the gentle breezes and lend a placid mood to your house or apartment.”

Prices start at $49 for 20″ x 54″ panel.

http://www.cottagelace.com/

Here’s a useful looking tool for those of you with ponds or water gardens in the backyard. If you live in a climate where the temperatures drop below freezing in the winter, you may have gone out back to chip holes in the ice on your pond yourself. Otherwise harmful gases can build up under the ice that will hurt your plants and fish.

With this pond de-cier tool, you won’t have to break the ice by hand any more. “This thermostatically-controlled, 1250 watt heater operates automatically during freezing temperatures and is safe for all ponds, plastic, rubber, or concrete.”

$40 through Amazon:

Floating Pond De-icer

No, boys and girls, these aren’t your grandma’s wall tiles.

If you want to create a jungle or rainforest theme, or just bring in some of the colors of nature, these vibrant tiles are just the thing. “Create an area of your home to escape to. Truly capture the essence of the exotic with these sophisticated patterns inspired by the dense layering of the jungle.”

Dominic Crinson’s Junglish 35 tiles are one of many “digitile designs” available. You also may be interested in the equally exotic wallpaper and floor tile selections.

http://www.crinson.com

Most of us would like larger kitchens, or at least more storage space for all our food, cooking utensils, pots and pans, etc. Short of moving into a new home, getting a larger kitchen is probably going to be a challenge. You can, however, take better advantage of the space you have.

This “Super Cabinet” from Decora has pull-out drawers with stacks of shelves three layers high, plus more storage on the backs of the doors themselves. Instant pantry (in much less space than a regular pantry).

Install a couple of these amongst your regular cabinets, and you’ll have a lot more room for storing food related items. The only hard part will be remembering where you put everything…

Decora

You love your bacon, but you’re pretty sure it’s not that healthy when it’s sizzling in an inch of grease in your frying pan. Perhaps a professional home griddle made for home use could make things a little healthier.

The model shown here has lifting back legs to allow the grease to drain away from the bacon, eggs, sausages, etc. as they cook. Sure the end result still might not be as healthy as a bowl of bran flakes, but it’ll sure taste good, and at least you’ll know you’re not getting as much grease as you might be.

The griddle shown here comes with a backsplash and costs $140 from Broilking.

Here’s a handy gadget I wouldn’t mind having for my home office:

The Brain is a data/power hub that fits into a grommet hole on your computer desk. You can plug in data and power cords. It features two electrical outlets and 7 ports above the desktop: 4 USB downstream, 1 phone, 1 Ethernet (LAN) and 1 USB upstream. Three ports below the desktop: 1 Ethernet (LAN), 1 phone and 1 USB 2.0 upstream.

Since the gadget plugs into a grommet hole, you won’t have to crawl around under your desk to fiddle with the cords, and it also won’t move around on you. The Brain includes a six-foot grounded power cord and surge protector to keep the juice running and regulated for worry-free operation.

$50 from Rockler.

What sounds better after a long day at work? A soak in a hot bath or a massage? Well, the Pretika Tranquil Sounds Massaging Bath Pillow can give you both and soothing music to boot.

The waterproof pillow runs on 3 x AA batteries and attaches to the lip of your tub with two suction cups. It “provides ergonomic support via its contoured nodule design which cushions the neck, and the pillow also plays digital recordings of soothing natural sounds, including Ocean Surf, Rain, Rain Forest, and Woodlands while providing a gentle vibrating massage.” There are two different buttons, so you can get just the music or just the massage if you don’t want both.

Looks like a fun Christmas present for those who love their tub time.

Pretika Tranquil Sounds Massaging Bath Pillow

If your toolbox is getting a little crowded, perhaps it’s time to replace some of those bulky gadgets with multi functional tools that can perform more than one task.

For example, this 4-in-1 Multi Function Detector measures moisture in wood, detects metal behind walls, locates live AC wires in walls, checks switches and receptacles, and finds studs, beams, and joists.

It could be a handy tool for anyone who does a lot of home improvements.

The 4-in-1 Multi Function Detector runs on one 9 volt battery and costs $35 from Woodcraft.