Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

If you live in a part of the world that sees a lot of snow every year, you know that build up on the roof of your house can cause costly physical damage to your home. Sure, you can get a heated roof system if you have money to spend, but if you’re looking for a more economical way to remove snow (that isn’t quite as back-breaking as just using a roof rake), then consider this snow removal system from Avalanche:

“Cuts through the snow with ease, allowing chunks of snow to glide down the slick plastic slide. No Back breaking effort! With just a slight jiggle and push, snow slides off the roof. Up to one ton per minute! Only a few feet above the roof line needs to be cleared to avoid expensive ice melt damage.”

Despite the hype-filled product description, the reviews over at Amazon are favorable. The snow remover sells for about $100 there:

Avalanche 300 Original Roof Snow Remover System

I once stayed in a log home where there was a fireplace in the center of the living room. It definitely stood out more than your traditional wall or corner fireplace (no more having guests missing the fireplace behind the couch or seeing the big-screen tv first), and it certainly made for a memorable living space.

Sure, you need a big expansive room for a floor fireplace, otherwise you’ll be looking around and wondering where you’re going to put the coffee table, but if you’re building a lodge-style home or a house with a great room that is truly great, this could be a fun way to invite folks to cozy up to the fireplace.

The fireplace shown here is the Mezzofucus from Euroflues, and is available as a wood-burning or gas unit:

“A sphere divided, the Mezzofocus embodies the campfire spirit and makes a strong statement in any room, contemporary or rustic. Its powerful design features a dominant central hood set over an open hearth.”

Eurofloes

While showers are more efficient for washing, a good soak in the tub can feel delicious on a cold winter day. I’ve been known to disappear into the bathroom with a book for an hour (which is why someday I’m going to get a deep soaking bathtub with an inline heater–so the water stays the perfect temperature and I can really submerge myself in it).

Unfortunately, I’ve just got a standard old came-with-the-joint bathtub right now. You know, the kind where no matter how full you fill it, your knees and, erm, other protruding areas will end up sticking out of the water. That’s because of those darned overflow drains. Sure, they’re a good idea for those of us in the crowd that start filling the tub and then wander off and get distracted, but sometimes you just wish you could fill that bad boy to the top and get a true soak.

Well, here’s a gadget if you’re willing to take on the risk of a possible tub overflow:

The Deep Water Bath is a suction cup that fits over the overflow drain. It seals against the side so that water won’t reach the drain and your tub will keep on filling. At $5, it’s a way for folks like me to get a nice hot full-body soak today (while we’re saving up for our luxury soaking tubs of tomorrow).

From Bob’s Linens via Book of Joe

So, where are the shampoo bottles stored in your shower stall?

The floor? A plastic shelf? An annoying metal holder that hangs onto the shower head pipe and falls off whenever you bump it? I know I’ve experienced all three, and none are particularly classy (and storing items on a slippery shower floor can even be dangerous).

If you’re remodeling the bathroom and planning a tile surround for your shower, you can have a custom niche built in to hold your soap, shampoo bottles, razors, shaving cream, and various other bathing paraphernalia. It’s your dream bathroom remodel, so you might as well make sure you have everything you could possibly need.

You can have some pretty snazzy custom niches done too. This decorative example uses tiles from the Talisman Handmade Stoneware line from Lowitz & Company.

Butler’s pantries were popular, back in the day, when lots of people (okay lots of rich people) had butlers. They fell out of favor over time (how many of us have butlers any more anyway?) but with more and more folks hosting dinner parties for entertaining, they’ve been making a comeback.

Butler’s pantries were originally designed to be staging areas for food between the kitchen and the dining area, but the room also allows for extra storage space for china, serving dishes, and linens.

Today’s custom designed pantries are so snazzy that you may even want to show off the area for guests during informal gatherings. Try displaying collectibles, building in a wine storage area that shows off favorite vintages, or whatever you desire. You can have your butler’s pantry built to your tastes.

Ever wonder what the temperature outside your house is in the middle of the night? Sure ya have. But it’s pretty hard to read your regular old garden thermometer in the dark.

Fortunately, you won’t have this problem any more if you pick up one of these solar-lit outdoor thermometers.

“With a bright white, easy-to-read face, this thermometer displays the temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, from -20 F to +120° F (-30 to 50° C) . When darkness falls, a solar-powered LED bulb illuminates the thermometer for 4 to 8 hours.”

Just make sure it’s in a sunny spot during the day, so it can suck up those solar rays and do its work at night. Never again will you have to wonder just how cold it is outside your house in the middle of the night.

$33 from the Gardeners’ Supply Store:

Solar Powered Thermometer

I’ve been in several houses where the owners have cat or dog doors, and they are usually eye sores. I guess nobody was thinking design when pet doors were invented, but the ones I’ve seen have been made out of colorless plastic, and they soon take on a beaten and worn visage due to lots of use. Wouldn’t it be great if you could find decorative doggy doors that add a bit of cheer to your house?

Well, these “pet portals” from Classy Custom can be ordered with colorful pastel frames. The decorative frames are available in white, pink, green, or yellow, and you can even get matching doggy accessories, such as cheerful door mats with bone-inspired designs. You can order a frame only or pick up a brand new pet portal to replace an existing dingy dog door that may have seen its better days.

Custom Classy

When you’re checking out bathroom sinks, there are usually two ways to adjust water flow and temperature, via knobs on either side of the faucet or a control built into the top of the faucet.

Well, Patrick Messier’s Flo Faucet doesn’t use knobs, levers, or any other type of control piece outside of the faucet itself. To regular the water pressure you simply give a slight pull or push to the end of the faucet, and water temperature can be adjust with a turn to the left or right. The built in “handle” is insulated, so it won’t get too warm to touch.

The Flo is made from stainless steel, brass, and technical polymers, and there’s a Flo pedestal sink you can get to go with it if you’re so inclined.

From Nova68

If you’re furniture shopping, you want something eco-friendly, and you don’t mind the eccentric, be sure to check out the chairs, stools, and tables available from Bike Furniture Design.

The design and manufacturing studio creates contemporary, modern furniture made primarily from recycled steel and aluminum bicycle rims, handlebars, and frames.

I browsed through the chairs, loveseats, and loungers, and fortunately they all look a lot more comfortable to sit on than my bicycle. (Maybe I just don’t bike enough, but an hour on a bike seat leaves me with a sore bottom!) There’s even small versions of some of the chairs just for children.

http://www.bikefurniture.com

When you’re cleaning up cat litter or other spilled items that are just in a corner of the room, you probably don’t need to get out the vacuum or the big broom. A little hand sweeper broom will do, right? Except sweeping by hand is so tedious.

Wouldn’t you rather charge up a cleaning tool to do most of the work for you? Of course you would.

The Shark Mini Hand Sweeper will suck up dog hair, bird feathers, cat litter (ever notice how much of our cleaning is required because we have pets?), and other small debris just like a little tiny vacuum cleaner. It’s supposed to have easy steering capabilities, and the head swivels so you can get into corners.

And the hand sweeper has a modern, stainless steel finish, so it’ll match all those snazzy appliances you have in the house.

$30 from Shark