Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

When I go shopping for brooms (which is pretty darned rare), my only criteria are: cheap and fits in nook beside water heater. “Fun” isn’t something I’m expecting from my cleaning utensils (and it isn’t something I’ve found yet). Short of getting a Jetson’s style house where all you do is push a button for cleaning (or to have Rosie the robo-maid come out and take care of things), I’m not sure sweeping will ever be fun for me, but the Boom Boom Broom is trying to make things a little more interesting at least.

“Get swept off your feet by our funky BOOM BOOM BROOM. Medium height with a smaller bristle head, this broom easily reaches into tight spaces. You’ll find yourself spilling the chips on purpose for an excuse to whip this fun tool out of the closet!”

I am somewhat amused by the picture of the lady sweeping in high heels. I know that’s how I dress to clean…

$28 for the broom from Realm Dekor (high heels not included).

So, your bedroom is a little cluttered with clothes and other junk valuable treasures overflowing closets, dressers, and storage containers. One potential storage area you may not be utilizing to its fullest potential is the space under the bed.

You can get all sorts of containers designed to fit under the mattresses, but if you’re thinking of getting a new bed anyway, you might want to just buy something that incorporates storage into it.

The Malmo Storage Bed has a lift up platform, giving you access to the space in the frame beneath the mattress. It’s an ideal place to store linens or perhaps seasonal clothes that you don’t need to get at every day.

Available in 4ft6 and 5ft widths, the bed has clean and modern lines that won’t add to the feeling of clutter you’re currently trying to escape in the bedroom.

There are quite a few lift-up storage beds out there, but you can get more information on this particular model from Bed-e-buys (how’s that for a name for an online bed store?).

December is well under way, and Christmas is getting closer. If you celebrate the holiday, are all your decorations in order? Tree just so? Christmas lights perfectly strung? Stockings hung on the mantle nicely?

Uh oh, your family’s stockings are just stuck to the fireplace with duct tape? Now, that’s a Christmas faux pas.

Perhaps these decorative mantle hooks from Decorative Wrought Iron Works can help you correct things. Available in several whimsical shapes, the hooks will hold a stocking while adding a bit of Christmas cheer.

You can see the snowman and snowflake hooks shown here, and the company also offers Santa, reindeer, doves, pine trees, and angels, all in mantel hook form.

Prices run $13, and from the picture it looks like the hooks are a good size (perfect for holding those extra large stockings the kids showed up with and no doubt expect to be filled–I bet in the old days you only got to use the socks or stockings that actually fit on your foot).

Decorative Wrought Iron Works

If you’re doing a high end bathroom remodel, you’re probably checking out cool sinks, but you’ll want to make sure the vanity or pedestal you pick out is equally snazzy.

This faceted, black granite pedestal is from Stone Forest, a company that makes all sorts of kitchen, bath, and garden products from stone. This solid piece makes you think of lasting quality and would look great in a luxury bathroom. The matching Zen vessel sinks makes a perfect topper.

If black isn’t your style, the granite pedestal is also available with a beige finish.

Good lighting is important, especially when you’re reading or working at the computer. Overhead lighting may not be enough to protect you from headaches caused by eye strain. That’s why a desk lamp is a must for most people.

Sure, you can grab some utilitarian lamp from the office supply store, but why not perk up your home office with something fun?

Take a look at this little guy: the man-shaped “posable” LED desk light has arms and legs that can be bent into various positions. The “hands” also have little clips on the end so they can hold pens, business cards, notes to yourself, etc. Its magnetic feet mean the lamp can also be affixed to a filing cabinet or other metal surface.

The desk lamp is $29.95 and comes with a LED bulb that is supposed to last 100,000 hours:

The Posable LED Desk Light

If you have an indoor or outdoor bar, and you enjoy entertaining and playing bartender, then here’s a gadget you may enjoy:

The Metrokane Ice-O-Mat Ice Crusher allows you to turn a crank to produce fine or coarse ice chips, a nice choice for those drinks where you don’t need completely crushed ice but where you want something smaller than full-sized ice cubes. And this piece is good looking enough that you won’t mind having it sitting out on the bar top.

“Trendy cocktail party hosts will want to snap up this Art-Deco-inspired manual ice crusher for serving the most authentic Margaritas, Cosmopolitans, and Old-Fashioneds. Not only is the Ice-O-Mat’s handsome design reminiscent of the late 1930s, but the metal and chrome construction also mimics the quality materials used to craft small appliances during that time period.”

$50 from Amazon:

Metrokane Ice-O-Mat Ice Crusher

One of things I’ve noticed when watching House Hunters on HGTV (and that I noticed when shopping for my own place last year) is that wood closet doors are pretty much the norm. I never really thought about different styles of closet doors (since I haven’t seen a lot of them) until I happened onto the Raydoor web site.

These guys have a variety of interior doors and closet doors made using opaque glass. As you can see from the picture, it’s certainly an impressive alternative to all those hollow wood doors out there. Different styles and frames of the glass sliders mean you can find something for just about any house.

The installation looks pretty simple too since the doors don’t require tracks on the floor.

http://www.raydoor.com

It’s great if you’ve got big money to spend on remodeling projects, but it’s easy to change or add character to a room just with a few decorative touches that don’t require giant home equity loans.

For example, a fan pull can be boring and utilitarian (most of them are), since its only job is to allow you to turn the blades on and off, but it can also be fun and whimsical.

Check out this stained glass butterfly fan pull from Islandia Village. The cute pull is one of several stained glass designs available from the online store. Other options included dragonflies, fruit, flowers and music notes.

At $12 these decorative fan pulls certainly won’t break the bank either.

Islandia Village

If you like to read in bed before you go to sleep for the night, a bedside lamp with just the right amount of light is important. But what’s the perfect amount?

If you feel like reading on your back with the book turned toward the lamp, you might not need as bright a bulb as if you are on your side or on your stomach, or some other position that’s comfortable. Let’s face it though: you’re not going to change bulbs for each reading position.

That’s why the Eclisse bedside lamp from Artemide with its “rotating shield” looks like it might be a good way to always have just the right amount of illumination. Want more light on your pages? Simply open up the shield all the way. Just want a slice of light since your partner is trying to sleep? Then close it up part way.

The funky looking lamp might not be to everyone’s design tastes, but as a reader, I can’t help but appreciate the practicality.

The price is $172 from Lumens.