Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

Tin ceilings (think stamped metal ceiling tiles) were originally popular at the turn of the 20th Century, and there are folks out there bringing back the look today. Particularly striking in kitchens and bathrooms, tin ceiling tiles are available in numerous patterns and hues.

You might have thought metal tiles would only be available in, well, metal-esque finishes (i.e. copper, tin), but in truth the tiles can be coated with all sorts of colors. The tile shown here not only has a unique pattern but it is coated with a handsome “Pacific Blue.”

It’s one of a gallery of colors available from M-Boss Inc. Examples of others include green marble, amethyst, emerald, aquamarine, and creme brulee. If you’ve ever considered tin ceilings but were driven away by the color of metals, then browsing this company’s site might change your mind.

M-Boss Inc

I love fireplaces. Gas, electric, gel, or wood-burning… they all look cool to me. (Which is why I’ve written about quite a few previously, such as pyramid-shaped fireplaces, see-through fireplaces, and free-standing floor fireplaces meant to stand in the center of a room).

The handsome Etna wood fireplace from Wittus is perfect for someone wanting a modern look for the living room. Fireplaces certainly don’t have to be rustic to look good, and this one has special sculptural tiles that are designed to hold in heat and slowly release it into the room. This means your fireplace keeps giving off warmth even after the fire has gone out. Elements like this can go a long ways toward improving the efficiency of a wood fireplace.

One other handy feature to the Etna is a built-in storage drawer below the firebox, so you can keep your wood or fireplace tools out of sight.

Wittus

If you don’t have enough room in your backyard for a hot tub, you could always put one on the roof…

This stainless steel roof-top hot tub was a custom job done by Diamond Spas. The “free style” shaped spa comes with 10 jets and an optional LED light kit, so you can get your chromotherapy in while you’re out there looking at the stars.

Of course, you’ll need a pretty sturdy (read: reinforced) roof to handle the thousands of pounds you’ll get from a filled hot tub, but if you’ve got the resources, it could be a great escape, especially in an urban setting where backyards are tiny or non-existent. Just remember to wear your swimming suit when you’re up there, or you might get neighbors out on their rooftops with telescopes pointed your direction…

Diamond Spas

I’m not quite sure what I expected when I clicked on the “Kura bamboo tiles” link over at the Stone & Pewter Accents site, but this is much cooler than anything I anticipated.

These tiles are actually made from thin bamboo slices suspended in a resin base. The result really does create something unique and unusual.

The tiles have hard substrate backings, which is supposed to make them simple to install (or at least no more difficult than other tiles). I didn’t see the potential uses listed on the site, but these could make striking accent walls or–if they’re waterproof–a very unique shower surround.

http://www.stonepewteraccents.com/

If you’ve always dug the idea of having two dishwashers (one for clean dishes, and one for dirty dishes… no need to actually put anything away in a cupboard!) but didn’t have the kitchen space for two big units, then here’s an idea for you:

Fisher & Paykel’s DishDrawers can be stacked one atop the other, so you get two completely separate units in the space where usually only one would fit.

Of course, you’re obviously only going to have half the room in each drawer, but you could always run both loads at once if needed. Personally, I like the idea of having a unit reserved for dirty dishes and one for clean myself, but I don’t have a passel of family members requiring multiple runs of the dishwasher a day, so I don’t know how well this setup would work in big families.

MSRP: $999 per DishDrawer

Fisher & Paykel

Looking to do something unique for your luxury bathroom remodel? Well, here’s an interesting way to add a spa-like experience to the shower:

Rain bars.

Instead of showerheads (or in addition to), the water comes out of these bars, which can be installed vertically or horizontally in your shower stall, so you could place them anywhere on the walls or even the ceiling. The bars are about 2 feet long and can be swiveled left and right to suit your needs.

Just be sure to warn any house guests that the “grab bars” are actually where the water will come out when they turn on the nozzles…

From UK shop Brookwater

If you like wood and wouldn’t mind adding a touch to your walls here and there, but you’re not looking to go 70′s style wood paneling (who is?), then here’s a nice alternative:

These “wood weave” tiles make unique wall coverings and are available in a number of species such as maple, cherry, and red oak. You might not want to do the whole inside of your house with wood weave, but it could be an interesting way to create an accent wall.

Prices run about $14 per 12″ x 12″ tile (the tiles are square but there’s a puzzle piece look to their edges, so they fit together while maintaining an illusion of one solid, woven wall covering).

From Architectural Depot

You see a lot of pedestal sinks in today’s bathroom remodels. Though the look is clean and modern, it removes all the under-sink storage you get with a vanity, and you may find yourself wondering where to keep the extra rolls of toilet paper and necessities you don’t want everyone looking at when they visit.

Fortunately, it’s possible to find plenty of contemporary vanities to update your bathroom, so don’t think the pedestal is your only remodeling option.

If you want to keep that under-sink storage, then you might appreciate something like the Frou vanity from Lacava. The freestanding cabinet includes drawers as well as a bigger space beneath the sink, so you don’t have to store the extra T.P. in the linen closet down the hall.

Starting at $2,800 from Lacava

Lazy Susans are handy in corner cabinets, but this one is good looking enough to be used as a centerpiece on a coffee table, dinner table (honey, spin the salt and pepper over to me, will you?), or elsewhere in the house.

The “Spin Doctor” is made from reclaimed wood, specifically white oak wine barrels that have run dry. I’m a sucker for furnishings made from old wine or whiskey barrels, and you can see others we’ve checked out too: wine barrel kitchen island, wall-mounted wine barrel bar, and this interesting train garden planter made from reclaimed whiskey barrels.

Hand made in Georgia, the wooden Lazy Susan costs $100 from Uncommon Goods:

Wine Barrel Lazy Susan

If you’re considering new garage doors, you’ll want to take a look at the rest of the house and decide what will look good. Do you want doors that blend in or stand out? Is yours a historical house that needs period doors? Are you just looking for something better than the boring white garage doors that came with the place?

On most houses, garage doors take up a lot of space, often smack in the front of the home. Why not invest in a style that will make them attractive rather than eyesores?

There are quite a few options out there and plenty of companies that will create custom doors to your specifications. One thing people don’t always think of is texture.

These doors look like they have shingles on the front. It’s an interesting contrast to the horizontal log siding, while still keeping with the natural, wood theme. The shingles draw the eye and help make the garage doors an attractive focal point on the front of the house… rather than something you’d prefer to hide.

from Summit Garage Door