Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

Looking to do something creative next time you update your bathroom? Well, concrete is a material that allows for all sorts of creativity. Just check out this purple countertop with integrated sink. There’s no doubt it’s a one of a kind piece!

This one is from Art and Maison Inc.

If you’re looking for more ideas on how to use concrete in your bathroom, check out some of the pictures we’ve seen: the concrete shower, the concrete “canoe” sink, and of course the concrete bathtub.

Before you scoff at the idea of concrete in your home, just think about how easy this stuff is to clean. No grout lines between tiles to worry about here!

If you like to tinker and you’ve got a workshop in the garage, you may have bemoaned the lack of light these spaces usually have. Maybe you’ve got a small window or two, but garages tend to be dark when the doors are down. Sure you can pop them open for some light, but if it’s chilly outside, that isn’t so appealing. Here’s another option:

Glass garage doors.

Now before you get worried about the neighbors knowing too much about your business, check out these obscured tempered matte doors. It’s impossible to see through them, but they still allow light to enter (and they look pretty snazzy too).

The glass panels are attached to a sturdy clear anodized frame that will keep intruders out and protect your cars and workshop during inclement weather conditions.

http://www.glassgaragedoors.com/

If you’ve got a pool or a place at the beach, and you don’t want the kids tramping dirt and sand into the house, you’d probably wise to invest in an outdoor shower.

Outdoor showers fall into three categories:

1. The garden hose (aka what most of us used as “outdoor showers” when we were kids).

2. A simple wall-mounted setup with showerhead above and drain below (“cold” is often the only setting).

3. A luxury free-standing outdoor shower “cabana” with hot and warm water and privacy to boot.

This unit from Vixen Hill obviously falls into the third category. For a mere $6680, you’ll get everything you need to put this bad boy together, including the water heater and towel rack.

“Shower beneath a rose covered arbor roof while taking in the fragrance of a nearby herb garden.” (herb garden not included) It sure sounds like it would beat the hose…

http://vixenhill.com

If you’re a sports fanatic who is remodeling to add a bar area to your home (or maybe you’re a sports-loving bachelor who’s determined to have a manly kitchen), then you’ll definitely want a sink featuring the logo of your favorite team. That’s right–just because you don’t see such things in the model kitchen displays at the home improvement stores doesn’t mean they aren’t doable.

This sports themed bar sink is from California-based Anawalt Custom Sinks. The logo is hand-painted, and you can get whatever team tickles you put on there.

This may be the first sink that excites you about doing the dishes (okay, okay, that’s probably pushing it).

MSRP: $850

Anawalt

I’ve written about heated floors before, but it’s something I always imagined being installed under wood, laminate, or perhaps ceramic tiles. Apparently, there aren’t any rules that say you can’t warm up other flooring materials, and today I stumbled across a company that offers heated carpet systems.

The Environ II™ floor warming system can be installed between the pad and your regular old carpeting. It has a “low profile design” that shouldn’t add height to your flooring, but it’ll sure make those carpets cozy during the cold months.

Heated carpets and other types of heated floors can work great in finished basements, bonus rooms built above garages, and other places that can be a chore to keep warm in the winter.

Warmly Yours

Hey, decorating isn’t just about hanging things on the walls and arranging objets d’art on the shelves. When you’re creating a home office space or decorating another room in the house, you’ll want to choose functional pieces that please the eye as well.

This leather waste bin is sure to add class to your work space. Whether or not that makes shooting baskets with crumpled up rejects from the printer any more fun is up in the air, but decorative and dedicated home office furnishings should at least help you take “home work” more seriously.

$149 at Pfeifer Studio