Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

If one of your kids is an aspiring NBA star, you may have already added a basketball hoop to your yard, driveway, cul-de-sac, etc., but what’s a basketball court without any lines?

“The Easy Court Premium Basketball Court Marking Stencil Kit contains everything you need to set up a regulation key and free throw line, and a high school regulation three point line without measuring and without any messy over spray. The reusable cardboard stencil lays out in just minutes, and the included basketball stencil paint sprays easily and cleanly, for crisp lines every time.”

Of course, before you permanently paint up your driveway, you might want to make sure your fledgling basketball star really enjoys the sport!

Easy Court Premium Basketball Court Marking Stencil Kit

Whether you’re a full-fledged gardener with a big vegetable patch and landscaped backyard sanctuary, or you’re just interested in growing a few flowers in pots on the balcony, these whimsical planters could be fun (especially if you’re a pet lover).

These metal pots with legs and heads come in various breeds of cats and dogs.

Glamour the Cat Planter stands 22 inches high and holds a 6″ wide grower’s pot.

Gertruda the Weiner Dog Planter is 14.5 inches high and 19 inches long with a slightly bigger pot.

The planters are made from powder-coated steel that is supposed to last for “years of enjoyment.” Left untreated, the material will lose its patina over time, but you can make the pots retain their original finish by applying a clear glaze.

If you enjoy vegetable gardening, but you can’t always remember what you planted where, markers are a must. Sure you can just stick the empty seed bag on a post at the end of the row, but if you want something a little more sophisticated and permanent (and that won’t blow away on a windy day), you might dig this garden marker kit.

“With this kit you can create your own unique concrete marker stones for you garden or home. Mix up some concrete, pour it into the form, and use the press in letters to create word-bearing marker stones.”

It sounds like something the kids may enjoy too.

The kit comes with:

• 42 3/4″ press-in uppercase letters, numbers, and punctuation mark
• 4 plastic forms, 1.5″ deep, 2″ high and ranging in length from 4″ to 14
• 1 form for making concrete stands to hold the marker stones
• 2 pounds of lightweight concrete
• Concrete tint to color your markers
• Trowel

Pick it up for $20 from Bracken Garden & Landscape Center.

When I was a kid, there was no designated children’s bathroom in the house, so I guess it never occurred to my parents to buy a shower curtain with a kids’ theme. I don’t feel too deprived, but if you’ve got a bathroom that is definitely kid zone, it could be a fun and inexpensive way to allow them to personalize the space.

Target has a whole line of shower curtains for kids (and there’s a section for tweens and teens too), so you can find something the young-uns will like.

For the sports-loving children, you could try this football, soccer, and basketball model. There are matching shower curtain hooks if you want to go all out.

Some of the other themes include Disney Cars, penguins, Spongebob Squarepants, and dinosaurs. It seems there’s a shower curtain for nearly every kid’s passion. Prices run around $20-$25.

While ceramic tiles are common for bathroom walls, they can also be used for floors throughout the house. In warm climates, these cool tiles can feel good underfoot. And they can look good too.

Tiles come in myriad colors and design styles, so there aren’t many design limitations. Just about any pattern you can imagine can be laid down in your home.

These unique tree branch tiles make an interesting floor covering, and this is just one of many colorful designs from Popham Design in Morocco.

The tiles are hand-made by artisans in Marrakech, using locally sourced materials. The design video on the company’s site is worth watching if you’re curious how tiles like these are made.

Sometimes you need to give a massive hedge a crew cut… and sometimes you just need to trim a little shrub.

A big gas-powered hedge trimmer can be overkill if you’ve just got a little job. That’s when a tool like the Black & Decker 6-Volt Cordless Electric Shrubber can come in handy.

“The Black & Decker cordless shrubber is ideal for trimming and shaping small shrubs around the yard, as well as touch-ups on larger trimming work. The ergonomic and lightweight design allows for better control and less fatigue…Using machine-sharpened 6-inch steel blades, this shrubber quickly and cleanly trims shrubs and bushes in either direction and features an integrated lock-off button to prevent accidental start-ups for added safety.”

The mini hedge trimmer only weighs 2 pounds, so it won’t be a burden to tote around the yard. You might even be able to get the kids to help with the landscaping (although, you might not trust their artistic trimming instincts!).

Black & Decker 6-Volt Cordless Electric Shrubber

Looking for some home warming gift ideas? These hand-blown glass oil lamps are a fun idea for anyone who enjoys candles, old-fashioned lamps, and the like. Further, the colorful “trees” crafted into the glass globes offer a unique decorative element.

Hand-made by the folks at Kitras Art Glass, each “tree of enchantment” ball is original. You can get different colors that represent the different seasons of life for a tree (spring, summer, autumn, winter). The designs are supposed to represent symbols of family, faith, hope, joy, love, and others as well.

Sizes run from 2″ to 10″ in diameter with prices starting at $24.

Available at Olive Barn.

If you’ve thought about installing a garden pond, you may have envisioned a log of back-breaking digging to put a hole in the backyard. A water feature need not be quite so dirt-intensive though. An alternative to hollowing out a giant hole in the ground is installing a raised garden pond.

These work the same way as in-ground ponds (they can be any size you want, you can have fish, vegetation, etc.), but they’re elevated so they can be installed on the ground or patio anywhere you’ve got room.

Benefits of raised ponds are that they can be safer, since toddlers won’t accidentally fall in, and they can make a great focal point anywhere in the yard. Also maintenance can be easier when all the parts are above the ground.

Pond liners keep the water from escaping, so just about any material (from wood, to blocks, to concrete, and more) can be used for walling in the pond. This article from Water Gardener Magazine offers a good overview of how to plan and build a raised garden pond.