Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

Here’s another unique vessel sink option for the bathroom:

The Hydros sink from Sono Bath is designed to be as much sculpture as functional piece of hand-washing furniture.

Crafted from Caesarstone, the 29″ wide sink hides the drain in the art of the sculpture itself, though–as in the picture–you can add a few pretty decorative rocks to give the rain garden feel as well.

The Hydros comes in a number of colors, so you can fit it into your ideal bathroom decor. Examples are eggshell, mocha, desert limestone, cinder, and blizzard.

Need a new computer chair for the home office? Why not pull up a… skyscraper?

Initially designed in the 80s, this collection of office chairs was based on some of New York’s famous skyscrapers.

They’re made from ebonized hardwood and use reclaimed parts from old office swivel chairs. Silver and gold inlays create the illusion of lighted windows and building accents twinkling at night.

Check out the online Kubagon catalog for more information as well as a peep at more industrial furniture designs from JJ Gontarczyk.

There are a variety of outdoor lighting options available to brighten up your landscape and walkways at night.

Posts, or “bollards,” can add a stately feel while illuminating your driveway, sidewalks, and walkways after dark.

The Circolo Bollard lamps from Boyd Lighting offer simple elegance with their metal bodies and metal-on-white-acrylic scrollwork.

Designed by Doyle Crosby, the bollards stand three feet tall and six inches wide. The outdoor post lamps are available in several finishes, such as blackened brass (shown), cinnamon bronze, satin nickel, and black granite. They take one outdoor-rated fluorescent bulb.

For a bathroom sink that stands out, a vessel bowl on a pedestal can be a great choice.

While you lose some storage (no room for a vanity, and putting things under the sink will make the area look cluttered), you get a dramatic look. And, practically speaking, a vessel sink on a pedestal can work in a small powder room that might not have space for a larger piece. Also… they look cool.

The art glass vessel sink shown here is from JSG Oceana Decorative Glass. They do kitchen, bathroom, and bar sinks, as well as tabletops, tiles, and other home accents all made from their unique textured glass.

This particular sink, the Brianna Art Vessel, is available in 12 colors, any of which is sure to make it the “showpiece around which your entire bath can decorated.”

If you’re looking for some eco-friendly wall coverings, take a look at Palm Panels.

The flexible wall decor is made from coconut shell and palm wood, materials that are usually unused industry by-products. They’re given life here by being made into durable architectural surfaces that can add interest to walls in your home.

The palm panels are available in smooth and flex versions. Ideal for creating unique pieces, the smooth panels, “consists of numerous designs that require individual pieces to be carved and then hand placed on a panel.” The flex panels, on the other hand, give you “the freedom to create seamless continuous textured surface that can curve, allowing your ideas to become a practical reality.”

A few residential installation possibilities include:

• interior wall cladding
• ceilings
• doors
• framed art pieces
• pillars
• kitchen splashbacks

More information at Ormano Eco Smart Products.

For some yards, a little electric string trimmer is fine. You can handle all the weeds or tall grass along your fence before your arms give out. But if you’ve got a larger-than-the-standard lot and it’s overrun with three of the county’s most invasive weeds (been there, done that), then you may need a more serious power tool…

Let’s take a look at the Swisher Trim-N-Mow.

This is a string trimmer that’s more like a gas-powered lawn mower. Instead of holding it up (and getting a tired back and arms) while you work, you just push it along and watch as it mows down everything in its path. It’s got big all-terrain wheels that can work fairly well even on uneven ground, and it can take out waist-high weeds without flinching.

I actually have one of these, and I’ll vouch for the fact that it’ll take out just about everything shy of blackberry brambles. For those, you’ll have to rent a goat.

$430 at Northern Tool: Swisher Trim-N-Mow

Did you ever want to be an archeologist as a kid? If you found the cryptic messages of hieroglyphs and petroglyphs fascinating, you can add some of that mystique to your home.

These unique ceramic tiles feature custom-carved replicas of real petroglyphs photographed at southwest rock art sites. You can pick out your own tiles too and send them in to be engraved.

Sand Carved Designs takes your tiles and etches the petroglyphs of your choice into them. The contrast comes from the difference in color between the face of the tile and the core. (Just compare the front of one tile to the back of another to see what kind of contrast there will be.)

If southwestern ruins aren’t quite your passion, the outfit also carves Hawaiian Petroglyphs, saying that some of the most spectacular rock art in the U.S. is found on the tropical islands.

Get individual tiles (framed or unframed) to use as wall art or incorporate several into a bathroom accent, kitchen backsplash, or other tile wall in your home.

If your deck is a place you want to spend a lot of time, there are plenty of ways to give it extra style and elegance. For instance, a custom deck railing certainly makes a memorable impression and can even enhance a good view.

The deck pictured below was designed and crafted by woodworker Ryan A. Baird, who uploaded his pictures to Taunton Press’s Fine Home Building Gallery. The images show that outdoor deck railings can be just as intricate and elegant as a custom-built staircase inside the house.

Made from mahogany, the mortise-and-tenon balisters and newel posts were custom turned, and accent carvings were added to the posts.

While all the handwork doubtlessly made this deck upgrade expensive, if you’ve got a million dollar view, then it makes sense to invest in a high quality deck that will last for a long time to come.

Got dull kitchen knives? A knife sharpener is an easy fix.

Actually, the AccuSharp is supposed to sharpen just about anything, so you need not limit yourself to kitchen utensils.

“Versatile and easy enough for anyone to use safely, the AccuSharp 001 Knife Sharpener lets you quickly sharpen a wide variety of bladed tools, from straight and serrated knives to cleavers and axes. Its unique, ergonomic design guards your fingers while a dependable, diamond-honed tungsten carbide blade puts a precision edge on your tools.”

Personally, I don’t have a lot of axes or cleavers I need sharpening, but it’s good to know I could if I needed to. The little tool has pretty good reviews at Amazon, where it sells for under $15:

AccuSharp Knife Sharpener

If you need to install a new driveway, concrete, gravel, and asphalt are perhaps the most common options, but they’re certainly not the only suitable materials out there.

This tidy driveway is made from baked clay pavers.

They’re available in several colors and sizes, so you can go simple and solid or create a pattern of alternating sizes, directions, or hues. Maintenance is fairly simple–your paver driveway would need occasional sweeping and hosing to keep it looking good.

If your driveway isn’t in need of a makeover, other applications for the clay pavers include walkways, porches, patios, and pool decks.

Made by ClayPave, the bricks are originally from Australia, but there are distributors in the U.S. and elsewhere.