Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

Are you a fond collector of antiques? Well, why not collect pieces that serve as a decorative and engaging piece? If you and your friends or family enjoy the challenge of a chess game, consider investing in a beautiful chess set that will accent your current decor.

This Collective Chinese Antique Style Chess Game Set will add some Asian style to your home with the red, black and gold design. The set has a detailed Chinese Qing Dynasty theme, so it’s royal in appearance.

Also, the elegant chess man figures can be neatly stores within the game board, so you don’t have to worry about losing pieces. However, it’s a great idea to leave some chess pieces out on the board to add some interest to the piece when it’s not being used. But if you have children or pets, you might store the chess figures instead.

If you want an amazing stairway that’s different from those in all the other homes on your block, then check into the custom work of Laura Spector.

She makes furnishings from a vine called Oriental Bittersweet, which was imported decades ago and become an invasive vine, growing out of control in the countryside. As she says, “With no natural predators to keep its growth in check, the vines took over gardens and woodlands, killing trees and shrubs by strangulation. Now considered an invasive weed, I am granted permits from various land trusts, The Audubon, towns, parks and hydraulic companies to forage their properties to help rid them of this beautiful, but dangerous vine. In short, my work helps save our beautiful specimen trees while recycling the vines into a functional object of beauty.”

On the site, you can check out everything from arbors to sculpture-like stair railings to lamps, benches, and tables. Since each piece is handmade, no two look the same. More pictures of the stairs here.

If you get the remodeling bug, the bathroom is a spot that offers endless possibilities. There are all sorts of luxury tubs and showers out there, but don’t forget the sink, as that’s something you’ll use multiple times every day.

You can spend a hundred dollars for a basic sink, or you can spend thousands if you want something that’s as much art as functional piece of bathroom furniture.

The Monarch is a contemporary copper sink from Terra Acqua. The hand-crafted vessel features a “rectangular low profile above-counter design with a waterfall interior.” The double-walled construction should make it as sturdy as it is handsome.

At $800, the sink is more affordable than some of the fancier options we’ve looked at, so check it out if copper is your style.