Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

You might remember the well-known scene from “Alice in Wonderland” when Alice plays a bizarre croquet game where a hedgehog is used as a ball. This lawn game began in England but spread all over the world in the 1860s, and if you have never played it’s time to bring this royal game to your home.

This Vintage 1938 Krokay Croquet Game Play Set would be fun for the entire family. The set includes four wooden mallets and matching balls, 10 wire hoops with 17 stands and two posts and rules.

You can find many vintage croquet game sets being sold on eBay too. This leisurely backyard game is a great activity to introduce your children to, and it can keep them busy while you prepare a delicious meal on the grill.

A tablecloth and buttons isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of board games.

However, these materials make great checker board games, and they these sets are sold on HomeALaMode.com.

The Button Checkers Table Set is under $25, and it includes a 100 percent cotton, 12 red buttons, 12 yellow buttons and playing instructions. Currently, this game is sold out, but it will become available again in Novemer 2010, so if you want to make sure you get one from the limited supply, order now.

This checker set is great for children, and you can even use the game board tablecloth for picnics in the backyard. While you’re eating lunch or dinner outside, you can challenge your child to game of checkers.

If you’re tired of the kids dragging your blankets and outdoor furniture into a corner of a yard to make a fort from scratch, perhaps you can salvage your furnishings by having a permanent playhouse installed. You can get kits from any home improvement story, but if you don’t mind splurging, you could get something less generic. Like a pirate ship play fort.

Daniel Woods Land offers treehouses and playhouses that will blow your neighbor’s swing set out of the water. For more fun, customize your pirate ship with slides, climbing nets, and monkey bars. All the kids will want to choreograph sword fights and Treasure Island adventures in your backyard.

Don’t expect all this pirate fun to come cheaply, though. The “Scallywag Sloop” costs $17,900. Less sophisticated playhouses start around $3,500.

At some point in time, your teenagers have to learn how to get up on their own in the morning. As hard as it is at this age to avoid sleeping in until the afternoon, it’s beneficial to make the morning fun, or at least interactive.

The LCD Touch Activated Digital Projection Clock can be turned on and off with a switch at the bottom, and the RGB light show commences after switching it on. This bed side clock projects the current time on the walls and ceiling, and it functions on three AAA batteries. To activate the clock, you simply touch the white shell.

This clock is a great accessory for your son or daughter’s night stand, and even if they’re still lying in bed, they will know what time it is.

When baby is hungry, there isn’t much time until your little one turns into a fussy monster. Before you know it, your baby is crying his/her lungs out.

Rushing to prepare a bottle at just the right temperature isn’t easy when your darling son or daughter is bawling, which is why being prepared pays off for both you and the baby.

The First Years Night & Day Bottle Warmer System is a portable device that has the ability to cool and heat a bottle of milk. So if you’re visiting nearby friends or far away relatives, you can always take your bottle system along with you. It can handle all types of bottles and even deal with baby food jars.

Other mom-friendly features include the built-in night light, which comes in handy for late night feedings and the automatic safety shut-off function.

When you have a child, you go into it knowing that you want to provide them with a better life than what you might have had. You want to give them things that you never had. Well, if you want your baby girl to feel like Cinderella, create a themed baby’s room fit for a princess.

The Cinderella Carriage Crib by Corsican is beautifully done in wrought iron. It has a storybook feel with the big wheels, vines curled around the top of the carriage, rosette accents along the connecting joints and decorative birds. The carriage crib measures 37” W x 79.5” L x 89” H, and it has six mattress height positions as well as a non-toxic finish.

The crib is made in the U.S.A., and it does meet the U.S. Safety Standards. Your child will be able to have restful sleep and dreams while in this fairy tale like bed.

Ready to workout but don’t feel like doing steps or jogging on the treadmill? You can make exercising more fun and get your kids off the couch to join you with Just Dance, a game for Wii.

The game features over 30 tracks including old favorites like MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” and new songs like Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold.” Games like this are great ways to get in shape, and they are perfect for kid’s parties.

There is even a Dance on Broadway that features songs from favorite musicals including “Time Warp,” “Aquarius,” “All That Jazz,” “My Favorite Things” and more. Not only will you be sweating and learning new dance moves, but you will also have fun and provide entertainment for everyone.

Did you have a beaded door curtain back in the day? Well, it’s never too late to add some hippie flair to your home. After all, they can add some mystery and allure to the entrance of a room.

The Coco-Bead Door Curtain from Pottery Barn Teen retails for $49, but is currently on special for $39. It measures 35.5’’ W x 77’’ L, and it can hook right on to a hanging rod mount, which makes it easy for doorway or wall installation. The curtain is made up of natural coconut beads that are hung from a rattan pole, so this is a more contemporary version of those beaded curtains in the 70s.

These beaded curtains are a great idea for children, especially teenagers who want to feel like they have more privacy. However, you can still keep an eye on them through the beaded curtain, or if you’re lucky, they might invite you in to chat for a while.

Babies require you to be flexible, so it helps when you have versatile items that are functional in more ways than one. That way you’re not a frazzle parent.

The Fresco Seat Pad in metallic lunar silver has easy to clean micro-suede padding that will keep your baby comfortable whether he/she is in a highchair or resting in your arms or car seat. The padded harnesses will ensure that your baby stays safe and sound.

Since Play Bloom Fresco created this pad to provide 3-in-1 resting, feeding and play chair, you might want to have a few on hand. Another advantage to this seat pad is that it’s appropriate for newborns as well as school age children (up to 79 lbs.).

Every little girl has the right to love pink and enjoy sports, and finding ways to incorporate these two likes into your child’s room, can be fun.

This Pink Vinyl Baseball Glove Lounge Chair from BizChair.com is a soft chair that would go great in a kid’s room, game room or living room. Your up and coming baseball star will enjoy the 360 degree swivel chair, which is in light pink. This furniture is suggested for children one to three years of age.

The seat size measures 9.5” W x 12” D, so it’s perfect for kids to crawl into the mitt and increase their knowledge with a picture book or handheld game. The overall chair measures 25.25” W x 21” D x 21.25” H.