Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

The summer is the perfect time to drive around and visit as many garage sales as you can, especially if you need to furnish a nursery. As a result of the recession, some people moving or finding ways to make some extra cash, so you might get lucky and find items in close to new condition.

It’s best to assess items you come across rather than search for the actual piece of furniture you want. For example, a desk or bookshelf (depending on the design and how handy you are) can be turned into a changing table. Also, if you can’t find a rocking chair, consider a rocking reclining chair, because you can always put any colored or patterned slipcover over it.

While you’re making your rounds, you might find general pieces for your home too. Just keep in mind that with a little paint and accessories, you can make the furniture match and be functional in your home.

Often when you build an addition onto your house, you have some restrictions or limitations when it comes the dimensions and design. If you have height restrictions and are considering whether a room about three feet lower than the original house is a good idea, don’t forget that there are ways to make the room feel connected to the rest of the house.

A sunken room can provide you with a private area in the house, but in order to make it seem like it belongs, you need furniture or accents that match the decorations in nearby rooms. For instance, RJ Fine Woodworking creates custom furniture and cabinets, and the home office shown below with built-in cabinets is an efficient use of space.

If the extra room is going to be used as a toy or play room, the soft maple bookshelf in white can give the space some organization and mimic the other white furniture or cabinets in your home.

The warm weather is here, and if you’re lucky enough to own a swimming pool, you may already be spending time in it. And around it.

A chaise lounge can make relaxing pool-side quite comfortable, but those tacky fold-up chairs from the big box store just won’t do. If it’s elegance (and comfort) you’re seeking, check into something like the Zoe chaise lounges from Property Furniture.

Designed for outdoor use, this chaise lounge can stand up to sun, rain, chlorine, and the like as it offers a place to lie down and read a book or watch the kids play while enjoying the sun.

Available in white, black, or lilac, the pool lounger sits 94.5″ long, 27″ wide, and 14″ high. As you’d expect, it has an adjustable backrest, so you can watch the pool goings on from just the right angle.

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.

I don’t know about you, but I get tired of buying thinly veneered plywood furniture that comes in a box and has to be assembled (sometimes I think it takes longer–and is more annoying–to assemble these things than it would be to build them from scratch). Crafting furniture from solid wood is an art form, though, and you’ll pay a premium for handmade pieces. But it may be worth it.

Unlike the mass-produced pieces from the big box stores, handcrafted furniture is built to last. Buy a dresser or a bedroom set made from solid wood, and it’ll be the sort of thing you can enjoy your whole life and leave to your grandchildren.

The handcrafted wooden dressers shown below were done by Jeff Lind, a woodworker from Maine.

My favorite is the first, a beautiful dresser made from Flame Birch, Zebrawood, and Myrtle Burl, which features a carved tree across the front. Imagine running your hands along those textured drawers as opposed to the flat plastic-feeling stuff from the box stores.

Check out the woodworker’s gallery to see more pictures of his furniture.

Putting aquariums in pieces of furniture is nothing new, though it’s been a while since we looked at any of them. (For those who are intrigued by the idea, go ahead and peep old posts on the aquarium toilet, fish tank kitchen table, and aquarium kitchen backsplash).

This Stretched Octagon Coffee Table Aquarium from the Fish Store holds 28 gallons of water, giving you plenty of room for a colorful array of fish. Instead of simply having a large photo book of the tropics on your coffee table, you can enjoy the real thing swimming around beneath your coasters and tv guides.

At $600, this table isn’t as expensive as some other aquarium furniture we’ve looked at.

The fish tank rests on a black acrylic pedestal and is illuminated from below through a bed of blue glass gravel. Included in the price tag are lighting, an extension cord, decorative plants, and a 2-stage submersible filter pump. The top is made from sturdy 3/8″ tempered glass.

And if the octagon isn’t your shape, the company also has aquarium tables in other shapes and sizes.

For some reason it never occured to me to look for an eco-friendly sofa the last time I was getting living room furniture. Mostly, I was thinking about what would be easy to clean pet hair off of… But if you’re in the market for a green couch, you may want to check out the appropriately named Green Sofas.

Their tagline is that they offer affordable eco furniture, including sofas made from organic and hypoallergenic material.

The green materials available are hemp, cotton, and linen–all organic and all healthy for the environment and your family. You can choose from a number of colors, configurations, and styles (modern, traditional, transitional, etc.). In fact if you browse through the pictures, you’ll find all the couches look quite normal and don’t stand out as anything obviously green (I’ve seen enough furniture made out of recycled bicycle parts and license plates to have a bit of skepticism when I hear about eco-friendly offerings).

Check out the site to see more on the company and the furniture.

For a beachfront house or vacation rental cottage on the water, a beach theme is almost expected. If you’re somewhere that has great surfing–and you love catching those waves yourself–then a shelf made to look like a surfboard might be just the sort of home decor you’d like. (Of course, you’re not required to have a house by the beach, but I hear surfer decor doesn’t fit in quite as well in Kansas.)

This surfboard shelf has a bit of spunk too: there’s a “shark bite” carved into the side.

It’s another Etsy find, this time from the shop of Mikes’ Shelves. And, yes, all of Mike’s shelves do look like surfboards (though the shark bite add-on looks to be unique). Pick a color that matches your wall (or get your favorite color and paint your wall to work with it!).

If your current furniture is looking a bit drab, you don’t necessarily have to go out and buy a whole new bedroom set to spruce up the room. Maybe all you need is something simple like a furniture face lift.

An afternoon DIY project could give you a new paint job and some new drawer pulls, resulting in a piece that feels all new in your room.

If colorful glass pulls sound like your cup of tea, browse the selection over at Gettingroovy’s Etsy Store. That’s where I found these vibrant drawer pull knobs.

The 2″ x 2″ glass knobs are mounted onto a brushed aluminum pull, and each knob is handcrafted using original art. They ought to spice up your drab old furniture nicely.

As we’ve mentioned before, houseplants can clean up our air, which is a good enough reason to keep some inside even if you’re not big on decorating with nature.

It’s not uncommon to put a potted plant on top of a table, but if you really like adding a bit of the green and air-purifying to your living room, you might consider a table that has the pot integrated right into the design.

I’m not quite sure how the drainage is handled in this set-up (maybe that’s a faux tree in the picture), but it does look like a fun way to add a bit of plant life to the home. After all, who wants terra cotta pots sprinkled throughout their living room?

Designed by Adrien Gardère. More information (for those who read Fench) at Edition Compagnie.