Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

If you like the entertain, and your current freezer isn’t keeping up with the demands of your thirsty guests, you can boost your cube output with an additional ice maker.

This countertop ice maker can crank out 18 1/2 pounds of ice in eight hours and only requires eight minutes to plop a 12-cube batch into your hands. It’s not a noisy behemoth either. Small enough to be tucked onto the counter with your other kitchen appliances, the ice maker “did not even register a reading on the decibel meter” during sound tests.

To use it, all you have to do is fill it with water, pick an ice cube size (three options), and push the start button. Easy peasy.

$250 at Hammacher Schlemmer:

The “Best Countertop Ice Maker”

When you’re remodeling the kitchen, custom cabinets are great for getting exactly the look and feel you’re hoping for. While there are a lot of handsome off-the-shelf options for cabinets, it’s hard to beat the luxury of a kitchen that is uniquely yours.

These cabinet panels and doors from Finne Architects offer a textured pattern that stands out in an original way.

With custom work, you know you’ll get something that will last and last as well. No cheap particleboard interiors that won’t stand up to the test of time.

For more cabinet ideas, or to look at other custom woodwork for the home, browse Finne’s site. They have a lot of gorgeous pictures of their furniture, cabinets, and other projects.

If you’ve always liked the idea of an eat-in kitchen with a bar that overlooks the meal-preparation area, it might be easier to add this feature than you thought.

DIY-friendly companies such as Ikea sell brackets designed for just this type of addition. If you have a base material such as wood or laminate (that would let you drill holes into it), you can fasten a long, narrow bar area to an existing counter.

The brackets are only $15 for a two-pack at Ikea. Of course, you need to buy your own bar top material, but you don’t necessarily have to match your existing countertops (which can be tough with something installed years ago). Try butcherblock for a warm and inviting eating space or glass for a sleek and modern look.

What’s most important in a kitchen sink? Beauty? Durability? Ease of cleaning?

Those all sound good, but I’m going to add in: room for all of the family’s dishes!

This double-bowl apron-style kitchen sink from Franke should cover all of the bases. It’s one of many models in the company’s “fire clay sinks” line. This technology uses “old world handcraftmanship” with today’s “advanced hygienic advantages.” It’s supposed to be durable, scratch-proof, and resistant to acids and alkalines. In other words, it’s a white stink that will stay white with minimal upkeep.

If apron sinks aren’t your thing, they have under-mount, single bowls, and various other styles you’d expect in the kitchen.

Franke

You’d think all a cutting board needs to do is let you hack up vegetables on it without complaining, but there are quite a few outfits adding the artistic touch to them.

Tuftop offers tempered glass cutting boards with images on them. They specialize in nature pictures, everything from mallards and wolves to turkeys and ducks, but also have some patterns. The one shown below is the “Spring Garden” cutting board.

The glass surfaces are supposed to be resist heat moderately well and be scratch-proof and odor- and stain-proof, which might make them a smarter choice than wood. Also, when you lean your picture-laden board against the backsplash, it’ll be a little piece of artwork for your kitchen.

Prices run around $30 at Amazon.

If it’s time for a new refrigerator, and you’re looking for something that doesn’t stick out into the kitchen where it hogs valuable floor space, take a look at some of the counter-depth models out there. Designed to extend no further than your cabinets and counters, these fridges are perfect in tight kitchens or anywhere you prefer a seamless look.

Some examples are the Fisher & Paykel bottom-mount and French door refrigerators.

You’d think they’d be tight on the inside, but they have all the space and features of traditional models, and you might even appreciate not having to lean into the fridge to dig around for items pushed way to the back. These kitchen appliances have Energy Star qualification, internal water filters, deep door bins for lager items, and cantilevered shelving to enable easier cleaning.

The French door refrigerator offers you 19.5 cubic feet, interior space superior to many similar-sized alternatives. Other features include Active Smart technology, automatic ice making, chilled, filtered water dispenser, and sturdy extendable storage drawers.

More information at Fisher & Paykel.

If you’re remodeling your kitchen, you don’t want to forget about the backsplash — the area behind the cooktop (and sometimes the sink) that protects the wall from spaghetti sauce spatters, grease, and the like.

Glass is an attractive option that’s also easy to clean. There’s a lot you can do with it too. Different colors, different textures, tiles, slabs, or something altogether original.

The textured glass backsplash below was done by CBD Glass Studios.

The Toronto-based company specializes in all sorts of decorative glass elements for residential and commercial applications. For the home, they do everything from countertops to shower doors to room dividers to furnishings. If you love the idea of building or decorating with glass, check out some of the images from their gallery.

Tired of those big, clunky range hoods that look like…range hoods?

Take a gander at the Airone Aida.

This compact range hood can be discreetly hidden in your kitchen cabinets, so nobody even knows its there. The separate remote motor sits in the ducting, too, making for quiet operation–no noisy fans blaring above the cooktop.

The hood comes with a pair of 20W dichroic spotlights, 4-speed soft touch electronic controls, an auto-shut-off function, and an indicator that lets you know when it’s time to clean the filter. The Airone Aida is available in 60cm and 90cm widths with several motor options.

Airone

If you love your state and you’re in need of a new cutting board, you might be just the person to visit A Heirloom’s Etsy shop.

The butcher block architectural plywood boards, which can be used for cutting or for serving cheese, are made from 100% rapidly renewable bamboo. They’re designed by a husband/wife duo out of New York employing 3-D software. The boards themselves are CNC routed on a 3 axis mill. You can have customization done (such as a heart-shaped indention, perfect if you’re sending the board as a gift to a loved one) as well.

The California cutting board shown below is $40, and there are lots of other states available as well. A few countries too!

Are you a wine connoisseur who wasn’t blessed with the space needed for a dedicated wine cellar down in the basement? Well, join the club. That doesn’t mean you can’t keep lots of your favorite vintages on hand though.

The Vinotheque Connoisseur Corner Wine Cabinet from Wine Enthusiast can hold up to 260 bottles while occupying a relatively small footprint in the corner of your dining room or kitchen.

“The Connoisseur’s Cabinet represents a completely new and innovative style of fine, furniture wine storage. Designed to fit perfectly in the corner of your room, it saves space while making an absolutely beautiful wine focal point. The front of the cabinet is a showcase where you can display as many as 28 bottles of your best wine. The Cabinet stores up to 260 bottles at ideal temperature and humidity, with Vinotheque’s world famous Whisperkool technology. It’s top-vented to fit flush to the wall. Options include a choice of door styles and finishes as well as interior light and security locks.”

This cabinet is no Ikea special though. It’ll cost you $6,000+ and don’t forget shipping!