Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

Got a pasta lover in the family? Someone who turns a nose up at store-bought options and prefers restaurants or home cooking?

While spaghetti makers are nothing new, this ravioli maker might be a fun and unique gift for someone who enjoys the challenge of stuffing those little shells with cheese, meat, etc. If nothing else, the pasta gadget ought to make the chore easier!

VillaWare’s 10″ square ravioli maker lets you construct 10 2.5″ plump, filled pieces of pasta at a time. To make them, you just place a sheet of pasta on the plaque, add a favorite filling, cover with another pasta sheet, then cut. Sure, it’s a little more work than popping open a can of Chef Boyardee, but I’d imagine the end result is a little higher quality.

The ravioli mold comes with a recipe, so you can started as soon as you crack open the box.

$20 at Amazon:

VillaWare 10-Square Ravioli Maker

A wine rack is a great way to store your favorite bottles, but if you have one, it’s probably accessible to everyone in the house. If you’re worried about kids (or unauthorized friends and family members) getting into your collection, you may want to consider a wine jail.

This 45-bottle wrought iron wine jail comes with a sturdy lock, and the swirling design of the structure itself will doubly thwart any would-be wine thieves from slipping a bottle out.

No more sharing your favorite vintages if you don’t want to (and no worrying about the kids having a party while you’re away and delving into the wine rack).

$180 from the Wine Enthusiast

If your family really loves pizza, then you may have considered getting a dedicated pizza oven. But is an oven that only cooks one pizza really enough?

Perhaps you need a double decker oven that can cook two pies simultaneously. (Okay, okay, nobody really needs a double-decker pizza oven, or probably even a pizza oven for that matter, but wouldn’t it be fun?)

“Double-deck pizza oven with pizza stones bakes two pizzas to mouth-watering perfection—in just minutes. Perfect for parties or family pizza night! Upper heating elements, two pizza stones, and temps up to 800°F work together to deliver a crispy crust, tender interior and piping hot toppings in minutes.”

You can cook frozen pizzas in the oven or make your own from scratch. $180 from Brookstone:

Double-Deck Pizza Oven

I must confess: I’m a sucker for sinks with interesting shapes. Sure, those rectangular and oval ones most people have in their kitchens and bathrooms are practical, useful, functional, etc etc etc but there are more fun options out there…

For instance, we’ve checked out heart-shaped children’s sinks, four-foot long cascading sinks, snail-shaped bathroom sinks, and stone sinks with linked upper and lower basins.

Now, does anybody actually neeeed sinks like these?

Heck, yeah. And you need this one too:

“The clean, organic shape of the Fête island sink brings multipurpose convenience and a fresh aesthetic to kitchen spaces. Its unique, upper-and-lower basin design helps you easily accommodate both preparation and presentation, depending on your needs.”

From Kohler

If you’re remodeling the kitchen and looking for some stylish yet eco-friendly options for the backsplash, check out these aluminum tiles, which are made from 100% recycled metal.

They come in mixed finishes to create a little more variety than the subway tile backsplash we looked at a while back. On top of looking good, the eco-friendly tiles are easy to clean and maintain (wipe down with mild dish soap and water). If your kitchen is looking a little too wood-heavy from all your cabinets, these could be a nice way to break up the monotony.

Prices start at $35 per square foot.

From Eco-friendly Flooring

Butler’s pantries were popular, back in the day, when lots of people (okay lots of rich people) had butlers. They fell out of favor over time (how many of us have butlers any more anyway?) but with more and more folks hosting dinner parties for entertaining, they’ve been making a comeback.

Butler’s pantries were originally designed to be staging areas for food between the kitchen and the dining area, but the room also allows for extra storage space for china, serving dishes, and linens.

Today’s custom designed pantries are so snazzy that you may even want to show off the area for guests during informal gatherings. Try displaying collectibles, building in a wine storage area that shows off favorite vintages, or whatever you desire. You can have your butler’s pantry built to your tastes.

Back in the day, range hoods were just for sucking up smoke and fumes from the stove, but kitchen remodeling has become an art form, and many of today’s hoods are akin to pieces of sculpture. If you’ve got the money to spend, you can get a fancy island or wall-mounted hood that will be an attractive focal point in your kitchen.

The aptly named Wave wall range hood from Italian company Futuro Futuro would certainly bring a sleek, modern element to your cooking area. Made from stainless steel and tempered glass, it features an electronic control panel (knobs are so last century), four fan settings, and a sound-absorbent motor chamber, among other high tech bells and whistles.

Now you just have to find a cooktop classy enough to go with it.

Futuro Futuro

When you’re remodeling the kitchen, the backsplash is an opportunity to add a functional but decorative element to the room. There are many materials to choose from, everything from fused glass backsplashes to stone backsplashes and even crazy things you’d probably never considered, such as an aquarium backsplash (yes, aquarium as in the place fish hang out–you’ve always wanted live fish in the kitchen, right?).

Tiles, however, are perhaps the most tried and true form for backsplashes, since they are easy to clean and allow you plenty of design options.

While ceramic and glass are popular materials, some people also like metal tiles for their durability and clean lines. Stainless steel can be a little cold (though this backsplash made with stainless steel subway tiles looks sharp), but here it’s mixed with warm bronze accent tiles.

The stainless steel blank tiles and the 3″ x 3″ bronze jasper tiles are available from Lineage. Their picture gallery is a nice browse if you’re looking for remodeling ideas that involve tiles.

I love to grill, and it’s a healthy way to cook too. But I don’t happen to live somewhere where the weather is good all year around (and, okay, no promises in the summer either). One way to be able to barbecue even in the off season is to get an indoor grill. I’m not talking about a Foreman Grill or some other electric wannabe appliance (food just doesn’t taste the same on an electric grill) but an actual indoor gas grill.

Now, an indoor gas grill needs to be vented, so you won’t find a portable unit out there, but if you’re remodeling your kitchen, you could install something like this Blue Star Range. It’s the kind of professional-looking appliance you’d find in a restaurant, but this 30″ home-approved gas charbroiler/grill can be installed in your kitchen just like a cooktop.

The sleek stainless steel will match those other high end appliances you’re putting in (hey, if you’re remodeling, you have to go for the good stuff, right?), and this particular grill can run on natural or propane gas. It has pull out drip pans and other conveniences to make cleanup simple. I’m getting in the mood for shish-kabobs just writing about it.

From Select Appliance

Ok all your cooks out there: what’s the easiest way to hurt yourself in the kitchen? That’s right, burns. (Though slipping on water constantly being spilled from the dog’s food dishes comes in a close second.)

It seems that no matter where you turn, there’s steam, a hot pan, boiling water, or some other heated implement waiting to burn you. The kitchen can be a dangerous place for kids learning to cook, and we adults have been known to be careless from time to time too. So, here’s a product with us burn-attractors in mind.

Cool Touch Nomex Oven Rack Guards.

Nomex fabric was developed for firefighters, and it slows the transfer of heat.

Stick these gadgets on the edges of your oven racks, and that’s one spot you don’t have to worry about bumping with your arm any more when you’re reaching for cookie trays or pans that slid a little too far back.

The Nomex guards are safe for temperatures up to 500 degrees, and they’re supposed to snap easily to any standard oven rack. $20 gets you a set of 2:

From New Kitchen Gadgets