Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

There are countless ways to get rid of mosquitoes and other insects molesting your outdoor dinner guests (for example, we’ve looked at mosquito zappers and the botanic bug deterrent). An eco-friendly and natural option is to attract predators of pest insects to your yard so they can do the hard work. Bats, for instance, munch lots of pests and with a bat house, you might be able to attract some to take up residence in your area.

Bats are the primary predators of night-flying insects, so they can be a great boon in your yard (and they play a vital role in maintaining the balance of nature). Apparently they can eat up to six times their weight in insects a night or 1200 mosquitoes in an hour (I wish I had a metabolism like that!).

This cedar bat house from Etsy shop owner, Little Bird House Store, is an easy way to provide a habitat for them. Bats like it warm, so if you get a bat house, place it somewhere it’ll get a sunbeam during the day.

$28.

Outdoor lighting with good coverage of your driveway and walkways is important, not simply to keep from tripping on the porch steps on your way to the door after dark, but for home security purposes as well. Burglars would rather work in shady nooks rather than exposed lighted areas. You don’t necessarily need to get the brightest floodlights on the market though: night-sky-friendly lighting works perfectly well.

What is “night-sky-friendly light”, you may ask.

These outdoor lights don’t waste energy shining into the night sky or in other directions than you where you want the illumination (i.e. not into the street or a neighbor’s yard). Typically these outdoor lamps direct light downward and only at the area that needs to be illuminated. They accomplish this via shields and other “cutoff features” that block light from escaping to the sides or the sky above.

Some of the benefits of installing night-sky-friendly lighting can be:

• an enhanced view for stargazers
• lower energy requirements (so a financial savings)
• a better night’s sleep (no bright lights shining in your bedroom window, thank you very much)
• less disruption of wildlife (artificial lights can disorient migrating birds and many nocturnal animals)

Night-sky-friendly lights need not look funky or odd in your landscape either. In many cases, you can’t even tell the difference until the sun goes down and the lights come on.

The night-sky-friendly wall sconce shown below is one of several types of outdoor lighting available through Starry Night Lights.

When you’re entertaining on the patio or the pool deck, you don’t want to make family and friends tramp all the way into the kitchen for cool drinks (especially if we’re talking about dripping wet folks in swimming suits), so an ice chest of some sort can come in handy.

This “cooler station” is a nice upgrade to a simple bucket of ice.

It has a foldout side table for holding or mixing drinks, wheels to make it easy to push around, a storage cubby down below, and a 77-quart cooler capacity, which lets it hold 72 beverage cans or 6 big 2-liter soda bottles.

You ought to be able to keep the whole neighborhood’s thirst quenched with all that room.

The cooler cart is $117 at Target.

If you’re tired of replacing backyard grills every couple of years because parts get rusted out or the craftsmanship just wasn’t all that hot, you may have better luck with the Weber Genesis Grill.

The lid and housing of the grill are made from porcelain enamel, and the grate and burners are made with porcelain coated cast iron. If that’s anything like the cast iron cookware I have, then this grill should last quite a long time.

Other features of the Genesis include…

• A heat thermometer
• A warming rack
• 637 sq. in cooking area
• 3 propane-powered burners
• Integrated tool holder (hey, it’s the little things that count, right?)

There are several models available at Amazon:

Weber Genesis Propane Gas Grills

Hosting parties and family get-togethers outdoors doesn’t mean that you’re stuck with beverages that come in a can.

If you pick up some shatterproof wine glasses, you can pour your favorite vintage without worrying that someone will knock a glass onto the patio or pool deck. And if you’re half the klutz I am, you might want unbreakable wine ware for in the house too. (I don’t think I’ve got a set of glasses or plates without at least one missing piece.)

These Unbreakable PolyCarb Wine Glasses come in a “party set” of 12 from the Wine Enthusiast.

The set includes four 22 oz Pinot Noir glasses, four 12 oz Chardonnary glasses, and four 20 oz ones for Cabernet. (If you don’t need a set of 12, you can also just buy the 4-sets of each kind.)

Visit the Wine Enthusiast site to see the “unbreakable” glass in action (there’s a video):

Unbreakable PolyCarb Wine Glasses

Outdoor benches tend to be made out of wood, probably because it’s a lot lighter and easier to ship than stone, but there are certainly nice and heavy options out there.

For instance, this 2,000 pound basalt outdoor bench won’t be going anywhere once you set it into place. If you want seating that adds gravitas to your yard, though, it could certainly be an option.

Available in the garden section at Stone Forest, the bench is carved from a length of solid, columnar basalt. Since each piece is unique, the color, shape, and size varies, so you’ll know you’re getting a one-of-a-kind bench for your yard.

Make sure to get a shipping quote when you ask for the price at the company’s website!

There are all sorts of birdfeeders on the market, so it’s just a matter of looking to find something that suits your fancy.

This distinctive purple swirl birdfeeder may not attract more birds than any other color, but it adds a unique burst to the yard.

The feeder is made of smooth-glazed ceramic sandwiched between a wrought iron base and hanger. The roof slides up to make it easy to fill. The bird feeder is frost proof and holds 5 cups of seed.

$25 at the Gardeners’ Supply Store:

Purple Swirl Birdfeeder

If you need some outdoor furniture, but you can’t decided between a hammock, a chair, a lounger, or something else, then this might be the piece for you:

The Pendulum Lounger is a swing that suspends a free-floating 40″ wide outdoor recliner.

It cradles your body in mid-air like a hammock, allowing you to sway gently back and forth with a smooth, pendular motion.

The fancy hammock comes with a canopy, too, so you can get a break from the sun. But it’s removable in case you’d rather work on your tan while you’re lounging in the backyard.

The seat, canopy, and pillow (what’s a lounge chair without a pillow?) are made from waterproof, stain-resistant, vinyl-coated polyester, so you can leave this poolside without worrying about water, inclement weather, or fading from the sun. The mesh fabric lets air circulate to help you stay cool in the summer and to dry quickly after a rain shower.

$995 at Hammacher Schlemmer:

Pendulum Lounger

For information on outdoor fireplaces, you can visit a dedicated fireplace blog. For some pretty pictures to look at… well, you’ve come to the right place.

With spring here, a lot of us are starting to think of outdoor entertaining, or maybe just hanging out on the patio and enjoying ourselves on a pleasant evening. And there’s nothing cozier than hanging out with the crackling of a real outdoor fireplace (or fire pit, or chiminea, or whatever wood- or gas-burning construct floats your boat) filling the night.

Installation costs can range from $1,000 or less for a prefabricated unit that you just press up against the wall to $10,000 and up for a custom-built outdoor fireplace. Assuming you’ve got the money to spend, what design interests you? What material will you use to build the fireplace? Stone, brick, tile? Something else? Let’s take a peek at some materials and designs below to give you ideas.

Outdoor Fireplace Designs

Brick is a timeless material, but this outdoor fireplace certainly has modern flair with its four-sided, arched openings. It was installed by Anderson Masonry & Restoration in Summerset, Washington.

This colorful mosaic tile fireplace is certainly eye-catching. I found it on Robin Indar Mosaics, along with a snazzy mosaic outdoor bench, swimming pool, and fountain.

Stone is another fireplace classic, and it definitely lends a feeling of permanence to the structure. This outdoor fireplace features a substantial cypress mantle to match the heftiness of the stone. From Nelson Stoneworks.

Concrete is a fun material because it can be shaped into just about any design you can imagine. This simple outdoor fireplace works perfectly amongst the clean lines of this desert backyard. By Arizona-based Repp Design + Construction, Inc.

This is another concrete fireplace with a different look. The incorporated bench offers a perfect seating area where you can admire the flames while gnoshing on the hot dog you cooked over the coals. Based on architectural drawings, the outdoor fireplace was built on site by Tom Ralston Concrete in Santa Cruz.

There are a lot of meals you can prepare on your backyard barbecue grill, but if you’re like most folks, “stir fry” probably doesn’t come to mind. But that’s just because you haven’t seen a grill wok before.

The Outset copper nonstick grill wok is designed to let you add a new dimension to your BBQ meals this summer.

Designed to withstand extreme temperatures from heat and flame, the grill wok should be an easy tool to use. It has built-in handles to make transport a cinch, and the nonstick coating means it should clean up easily (the whole point of lighting up the grill is that there shouldn’t be a pile of dishes to wash afterward, right?).

I’m actually a huge stir fan myself, but I never seem to be able to get that Mongolian Grill tastiness when I use my wok on the stove (I don’t think the temperature gets as hot). I’m definitely planning to order one of these grill woks this summer, to see how my stir fry tastes when done right over the flames.

$25 at Amazon:

Outset copper nonstick grill wok