Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

It’s fun blowing leaves into tidy piles on the ground, but what about those soggy heaps of leaves up on the roof? The ones the rain washes into the gutters where they clog up everything?

If you have a Weed Eater leaf blower, you can grab the Weed Eater Gutter Cleaning Blower Attachment. It lets you clean out your gutters without ever having to get up on the roof.

A pivoting tube lets you direct the air all directions, so you can get hard to reach (hard to blow?) spots from the ground. The attachment works with both gas and electric Weed Eater leaf blowers and is available for about $40 at Amazon:

Gutter Cleaning Blower Attachment

It seems like everyone’s starting a garden these days, which is great (yay for fresh fruits and vegetables!), but the neighborhood birds, cats, and (if you live in a rural area) deer can be real pests. The last thing you want in your strawberry bed is the neighbor cat’s droppings. Sure, you could treat your garden with pesticides, but that’s not very healthy for us, is it? This handy tool may be a better option:

The Contech Electronics CRO101 Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler turns on automatically when a critter approaches. The water will startled birds, cats, etc. and keep them off your property.

“The Contech Electronics Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler presents an innovative, humane way to keep pets and wildlife from disturbing your yard and garden without the use of complicated traps or potentially hazardous chemicals. The sprinkler combines a surprise spray of water with unexpected motion and noise to create a safe, effective deterrent to unwanted visitors, helping keep your garden looking its best.”

Reviews at Amazon are positive (it’s a popular item there!), and you can pick up the tool for less than $60:

Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler

If you’ve wanted to add more security to your home, but you haven’t wanted to sign up to have an expensive system (with monthly monitoring charges) installed, you might consider some of the DIY home security systems on the market these days. Many are wireless, so there are no cables to run through walls, and they often come with motion-sensing cameras that you can mount around the house and check from remote locations. Some can be observed from a special computer webpage, while other systems will text or call you if something is awry at the house.

This Lorex LIVE SD9 Wireless Digital Security System can be installed without expert assistance, and it has a number of features to help protect your home:

“The Lorex LIVE SD9 Wireless Digital Security System offers plug & play video security for your home or small business. You can have a complete digital wireless video surveillance system up and running in minutes. View live video from your wireless cameras on the 9-inch LCD display. The system records video directly to an SD card (4GB SD card included) providing you with both viewing and recording in an attractive, compact design. Place it on a desk, table, or mount it on a wall or even under a counter! Digital wireless technology ensures that the system is secure, expandable (up to 4 cameras), and 100% interference-free.”

It’s currently $400 at Amazon:

Lorex SD9

When change falls through the cracks in the counter, or your pet’s ball rolls in under the couch, it can be impossible to find it again. It’s almost as if these items vanish from thin air. Of course, this isn’t the case, but when you don’t have enough light to see, it’s going to be tricky locating these lost items again.

The Black & Decker LED Cordless Work Light/Flashlight is a convenient snakelight that can help you find things that go missing under the couch. This flashlight is cordless and works off of batteries for up to five hours. It can convert from a 14-LED work light to a 3-LED handheld flashlight.

A compact flashlight like this is also ideal for making home repairs as well.

Owning a luxurious home doesn’t mean all your effort stops after the purchase. In addition to managing your home, you also need to take steps to keep it safe.

House fires are a common occurrence, and it’s beneficial to prepare your home in case an emergency like this would happen. These Dry Chemical Fire Extinguishers made by ABC Fire Extinguishers are perfect for storing in your kitchen pantry and bathroom closet. These extinguishers have fluidized and siliconized mono ammonium phosphate dry chemical, which enables them to control various types of fires.
Class A fire extinguishers are designed to deal with fires involving wood, paper, rubber, fabrics and some plastics. Class B extinguishes liquids and gases like gasoline and paint. Class C is specifically for electrical fires. Educating your family on these ABC basics is another great safety precaution.

Although it’s convenient to hire people to fix things for you and hang up wall decor, you can’t always get someone to come right away. When you want something easy done quickly, use your personal tool kit.

The Stanley Office Tool Kit available from Amazon has basic tools that are handy to have in your home. This kit features seven tools including a Phillips screwdriver, a 4” straight screwdriver, 4” longnose pliers, 6” slipjoint pliers, 8” torpedo level, 7 ounce wood claw hammer and a 12′ tape measure.

All of these tools are housed in a rugged softsided case. With this kit, you can straighten pictures, hang picture, assemble furniture, measure spaces and more. Why hire someone when you can do it yourself?

Now that most airlines are charging you extra for baggage, traveling for pleasure or business is becoming more expensive these days. Also, with all of the safety restrictions and baggage weight limits, packing requires more brain power and attention to detail.

The microSCALE Luggage Scale is a nifty gadget to have in your home. You can weigh your bags and prevent yourself from paying the high fees to bring your bag if it weighs over the limit.

This scale is available in white, blue, red, black and fuchsia. It measures 1.5” x 4.6” x 1.8” and has an easy to read digital display. The rubber coated hook makes weighing your bag simple. This device is able to weigh bags up to 110 pounds.

Aprons are awesome accessories to have around the house. You can put one on while you’re making crafts, preparing food or elbow deep in DIY home projects.

Denim is an incredibly durable and fashionable material. Many of us wears jeans on a daily basis, because the material is flexible and can hold up against various elements. The Embroidered Denim Apron is a cute way to get dirty. This apron can be custom embroidered with any two line name, title or message. Or, you can choose to include a simple three letter monogram. There are 15 thread colors available.

The apron measures 28” x 32” and has extra-long ties to wrap around your waist. The neck strap is adjustable, and there is a front pocket to hold small accessories.

Whether you’re into crafts or just need to do simple things around the house, the right cutting utensil can make a difference. Efficiency is one thing, but it’s also nice to be able to make a quality cut too.

If you want to more precision with your cuts, an X-Acto Basic Knife Set is exactly what you need. This set includes a no. 1 knife with a #11 blade, a no. 2 knife with #2 blade, a no. 5 knife with #19 blade, and 10 assorted blades. All of these items come organized in a wooden chest.

You can use these knives for cutting all types of materials such as wood, board, paper, plastic, film/acetate and cloth. These are handy to have around for crafts, kid’s school projects and DIY projects.

Creativity comes and goes, but it’s helpful to have a place to go when the ideas are prime for the picking. Dedicating an area of you home to your favorite hobby enables you to spend time on something you love, and it gives you the tools to do your best brainstorming.

The CraftMaster Hobby Station has a 24” x 40” top with rounded corners as well as two sets of 3-drawer storage units. If you’re an artist, you can store paints and pencils in the drawers, and the adjustable top and one-hand tilt-angle mechanism makes drawing and drafting a breeze.

This model is perfect for adults and children who are serious about a hobby. It has enough workspace and storage to accommodate your needs.