Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

If you live in a log home or rustic house with a lot of wood trim, you might like a handsome wooden screen door to invite guests in.

The folks at Adirondack Rustic Interiors craft a wide variety of nature-themed doors that can keep the bugs out while adding a decorative touch to your home. They’ll do custom sizes and designs, or you can choose from the existing images: frolicking bears, hounds, nature scenery and the like.

The sturdy screen door frames look like they’d hold up to the elements and seem as if they’d be a particularly good fit for a log home.

Prices start around $475.

Most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about their doorbells. As long as they work, that’s good enough. But if you like the idea of adding a little whimsy to your entryway, and letting visitors know right away that you have a sense of humor, you could look into an animal or painted lizard doorbell cover.

The “Company’s Coming” outfit offers brightly painted geckos, cats, turtles, birds, and even pink flamingos. Most of the doorbells fall into the $10 to $20 range — a small price to pay to entertain, or at least bemuse, folks who step up to your door.

Here’s a link to the gecko (you can surf to lots of the other animal options from there):

Company’s Coming Gecko Painted Doorbell Cover

In these troubled economic times, it makes sense to beef up your home’s security. That doesn’t necessarily mean dropping ten or twenty thousand on a big burglar alarm system with all the bells and whistles. If you have sturdy doors, windows, and locks, you’re way ahead of the game.

Digital deadbolt door locks are increasing in popularity amongst homeowners since they let you leave the house without a key, and there’s no keyhole for thieves to pick.

The Sunnect Advanced Protection Digital Deadbolt Lock offers keyless entry via a back-lit keypad (just punch in your code number). Other features include the option of using decoy digits (random digits entered before the real code), an intruder alarm, and automatic locking when you leave the house. It operates on 4 AA batteries and includes a visual and audible low-battery warning as well as a 9V external temporary power terminal to protect against a complete battery drain.

Oh, and it looks pretty cool too!

Grab the digital deadlock for $250 at Amazon, where reviews are positive:

Sunnect Advanced Protection Digital Deadbolt Lock

Stained glass isn’t just for European churches from the Middle Ages — it can be a beautiful addition to your residence. It can turn a bland, boring window into an eye-catching piece of art.

Aside from the aesthetics, there are practical reasons to consider stained glass as well: it offers privacy while still letting light into the home. This can make it a good choice for doors and entryways. Also, with today’s technology, it needn’t be limited to inoperable picture windows–it can be incorporated into all sorts of windows from awning to casement.

With many glass workers offering custom designs, you can certainly find someone in your area to come out and install something that suits your home and your tastes. The following pictures offer some examples for ideas.

This window was done by Crystal Cactus Creations:

These handsome nature-inspired windows were done by Stained Glass Unlimited:

The stained glass window in this bathroom offers privacy where you need it most (created by Joel Lundberg Glass)

The front door is an all important accent, so you better choose wisely. If you’re looking for a unique entryway door, consider The Dynasty Door.

This series is comprised of doors made from either Antique Douglas Fir or Kotty Alder, and they feature a heavy-duty, weathered exterior. The fir is an eco-friendly option, because the wood has been reclaimed from old buildings. These doors are handcrafted so no veneers are used. In addition to the two wood options, you also have two height options: 36” and 96”.

Create beautiful curb appeal with an amazing door that makes a presence and complements your home well. Consider embellishments such as beveled glass and wrought iron to finish off the look.

Many homes have basement window wells. These wells can quickly become covered in everything imaginable. From rain, snow and debris, you might as well be looking out at dirt! Fortunately, there is a quick and easy solution to this problem.

The MacCourt Egress Window Well Cover is the answer. These simple window well covers prevent the elements as well as critters such as frogs from getting into your window view. This particular design is made fro 236 mil impact resistant plastic, and it has a simple design that won’t distract from your landscaping or home.

This model has a 5 year warranty. It comes with rustproof mounting clips, enabling you to snap the cover on and off for quick and easy cleaning.

Windows can be a pricey installation, especially when you need to do all of them at one time. However, the longer you procrastinate this installation, the more of your money goes out the window from lost air conditioning and heating.

These ThermaStar by Pella Dual Pane Double-Hung Vinyl Windows include a screen and measure 31.5” x 37.5”. These are Energy Star qualified in the Northern, North/Central, South Central and Southern Zones. This vinyl window features a white exterior and hardware color.

Before you start paying for air conditioning this spring and summer, it’s in your best interest to look into new windows. Also, consider blackout blinds or honeycomb shaped blinds, which will add protection and reduce lost heating/cooling. Isn’t about time you save money and energy?

Letting the light filter inside your home is important for aesthetics and even your health, and there are a couple of ways to enhance your current windows.

One way is to add wrought iron detailing, or you can add more color and artistic flair with art glass. The Solstice Large Rectangle Tiffany-Style Art Glass from Home Decorators is a beautiful option. This hand-cut glass is copper foiled and soldered together. The design features a wreath with colorful flowers and striking diamond shapes.

The glass measures 40” H x 20” W, and it can be hung vertically or horizontally. This a great way to enliven large windows and get the amount of light you desire. So you can have natural light and art all in one area.

Anthropologie is chalk full of amazing home goods, and once in a while, you should indulge and purchase a fabulous accessory.

Sprucing up your curtains is a quick way to create a different ambiance in a room. By changing up the pattern, you can infuse a new take on your existing furniture’s colors and tones. These Coqo Floral Curtains are available in navy, plum and natural, and they feature contemporary flocked petals and rich hues. This natural linen is machine washable and lightweight enough to let the sunshine in.

These curtains are 50” W, and they nylon linen has a tunnel loop construction. If you want to step away from safe colors, try the plum version. This beautiful tone can be paired with navy blues, creams and oranges. Because it’s a deep color, it can be very versatile.

When it comes to window treatments for steel or fiberglass doors, what options do you have? Well, you can always increase your privacy and decrease your housekeeping work load by adding aluminum blinds.

These White Door Blinds by O D L Inc. come in two different sizes: 22” x 36” and 22” x 64”. In addition to being easy to install, aluminum blinds are simple to take care of, because they don’t need dusted or cleaned like traditional plastic window blinds. Like normal blinds, you can raise, lower or tilt these aluminum blinds.

This is a nice option to have if you’re looking for a way to conceal the inside of your house from the neighborhood. In general, it’s nice to have privacy, but you also have to worry about potential burglars seeing your goods too.