Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

When you have a wooded backyard and live on a secluded street, your last concern might be trying to achieve privacy for your sliding glass door. If this is the case, there’s no reason to cover up the window with a vertical blind, but you can enhance the door’s appearance.

Adding a decorative curtain rod such as the Katherine Decorative Rod Set will enable you to add more traditional looking curtains to the glass door. You can either let the curtains hang to the sides, or you can tie them to the side with tassels for a more formal decor.

Depending on what room your sliding glass door is in, you can make it casual or elegant. For doors off of the living room, you might want to add curtains in a saturated color in a fabric with sheen. On the other hand, if the doors are off of the kitchen or living area, you might want more flowing curtains in a lighter and sheer material.

Sliding glass doors and French doors are beautiful features for the back of your home, but if you have neighbors across the way, there isn’t much privacy. Fortunately, you can enjoy your glass doors and have a high degree of privacy too.

The Blingsgalore 3/4” Cellular Vertidraw Shade can give you the best of both worlds. This vertical blind is semi-opaque with honeycomb pleats and single cell fabric. Although it lets some light in, it still prevents neighbors and others from seeing into your house.

It comes in several solid colors such as Arctic Ice, Ecru, Sandstone, Rosemary, Oceans Water and more. It’s also made in textures such as Spun Honey and Parchment, so there are a variety of looks to choose from.

There are two mounting options. Mounting it inside the window casting provides a more custom fit look, while mounting it on the outside can provide more coverage.

Vertical blinds are an excellent way to cover a window, and it’s common to see these in Florida homes. So if this type of blind is more your style, why not stick with the design but change up the material?

When you go with plastic vertical blinds, you run the risk of making your window accessories appear cheap. However, the Aspen Faux Wood Vertical Blinds can give some elegance and appeal to your windows. The realistic wood stain comes in bamboo, chestnut, cinnamon, mahogany, maple, natural, oak or pecan.

If your windows have high moisture, these vertical blinds are safe for these areas. Also, the construction is sturdy, and you can always replace them. When the blinds become uneven, you can simply fix them with the self-alignment feature. Also, these vertical blinds have a double worm gear mechanism, which will close your blinds tighter together.

Some people say the eyes are the windows to a person’s soul. Well, you can make the windows the soul of your home by switching up the shapes and using the basic designs to create a more modern  appearance.

Fixed Pane windows are stationary so they don’t open. However, you can customize the design of them and give your home an artistic feel, especially in rooms with high ceilings. One downside is that these windows don’t provide any ventilation.

Sliding or double-hung windows is an option if you want natural light and refreshing outside air. However, these windows are prone to leaks.

More energy-efficient windows are casement, hopper and awning.

Bay and bow windows provide multiple views, and they can make any room appear to have more space.

The first floor windows can be easy to wash, if you don’t have cumbersome shrubbery in front of them. But when it comes to the second or third story windows, the idea of washing them might be out of the question, especially if you’re afraid of heights or don’t want to risk it on the ladder.

Instead of paying someone to be a trapeze artist to clean your windows, the 400 Series Tilt-Wash Double-Hung Windows from Anderson make this challenging task quick and simple. These windows actually tilt inside so you can wash the outside of them while you’re safely inside your home.

In addition, they have high-performance Low-E4 glass, which stays cleaner and has lets spots in comparison to other window glass. Now you don’t have to procrastinate washing your windows, because it’s so easy with this tilt-wash design.

Roman blinds are versatile, because you can open the shade from the bottom or the top. So if you have a picture window in the front of your home, you might consider these. When you have neighbors across the way, you will have more privacy by opening the blind from the top.

These Havana Bamboo Roman Shades in pecan are full of texture and warmth with the alternating bamboo and matchstick weaving. These shades would compliment dark wood trimmed windows as well as home decor that features rich leather furniture or deep, sophisticated patterned fabric furniture.

The dimensions of these shades are 48” x 64” and they can be cleaned with a damp cloth or vacuumed. These are easy to install and come with all of the necessary hardware to get them up on your windows quickly.

Curtain rods don’t have to be plain and boring. Even if you have luxurious curtains, you can still have sophisticated and even artistic curtain rods to enliven your window.

Interior Decorating has several collections of curtain rods. The Affordable Art Guild Collection is Murano inspired glass finials, which have been hand glazed. There are six different finials and four rod finished to choose from.

The Blue Vase Finial has some feminine detailing with the flower like shape and ruffled edge. The robin’s egg blue color will definitely pop.

The Cappuccino Vase Finial has a simple design, but the cream and gold color is a sophisticated palette that will complete your window treatments.

These artistic curtain rods will enhance any window, and you don’t even have to have the finest draperies.

Curtains not only improve your home’s decor, but they also provide some privacy. However, if you want some natural light to filter through your windows, this isn’t going to happen if you have drapes made from a thick material.

These Ambiance Sheers from Belmont Home Decor come in six different shades (Snow, Creme, Almond, Slate, Bronze and Cocoa) and three designs (Rod Pocket, Rod Pocket with Header and Pinch Pleat).

You can either use one panel so it’s more sheer, or you can buy two panels and have maximum coverage. If you have window size that is more uncommon, they do custom fittings.

These sheer curtain panels can add some shimmer to your rooms, and these sheer window treatments can also make a room look more complete and finished.

Hearing the same “ding dong” sound when someone is at your door can get old, and it might drive your pets crazy too! Having the ability to update your door chime whenever you want can fun with the right accessory.

The iChime Doorbell can replace your standard doorbell and make the chime sound more inviting. There are several pre-programmable bells you can use, or you can create your own with the built-in microphone that records up to 60 seconds. Yet another option you have is to take a song from your iPod, CD Player, PC or MP3 player by using the audio input jack.

The iChime can play whatever you want it to, so you have full range when customizing your doorbell. During holidays, you can personalize it or have it play a festive song.

Your hands are full of groceries and other shopping bags, and as you approach your door, you realize that your keys are in your pocket. Now you have to put all of the bags down just so you can open the door. Instead of always having to rely on your keys to open the garage door or front door, you can install a digital deadbolt.

A digital deadbolt gives you the option of opening your door with a security code or the house key. So when you’re in a hurry or don’t have an extra hand to fiddle with the key, you can punch in the numbers and go. The LockState remote control deadbolt locks 20 seconds after you unlock it, and it has six user sub codes.

This improvement can make your home safer and more convenient, especially since it has a glow-in-the-dark touch keypad. Just remember to replace the four AA batteries on a regular basis.