Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

How would you like to beat the heat this summer without paying ridiculous prices for your air conditioning?

Updating your windows to triple-glazed ones and blinds to solar screens can keep your home cooler.

Weather Shield’s Zo-e-shield 7 Triple-Glazed Windows can save you 15-30% on energy. These multiple panes prevent the sun’s heat from warming up your home, but during the winter, it prevents the heat from escaping. This design saves you money during both seasons.

Another option is to work with your existing windows and cover them with Low-E Films, which deflect the sun’s rays. Specifically, they deflect up to 70% of solar heat and 99% of UV radiation.

An additional way to stop melting away in your home is to use solar screens or shades. Hunter Douglas has a variety of styles from soft vertical blinds to modern Roman shades. These solar screens are PVC-free and made from recyclable fabrics.

In the old days, Dutch doors were popular since they let pleasant breezes into the house while keeping the livestock out (hey, I said it was the old days).

Today, though, you can still get this classic colonial look.  Jen Weld offers split Dutch doors such as this one, which is made from polyurethaned pine.

A large window brings light into the house, and for fresh air (or to yell at the kids outside), just open up the top part of the door.

While most of us don’t have livestock roaming around the front yard these days, a Dutch door could come in handy for homeowners with dogs or small kids.  You can have the door open–part of it anyway–without worrying about letting your charges escape down the front walk.

If you’re worried about the home security threat of having a big window in your front door, consider using hurricane-rated glass (it has an inner plastic layer that isn’t breakable).

Glass doors (or wooden doors with windows) can be great since they let light flow into interior rooms, but sometimes you want a little privacy.

Adding lightweight curtains or panels specifically designed for doors is an easy solution. Many are sheer enough that they still allow light through, but they don’t allow peeping Toms (or family members) to spy on you.

These semi-sheer french door panels “will filter natural light with the decorative color of your room creating an atmosphere of warmth and elegance.”

At $12-$15, they’re not going to break the bank, and they’re easy to install and machine washable to boot.

From the BedBathStore.

If you want a door that says superior custom craftsmanship and this-home-is-secure all at the same time, then here you go.

This exterior door, which is made from wire-brushed Incense Cedar, is sure to keep out the burglars and it doesn’t look half bad either! The wire-brushed texture, Spanish finish, and plank overlay make for a memorable entryway, especially if you’re a fan of solid wood doors and the Southwestern style.

The cedar door is the work of Architectural Traditions, a company that crafts doors, windows, and hardware in Southwestern architectural traditions. They’ll happily build you custom doors and windows, including custom finishes and distressed textures. Available woods are Incense Cedar, Knotty Alder, Select Alder, Cherry, Genuine Mahogany, Walnut, Vertical Grain Douglas Fir and Rustic Oak.

If you’re trying to hide a closet or laundry area, you don’t always have a lot of room for installing a full-fledged door. There just isn’t space to open anything inward or outward. In some cases pocket doors can work, since they slide into the wall when open, but if you want to close off an area without futzing around in the walls, then an accordion door could be a solution.

You may have memories of hideous accordion doors from the 70s. (In a house I lived in as a kid, we had a home office separated from the living area with a tacky off-white accordion door made out of… uhm, I’m not sure what it was made out of. Suffice it to say, we left it pushed open most of the time, so no one would notice it.)

Today, though, you can get custom wood and vinyl accordion doors that aren’t quite as hideous as the ones we remember from our parents’ homes. At a company called WoodFold, you can even get decorative inserts of textured glass or acrylic to add interest to these folding doors.

Exterior shutters can lend a lot of curb appeal to a home. They can add some personality, too, especially if you add touches such as decorative cutouts.

Several companies that make shutters will cut out little sections of wood in the shutter door, creating pieces unique to your home. There are countless cutout designs you can choose from.

Examples include squirrels, whales, sailboats, moons, flowers, acorns, trees, fruit, and many others.

Seaport Shutters did the little starfish shown here. The cutouts can be placed into their board and batten, flat panel, raised panel, and “mixed” (lower half louvered, top half flat panel) styles of shutters.

This bit of customization isn’t as expensive as you might think. Cutout costs typically run around $3 per shutter.

Wood interior doors are pretty common, but they don’t do a good job (or any kind of job at all) at letting light flow through when the door is shut. For interior rooms without a lot of windows, or homes surrounded by trees that block out a lot of sunlight, glass interior doors can help brighten up inside space.

Glass can be etched or obscured with texture and design to provide privacy (hey, you don’t necessarily want the bathroom door to provide a transparent window to the inside).

Etched glass doors, in particular, offer a chance for artistic expression. Whether you enjoy rugged mountain scenery, serene flowers, or food arrangements, all these designs (and just about anything else you can imagine) can be transcribed in glass.

The door shown here was done by Visions in Glass.

Tired of the same old brass doorknobs that everybody in your subdivision has? Well, you could really stand out with a knob made from handblown glass. You’d stand out doubly if that knob was speckled with “black cow” spots.

This decorative doorknob is from Megna Glass, a company that features all sorts of colorful glass knobs. For $140-$160, you can even have one custom made to your specifications.

You get the knob and fitting for your money. You’ll have to pick up the rest of the hardware for installation at Home Depot or another upscale hardware distributor.

But surely this is a small price to pay for a Black Cow doorknob!

Going high tech with your locks can be fun and practical (a keypad lock means no more keys you have to tote around), but maybe you’ve shied away from the idea of some funky science fiction looking thing attached to your door (especially if you have a historic home).

But today you can get keypad door locks and deadbolts that won’t look out of place even on an older home. Subtle use of buttons and aged finishes help make these locks look good on houses that my not be ultra modern.

The Schlage Camelot Deadbolt Keypad can be purchased with an aged bronze finish that gives it a rustic feel (other finishes include bright brass and aged nickel).

A keyless deadbolt means there’s no chance of someone having a copy of your key made and getting into your house against your wishes. If you fire the housekeeper or dog walker, just change the combination to ensure only family members and trusted friends can get in unannounced.

As I write this, the Schlage deadbolt is on sale at Amazon, so take a peep if you’re interested:

Schlage Camelot Deadbolt Keypad

Window shutters can add curb appeal to your house, especially if you get something cozy and cheerful.

These colorful blue shutters are sure to dress up your windows and add a homey touch to the front of your home.

Made in a “board and batten” style, the shutters can be ordered in numerous colors and with cutout patterns in the middle. Choose between two, three, and four board assemblies with square or curved corners.

Sturdy cedar wood is used, and prices for the window shutters start around $160.

From Shutter Craft