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home improvement

Home Improvement Survey Says Women Prefer Fresh Paint To Diamonds

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

diamond earrings

Would you rather have a $5,000 home makeover or a $5,000 pair of diamond earrings? A survey from paint company Kilz says that most homeowners would go for the home improvement. They surveyed 1,071 male and female homeowners across the United States and Canada through a third-party research organization in April 2009 and found that 85 percent of women would take a $5,000 room makeover over the earrings and 88 percent of men would take a $5,000 deck or garage improvement over a luxury watch. The survey is full of all sorts of similar results including a report that 39 percent of women are turned off by posters and sports memorabilia in a man's home. Given both the falling prices of diamonds and the falling price of real estate it's tough to say which would be a better investment in the long run.

If You Had $5,000 To Spend On A Home Improvement Or A Treat For Yourself Would You Choose?
The House	285 (67.9%)
Me	135 (32.1%)

[via News & Observer]

Tags: diamonds, home improvement, HomeImprovement, survey

Eco-friendly Flooring Made of Peach Pits?

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Green

Think "eco-friendly home design" and a lot of different options come to mind, but I'm willing to bet fruit pits as flooring isn't one of them.

Alla le Roux feels differently however, and after being inspired by personal experience has started a business (Stone Fruit Floors) that designs and sells handmade flooring created out of peach pits. The pits are sanded down (to get rid of sharp edges and make them more comfortable to walk on) and set into the floor by hand along with glue, sand, and a resin mixture. The end result looks like a strange mix between hardwood, tile, and linoleum.

Interesting... I'm not really sure what else to say about this!

Via Luxury Housing Trends

Gallery: Stone Fruit Floors

Tags: decor, eco friendly, EcoFriendly, floor, flooring, floors, green, home improvement, HomeImprovement, housing, peach, peach pits, PeachPits, pit, pits, remodeling

Eco Friendly Flooring Recycled Metal Tiles

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Green

Eco-Friendly Flooring, a company whose name is self-explanatory, also deals in recycled backsplashes. They have created aluminum and brass tiles from 100% recycled metal as well as creating backsplashes from recycled glass tiles. They are based in Wisconsin and provide installation services for throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, and northern Illinois. For clients outside of this area, they can help you find a contractor or provide you with installation instructions. The metal tiles start at $35/sq.ft. for aluminum tiles, $70/sq.ft. for brass tiles. The tiles are easy to clean and can be ordered in either a polished matte or sandblasted rough finish. They also sell sinks made from recycled metal.

[via Home Improvement Ideas]

Tags: decor, green, home improvement, kitchen, recycled

Closet Wine Cellars

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Wine

Want a wine cellar but don't have a basement or a spare room to dedicate to your love of the grape, Closet Wine Cellars specializes in putting small cellars into a variety of places. You find the room, they'll make it work whether it is a closet, wall or storage space. The systems can be customized to your design style and refrigerated units are available. Their racking system makes it easy to see the labels. The company is based in Southern California, the land of no basements, so they have their work cut out for them. At least, given recent weather, they can start with the coat closet as seems to be the case in the picture here.

[via Luxury Housing Trends]

Tags: closet, home decor, home improvement, remodeling, wine cellar, WineCellar

Driveway Impressions

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Services

The driveway might not be high on your list of home improvements but it is one of the first things people see when pulling up to your house. Driveway Impressions is a franchise business throughout the country that focuses on making driveways beautiful. The treatment involves proprietary decorative paving system that uses imprinted asphalt products to create stamped asphalt driveways that replicated other paving surfaces such as brick, cobblestone or slate. You can also add accent pieces like patterns and numbers. The driveways can be placed over existing driveways or created new and it is resistant to weeds and the environment.

Tags: driveway, driveway impressions, DrivewayImpressions, home improvement, remodeling

Pinot Lighting

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

This unique light will definitely appeal to wine lovers. The aptly named Pinot lights designed by B.Lux highlight an inner glass which is available in white or red. Each center glass head is at the intersection of two planes of polished clear glass. The light has stainless steel trim and is available as a single suspension as well as two or three heads suspended by a single mount rail. The single pendant light sells for $444.60 and there are two types of wall sconces one with the glass frames that costs $383.40 and another without for $336.60.

Tags: design, home decor, home improvement, lighting, pendant, sconce, wall sconce

Ebb Sink

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

The cool thing about this sink is that there is no visible drain. The Ebb sink from Neo-Metro is a one-piece basin with a sloped surface that leads to a concealed drain. The console for the sink is available in resin or glass which creates a stunning setting for this unique piece. Prices for the basin alone start at $1,488. It looks gorgeous but imagine trying to clear a clog out of this thing.

Tags: decor, design, ebb sink, EbbSink, home improvement, kitchen and bath, neo-metro

Moving Color Shower Tiles

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

Wow, this is so cool. The tiles shown here are Moving Color glass tiles which are designed to change color when warm water or any radiant heat source effects them. The tiles come in three ttypes, Northern Lights, shown here, which appear black at room temperature and move through the color spectrum, Watercolor which come in eight colors and shift from colored to colorless when exposed to heat and Tye Dye which mimics the look of a tie-die shirt. One square foot of tile costs $180.

[via Trendir]

Tags: bathroom tile, colored tile, decor, design, home improvement, HomeImprovement, kitchen and bath, moving color, MovingColor, shower tile, tile

Vola Shower Concept

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

We've seen plenty of rain showerheads but the Vola shower concept offers a similar experience but with a wider reach. The shower head can deliver up to 25 liters per minute. It comes in polished or brushed chrome. It won the Good Design award in 2005. If you need a lot of water pounding down on you in a gentle cascade, this or the giant Hansgrohe are your best bests.

Tags: bathroom design, decor, home design, home improvement, shower, vola shower concept, VolaShowerConcept

LaCava Reflection Sink

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

If you tend to avoid your own reflection in the bathroom mirror in the morning this is not the sink for you. The Reflection sink from Chicago-based La Cava Design is made of satin stainless steel that gleams like a mirror. The wall mounted double vanity shown here has a wood frame that is available in a choice of wenge, pickled oak or ash gray. It sells for $8,400.

Tags: decor, design, home improvement, house, interior design, la cava, LaCava, plumbing, sink, stainless steel

Martin Pierce Hardware

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

$4,000 for door pulls? Martin Pierce's door handles are more art than hardware. His unique designs take their inspiration from the plant and animal world. He makes the original design in jeweler's wax and a lost wax process is used to cast the bronze. The process has to be repeated for each piece. Pierce also makes stunningly beautiful wood furniture that uses similar motifs. The handles make their debut at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Chicago.

[via Pure Contemporary]

Tags: bronze, door pulls, doors, hardware, home decor, home improvement, martin pierce, MartinPierce

Zephyr Ellica Collection Ventilation Hoods

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

Zephyr's Ellica Collection of kitchen ventilation hoods is for those who don't want their designer kitchen marred by a big ugly range hood. Their line of sleek artistic ventilation systems includes the Om range hood shown here. The Om has a circle in the center which is ringed with intake holes to suck in the smoke. It has a 450-cfm blower and has an air purifier so that air is recirculated. The hood has four lights in the stainless steel bar on top. The price for the Zephyr Om is about $3,900. A great option for kitchen islands is the Menhir which takes its name from monolithic prehistoric structures. The simple column is composed of two convex stainless steel wings and also has halogen lighting. It sells for $3500. A picture of the Menhir is after the jump.

[via Luxury Housing Trends]

Tags: decor, ellica, home decor, home improvement, interior design, kitchen, kitchen hood, KitchenHood, menhir, remodeling, ventilation, ventilation hood, zephyr

Continue reading “Zephyr Ellica Collection Ventilation Hoods”

Bel-Air Retro Faucets

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

There's probably aren't a lot of bathrooms that this would work in but it could be charming in a retro bathroom. The Bel Air faucet collection from takes its design cues from 1950s sci-fi comic books. It's the latest from Lefroy Brooks which specializes in all sorts of fixtures with vintage appeal.

Tags: bath accessories, bel air faucet, BelAirFaucet, decor, design, home, home improvement, plumbing, retro, shopping, vintage

Murano Designer Lighting

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

A new blog devoted to lighting, Pimp Lighting alerted us to the unique lighting options from Murano Designer Lighting. They fell for the Sole line which uses gorgeous Murano glass in extravagantly colorful starburst creations that can cost up to $39,900 for a 98" chandelier and demand an equally impressive setting (a marble foyer perhaps). A lot less pricey and oddly charming are the Nido lights which look like glowing eggs in metal nests. They are part of Minital Lux's series of lights which mimic natural shapes. The Nido lights sell for $390 to $2,090.

Tags: decor, decorating, furniture, home ideas, home improvement, interior design, lighting

Kohler DTV Shower System

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

The Kohler DTV is the shower system for control freaks. The DTV system includes a digital interface that lets you pre-set your preferences including massage and temperature selections. You can customize different shower settings for various experiences and family members and create a shower that goes from hot to cold or vice versa. The system can handle up to eight showerheads, handshowers and bodysprays and Kohler has created six configurations of shower design. The system costs around $2,000 depending on features. The Kohler DTV system will officially launch at the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Chicago, April 21-23.

Tags: bath fixtures, bathroom, decor, home improvement, HomeImprovement, kitchen and bath, KitchenAndBath, kohler, shower, shower headsd, shower system, showering

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