One alternative is the Cambria Natural Quartz Counter Tops and the DuPont Zodiac. They look a lot like granite but they look a little artificial to me and the whole allure of granite is that it’s a natural stone even with all the maintenance headaches. I think these products fall in line with Corian. They’re solid surfaces requiring little maintenance but missing the luxurious factor by looking artificial. Yup, Granite will see it’s demise like Corian has in recent years.

IceStone, on the other hand, is one cool alternative in my opinion. It’s made of recycled glass and concrete that provides an entirely different look. Best of all it’s friendly to the environment. Since it uses recycled materials, IceStone counter tops can be used toward getting LEED certification. It’s strong like granite, not as porous as marble, and heat resistant like stone. I like it.

Please, no more granite, maple cabinets, and stainless steel appliances. Granite’s like a hit song on the radio where it’s good the first few times you hear it, but gets annoying after hearing it a gazillion times.

I think I found my new dream gadget. It’s the life|ware digital & home automation control. It controls practically everything in a home which can be the music, lighting, thermostat, television, kitchen appliances, security system, or anything else for that matter. Homes of the future will have a digital network that controls everything and that technology is available today with this product. It makes the Jetsons look ancient.

The controls can be integrated through any device with a Windows Vista Media Center operating system which includes televisions or personal computer. The Life|point Touch Screen Controller is another option that can integrate into your home like any light switch. It’ll just look way cooler.

Disney integrated Life|ware technology into the new House of the Future attraction at Disneyland which is scheduled to open this month. It is ironic that it integrates technologies that are available today.

I’m not too sure of the pricing, but I’m sure it’s not cheap and only the finest new homes will have this technology for the time being. All I know is I want one.

see the slick interactive demo: life|ware

Life|ware at CES 2008

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At least you’ll never run out of hot water and doing some good for planet earth. It’s a wonderful luxury item to consider for new construction or remodeling projects, but it’s not cheap. It costs twice as much as a normal water heater but really within reach of most consumers if you gotta have it.

If price is no object or you’re getting sick of running out of hot water or waiting for it, then you gotta have it. All homes over a million dollars should have it and hopefully we’ll all have it eventually.

The Starry Night Sleep Technology Bed by Leggett and Platt was revealed at CES this week and it’s got enough bells and whistles to complement any ultra luxury home or satisfy the richest of gadget geeks. It will be released in 2009 for $50,000 with all the upgrades so you gotta have money to buy this bad boy.

It costs about as much as most people’s down payment for a home so what makes this bed so special? For starters, it monitors what you’re doing all night long and can deploy a anti-snore technology once it detects the noise pollution. Each side of the bed can be adjusted for temperature and tilt and provides recommendations for how you can sleep better.

The most interesting feature of this bed is that it packs as much audio visual technology as most well equipped home theaters. A 2,500 watt surround sound system featuring four 8″ subwoofers, Wi-Fi, Ipod docking station, a 1080p projector that can display HDTV on the bedroom wall, and a media center with 1.5 tb capable of storing 20,000 hours of video or 400,000 songs are all integrated into this high tech gadget or bed or something. Talk about never having to get out of bed.

Starry Night Bed at CES on Cnet TV

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Leggett and Platt Infomercial

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Here’s a gadget for the techie control freak luxury home buyer that is just cool. The Kohler DTV is a touchscreen interface for the shower that controls the temperature and up to 8 shower components. It eliminates the need for multiple valve handles so it really does streamline the look of any shower and comes in a chrome, nickel, or bronze finish. It would typically see installation in a shower with multiple shower heads which is becoming all the rage in luxury homes. The DTV at about $1,000 per controller along with the recently released Kohler Shower Tiles is perhaps just the thing to transform the master bath into a true retreat.

Click here to view the embedded video.

One of the biggest trends in luxury homes these days is home automation and Crestron is the leader in this technology.

Home automation systems allow home owners to control the lighting, climate, audio distribution, home theater, security, and intercoms from a single touch pad or from a remote location.

Imagine unlocking your front door for a relative that decided to visit when you’re out of town or having the lights turn on in a sequential manor when you arrive at your home. The Crestron system even stores personal preferences based on your fingerprint through biometric software.

Home automation is wonderful but it does come at a price. An average sized installations run about $50,000 and more sophisticated installations can run much more. Although very expensive, home automation will be a must have feature for luxury home buyers from here on out and become as ubiquitous as granite countertops and Sub Zero refrigerators.