It’s almost Tax Day! It might not be the biggest day of celebration, but there are some tax breaks for homeowners that we heard about from Bob Vila. Will you get a tax credit for anything home related?

• Energy-efficient home improvements can help land you a tax break. If, for example, you replaced your windows with energy efficient ones, you could be eligible for this tax break on your primary home.
• Unfortunately, if you built a new house, the energy efficient breaks aren’t available to you. But if you replaced, renovated or retrofitted, you might qualify.
• Sometimes you can get a tax break for installation costs, and sometimes not. Check carefully.
• Save ALL documentation of your energy-efficient replacement efforts. You’ll need to submit documentation and you don’t want to be caught short during an audit!

As always, remember to consult your tax professional if you have any questions about tax breaks for home improvements.

Image courtesy of401K on Flickr.

While perusing Twitter, we came across Nigel Maynard’s Tweet about these interesting hooks. As HomeIQ says, these “will either make you smile or freak you out.”

By artist Nick Davis, these bronze hands and feet are perfect for hanging coats, acting as 3D art and scaring your guests. What do you think? Would you want these in your hallway?

Images courtesy of HomeIQ. 

Mill around on Pinterest long enough or flip through the latest issue of Elle Decor and eventually you will find a brilliant home library complete with dark-stained shelves holding hundreds of tattered hardcovers, along with a cozy leather chair and an antique floor lamp. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

HomeDesignFind.com asks, “Is the home library dead?” It’s a good question. Fact is, while most of us would love a home library, they have typically been reserved for the very wealthy whose sprawling homes could allow such a limited-use room. Cost aside, other factors threaten the future of home libraries, as well.

• The rising popularity of e-readers means fewer books to take up physical space and storage. (A blessing and a curse.)
• Modern design favors open floor plans and multifunctional rooms. (No one ever accused a home library of being versatile.)

The HomeDesignsFind.com article (linked above) shares some helpful tips for integrating the more practical elements of a library throughout your home. The gist:

• Find a quiet, out-of-the-way corner of your home and dedicate it to reading. Make sure your seating is comfortable and the lighting is right.
• You can’t go wrong with adding bookcases, whether in your office, bedroom or living room. And even if you’ve quit buying books since you purchased an e-reader, several websites actually sell “faux books” to fill your shelves. (We’ll keep it a secret!)

[Photo from HomeDesignFind.com]

Sometimes everything seems to be upside down — including houses! This kooky house is the brainchild of Alexander Yee, who designed this Malaysian house (called Rumah Terbalik) to mimic the neihborhood it is in. The only difference is that everyhting is upside down. The sofa is on the celing. The car in the carport is bolted to the roof.

It might be dizziness-inducing, but this house literally turns everything on its head!

We devote plenty of space on MLuxe to the latest trends in home design, but today, we’re going a slightly different route to look at furniture and accessories that are quickly going extinct.

The list comes from Brie Dyas at AOL Stylelist Home, and it was inspired by her friend’s recent proclamation she no longer required a coffee table in her living room. Preposterous, right? Perhaps not, because Dyas’s friend instead elected for a low ottoman, which can act as a more functional centerpiece and as a coffee table with use of a tray.

Now, just because you may have an item or two on Dyas’s list doesn’t mean you should purge perfectly good furniture and accessories in a spring cleaning frenzy. But don’t be surprised to see the following items slowly disappear from existence:

• The coffee table - Dyas writes, “They used to complete the living room, now the ottoman (or, side tables) are the more favored option.”
• The loveseat - “It’s either a three-seat sofa, or a side chair. No in-betweens.”
• The sideboard - “We love them because they give us options (buffet, storage or a bar), but it’s harder to find these pieces in stores.”
• The nightstand - “But if you don’t have nightstands, where are you putting your books?”
• The full-sized bed - “Even in guest rooms, the queen-sized bed reigns supreme.”
• The landline phone – “In the age of smartphones, why bother with another bill?”
• The tablecloth - “During the holidays, you’ll find a few choices. But the rest of the year? Good luck. When it comes to dining room tables, the average home prefers them bare.”

Are there any other furniture items or accessories you believe are on the way out?

A while ago, we asked you if you could only change one thing in your kitchen, what would it be? Let’s expand that to asking what one thing in your entire house would you change? Here are some ideas:

• Have you always wanted a fireplace for cozy winter evenings?
• Maybe your “vintage” kitchen doesn’t have a dishwasher
• Are your white walls bothering you?
• Would new windows make your house sparkle? (Hey, we know who can do that!)
• Do you want to rip out your old carpets and install gleaming hardwood floors?
• Does the thought of an additional bedroom or bathroom make your mouth water?
• Or maybe a walk-in closet or finished basement would be the way to go

Tell us in the comments what one thing you’d change in your house if could. And maybe search around this site for some ideas and tips, like in our remodeling category.

Excellence in design and energy efficiency has long been the M.O. for architects based in the Pacific Northwest. Year after year, the region produces some of the  most innovative homes which feature sustainable materials and generous use of natural elements.

For that very reason, we sent some questions along to Eric Drivdahl, a Seattle-based architect who specializes in custom residential design, historic buildings and religious facilities. Drivdahl is a senior project manager for Gelotte Hommas Architecture.

What’s your favorite design trend right now? 
While the work in our office has historically been very diverse in style, I am seeing a larger trend in both the production and semi-custom markets towards a greater diversity in style. Here in the Pacific Northwest, craftsman style spec homes have been extremely popular. However, that seems to be changing.

I’ve seen several projects in the last 24 months locally that have branched out and have included other traditional and contemporary styles such as traditional farm house, Santa Barbara/Mediterranean, English Tudor and other historical reinterpretations as well as what we affectionately refer to here in Seattle as Northwest Contemporary. Consumers are seeking out great design in the things they buy, and I’ve observed this trend is impacting housing as well.

The floor plan for modern homes continues to open up each year and designated rooms are going the way of the dinosaur. As an architect, how do you feel about creating more livable homes with multifunctional spaces? Do you miss designated rooms? 
I think designing in flexibility to a home is essential. A home generally far outlasts the initial family it is built for. Some homes live on long beyond the third, fourth or fifth family that occupies the brick and mortar structure. It’s interesting that, historically, designated rooms were really the result of the common person trying to imitate the elite. Drawing rooms, libraries, studies…all were initially developed for the well-to-do aristocracy in Europe. When we started building homes for the middle class in America, we somehow thought adding these rooms would elevate the status of the common man…and perhaps it did in the eyes of the world. Winston Churchill even said, “We shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us.” However, the reality of the family today is that we rarely have the leisure time to ‘draw away’ to the drawing room for a good long sit or to spend our time studying linguistics in the study.

Modern families live busy lives of activity and generally want the most out of their time. Therefore, it makes sense that the ‘great room’ with the kitchen/living/dining/study all combined has caught on as a most popular design feature. All of these activities can happen at once and there is a sense of togetherness a family can share as well, even if the individual members of the family are engaged in the separate activities of cooking, resting or working on projects from work or school.

When budget and space allow, there are still good reasons to have designated spaces to keep either messy or intrusive activities from impinging on a family’s ability to enjoy the shared space. Exercise rooms, laundry rooms, and the like come to mind. However, when designing a new project, architects and builders should view even those spaces with an eye toward flexibility. Could the exercise room function as a guest room? Could the laundry be used as an art studio? While a client may not explicitly ask for this level of future flexibility, the one thing we ought to remember is what we design and build will eventually outlast the initial use for which it was designed.

A section of the Gelotte Hommas website explains the six components of quality design, including beauty, form, light, materials and rhythm. Perhaps this is like picking favorite child, but what do you see as the single most important component? Why? 
Truly magnificent design and architecture indeed incorporates all of these components. Can you imagine the Pantheon without its oculus casting radiant light into its perfectly proportioned floor plan? Or Fallingwater without its dramatic cantilevered materials cascading down the slope in delightful rhythm? If a client held a gun to my head and demanded to know which was most important, I suppose my architectural career would necessarily come to a speedy end. “Go ahead and shoot me…I just can’t decide…”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview originally appeared on the Builder Blog from Integrity Windows and Doors.

At some point, you’re going to downsize. Whether it’s because your children have grown up and moved out or you’ve decided a smaller home is simply more sensible, downsizing is a major decision that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Luckily, HomeDesignFind.com has laid out some thought-starters to help you transition to a smaller abode when the time comes. (Warning: The following might be upsetting for anyone who struggles to discard old stuff.)

In your old larger space:

• Before you do anything, consider the place you will be moving to
• Once you’ve developed an idea of what you’d like your new space to look like, life gets so much easier!
• Decide on how you will get rid of unneeded goods
• Avoid the storage option

In your new smaller space:

• Choose multi-functional furniture
• Opt for an open space floorplan
• Rid yourself of one-purpose gadgets
• Opt for quality and get rid of the flimsy and rickety

Do any MLuxe readers have tips for downsizing?

[Photo from Houzz]

Are you looking for a multi-person seating alternative to the couch? Have a dream of “swimming” in cushions? Do you really love birds? Then this seating option might be for you!

The Giant Birdsnest by O*GE is “a prototype for new and inspiring socializing space, which can be seen as a morph of furniture and playground.” It looks like it could be used as an unusual sleeping space in addition to seating. Think of the great conversations you could have while in this nest!

Would you ever put something like this in your family room?

Image courtesy of O*GE

5 kitchen design trends for 2012
Housing Zone
“Each year, the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) surveys its members to identify the latest design and specification trends in kitchen and bath design. This year, 350 NKBA members took part in the survey. Here are five emerging kitchen trends they identified.”

The Psychology of Colour in the Home
Home Renovation Guide
“Given the bold hues chosen by the likes of Pantone (Tangerine Tango) and the Color Marketing Group (Boyz-N-Berry) as the 2012 Colours of the Year, some people will naturally question the impact of colour within their home and how it effects mood. Though there are differences of opinion based on things like culture and geography, there are general rules of thumb regarding colour’s psychological impact. Let’s begin with the Colours of the Year, and their more muted counterparts.”

Kitchen Workbook: 15 Elements of a Traditional Kitchen
Houzz.com
“Traditional kitchens are defined by their details, and creating eye-catching detail is not just as simple as putting legs on an island. But whether they’re Old World or Mediterranean flavor, traditional kitchens all share the same basic elements. Here are 15 details that help you create traditional kitchen style.”

Hardwood Floors for Every Mood
Home Design Find
An article full of eye-candy photos, this piece from HDF should give any hardwood-floor hunter what she’s looking for.