The lure of luxury home options

Lew Bednarczuk, whose job is to stay on top of what’s going on in luxury home design, recently talked about the merits of owning a “double-wide” vs. a “single-wide.”

Is the economy so bad that the president and CEO of HomePortfolio.com, an online directory of high-end home design products, has put some serious thought into trailer-home widths?

Far from it.

Bednarczuk was talking about single-wide or double-wide indoor kitchen grills built into the range top.

Despite the recession, “higher-end appliances are kind of becoming the norm,” Bednarczuk says. In fact, professional-grade kitchen appliances are starting to look like a good buy.

“Prices on this stuff have not gone up much over the years,” he says. “I think that’s the reason people are switching over.”

For folks who can’t afford or justify professional grade brands like Sub-Zero and Viking, midrange manufacturers like Jenn-Air have come out with luxury lines, he says.

“They are entering this arena because they see a demand and an opportunity,” he says.

This enables middle-class consumers to get the look of a designer kitchen without the designer labels. If they are opting to do so despite the economy, perhaps that’s because interior design shows and magazines have a way of making luxuries — which are expensive and inessential by definition — seem like necessities, entitlements or good investments. Wherever it snows every winter, it’s easy to persuade people a bathroom towel warmer is a “must have.”

Setting aside style and prestige, are luxury items worth the extra cost? We walk through three rooms where many people can’t resist the splurge.

Chef’s kitchen

There is, in fact, a big difference between an economy brand and Sub-Zero refrigerator, said certified kitchen designer Peggy Deras of Kitchen Artworks in South San Francisco, Calif.

Separate compressors for the freezer and fridge compartments keep food fresher. With no air exchange between the two compartments, temperatures and humidity levels remain constant so lettuce won’t go limp, frozen bagels won’t get freezer-burned and “you won’t get odors migrating from fridge to freezer,” Deras says.

“The only sacrifice is there’s no ice and water through the door,” Deras says, “but if you can afford a Sub-Zero, then you can afford a dedicated icemaker.”

However, if you are comparing top-of-the-line non-designer brands like KitchenAid or GE with the designer lines, the appliances start to look and act more alike. In this case, “Honestly, there’s probably not that big of a difference with performance and durability,” says New York-based real estate broker Linie Chang Rand, a branch manager with Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty.

A so-called “chef kitchen” with professional-grade appliances costs at least twice as much, and though such kitchens are highly marketable and desirable, it’s unlikely those costs will be recouped at resale, Rand says.

One luxury kitchen item Bednarczuk says everybody should have is a built-in, one-button coffee brewing system such as the $3,000 offering from Miele that connects directly to the plumbing.

He also likes combined steam and convection ovens like Gaggenau’s, which costs around $7,000, because the cooking technology locks in nutrients for healthier eating.

“Induction burners are also pretty unique in that they heat the pot and its contents instead of the coil,” Bednarczuk says. “The cooktop doesn’t get hot, so there’s a safety benefit, and it brings things to a boil really fast.”

For the budget-conscious, “There are stand-alone countertop versions that plug in for as cheap as $100 if you’re not redoing the whole kitchen but like that technology,” Bednarczuk says.

Deras says, “My favorite product for clients who can afford to splurge and want an incredibly beautiful focal point in their kitchen is an Abbaka range hood” handcrafted out of copper, stainless steel, aged bronze or brass. She adds, “I always warn people not even to look at one if they’re not prepared to pay the steep price because they’ll never be satisfied with anything less.”

Sometimes, utilitarian items from commercial spaces cross over as luxury amenities for home interiors. For example, for faucet controls, “I am currently using hands-free foot pedals in all my kitchen renovations, typically found only in hospitals and restaurants but proves to be an eco-friendly convenience,” says Elaine Williamson of Elaine Williamson Designs in Dallas.

Bathing in style

Moving on to the bathroom, “Full-service toilets are becoming popular,” Bednarczuk says, including TOTO’s Neorest with a remote control automatic lid, an adjustable sprayer with “precision positioning” for personal cleansing and an integrated warm-air dryer. At a cost of nearly $2,000, “It’s the car wash of toilets,” he says, jokingly.

For folks who enjoy long, luxurious soaks in the tub, there are models like BainUltra’s that offer heated headrests, programmable massage and color, aroma and sound therapies.

One of the latest advances in tub technology is the ceiling-mounted filler, which shoots a stream of water into the tub that looks almost as solid as it is straight, like a pole.

“They look extremely impressive,” Williamson says. “However, if mounted too high, the temperature fails to impress by the time the water reaches the basin.”

Niroo recommends knob-and-basin sets from Sherle Wagner with hand-painted floral and fruit patterns.

“They’re the most beautiful sinks you’ve ever seen,” Niroo says. “The faucets, too. The craftsmanship, the design, is amazing. It almost looks too beautiful to be used.”

Media room marvels

The media room is another space besides the kitchen where the cost of luxury has stayed steady or come down over the years. Nowadays, “you can put in a home theater with a 200-inch screen for not a lot of money,” Bednarczuk says. “Five thousand dollars will get you the screen and projector, and it’s an extra couple of thousand for theater seating.”

For traditional homes, Niroo favors American-made Habersham furnishings, particularly media cabinets, which combine Old World stateliness with today’s technology.

“They make fabulous entertainment units with remote controls, so you can lower a beautiful mural over the TV,” she says. There’s ample hidden storage for CDs, DVDs, and game consoles and accessories.