Living off the grid is a goal for many homeowners.  Pictured here is the Van Geet Off-Grid Home, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.  Located near Denver, Colorado, the house has solar panels that take advantage of 300 days of sunlight per year. 

You can see more off-the-grid houses like this one on the Treehugger website. 

This YouTube video shows how one Nevada City family combined luxury with an eco-friendly design in a 6,000 square-foot home.  Besides using environmentally friendly construction materials, the house has solar panels that supply all heat and power.  Now that’s what we call living off the grid in style!

Apple’s iPad 2 makes it easier than ever to download and use apps.  Did you know there are apps to help you design your home?  Now you won’t have to save piles of magazines with pictures of your favorite rooms are create lots of bookmarks in your web browser.

Here are 3 of our favorite home design apps:

It’s summertime again and many homeowners will find themselves contemplating the addition of a backyard pool.  Pictured here is the pool at actor John Travolta’s Florida home.  Speaking in Architectural Digest, Travolta described the home’s design as a tribute to mid-century modern.  Note the private jet in the background – Travolta is an avid pilot and added a runway when his home was built.

Visit the Architectural Digest website to see a collection of pools belonging to celebrities of the past and present, including Jack Benny, Demi Moore, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jean Harlow, Sylvester Stallone and Esther Williams.  After all, what goes better together than movie stars and swimming pools?

The chicken tractor isn’t a new invention, but Los Angeles design firm 100xBetter has created a modernistic version for the backyard. This portable home for chickens is perfect for urban dwellers who want their own mini-farm.

This indoor-outdoor chicken coup doubles as a lawn fertilizer spreader. The bottom of the coup is open and the chickens fertilize the patch of lawn where it’s parked. Wheels make it easier to move the coup to different locations. The upper portion provides room for nesting and roosting, while a door on the back provides access to freshly laid eggs.

Read more about 100xBetter’s Chicken Tractor in the Los Angeles Times.

The street view of your home is the first thing that visitors see.  It also creates the first impression that potential homebuyers have of your home. Even if you’re not trying to sell your house, poor curb appeal can diminish your comfort level and enjoyment of your home. Here are some quick and easy ways to boost your home’s curb appeal.

• Repair, replace or paint an aging front door.
• Keep your lawn groomed and edged; add mulch to flower beds.
• Trim overgrown shrubs and trees; remove tired-looking plants.
• Place flowers in over-sized decorative pots near your front entrance.
• Add easy-to-read house numbers to the front of your house.
• Install low-level landscape lighting (consider solar lights if your climate permits).

An appealing exterior will make you feel good about your house every time you return home. For more curb appeal suggestions, visit the Better Homes and Gardens website.

Room & Board has introduced a line of outdoor furniture that features full upholstery, with couches and chairs featuring frames made from marine-grade birch plywood and anti-rust aluminum legs. The foam upholstery is covered with water-resistant fabric. If it does get wet, a draining mechanism helps keep moisture from building up and promotes quick drying.

The durable upholstery fabric is made from solution-dyed acrylic yarns with color that won’t fade. A special fabric finish repels water and stains.

Find out more about this stylish weather-resistant upholstered outdoor furniture at the Room & Board website.

One of the newest green-home innovations helps to break down smog in the environment. The concrete tile roof, which is being used by new-home builder KB Home in Southern California, neutralizes nitrogen oxide vehicle emissions. According to Boral Roofing Company, the maker of the tile, a 2000-foot house with a roof made of BoralPure Smog-Eating tile can annually break down the emissions typically produced when a car is driven 10,000 miles.

The tiles have been used in Europe for about 5 years, where they were applied to roadways. The air was noticeably cleaner following tile installation.

KB Home will be installing the smog-eating tiles on new homes in a Martha-inspired community in Eastvale, California. Read more about BoralPure Smog-Eating Tile on the MonierLifetile website and see an informational video on YouTube.

The Japanese have an aesthetic known as shibui, which is characterized by simple and subtle beauty. You can apply the philosophy of shibui to your garden to create a tranquil space that’s the perfect place to escape from the world.

Here are some tips for applying shibui to create your own tranquil garden:

• Don’t crowd your garden. Leaving some wide open spaces creates a relaxing atmosphere.
• Plant flowers sparingly. An abundance of green foliage with a variety of textures is more restful than the vibrant colors of blossoms.
• Add sculpture, a water feature or other pieces of art to complete your retreat.

Read more shibui suggestions on the Sunset magazine website.

If you’d like to try organic gardening but don’t have the space or are feeling overwhelmed, why not try Square Foot Gardening?  You can set up one of these boxed minigardens almost anywhere, including on your lawn or patio.  This compact gardening technique, also known as raised-bed gardening, is becoming increasing popular because it gives you more control over your soil, plants and irrigation.

 Find out more about Square Foot Gardening in this YouTube video and then visit the Square Food Gardening website.  If you’re interesting in buying a raised gardening box that comes complete with seeds and all the supplies you’ll need, visit MinifarmBox.com.

 One of the newest additions for the home that has everything is the outdoor kitchen.  In addition to a gas grill, homeowners are adding refrigerators, sinks, bars and even pizza ovens to their outdoor kitchens.  But one thing has been missing from even the most fully-stocked outdoor kitchens – an outdoor dishwasher.  Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet has met this need with a new outdoor dishwasher which was unveiled at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York.  The dishwasher will be available this summer.  It’s high price tag, $4990, make it a high-end product for only the most upscale outdoor kitchens.

Read more about the world’s first outdoor dishwasher on the Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet website.