Cool Homes: Blogging about the coolest homes in the whole world.

In order for your home to be considered cool, it should be clean both inside and out.  Now, cleaning is actually an easy job.  If you see that your lawn needs weeding, you can weed it.  If you see that your ceiling light is accumulating dust, clean it up with a damp cloth. You don't need some elaborate step-by-step procedure on how to clean a modern candle holder.

But before you clean up for spring, it might be a good investment of time to read this informative article.

How would you create a cool home with colors?  Of course, the key would be to create the best combination.  Now, not all of us are color experts.  Even I cannot claim that I know the best color combinations.  But the World Wide Web is a great tool for us who love decorating homes.  Just Google color combination and you will be bombarded with information about, well, color combination.

Armed with information gleaned from that search, you can now proceed to making your home a cool one.  With that info, you can choose the right ceiling lamp on some home furniture store either online or in your locality.

There are a lot of different styles out there and cool homes use these different styles. One style that I really like is the Japanese theme.   This is because they are so simple but have that appeal that makes you just want to take a picture of it and use the photo as a template to use in decorating your home.

Rental Decorating has an article about this style and you can read it here.  A part of which reads: "Japanese culture seeks to balance opposites in all aspects of life (yin and yang), and interiors are no exception. Interior finishes can be highly opposing and contrasting, and yet achieve balance. Examples are, highly polished floors with heavily textured mats, a lacquered box displayed on top of a rough wooden table, or white pebbles on a polished black granite ledge around a tub."

Sure, the article may not exactly give you an idea where to find garden statues to fit a Japanese theme, but it sure is very informative and enlightening.

When someone mentions home to you, do you think that it only refers to the inside of your house?  If so, that would mean that your garden is not a part of your home right? And if that is indeed true, then were missing something here.

Of course, the garden is an integral part of your home.  That is if your home has a garden.  Although located outside, it is an extension of the design of your home. Thus, if you want to have a cool home and you have a garden, then it should be as "cool" as the interior of your home like this one here.

Remember that the term "coolest homes in the world" would refer to your home too.  So it is up to you to make your home (and your garden) look cool.  One thing you can add to your garden is an attractive garden statue.

We all know that the bedroom is very important.  Thus a cool home for me means those with really cool bedrooms. And I have been looking for cool bedrooms across the World Wide Web.  One of those I really like is this heavenly bedroom. The use of white is really cool and it gives you a soothing feeling that makes you just wants to plop down on the bed and doze off.

Another one that I like is this four-poster.  Again, the clean white theme does not look very clinical but instead just gives off that aura of comfort and cleanliness.  This would go well with a home designed in either contemporary or traditional theme.

This playful kiddy bunk looks really cool.  For the young at heart, a similarly designed bunk would be a great addition to a contemporary-themed home. The playful colors really make it more appealing that it I snow taking my mind off looking for that perfect Valentines Day gift ideas.

Another bedroom that I like is this one.  This room looks really elegant with its use of neutral tones.  The paintings on the wall do not hurt too. I love the idea of employing those two chairs in there as they give the room a more spacious feel.

We all know that different people have their won sense of style.  What looks good for you might not be appreciated by someone else.  But there are three styles which have become a favorite of Americans.  These are country, contemporary, and traditional according to Rental Decorating Digest.

These three are really popular as they are really pleasing to the eyes.  Different generations differ in their preferences and this result to the popularity of three distinct styles.

Contemporary styling is very popular among younger consumers.  They want their home to have that unique look but in essence, they share the same style as other people in their generation.  Modern-looking furnishings are of course the favorite of people with homes designed in contemporary theme.

Traditional design lovers on the other hand belong to the generations who have seen the popularity of antique furnishings.  The elegance of traditional theme is its most attractive part.  Time cannot tarnish the beauty of traditional designs and this is what makes the theme popular.

Country theme on the other hand is conducive to a much laid back living.  People who wants relaxation (and who would say no to that?) would more often than not use country theme to design their homes with.  Although one can say that it might not be the best Valentines Day gift for men, I think country-styled decors would be a good present this coming heart's day.

A home will look cool only if it is decorated with cool fixtures and furniture to boot.  Of course, just because a home looks cool to one, it does not mean that others would consider it cool too.  But there are furniture pieces that I think would be labeled cool by most of us.

For example, this really amazing chair I have stumbled upon. What is so amazing about this chair is that you can use it in nay position that you want. Sure, there are a lot of reclining chairs out there but in my opinion, none of them is as cool as these.  It makes me think up of great Valentines Day ideas.

Another cool piece I found on the net is this cool and really eco-oriented corner table.  It looks like gnarled roots of a tree. The person who created this is surely a good artist as he or she has found this stump of wood to have a great potential to become great furniture. As you can see in the picture, it makes a great place to put books on or you can put this in the garden and place your drink on this as you read a good book.

These two furniture pieces are so cool in my book that I want to have them in my room.

We have come to associate graffiti with vandalism and all the bad things it is associated with.  But there is no denying that it looks good especially if done by a really good artist.   Today, although there is still that belief that it merely pertains to vandalism, graffiti is considered by many to be worthy of being displayed in a gallery.

That got me thinking, wouldn't it be nice if you have some sort of a graffiti design in your home.  They usually come in bright colors so I think they would look good in a contemporary styled home.  It will also be good for your teen's room.  That is if you already have a grown son ore daughter for that matter.

For me, it invokes a playful atmosphere even if it is traditionally used to convey philosophical and socially aware messages.  I think that it would even blend with a wall candle holder if designed in a good way.

Some people would disagree with the concept if using graffiti style to decorate a home.  But the bottom line here is that you will decide what your home would look like.  So if you like graffiti, you might want to try it out in your home.

There is no doubt that the furniture industry is going green and so does other industries.  And since there is a lot more emphasis given to things looking natural, it is not surprising that we see more and more furniture like this one from J.D. Madison.

Actually, I have not heard about this company until I came across their really cool table and chairs collection.  At first glance I though it was made out of plastic designed with wood textures.  But it appears that they are made from recycled or reclaimed wood.  That means production of these furniture has minimum impact on the environment.

The said furniture is designed by Brent Comber, a designer based in Vancouver.  The design studio used branches and twigs of maple, cedar, and Douglas fir.  The raw materials used in the said furniture would have ended up being waste products.  But thanks to the ingenuity of the designer, it was made into really cool furniture.

The furniture looks so cool that I am thinking of buying one instead of a folding chair.  Or maybe I can just make one.  Fat chance though as it looks like it is precision made and even if I am into DIY projects, I do not have the talent and the equipments needed to create these furniture pieces.

When it comes to decorating your home to make it look cool, we all know that we have to consider the lighting that we employ.  In the past, overhead lighting is enough, but today, it seems that floor lamps are becoming more and more popular.  But is it really good to have them floor lamps around your home?

Well, I surely think that they can make a room in any home look much cooler.  The advantage of using floor lamps of course is that they can illuminate your floor better than your overhead lighting.  Floor lamps also come in different styles so you can pick one which complements or contrasts the rest of your home.

You can have these floor lamps contrasting with your overhead lighting or have them complement each other.  Make sure though that your home will not look like a set of a low-budget sci-fi movie.  Since you cannot test all the floor lamps you fancy from a shop with your overhead lighting at home, it would be wise to compare them by their designs.

Also, be careful with floor lamps as they involve wires on the floor.  It might not be a good idea to have one of you has children running around your home.  The reason of course is very obvious.  Just as obvious as the purpose of fireplace screens.

So that's it for now.  Oh and by the way, Furniture & Appliance Mart will no longer reimburse the payments for furniture bought at their store from Dec 26 until the last day of said month as the Green Bay Packers lost to the New York Giants.