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

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.

In the search for the coolest home and furniture out there, I happened to think about my younger years and how I've been fascinated with professional sports teams whether in the NFL, the NBA, the MLB, and even the NHL.  If you are intro sports, you would know exactly what I mean.

Although some may say that only someone obsessed with this or that team will be bold enough to adorn their home with furniture emblazoned with sports team logos, I beg to differ.  I think that there is a place in every home for furniture adorned with their favorite team's logo.

One such place of course is the recreation room.  If you have one, you can put bean bag chairs in there emblazoned with your team's logo. There are also fixtures which are adorned with sports design.  One example is a billiards themed overhead lighting which you can use over your pool table.

For your kid's room or your gaming room, bean bag chairs are also good additions. They are extremely comfortable and they come with their own team tags.  Oh by the way, for those who bought furniture at Furniture & Appliance Mart (see second post), it looks like you are one step closer to having your purchases refunded.

When it comes to creating a cool atmosphere inside your home, a water theme will rarely fail.   A tabletop fountain proves that.  The flowing water of the décor inspires a feeling of coolness.  But you can do more than that.  Just look at this creation.
This will surely look good on any home especially with a contemporary theme.  In this particular "cool" furniture, the bluish lighting from the aquarium gives its surrounding a soothing ambience.

You can have the same stunning addition to your living room.  All you need is ingenuity and the right pieces.  Of course, you need a center table with a glass top.  And you will also need an aquarium which will fit snugly into the lower shelf of the table.

If you have the table and lack the aquarium, you can have one made to the specifications allowed by the table. Once you have the aquarium and the table set, all you need to do now is set it up so that the aquarium's aerator.

If you know how to tinker with electrical stuff, you can do this on your own.  And after you're done, you can now call on your friends to have a look at what you have created.  

Talented artists have been creating cool and weird furniture with every medium possible.  As you can see on my earlier post, there's this bookshelf made out of bent plywood. Although the materials used are not so out of the ordinary, the final product is a unique one.

Today, I'd like to share with you about this manufacture of chairs from bicycles. Sounds cool enough for you?  Bike Furniture Design manufactures weird but cool furniture from old bikes.  Basically, their designs revolve around using the tires and rims of the bike.

Their creations are really cool, just check out this table from the company.  I think what they do is really cool although it looks simple enough.  Maybe if you have the right equipment and the inclination towards metal crafts, you can create on of these.

According to the manufacturer, all items that they are selling are currently all made to order.  But if you want to try your hands on creating such a cool furniture.  I think you will need an old bike.  But if you want to use an old bike, you might need to clean it up first and you might need to paint it.  An alternative is to buy new rims which essentially make up the chairs.  You can have it upholstered after making the frame.  But if you don't want to spend much time creating the furniture, you can just order them eh?  

Before I started this blog, I was already on the look out for cool furniture. And here are some of the cool things I have found in my search for all things cool.  But since what's cool for me might not be cool for you, I am not expecting you to love these things as much as I do.

Anyway, the first one is this cool bookshelf made from bent plywood.  Designed by this guy named Leo Kempf, it is made from plywood and a piece of hard redwood.  The plywood pieces were bent and slotted into the slots in the redwood then glued together.  This is sure to catch anyone's attention.

It is said to be gravity powered as all you need to do is stack books on top of each other and gravity will do the rest.  There would be no need for bookends. It looks very cool for me.  Hat's off to Mr. Kempf on this one.

Another cool furniture I've seen is this side table.  Crafted to resemble a mouse pointer, it is said to be one great way of adding some geekiness into your home without making it too obvious, to which I agree.

There's also this coat hanger designed again to look like mouse pointer.  Computer geeks or modernists would surely love this item.

Of the three, I think the bookshelf is the coolest.  I think I'll give it a coolness rating of four out of five.  

Some people are really so ingenious that they can always come up with ideas that most of us would just react with a "Wow!".   For example check out these pics from flickzzz:

Since I have a soft spot for automobiles, I definitely love the first and second table designs.  The first one though might be overkill but it really looks good especially with its plate which reads MINI DESK.  I love the second one more because it is so simple yet so appealing.  Check out the pistons supporting the glass top and it will just blow your mind away.  As I've said, some people out there are really so good with these stuffs.

This is also a good one especially if you have little girls in your house.   Without a doubt, any home with a "carriage" like this is a cool home in my book. 

If you love contemporary pieces for your home, then you would surely love this.

And here's another one.  This four chairs and that little table in the middle can be stowed away to for the bullet-like décor on the left.  I wonder how many this costs though. 

And least but definitely not the least, check out this cool stairs.  I saved this for last because it really is nifty.  If you don't allow shoes or slipper on the second floor of your home, it is a good idea to have a drawer installed at the bottom of the stairs just like this one.

In my quest to bring to your attention some of the coolest home designs out there, I have found this post from a fellow blogger.   It features an interesting piece of kitchen furniture.  This is designed by one Fevzi Karaman, a designed based in Turkey.

One look at the kitchen design and your eyes would certainly be soothed thanks to its apple green color.  What's amazing about this creation is that it transforms from a simple table to mini bar.  This design has already won a prize for Karaman.

How cool is this design for me?  Well, I think it is clever, that's a given already.  But would I want this in my home? Maybe not.  The reason is that I don't think it will be good for someone like me.  But if you are a bachelor and has this pad you want to jazz up, it would surely be a great addition.  I just don't know how much this costs though in real life.

Coolness factor:  maybe three out of five.  No disrespect but I think this is not an all around kitchen furniture.  Two thumbs up though for the clever design.  So that's it for now, be back soon for some cool homes.

Imagine having your favorite team winning the biggest prize in their league and paying nothing for renovating your home. That would be what Green Bay Packers would get if they bought their furniture from the Fonti family's stores.  The owners of the Furniture & Appliance Mart, the Fonti family started a promotional campaign where they would refund any purchase on any of their eight stores in Wisconsin if the Green Bay Packers win the coveted Super Bowl.

According to Freep.com, if the Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl, those who bought their furniture from the Fonti family's store will have their money returned by the store.  The Green Bay Packers has won the Super Bowl three times.  Two of them came from the first two staging of the Super Bowl Championships.  The last one of those championships coming in 1996.  Would the Packers add a fourth Super Bowl Championship this year?

The team has Brett Favre and his awesome throwing hand so I think the Packers have a good chance at the Bowl.  And since the Fonti family is feeling Santa Claus-y, they said that the sky's the limit when to come to buying furniture in connection with the promo.  "It can be as little or as much as they want," said Vinnie Fonti, vice president for merchandising.  "They can furnish the entire house and it can be free."

The reason behind the promo is that the Fonti brothers have been lifelong supporters of the Green Bay Packers.  Joe and Bill, Vinnie's brothers have also been supporters of the Packers.  The Fonti family already has insurance to pay for the items which they would reimburse if the Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl.

This is not the first time that a promo like this was used by a company.  Last year, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series and Jordan's Furniture based in Boston refunded purchases of certain items.

Hi guys, welcome to my sanctum: Cool Homes. I am always fascinated by beautiful homes, that's why I created this blog - To share with you guys my fascination, so expect future posts about different homes; some will be anonymous and some will be celebs' homes.

I might as well share tips and articles regarding home designs and styles. I am an architecture student right now by the way. That means, I am also in my way towards learning new things that is related to my course. I am also engaged in interior designing, so if you guys share the same interest with me, please leave me a comment in my posts or in the Cool Home shoutbox.

Ciao! See yah around!