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

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.

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.