The whole point of buying a house is to make your mark on the place. You’ve shelled out the cash (or, more likely, taken out a mortgage) to get your own home, so naturally it should be a reflection of your own interests, likes, dislikes, and preferences. Most of the time, since different people owned it before you, your house isn’t immediately like that and some kind of renovation is in store. If you’re at that stage, we have a few ideas for things you may not know you even wanted.
Skate Park Dining Room
Like a lot of you, we grew up with skateboards under our feet. Hell, we’ll still hop on a board from time to time. And one thing we always dreamed of as a kid was being able to skate in the house. Well, this house is a testament to that kid inside us all; the one that always wondered what it would be like to have a quarter pipe in the dining room. Turns out, it looks pretty damn awesome. Link
A Living Room With Motorcycle/Car Space
This bad boy truly brought a tear to our eyes. If you’ve been following Cool Material for any significant amount of time, you know we love our cars and bikes (have you checked out the Cool Material bike?). We hate leaving our them out on the street or in that lonely garage, so imagine our delight when we stumbled upon this masterpiece. Concrete floors, beautiful leather furnishings, and enough room for both a car and a bike. Yes please! Link
A home recording studio
When you’re a kid playing guitar in your high school pop punk band, there’s nothing you want more than to be able to sit around laying tracks all day. Or maybe you were an aspiring producer with an MPC and a set of Technics 1200s. Either way, music was your life. Well, getting older doesn’t mean getting boring, it means being able to make enough money to finally do all the crazy shit you wanted to when you were a kid. In that spirit, we present this beautiful recording studio living room setup. Tasteful presentation, clearly comfortable creative space, and all the equipment we wish we could afford when we were kids. Link
Spiral Slide Stairs
You know, on first impression, you might think we put this here as some kind of sweet gesture from parent to child. A way to help our children bring just a little bit of the playground home every night. And those are nice thoughts, but it’s more of a perk. Really, the slide is for us. This thing is so cool it ranks right up there with firefighter’s pole on our list of “Playground Stuff That’s Actually Way Better When You Bring It Inside.” And just look at that polished wood stain! Stylish and functional. Link
An Outdoor Fireplace For Your Porch/Deck
An outdoor fireplace is a pretty easy thing to pull off, and ideas for them abound. You can get yourself a campfire setup and set up chairs around it, or you can go with one of those massive concrete ones that kind of look like Pagan fire shrines. But if you’re a man of particular taste, you can go for something built right into the side of your house or deck. The set up we speak of is covered by a roof or canopy, but it’s still outside the home. And it’s safe, efficient, and perfect for our favorite kind of night. We didn’t know we wanted this, but now that we do, we want it bad. Link
A Hidden Speakeasy
Prohibition taught Americans a lot. Two things in particular. One, prohibition doesn’t work, and two, Americans will go to great lengths to have a good time. Everything from bathtub hooch to building illicit bars in basements, back rooms, and attics all over the country. And what were these crowning achievements of America’s ingenuity called? Speakeasies. Today, these hip little bars are used to lend credibility and fun anonymity to bourgeois cocktail bars, but imagine our surprise when we stumbled across this beautiful suburban retreat. It’s undeniable how incredibly well done this is. It almost looks like the guy didn’t so much as build it as accidentally stumble into a time capsule during a home renovation. Link
A Service-Style Kitchen That Opens to a Patio Bar
This is another one that really, really speaks to our souls. Like, what the hell is the point of even having a deck if your kitchen doesn’t open up to it? We want eggs and bacon served straight to us, by us, on our deck, every damn day. And don’t forget the Bloody Mary! Link
Rooftop Putting Green
If you have yourself the rooftop space, or a wide open deck or balcony, consider putting up a tasteful putting green. They help with relieving stress, decompressing after a long day, and even provide some post-work meditation. A putting green isn’t just good for the mind, it’s good for the soul. We aren’t even golf people, but there’s too much to be gained from an idea like this to not at least try. Link
A Swimming Pool Movie Theater
Easily one of the most “outside the box” design ideas on this list, the swimming pool movie theater is easy enough to pull off, so long as you have the right pool. Simply get yourself a projector, some inflatable floating loungers, and let the good times roll. Call your buds, fire up the grill, and enjoy those hot summer nights right around the corner. Maybe see if there are floating coffee tables or drink coasters too. Just don’t let them get too far away. The point is to not swim at all. Link
Hammock Floors
We have two words for you, fellas: Hammock Floors. Oh, you think this is a myth? No, no, no. It’s very real, and it’s just as beautiful as you could have ever imagined. If you have an apartment with those tall ceilings and raised beds, or you just want to do something unique with that second-floor overhang, floor hammocks are a beautiful and surprisingly safe way to relax and utilize some space that’d ordinarily go unused. Sounds like a win-win to us. Link
