Like moths to a flame, we humans are some fire lovin’ folk. Something about that flickering, heat-giving, forest-burning, mysterious glow that brings out the inner caveman in us all. For example, we had a little get together at the casa last Friday night and at one point, I just happened to notice that we had the gas fireplace going in the living room, the barbeque grilling on the front deck, food heating on the kitchen range top and some of our less reliable guests stoking the outdoor fire pit with dubious combustibles.

Suddenly, I felt the presence of Al Gore’s large, levitating head glowering down at me through a cloud of C02, and was filled with a foreboding sense of green guilt because at that moment, my carbon footprint must have been the size of Crusty the Clown’s shoe. But as the monster in Frankenstein said so eloquently, “Fire. Good!” Wouldn’t it be great if someone invented a stove that merged fireplace, woodstove, barbeque and cook stove into one, efficient, attractive unit?

Wait for it… …continue reading 3-in-1 Grill, Barbeque and Stovetop Fireplace

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Even celebrities slow down for a home-cooked meal once in a while. And lucky for us, they’re cool enough to show off their state-of-the-art cook spaces. Today, we’ll take a super intimate look at the kitchens of big-name stars – and sample some sweet design tips along the way.

Christina Aguilera’s Funkadelic Cook Space

Pop singer and four-time Grammy winner Christina Aguilera shares this funkadelic kitchen with her music-producing husband, Jordan Bratman, and their son, Max. Since the home’s former owners were the Osbournes, this is certainly not the first round of atypical décor the house has seen.

Christina’s kitchen is an eclectic melting pot of stylistic influence. Medieval, oriental and satirist antediluvian furnishings don’t stand a chance with the modernization of graffiti artwork, kaleidoscopic rugs and metallic red and purple kitchen counter seats all vying for the spotlight. Convention shows up somewhere in there by way of stainless appliances. Her creative vision? “I wanted every space to have its own personality.” Mission accomplished! …continue reading Kitchens of the Stars: 6 Eclectic Celebrity Cook Spaces

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The idea of white roofs isn’t a new one. If you’ve ever been to Mykonos, Greece, you’ve seen the famous hillside homes painted white to deflect the scorching sun. But since the weather in Greece is typically hot, this lack of color palette makes no difference in winter, where in colder climes, dark roofs would serve better to retain heat.

Enter MIT graduates, who developed color-changing tiles – white in summer to dispel heat and black in winter to absorb it. …continue reading Energy-Saving Color-Changing Roof Tiles

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