11 Hottest Celebrity Pools

The backyard swimming pool began its rise in popularity after World War II. Prior to this, Ancient Romans and Greeks constructed grand scale artificial pools for athletic training. Since then, celebrities have gone to lavish lengths to build some of the most luxurious and stunning swimming pools around. Here are what we think are the 11 hottest celeb pools.

1. Sylvester Stallone

Adorned with a grand bronze statue of “Rocky Balboa” at one end, marks that there is only one person this pool could belong to. The Greek motif gives the actor’s stunning Miami pool a historical Olympian feel.

2. Lance Armstrong

The exquisite landscape and swimming pool are definitely the highlights of Lance Armstrong’s home in Austin. With its cozy fireplace, stone cabana and Gothic-style lanterns, the pool area has a charming and resort feel that is stylish and relaxed.

3. Cher

Designed by Cher’s longtime friend Ron Wilson, Cher’s Renaissance inspired residence in Malibu has a stunning, infinity-edge pool, that transcends into a vast ocean view. This is the sanctuary where the singer-actress says she spends all of her time in summer.

4. John Travolta and Kelly Preston

Actor John Travolta calls his house in Florida a “mid-century-style home”, and says that coming up with the design was one of the most challenging tasks he’s ever taken on. The pool and cabana have a sleek and modern feel streamlines seamlessly with the architecture of the house.

5. Rob Lowe

Actor Rob Lowe’s southern California home is pure eye candy. The pool is especially marvelous and sporty. The rest of the house is built towards a neo-classical-style that stems from Lowe’s love of late 18th-century English manors.

6. Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher

Hollywood’s high profile couple worked together with designer Brad Dunning to come up with the stylish design of their Beverly Hills nest. The swimming pool has a very classical, functional, and sophisticated appeal, all to set alongside and compliment a spacious deck and garden.

7. Ryan Seacrest

The home of the dubbed “hardest working man in Hollywood” and also the host of American Idol, boasts a flourishing garden overlooking a spectacular view. The simplicity in the pool’s design emanates a sleek look; all while exuding a relaxing and Zen environment.

8. Ralph and Ricky Lauren

Legendary clothing designer, Ralph Lauren, has an eye for more than just fashion. He and his wife, Ricky chose a lush and green landscaping plan to encompass their immense pool to their home in Jamaica.

9. Jayne Mansfield

Late actress Jayne Mansfield demanded “a heart-shaped house with a heart-shaped pool” before she would agree to wed Mickey Hargitay. Not only was her wish granted but she also has the prestige of owning one of the most unique celebrity swimming pools in Beverly Hills.

10. Diane Keaton

Actress Diane Keaton’s Spanish Colonial Revival house in Bel-Air has very unique swimming pool. She went with the concept to use the bright, earthy colors inspired by the colors of a few California tile tables at a swap meet. Diane then tore apart the tiles and assembled them in a mosaic fashion as her pool tiles.

11. Alan Ladd

Actor Alan Ladd’s home is the sheer definition of classic California during the 1940s. His pool’s simple and elegant design perfectly melds with the warm air of a lazy SoCal summer.

Lights! Camera! Paint That Theme!

Whether you are in the process of beginning a new landscaping project, or are just amidst adding the finishing touches, one of the most important details is maintaining consistencies in your theme. The relationship between textures, colors, styles and shapes are what give your landscape a unifying aesthetic. How your setting should appeal to you visually is the same pleasing senses you receive from a well balanced photograph or postcard. When mapping and designing your area with key components, a helpful technique to aid you in balancing your placement is to take snapshots with your camera. Constricting your landscape view to a frame, allows your eyes to see how the key elements in your area flow and interact with each other.

A common question when it comes to designing any area is, does one have to stick to one theme? A theme is generally defined as “a unifying or dominant idea, or motif.” With this, you can have varying elements that all correlate with each other in establishing a theme. Designing your backyard is similar to painting, you can use different textures and colors, but the end result is one established picture.

Below we will show you how to create an Asian inspired landscape.

Establishing your place of Zen

The essence in an Asian themed landscape is creating a place where the visual dynamics allow your energy to be in a place of peace and relaxation. Unlike typical landscapes, Asian gardens can be viewed as a composition or series of smaller landscapes, with sections in which you can move through, experience and view.

One of the first things to consider when planning this type of landscape is the size of your area. Although Asian gardens have varying elements, this does not mean you need a large space, but just a carefully planned out one. One inexpensive and effective way of establishing the tone to your Asian garden is by using bamboo as part of your landscape. You can plant bamboo to be a part of your vegetation or use it for fencing, area borders, or even using bamboo poles as wall or structure accents.

Once you establish a tone, the rest is up to you, the painter of your landscape, to brush in the details. With Asian gardens, details generally mean to reflect the physical elements such as water, wind, earth (stone) and fire. It is a good idea to section off parts of your landscape that will reflect your desired element. You can use bamboo borders to separate different foliage, elements and areas. For example, to one side of your yard you can have a rock garden encompassed by sand, to compliment a nearby Buddha statue as the main visual focal point. As you move through areas and dimensions of your yard, it is important again to remember that creating that free, open space is what will set the relaxing Zen feeling. Another relaxing element is water. Placing a water fountain will not only visually stimulate the senses, but also add the sound dynamic to your landscape.

Simple details such as stone statues, bamboo accents, water fountains, and rock gardens can help establish a welcoming flow of energy to your back yard.

In designing any landscape, it’s important to maintain a common interest between your elements and have a unifying theme. Most importantly though is to have fun, after all this area will be the place you escape to from your every day life, so enjoy the creative process and let your imagination take you to where you want to be.

Effective Lighting Solutions for your Backyard

Having a beautifully landscaped backyard is one thing, but equally important is having your space effectively lit. While backyards provide several benefits, such as engendering family gatherings, providing entertainment for you and your loved ones, or simply being your space of escape and more; a backyard lighting system will paint the finishing details to your landscape. Just like how landscaping contributes to the aesthetic and value to your home, lighting can enhance and highlight desired features while creating that perfect ambiance for your guests. Keep reading for benefits and tips on how you can enjoy your backyard night or day with key lighting concepts and more.

Various Backyard Lighting Benefits

Aesthetics: Well positioned backyard lighting can enhance any landscape. A backyard lighting system helps magnify the different textures, while complimenting varying features and shapes of your structures, shrubs and trees. The addition of lighting will expand beautify the spatial views. By varying lighting hues and intensity you can establish mood and ambience for an evening of entertaining, parties, romance, etc.



Safety: Another primary function of backyard lighting is to illuminate possible hazard areas. These may include steps, low branches, water features, barriers, abrupt changes in path directions, elevation changes, and more.



Security: Your backyard surrounds your home. Typically, people have many valuable items in their yards, for example fancy statues and figurines, elegant water fountains, bamboo tiki bar stocked with pricey liquor and stem-ware, expensive pool toys, and etc. Backyard lighting can protect your valuables from unanticipated accidents or potential intruders. A well lit home and garden can help deter crime, while providing a clearer view at night on who is coming and going from your property.

Usability: The outside landscape is an extension of the inside of your home. Having a well lit area allows you enjoy that space regardless of whether it is day or night.

Entertainment: You can continue to enjoy gatherings in your backyard as dusk rolls in, instead of everyone packing up and heading inside at the first sign of nighttime. Everyone can relax outside in your beautifully landscaped backyard and enjoy themselves under the star-lit sky. Imagine sitting around your bamboo tiki-bar with a colorful array of stringed lights cascading along the roof and counter-top. In addition to that, little lights that gently illuminate along your patio and walkway so guests can see where they are going as they journey and marvel through your landscape. What an extraordinary and gratifying ambiance! Everyone will love getting together in your backyard.



Backyard Lighting Tips

Uncomplicated Systems: When it comes time for you to select your backyard lighting system, you should be careful to select lighting fixtures that are easy to install. You don’t want systems that have complicated electrical cables and connections as you want to compliment your landscape and not have to reinvent everything to do so.

Automated Timers: A good idea is to choose an outdoor lighting system that has an automated timer integrated into them. This way the timers regulate the duration and periods that the lights will be on and off, which makes it easier and convenient. You can even get solar powered lighting systems, which will absorb energy from the sun during the day so that they illuminate at night for your safety and enjoyment. This will also save you money on utilities.

Plan Your System: Be sure to plan out your backyard lighting system. There are so many systems to choose from and unique fixtures you can add to your décor, you should make a plan for your backyard lighting so you don’t overspend or get fixtures that don’t fit well with your decorating scheme.

Some Questions to Ask Yourself: How much do you want to spend on your backyard lighting system? How much backyard space do you have? How much brightness do you want? Do you have any specific features, such as a water fountain or sculpture, you want to enhance? Do you have any paths or areas where people will need to be able to see where they are walking? How will you install your lights? Do you want to hang stringed lights, for example around your patio covering or bamboo tiki bar, or do you want stand alone lights, for example light posts and spot lights?

Cool Landscaping Design Tips and Ideas

Creating a tropical landscape is a rewarding and creative task, but finding and purchasing your ideal landscaping products and tropical décor is only half the battle of creating the ultimate tropical paradise in your home and yard. The other half is the actual work involved in landscaping. There are so many different landscaping ideas and methods you can use with colorful plants, bamboo fencing, a tiki bar, umbrella thatches, tiki statues, and all other bamboo and tropical-themed products. Keep reading to learn more about some cool landscaping tips and ideas for your home and yard that will help you in your planning.

Benefits of Landscaping

In addition to being beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, landscaping your home and yard adds enjoyment and value to your home. Landscaping has proven to be one of the top ways to add monetary value to one’s home. Additionally, depending on the particular landscaping project and the amount of continued maintenance and upkeep, landscaping can even appreciate over time.

Landscaping Tips and Ideas

Plan before you Buy. This may sound tricky, but it’s an important step when landscaping. Simply sketch your ideal landscape design on paper before you start buying, planting, and building your new yard. This will enable you to make smart purchases by knowing exactly what materials you need and where you’re going to put them. Planning your landscaping project can save you time, money, and unnecessary frustration.



Build Boundaries. Walls and fences are generally a necessity for every home and yard. But, you don’t want boring old fencing or concrete cinderblocks as your barriers. Instead, you can create a beautiful landscape and tropical paradise through the use of bamboo poles and bamboo fencing. Additionally, you can use various plants, shrubs, and trees for barriers.

Add Waterworks. Not only does a beautiful water feature add a pleasant ambiance with the sound of trickling water, but water features are also extremely pleasing to the eye, can add value to your home, and are elegant. You can add a beautiful waterfall, fountain feature, or small pond to your tropical décor. If you opt for a pond, you can even buy colorful fish to enhance your water feature. Just be sure to maintain whichever water feature you add to your landscape.

Color is your Friend.



Adding color to your landscape will do wonders. And, it’s surprisingly very inexpensive. In fact, for as little as $1.00 a plant, you can blanket your yard with petunias, daisies, and other small annuals that will flower throughout the growing season. Color is a highly defining characteristic in tropical landscapes. Attractive colors will surely enhance the tropical theme in your home and yard.

Foliage is Fun. Interesting, eye-catching, and distinctive foliage can add variety and appeal to your yard. You can replace plants that don’t flower, replace flowers that are difficult to maintain, or simply add foliage to your current landscape. Examples of fun foliage include:



Flowering Crabapple Trees



Cutleaf Japanese Maples

Keep your Grass Nourished. Healthy, green, lush grass is always an easy and popular idea for any landscape. To reach optimum nourishment, you can implement regular fertilizer treatments and maintain a watering schedule. You can also keep that unwanted crab grass and those nagging weeds out of your lawn by adding a weed killer to your fertilizer treatment.

Bamboo and Tikis Tropical Décor

At Bamboo and Tikis, we have an extensive selection of top-quality landscaping products and tropical décor. Whether you are looking for bamboo fencing to create an aesthetically pleasing wall around your yard, a unique tiki bar for fun and entertainment, or other tropical landscaping products, Bamboo and Tikis has the products for you. So, get started on adding value and beauty to your yard by turning it into the ultimate tropical paradise. Browse our web site or come on in to our grand showroom in San Diego which offers 65,000 square feet of bamboo and tropical products galore.

Transformations from the Outside In

“Home, the spot of earth supremely blest, A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest” ~ Robert Montgomery

Throughout our daily bustles, fighting traffic, hours at work, and running errands, coming home is like dropping the heavy baggage and falling into a comforting place of reprieve. Many times, in efforts of revamping the home, people forget about landscaping and think mainly towards renovations or adding a pool. Although it may appear that landscaping only serves an aesthetic purpose, one can get so much more value from planning and cultivating a land area that includes real estate equity, monetary gain and personal benefits as well.



Whenever enhancing a home, the initial thoughts generally gear towards renovating, either a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, patio, or adding a pool. Working from the inside out, since landscapes aren’t considered as functional as the innards of a house, financially conscious planners will head there first. The truth is though, enhancing your landscape can be more cost effective than renovating, and can yield a higher return. Studies have shown that home owners can actually earn back anywhere from 100-200% of their landscape investment, whereas renovations to the kitchen earn about 75-125%, bathrooms 80-120%, patios/decks 40-70% and pools 20-50%. The common misconception with when homeowners spend large sums of money on a swimming pool is that it will add an aesthetic and functional appeal to a home, but forget about the cost of heating the pool, maintenance, water, and safety for kids and pets.

During our current tough economical times, where real estate isn’t as flourishing as it was, it is of interest to home owners to get the most value out of their property as possible. Often times, a well maintained and attractive backyard suggests to buyers that the home is just as well cared for. Event though you may not be looking to sell, the higher value your home is worth means the more equity you will have.

Another gain from landscaping that includes being earth friendly along with saving money is how certain landscape details can reduce utility fees by 25%. Structures and additions such as trees, thatch kits, umbrella kits, or other bamboo products, can provide shade by absorbing sun rays, or deflect wind during cold wind-chills.



The other side of landscaping is that it doesn’t have to be expensive. By using quality and inexpensive materials such as bamboo, you can create a dynamic aesthetic to your property without breaking the bank. Renovations, although can be helpful and practical if needed, can cost more in the long if additional work to electrical wires, or removing or adding walls, and consulting various specialists for certain tasks.

The truth is when creating your sanctuary of solace; the project is ongoing and may never be complete. This process should be a positive one that grants you satisfaction in seeing the fruition of your work, planning and investment. Similarly to why we take vacations, your home and garden should provide you with that same sense of relaxation.

Items such as garden statues, tiki statues, bamboo fencing and water fountains can provide your backyard with colorful blooms of texture and visual aesthetics to invigorate your senses.

Benefits of using Bamboo versus Other Wood Materials

The use of bamboo for various décor projects in place of other types of wood has become extremely popular. This is because bamboo products possess remarkable qualities, in comparison to other varying types of wood. Additionally, utilizing bamboo accents create a pleasant, relaxing and tropical feel to one’s home. People are using bamboo fencing, bamboo poles, bamboo thatch, bamboo rugs, bamboo flooring, and much more to turn their homes into tropical paradise. The appeal that bamboo has over other varying woods is its unique aesthetic, affordability, functionality and strong quality.

What is Bamboo?

Bamboo is technically a group of woody perennial evergreen plants. Simply put bamboo is a tree-like grass. It is considered extremely renewable because it is the fastest growing woody plant in the world. Bamboo can betreated and can also form a very hard, lightweight, but durable wood. This durable wood works effectively for construction, architecture, decoration, furniture, and more.

Environmental Benefits of Bamboo Products

Bamboo has a number of environmental benefits. It has been and will continue to be considered the “green” building and decorating material. The extremely rapid growth, sustainability, and natural regeneration properties of bamboo are what primarily responsible for bamboo being considered the “green” material.

There are thousands of species of bamboo that grow around the world, including some species right here in the United States. Bamboo grows very rapidly, making it extremely renewable. Unlike traditional types of wood, bamboo can grow from cut stems and shoots have been observed to grow over 3ft in one day. Since bamboo regenerates so quickly, cutting it won’t affect its growing power. Unlike other types of woods, bamboo can easily and speedily be re-grown in a reasonably short period of time.



Strength of Bamboo

Contrary to popular belief, bamboo is very durable and resilient. In fact, although bamboo is flexible and lightweight, it has received hardness, or strength, ratings higher than many hardwoods. Also, bamboo has been likened to maple wood, which has been observed as one of the hardest woods available. Additionally, bamboo is also a naturally water resistant material and part of the manufacturing process of bamboo includes lamination which increases its resistance to warping.

Versatility of Bamboo

Bamboo is tremendously versatile. It can be used for construction, architecture, decoration, food, musical instruments, medicine, furniture, fishing rods, and much, much more. In the United States, bamboo is typically used for decorative purposes for home and garden. Bamboo’s durability also allows it to be used for flooring, fencing, wall coverings and area rugs in high traffic or weathering areas.. With such numerous uses for bamboo, it’s not wonder why bamboo products offer such versatility for one’s home or landscaping needs. For example, because of its water resiliency, bamboo can be used in places where typical woods cannot such as bathrooms, outdoor patios, and kitchens.

Another convenience factor is, unlike many other hardwood products, bamboo flooring needs no finish work and is factory pre-finished with a laminate varnish. Bamboo fencing or applying bamboo poles to a pre-existing fence is an affordable and eye pleasing way to really spruce up any area..

Regardless of the decorating project at hand or how you choose to incorporate bamboo elements, the use of bamboo will turn your home or yard into an island getaway right at home, that will provide you and your friends comfort, entertainment, relaxation, and unique beauty for years.

Reed Fencing is an Elegant Tropical Solution

Transforming your backyard into a tropical oasis is one of the easiest ways to bring a sense of the islands into your everyday life. A key way to accomplish the transformation is the easy to apply bamboo fencing, thatch and Bamboo products.

Bamboo fencing is a great solution for covering existing fences and structures, or hiding unsightly pool pumps or dog kennels. It is sturdy, durable, and does the work of a traditional fence. At times though, a solid fence is not what you are looking for, but rather something with a lighter weight and texture. The answer is reed fencing. Reed fencing serves as an excellent screen while its cousin bamboo fencing serves more as a fence.

Reed fencing is created from a beautiful tropical grass banded together with a fabric based thread. Once installed, reed fencing provides a 25% opacity allowing for sight through the fence and onto the other side. It is perfect for an interior pool screen or to semi-disguise a side yard or garden. The ability for light to pass through the fence heightens the sense that you have truly slipped away to a tropical paradise.



Reed fencing also serves as an excellent interior wall covering because of its relatively light weight and minimal thickness. It can be stapled or tied directly to the wall and creates the illusion that the room you are in is actually a Tiki hut in some far away island paradise.



Bamboo and Tikis delivers excellent quality reed fencing in 6’ X 16’ foot rolls that can easily be cut to your specifications. Try reed fencing today and feel the difference a little tropics can make in your life.