Even when discarded, materials with symbolic value can loan coolness to whatever they're reborn as -- '57 Chevy backseats can become restaurant booths, and ears can become totally sweet necklaces that protect Dolph Lundgren with their powerful juju in Vietnam. Use this concept on your pad, with Skate Study House.

Started in Newport Beach by one of the guys behind etnies, SSH converts skateboard decks into slick homewear -- so instead of juvenile "falling off of" injuries, you can sustain the more mature "tripping over" variety. Inspired by a '40s-'50s architecture movement called "Case Study House", the designs start with stuff that supports you, like a longboard-constructed bench, a three-skateboard-and-plywood chair, and the Godfather: a neoprene-upholstered lounge chair/ottoman Brando would've used had the Corleones gotten into the Cube Gleaming business. To support your stuff, there're two coffee tables (one topped with guitar-pick-cut glass) and a bookshelf using standard boards as dividers and longboards as shelves, so when people ask where the books are, you can say, "It uses standard boards as dividers, and longboards as shelves!"

Beyond decks, SSH uses wheels and bearings for coat-hangers and clocks -- though no amount of skater cool can redeem the device that tells you it's too late on a Wednesday to still be up watching Universal Soldier.