Designer Adrian Johnson hopes to expand ‘Fridgecouch’ brand

For professional snowboarder-turned-designer Adrian Johnson, a trip to the junkyard can inspire some “funky looking furniture.”

Case in point: the “Fridgecouch.”

Made from refrigerator parts and BMW car seats found in junkyards, the Fridgecouch is the latest design from the former Marion resident who said there were two things he always knew he wanted to do: play sports and invent.

“Building, making and designing things…it’s a passion,” he said.

Johnson said he put his inventing skills to the test when he needed a couch for his outdoor wedding reception in 2006.

To save money, Johnson said he decided to visit the Mattapoisett junkyard and see what he could come up with.

What he found was a retro-style refrigerator and a car seat that he could salvage.

After the wedding, Johnson said he decided to build on the Fridgecouch design.

“I was so enthralled with the idea and it got such a response that I felt I needed to develop the concept more,” Johnson said. “It’s a challenge to see how good I could make them look and function.”

If he cannot find the pieces he needs from the junkyard, Johnson said he looks for postings on Ebay or Craigslist.

To date, Johnson has completed 4 different designs for his trademarked Fridgecouch brand.

Each couch has different features, such as a freezer door that acts as an end table, an adapter for iPods or shelving on the back of the couch.

The thing they all have in common: a BMW logo on the back of the couch. When Johnson is looking for car seats to use for the couches, he says the BMW is the only car he uses because of his appreciation for the cars.

Johnson is a designer for Sullivan O’Connor Architects on Martha’s Vineyard and works part-time at his studio in New Bedford on his Fridgecouch designs.  Each couch takes in between a few months to a year to make.

Johnson said he would like to find a way to blend his sports background with his need to invent.

Born and raised in Calgary, Canada, Johnson spent five years as a professional snowboarder racing for his home country on the National Team.

“There was lots of driving and sleeping in a van,” Johnson said. “I miss it, but I don’t think I would do it again. I did it as long as I felt I needed to and then I decided to do something else.”

After he retired from snowboarding, Johnson turned his focus to inventing.

He received his associate’s degree in computer-integrated design from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary, Canada.

“I always had ideas and I just felt like it was something I wanted to do after snowboarding,” he said. “The next thing to check off the list.”

Johnson’s first design came early while, as a kid, spending summers in Nova Scotia.

Due to cold water temperatures and strong currents, many children from the area had drowned. When he was a teenager, Johnson designed a life vest with a built-in heating system.

In the future, he would like to design sports equipment, but for now, he is focused on developing the Fridgecouch brand.

For Johnson, who now lives in Fairhaven, sports and art are closely related.

“With art and sports you tend to get burned out after continually doing it,” he said. “It’s importance to have a balance. Some of my ideas come to me when I’m not working. Taking breaks is a good way to regenerate some creative energy.”

The latest couch Johnson made is currently on display in the lobby of the New Bedford Art Museum.

Johnson says he would like to get more of his work into art galleries.

Soon, he and an artist friend will visit New York City to look for a good fit for Fridgecouch.

In the meantime, Johnson says he will keep his eye out for new ideas.

“One trip to the junkyard, and in a few hours I’ll come up with some ideas to make all sorts of furniture,” he said. “It’s one thing to have an idea and another to refine designing into something practical that may have use to society.”