Vertical Gardens
Arguably the biggest trend in green spaces at the moment is the Vertical Garden. We are seeing towering apartment and office blocks transformed by beautiful gardens growing up the outside of buildings
Read moreWhy not add a Spa Bath to your Bathroom
Although Spa Baths have been installed in Australian homes for many years, they went out of favour and the numbers dropped in popularity. People were removing them from their homes when renovating or no longer including them in a new build. But Spa Baths are on trend again.
Read moreGlaziers: see clearly
When we think of a Glaziers work we think windows and doors but there is so much more to this specialised field.
Read moreHome renovation costs: when to save, when to splurge
Undertaking a major home renovation and extension is a large investment in your family home, and in your family’s future. There is a myriad of decisions and selections that need to be made, and overarching it all is a budget that you are determined to work within. This advice will help you decide if you should spend or splurge.
Read moreBeat the Melbourne climate install air conditioning
Australia is a country of climate extremes and while traditionally we embrace the summer months it can be exhausting and debilitating when the temperatures and the humidity rise. Our houses heat up during the day making it very uncomfortable to sleep at night. It can be just as uncomfortable trying to stay warm during the chilly winter months and if you live in Melbourne you could well experience all four seasons in one day. The perfect solution to this changing and sometimes unpredictable weather is air conditioning.
Read moreWorking with building designers and interior designers
Building a house or an extension, or a planning a renovation requires extensive knowledge of building design, engineering, codes, regulations, and requirements. By starting your building or renovation with a clear plan, you can create a home which perfectly suits your style, needs, and ideas. Interior designers can work together with building designers if your plan requires it, and work with builders to fit out the house with appliances and permanent fixtures.
Read moreHow to clean your solar panels
If you have installed a solar power system in your home or workplace you have invested a considerable amount of money, so it’s important that your return on the investment is as large as possible.
Read moreA homeowner’s guide to planning a hassle free home renovation
Every year, millions of homeowners all across Australia embark on ambitious home renovation projects. The most popular targets are the kitchen and the bathroom, because they offer lots of opportunities for families to stamp their personality on the space. Whether it’s a full makeover, complete with entirely new fixtures and fittings, or it’s just a spruce up to revive a tired room; successful renovations can add value to a home and expand its appeal.
Read moreFinding your mattress match: warnings and wisdom from the experts
When it comes buying a new mattress, most of us don’t put much thought into the purchase beyond whether or not it feels comfy in the store. We might spend an hour or two bouncing gently on different products to test their firmness, but we rarely ask the important questions. This is why, every year, thousands of homeowners end up with a mattress that just isn’t suitable for their lifestyle or sleeping habits.
Read moreChoosing The Right Carpet
What’s there not to love about carpet. Don’t we love the feeling of carpet under our bare feet. Isn’t it cosy for the kids to play on a carpeted floor. Don’t we love the noise reduction of carpeted floors and the nonslip safety aspect, not to mention the winter warmth.
Read moreMaking the most of your pool area
Swimming pools are often the focal points of modern landscape designs. However the areas around them are often overlooked and neglected when it comes to maximising the potential of our backyards.
Read moreLaminate Floor Cleaning – Quick 4-Step Guide to Save You From Disaster!
Understandably, people naturally use water when cleaning flooring surfaces, but the problem with laminate flooring is that water is its enemy! Moisture warps and weakens it. Often the lamella is only 5mm thin and it has MDF backing. This is like chipboard so the slightest gap between planks, or unsealed edges, will cause it to swell, lift and buckle.
Read moreA homeowner’s guide to cleaning the fireplace
There are few things guaranteed to warm the heart (and the limbs) faster than a beautiful open fireplace. As a design feature, it is delightfully sophisticated and wonderfully stylish. While many of the traditional Georgian and Victorian fireplaces have now made way for more contemporary shapes and forms, Australian homeowners still love the crackle and heat of real wood fires.
Read moreHow to choose the best fencing for your home
When it comes to choosing fencing there is a huge range of styles, sizes and materials to choose from and lots of things to consider before you make your decision. First and foremost is choosing the right style of fencing to compliment the style and architecture of your home. For example a traditional home may suit a picket fence or perhaps a sandstone wall. While a contemporary home could suit anything from timber or steel to a brick, rendered or stone wall.
Read moreBrighten your day
Do you have a room or hallway in your home that is always dark and you need a light on even during the day?
Read moreRenovating your Queenslanders’ floors
The Queenslander is a much admired and sort after home that can be found in most parts of Queensland as well as northern New South Wales. There are a number of eras and designs of the Queenslander ranging from the 1800’s to post WW11 homes dotted all over Brisbane, varying in architecture as time progressed and the average size of the urban house block decreased. There are however a couple of unique features all Queenslanders share, the most iconic of which is the verandahs and the timber floors.
Read moreTurf Wars
Artificial Turf has come a long way in recent times and is fast becoming a popular care free way to green up your property. While it’s not quite the real thing, the artificial products are now much more sophisticated and actually do look and feel close to the real thing.
Read moreProfessional painters - the pluses
Building, renovating, updating, time for a change or selling are the more common reasons to paint your home. Inside, outside, one room or many, it is important to get the colour and the finish just right and to achieve that it is advisable to enlist the services of a professional licensed painter.
Read moreStart the New Year with a spring clean
Christmas is a faded memory and a New Year has begun and what better way to start the New Year than with a spring clean and maintenance of your home and garden. Have you let all those little odd jobs mount up during the past year while you kept telling yourself that you will get around to fixing them. So hire a handyman and kick the year off with a good clean, repair and rubbish removal.
Read moreGuide to Bathroom Lighting and IP Rating
Starting with the technical details, safety is key when choosing your bathroom lighting. To identify whether a light is safe for your bathroom, all lights are given an IP Rating (Ingress Protection rating) which measures how resistant the light is to both water and dust particles. IP Ratings can be determined by reading the first and second digits following the initial ‘IP’.
Read more