Home Trends

Back to School - and Homework

Christmas is behind us and the lazy, hazy days of school holidays are winding down. Thoughts turn to school and the routine of special projects and homework.

Fruit and Vegetables the Easy Way

We hear a great deal about sustainability these days. For the most part it concerns power and water use, but there's also a revolution going on in some gardens, where the lawns and flower beds are being dug up and turned over to fruit and vegetable production.

Smartening Up your Apartment for Sale

A reader owns an apartment he wants to sell, but realises he has been remiss over its upkeep and it now has a rather run-down look. "In fact, there hasn't really been much done to it, apart from essential maintenance, since the 1970s," he says.

Thinking Big on Small Blocks

The recent policy decision by the ACT Government to have more houses built on 'compact' blocks only highlights a trend which has been continuing in Australia for several years.

Chasing the Elusive Feng Shui Energy

A couple of years ago we wrote about the Chinese concept of Feng Shui channelling positive aspects of the life force into buildings and the fact that many of the things it advocates promote a pleasant and healthy living environment.

Maximise your Living Space

If your home is still in the lounge, or even the front parlour era, it's worth considering structural improvements that maximise the useable space.

Beware of Unwanted DIY Expenses

Christmas is the season when many of us have the leisure to do the things we really like, whether that is holidaying, partying or simply relaxing with a good book. It is also the time when do-it-yourself enthusiasts plot their more ambitious projects - and that can lead to trouble.

Defy the Drought with a Specialist Lawn

As the drought continues lawns have come under severe pressure. However, horticulturalists insist that lawns can survive quite lengthy droughts, it is simply a matter of choosing the right type of grass for the conditions.

Think Before Sacrificing Your Backyard Pool

With the drought dragging on and water restrictions apparently a permanent fact of life, more householders are questioning whether they should continue to maintain their backyard swimming pools.

Robbing Rogues of Holiday Pickings

Australia goes on holiday in January - but don't bank on burglars doing the same. Empty houses and quiet streets are a great incentive for enterprising rogues, so make sure when you shut the front door and head off for your fortnight in the sun you leave behind a home that is reasonably secure.

Bamboo Shoots into Top Fashion Lists

Bamboo, for years relegated to the role of cheap veranda furniture, is having a resurgence as a high fashion statement, its versatility rediscovered at the same time as an increasingly concerned world is finding its green credentials to be impeccable.

Mending Fences with the Neighbours

There's nothing with more potential to provoke disputes between neighbours than fencing. Ideally it should be the responsibility of the two households it divides, but getting agreement on its care and maintenance is another matter.

A New Life for that Redundant Garage

Are you a member of the bicycle generation who are trying the shake their dependency on the motor car? If so your numbers are increasing as you explore all the options, including bicycles, but also public transport or movement back into the city centres to ensure you are close to work.

Avoiding Mass Extinctions in the Garden

Our recent column on small gardens attracted a lot of interest, with many readers saying they have tried to get one started but have just had one disaster after another.

Letting Light into your Life

Do you want to let more light into your home, or failing that the illusion of more light? Skylights are one obvious answer, and there are such a range of different designs these days that they can be made into a feature in their own right.

Bringing Bedrooms Down to Earth

For generations the single-storey bungalow has dominated Australia's home design. With an apparently endless supply of land, it didn't seem to make sense to build upwards when homes could sprawl over quarter-acre blocks with plenty of room still available for any extensions needed in the future.

An Extra 'Room' in Time for Summer

As winter begins to subside in the southern states and it's possible to venture out again without coat and gloves, thoughts turn to the alfresco living which is so much a part of being Australian.

High-rise Gardens Attraction for City Dwellers

In an increasingly hectic world, large houses with gardens are simply not an option for many potential homeowners, but if you are a busy professional deciding on an apartment or town house, you don't have to rule out enjoying some open space, even in the centre of a city.

Kitchen Renovations that Don't Bust the Budget

We would all like the kind of kitchen that is featured on the pages of glossy lifestyle magazines, but we don't fancy taking out a second mortgage to do it. In fact, a tired old kitchen can be spruced up, even transformed, on a limited budget. All it takes is a little ingenuity and an eye for the important details

Choosing a Good Nights Sleep

The selection of a bed and the mattress that accompanies it is one of the most important decisions you can make. They will contribute to your well being; keep you healthy in youth and active in old age. It is worthwhile taking a great deal of trouble over their purchase.

Creating an Oasis of Peaceful Privacy

We have a proliferation of names to describe the rooms of our homes: living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms are ever-presents of course, but how many of us can boast parlours or sewing rooms or conservatories these days?

Storage Tips for a Clutter-Free Life

With spring in the air once again many of us are thinking of clearing the decks and getting rid of some of the year’s accumulated clutter. Perhaps a major renovation or extension is planned that requires the removal of substantial amounts of furniture...

Glass Blocks - A Fashion for the Ages

Glass block windows are one of those design features that never seem to quite go away. Are Australians behind the times, clinging to an outworn and dated product? The fact is glass block windows are just too useful to be discarded on the whim of fashion

Artificial Rocks a Lightweight Alternative

At first sight it seems rather strange that there should be a demand in Australia for artificial rocks. After all, don't we have enough of the real thing? Why not go to the nearest quarry for your landscaping requirements ....

Chandeliers Swing Back into Fashion

Chandeliers, exiled to the palaces of the mighty and homes of the affluent for generations, are having something of a renaissance as Australian householders seek a touch of opulence....

Let there be light - plenty of it

Dramatic seascapes, busy cities, rolling countryside.we are letting them all into our homes in a quiet revolution in window technology that is blurring the borders between indoors and outdoors....

An Alternative to a Wet Garden

Until the onset of the current drought and the screening of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", governments across the spectrum of politics were treating the impending water crisis much as an Ostrich treats danger. Just hoping it would all go away....

Ensuite - It's a Matter of Vanity

Today, new homes are much bigger, but how has that impacted on the humble bathroom? The trend is going away from a single centralised bathroom and moving toward a private ensuite for each bedroom.....

Enclosing a Little Slice of Heaven

Courtyards are the most personal of places, where the mind and imagination can run free. They are also havens - retreats from everyday life when time can be spent in contemplation, tranquillity and seclusion.....

Back to the Louvres

There was a time when the majority of homes in the warmer parts of Australia employed louvres to gain relief from the sometimes oppressive heat of summer......

Warm Soapy Palace of High Fashion

The biggest changes in the bathroom, are the installation of twin washbasins, dual showerheads and frameless showers. There has also a willingness to create views from the bathtub. It's turning into a warm, soapy palace of high fashion....

Wallpaper Features in a Return to Opulence

Mention wallpaper today and most people under 30 will think you are talking about the background to computer monitor desktops or mobile phones. The fashion for white walls and minimalist décor has held sway for a number of years, but now leading European interior designers are predicting ...

Leading Up the Garden Path

A beautiful garden comprises many elements – flowers, trees, shrubs, cool grass, private nooks for reading or contemplation and of course, paths. We tend to overlook paths, some quite large gardens don’t have them at all, leaving people to wonder aimlessly from one area to the next...

Planning the Bathroom Renovation

As we move into 2007 the bathroom scene continues to be dynamic. During most of 2005 the geometric, stark white look dominated, but in 2006 more organic shapes, coupled with warm, natural tones, have been making a comeback...

Consider the Beauties of Bi-fold

One of the most popular items currently on the new home and renovation market are bi-fold doors, now available in aluminium and timber and looking great in both....