home - inside & out

Long time exhibitor, Ian Barker wins a silver-gilt at the Chelsea Flower Show in London.

The Australian Horticulture industry is celebrating success on the world stage, with the Trailfinders Australian Garden presented by Fleming’s awarded the prestigious SILVER-GILT medal at the Chelsea Flower Show in London.

Backyards for Child's Play

Your backyard can be a great play area for your children. It doesn't need to be big for your children to have fun, as long as you install the appropriate playground equipment. Here are some things to consider when turning your backyard into a play area:

Blossom Time

The cool temperatures of winter linger, but an abundance of colourful flowers is a welcome sign that spring is on its way. Timely tasks and pruning advice from Australian House & Garden’s Helen Young.

Australians love to spend time outdoors indulging in the many pleasurable pastimes our wonderful climate allows. We also love water and it’s a love that blooms at a very young age. After all, how many of us grew up with a backyard swimming pool or, at the very least, a neighbour’s pool we could cool down in come the weekend?

If you haven’t prepared your garden for spring planting don’t waste any more time ‘cause it’s only around the corner.
Vegetables, citrus trees, fruit trees and flowers - here are some tips on what you should be doing in the garden right now.

The need for us all to participate in a more active lifestyle is becoming more and more evident.  Children’s health has particularly suffered as a result of the popularity of computer related games and more sedentary interests.  A pool is a fabulous way to encourage activity for the entire family. We asked Ian Barker to suggest some points to consider when choosing a pool.

Product Selection & Installation

The products used in your home renovation can have a big impact on the overall quality of the job and on how satisfied you will be with the end result. There are two key considerations – the quality of the products and how they are installed.

I have just read an article which suggests the move to open-plan living that has held sway through the last two decades may be on the wane. The reason, the author suggests, is that so many open-plan renovations and extensions have been done with no clear purpose in mind.

Lighting was once something that new home buyers took for granted, often leaving it to the builder or architect to decide placement and intensity.  Times are changing and now a growing number of companies that specialise in lighting – as opposed to simply selling lights - are advertising their services in towns and cities around Australia.

Create Style with Bathroom Fittings

So you have a particular style in mind for your bathroom but you're not sure about how to create it?

Why not use your bathroom fittings and fixtures in order to create the bathroom of your dreams? Read on for some tips.

What's Hot & What's Not in Bathrooms

When you're thinking about a bathroom renovation, you want to ensure that you choose a trend that is going to last the distance and not just fade out in the next couple of years. Here is our guide on what is likely to last the distance, and what is not.

Choosing a kitchen island

A kitchen island can make all the difference in an ordinary kitchen as they give you extra counter space and storage and they also look great.  Read on for our tips on choosing an island that’s right for you.

Everyone desires to live in beautiful, harmonious and practical surroundings, and nowhere is this more evident than in the bathroom. To prevent a lot of heartache and wasted money throughout your renovation, a little planning goes a long way.

Was it just 60 years ago that a sizeable proportion of Australian homes still had outside toilets?  Moving the loo inside, with the consequent adjustment in plumbing, was at the cutting edge of bathroom design in those days.

A reader asks about kitchen extensions.

Are they worth the effort and will the additional investment be recouped if and when the property is sold?

Paint a Brighter Home – Paint Colour Trends 2011/12

Colour schemes are becoming increasingly more individual as decorators break out of specific eras, designated fashions and aesthetics and instead, focus on creating more simple homely spaces inspired by memories and the pleasures of the everyday. Homes are becoming less of a showplace and more a place to make yourself at home. It’s all about comfort.

Australians have been heeding former Treasurer Peter Costello’s advice to have “one child for mum, one for dad and one for the country”. More babies were born in 2006 than at any time since 1971 which was the most productive year on record.

How to Survive the Water Torture

As featured in the Sunday Herald Sun on July 3, John Dagge

A MELBOURNE plumber says he has come up with the answer to soaring water bills. Murrumbeena resident Karl Forti has spent four years designing his Hibernating House water system which allows homeowners to monitor how much water they are using at any time via an electronic device installed in their home.

The Sunny Side

Harnessing the potential of passive solar design helps reduce both power bills and carbon emissions, writes Australian House & Garden’s Sarah Pickette.

Another winter, another round of expensive heating bills, right? Not if your home has been built with passive solar principles in mind.

For an increasing number of people the daily commute to work consists of a stroll down the garden path. A combination of cutting-edge technology, ever-more congested peak-hour roads and soaring petrol prices means that working from home, on either a part or full-time basis, is finding favour with employees and employers alike.

While much has been written about the ‘sea change’ and ‘tree change’ flights from the cities to coast and country, a less publicised but persistent movement has been going in the opposite direction.

The Value of Special Property Reports

By Home Improvement Pages
When buying a new home, it is important to get inspections done before making an offer, so that you are completely informed about what you are getting. A common inspection is the pre purchase inspection but this often does not provide you with enough information, which is when you will need to get a special purpose property report as well. Here’s what you need to know.

To Market, To Market

Selling your home is all about marketing your asset to maximum advantage, writes Australian House & Garden’s Harvey Grennan., and choosing the right agent is crucial for a successful campaign.

The internet is your major marketing tool and you must use it well.

Research in Britain suggests that it takes just eight seconds for a prospective home buyer to decide against buying a property - or to keep an open mind and investigate further. In other words, first impressions count for a great deal.

There’s an art to preparing homes for sale in the depths of winter.

Spring, summer and autumn are much easier. A well presented, sensibly priced home can virtually sell itself at these times.