Seven Deadly Sins of Home Design
A ‘must read article’ before you commit to a design.
Six Golden Rules of Home Design
Start your home design here.
Planning Your Garden
Take time to plan your garden before you start.
Alstroemeria hybrid ‘Ella’ (Princess lily, alstroemeria)
Ella is an alstroemeria that has bright watermelon pink flowers.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Paradise Odette’ (Camellia, Sasanqua camellia)
Camellia sasanqua ‘Paradise Odette’ is a hardy evergreen shrub with small informal to formal double mid pink flowers with crepey petals. It is a vigorous upright and open growing plant with glossy green foliage to around 4 metres high, and is an excellent espalier variety.
Growing Banksias
There has to be a place for at least one Banksia in your garden. The incredible range of sizes and shapes in flowers, foliage and growth habit make them a ‘must have’ to add texture and wildlife to boot. If you want a tree as a perch for birds to view your garden to satisfy themselves it is safe for an extended visit, then the coast Banksia (B. integrifolia) or Old Man Banksia (B. serrata) are good options.
Portulaca oleracea ‘Sun Jewels’ (Portulaca, Purslane, Moss rose)
Portulaca oleracea ‘Sun Jewels’ is a semi succulent annual to perennial groundcovering plant with bright flowers.
Breathe easy: Where to get the facts about Loose Fill Asbestos
With asbestos back in the news, it’s a timely reminder of the issue of loose fill asbestos insulation in residential properties.
Bio Pools
Bio pools are an environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional swimming pools which bridge the line between being a swimming pool and a private lagoon But chlorine, water heating systems and litres of wastewater are not what you’d call sustainable.
The client brief
The client brief is a document that is used as a starting point in designing a home, and is formed first by the client and then refined with the help of a building designer or architect, in this case, you.
Wall Construction
Once the floor structure is in place the walls are erected directly on top of the chipboard or slab. Walls act as a loading bearing support for the roof and provide space for openings such as doors and windows, and they enclose the house and seal it from weather. Walls comprise of either a structural frame and cladding or solid masonry.
Schedule of areas
The Building Schedule of Areas is simply a table of the named spaces in the Performance Specification with an estimation of their size.
Japanese toilets
Enter a modern Japanese home and one is struck by both the sophistication of electronic entertainment and white goods. The pursuit of design and high technology seems imbedded in the Japanese psyche. Also imbedded is their art of cleanliness.
Roof Construction
Roofs shapes vary considerably in both cost and construction. A continuous Gable Truss is usually the most economical. A Butterfly Roof is a more expensive option due to the need for box gutter detailing, engineering requirements and the difficulty of installation.
Australian Native Orchids
Orchids are one of the wonders of the plant world with a staggering diversity of plant and flower types that provide endless fascination and sometimes obsession for gardeners.
Native Annuals and Perennials
Australian annual and perennial plants can be used to create excitement in your garden as they are quick growing, usually very floriferous and because they are relatively temporary they can be replaced on a regular basis to add something new each year.
DIY home improvement and design articles
A set of articles to learn how to design your own house.
Best Australian natives for pots & small gardens
The trend towards smaller gardens has inspired the plant lovers’ in the nursery industry to respond with an ever-increasing range of Australian plants that will delight those who want to attract birds and butterflies and bring a little bit of the bush onto their balconies.
Top ten native plants
A renewed interest in the new millennium in Australian plants has inevitably led to great advances in the genetic improvement of our flora.
