Ideas Blog
Colour of the Year 2023
The festive season is upon us, and it's time to start looking ahead to 2023 and what colours are predicted to be on trend. It's actually quite interesting this year. Two of the leading lights in this space are Pantone and Coloro + WGSN. Pantone predicts colours for...
Creating an Awesome Al Fresco Area Part 5 – Weather
If you're going to the trouble of incorporating an al fresco area into your home, then it makes sense to ensure you can use it for as much of the year as possible. Which means thinking about weather!In particular, sun and rain. Work out the direction of the sun, and...
Bedroom Trends – Flexibility
There's no doubt that over the last couple of years more of us have needed to find ways to better utilise the spaces in our home. This can be something of a challenge in the bedroom. If you need to have a desk in your bedroom, then you don't want to have a background...
Making Small Spaces Look Bigger – Colours
When you're living in a smaller space, there are two approaches you can take. You can aim to make the space feel cosy and intimate, or you can aim to open the space up and make it feel as large as possible. I'm going to focus on the latter, starting with the basic...
Creating an Awesome Al Fresco Area Part 4 – Cooking
Aussies have always had a thing about barbecues in the backyard, which has now translated into a desire for cooking facilities in their al fresco areas. Those cooking facilities may well include a barbecue, but many are essentially a smaller version of the indoor...
Bedroom Trends – Sanctuary
Given the stressful state of life for most of us over the last couple of years, the importance of having a place where you can go to feel both calm and relaxed has become a huge focus of bedroom trends. This is particularly the case when working from home. Often the...
Colour and Interior Design – Cream and Ivory
Monochromatic colour schemes have been the darlings of the design world for a while now, but some people want something a little warmer and friendlier for their spaces. Welcome back cream and ivory! Depending on how old you are, you may remember the era when the...
Creating an Awesome Al Fresco Area Part 3 – Shade
It doesn't matter where you live in Australia, there are going to be times of the year when being outside in the sun gets uncomfortable fast. Providing shade to your al fresco area is a great way to make the space usable for a larger portion of the year. If you live...
Choosing Towels – Which Fibre?
Snuggling into a huge, soft towel is one of life's pleasures. But it's not the only reason for using a towel - you might also want it to dry quickly when you wash it, be compact for travelling and more. Given the wide range of towels made from different fibres on the...
Renovation Value Adds – Lighting Part 2
Last time I looked at ways to renovate the lighting in your property yourself. This time around I'm stepping it up and covering some simple tasks you will need an electrician to help you with. The focus is still on cheap changes though! When I talked about changing...
Vignettes – Backgrounds
Although asking "What's Behind It?" sounds very conspiratorial, thinking about the background for your vignette is actually an important part of the design process.To get started, think about the look of the background. Is it a flat, single coloured wall? Or patterned...
Wardrobes that Work – Design
When it comes to wardrobes, there are plenty of "one size fits all" or "off the shelf" solutions. Okay, I'll stop with the bad puns now! Reality, though, is that we all have different wardrobe requirements, depending on the clothes we own. So although it's perfectly...
Renovation Value Adds – Lighting
One of the easiest ways to update your home is to replace old, outdated light fittings. Original light fittings are often one of the best indicators of the age of the home! There are two ways to renovate your house lighting, and in this article I'm going to stick with...
When To Replace Your Pillow
I'm really bad about replacing pillows. I take off the pillow cases, wash them, put them back on again... and pay very little attention to what condition the pillows are in. Which is definitely a mistake, as it's important to replace your pillows before they're too...
Laundry Storage Tips
I don't know about you, but I find the laundry has a bad habit of turning into a mysterious hidden kingdom in a house. Bits and pieces that can't find a place anywhere else vanish into its depths. Washing piles up to the point that it's impossible to tell what's been...