Author: Michelle from Modern Architecture Concept

5 Ideas For Creating More Space At Home

Michelle from Modern Architecture Concept

 Don’t you just wish you had a little extra living space at home? After all, redecorating your home will improve the value of the property and just give you, well, more space!


Photos By: Living Etc

Whether you invest in an extension, a loft conversion or simply reconfigure your home’s layout, here are our top ides for adding more space to your house.

Enclose The Patio

It might sound like a lot of work but enclosing your patio can give you an extra room for work, entertaining or hobbies. You’ll need to put up a roof and walls as well as a foundation. If done correctly, you’ll be looking at added valuable square footage.

Go Up With A Loft Conversion

Whether you already have a loft or fancy adding one, just consider how much value you could add to your property. Most homes are able to take on another story, but it’s not as easy as popping off the roof and sticking on another. But all said and done, it’s a much better way of gaining space than building outwards. Even if you already have a loft, you might want to consider having it converted to create additional living space such as a study, spare bedroom or teenager’s hang out space. Contact builders Teddington homeowners trust for costs and inspiration.

Create An Open-Plan Living Space

One of the most popular ways to transform a home and create more space is to knock between your existing living room, dining room and kitchen to create an open-plan living space. Aim to ensure that you can access your new kitchen directly from the hallway, since you don’t want to walk through other rooms to get to it. It’s also a good idea to position the kitchen in the darkest part of the room. It’s where you’ll probably spend the least amount of time and it just makes sense to place your dining and living areas close to windows for natural light and views.

If going open-plan doesn’t really appeal to you, you could always install bi-fold or sliding pocket doors between rooms. This will allow you to easily open the space up or close it off as needed.

Convert The Garage

People often believe that it’s not a good idea to put money into converting the garage. They think you’ll gain a low-value space by getting rid of a higher value space. While your car also needs a home, converting your garage for extra living space just makes sense. Whether you need a workshop room, a hobby room or a formal dining area, the garage is a great way to add more space to your home.

Close In The Porch

Just like enclosing your patio, having your porch and garden furniture enclosed can potentially add valuable square footage to your home. Remember, you’ll need to consider heating, accessibility through the house and designing the enclosure to effortlessly feel like part of your home.

How Winter Prep Makes For a Glamorous Summer Garden

Michelle from Modern Architecture Concept

Start planning your garden now if you want to have a flourishing beautiful garden come summer. Here’s how!

Surveying your garden over the winter months can be depressing. Everything looks dreary and bedraggled, there’s no colour to speak of, your favourite plants have died back and your carefully nurtured lawn probably looks boggy and dishevelled. But don’t be disheartened. As long as you are prepared to brave the cold and wet, the winter months are actually the ideal time to start your garden makeover so everything looks stunning come the summer. A little hard work now will reap huge rewards a few months down the line.

Here are some pro tips from professional landscape supplier Suregreen for what you can do in your garden over the winter to guarantee a stunning outdoor space once the weather starts to warm up.

Plan Your New Look Layout

While your garden might look empty over the winter, the lack of vegetation actually makes it the ideal time to redesign the layout. Being able to see the whole space without plants obscuring the view makes it much easier to visualise a brand new look and plot where you want to create new planting areas, features, seating options and so on.

Create New Spaces

Once you have drawn up where you would like everything to go, it is time to get your hands dirty and dig in. While you can’t do much from a planting perspective before late February / early March, what you can do is make sure all your flower beds and containers are in place and well prepped with a good mix of compost and top soil, ready for the start of spring.

This is definitely the time to build new raised beds. Stonework and brick can be used to construct mini walls to create an area you can then fill with compost. But an easier option is to buy railway sleepers. These robust timber slabs make a great looking feature in any garden and compared to brick or stone have the advantage of being much easier to move and rearrange.

Look to Your Verticals

Gardeners are very good working at ground level and achieving beautiful results, but the very best gardens function in 3D. Think also about how you could use empty wall or fence spaces to add to the overall effect of your garden vertically. Adding mesh to garden fencing gives you the option to trail climbing and creeping plants further down the line to give everything an extra lush, verdant feel, while wall containers and hanging baskets can be used to create stunning aerial displays.

Get Creative with Your Features and Accessories

The very best gardens are often those with a very obvious touch of the owner’s personality about them. One great way to personalise your outdoor spaces is to take the time to make your own planters, ornaments and features. If you are a crafty sort of person, this can be a wonderful outlet for your creative side. Use the winter months to get collecting all the materials you might need – old wooden crates and tyres for containers, woodcuts to make signs and models, cool looking stones to build a rockery, whatever takes your fancy. Your imagination really is the only limit.

5 Reasons Why CCTV is the Home Security System of Choice

Michelle from Modern Architecture Concept

If you are looking to provide some security for your home, look no further than video surveillance. Simply put, installing a few well-placed CCTV cameras around the perimeter is all it takes to keep intruders at bay!

You could invest in a very complex (and costly) home alarm system, but with the ability to monitor and record any unauthorised access, no burglar would ever attempt to gain access to a property with CCTV installed. If you are yet to be convinced, here are just a few of the reasons why CCTV is the most popular home security solution in Australia today.

The Ultimate Deterrent

Every thief knows full well that CCTV can be used as evidence in a court of law, and while the intruder might be successful in obtaining some valuable goods, he surely knows that the police will soon come calling with a warrant for his arrest. For affordable CCTV installation in Melbourne, a Google search will put you in touch with a local security company, who can assess your home and make suitable recommendations.

Cost Effective Security

You can rely on video surveillance to always be on the job, no matter what the weather is like, and with high resolution night vision cameras, you can rest assured that any attempt at intrusion will be spotted. The cost of the system would largely depend on the area to be covered, and for a typical two storey home, this would be covered by 3 or maybe 4 cameras. Thanks to technological advances, costs have dropped considerably, and by searching online for a nearby supplier, you can receive a provisional quote through their website, although the supplier would wish to inspect your home prior to quoting for the project.

Remote Viewing

We all experience that nagging worry when we are away from home for long periods, and with CCTV installed, you can remotely view the perimeters of your home from your smartphone. This gives you complete peace of mind, as you can see that all is well at home, and all it takes is an Internet connection, along with your username and password to access the system.

Fully Automated

The system records and stores the data on a hard drive that is located within your home, which would run automatically by deleting the earliest footage to allow for further video storage. If you have a basic understanding of computing, you can quickly master how to configure the system, and with round the clock support from the supplier, you can rest assured that your home is secure.

Fit and Forget

Once a video surveillance system is installed, there is nothing more to do, and the system will always be operational, no matter what. Installing quality cameras and equipment will ensure that your home security is always on guard, and there’s really nothing to do in terms of maintenance.

If you would like to have a free quote, simply type in home security CCTV systems into a Google search window and you will have a list of local suppliers.

Everything You Never Knew About Aerating Your Lawn

Michelle from Modern Architecture Concept

A green lawn is a beautiful thing, but as you likely already know by now, it takes way more work than you expect to keep it green!

Photos Via: Style Blueprint

Even if you are watering 1.5 inches every week (in the mornings, so your lawn doesn’t become a mildewed swamp), mowing to the exact height of 2.5 inches (with razor-sharp mowing blades, you might add) and sprinkling nitrogen-rich fertilizer every fall, you still probably aren’t doing enough to guarantee a healthy lawn.

That’s because you aren’t aerating, or ensuring that air is getting to your grass’s crown and roots. If this is the first you’re hearing about lawn aeration, read on for all the info you need to know about this mandatory chore.

What Aeration Does

Grass is a plant, and plants don’t have lungs — so why would your lawn need better access to air? The truth is that even though plants don’t have lungs, they do take in nutrients from the air. Most notably, grass (and all plants) use carbon dioxide and produce oxygen through photosynthesis; in fact, a 25-square-foot lawn creates enough oxygen to support one person for an entire day, and a 50-square-foot lawn can support a family of four. Thus, it is critical that lawns have sufficient exposure to air, so they can take in enough CO2 to grow healthily and emit the oxygen you need to breathe.

However, aeration provides another crucial function: loosening compacted soil. Over time, the dirt around your lawn’s roots becomes tightly compressed, due to constant use (i.e. you and your family walking on the lawn) or things falling onto it, like tree litter and snow. When this happens, your grass’s roots have a harder time growing through the soil, and water, air and other nutrients are less likely to get absorbed. Thus, it is imperative that you aerate your lawn to ensure your grass has space and access to vital components for health.

What Aeration Is

By now you might accept that aeration is important, but that doesn’t get you any closer to performing it properly on your own lawn. First, you need to understand what the process of aeration entails. At its most basic, aeration is poking holes into your lawn. This will give the soil space to expand, which in turn relieves pressure around the roots. Additionally, the holes allow moisture and air to flow into the soil, improving the grass’s health.

You don’t want the holes to be too big; this will damage your lawn and leave unsightly patches of bare dirt. However, you also don’t want the holes to be too small, or else the effort won’t successfully help your lawn. Also, just a few holes won’t do. Experts say that aeration holes should be between 2 and 3 inches deep, .5 to .75 inches in diameter and 2 to 3 inches apart. It is typical to aerate once per year during the active growing season, which falls in late spring and early summer for most lawns. Still, you want the soil to be plenty moist when you aerate, or your job of punching holes and pulling out plugs will be much more difficult.

What Aeration Needs

Larger lawns generally require more expert care because they have a greater chance of developing unsightly problems. When it comes to aeration, larger lawns usually necessitate the use of large and expensive machines, like core aerators, which can seriously damage your lawn if used improperly. Thus, if you do have a larger patch of grass — and if you are uncomfortable using bulky, noisy machinery — you might want to hire professionals to aerate your lawn for you. Since this task only occurs once per year, it isn’t too costly, and it could save you big on repairs to your lawn in the long term.

If you have a small lawn, you can probably aerate yourself using smaller and more manageable tools. Manual aeration tools include things like pitchforks and shoe spikes; these allow you to walk around your lawn and drive holes where you see fit. You can also rent machinery from your local hardware store, but you should real the manual before operation to prevent harm to your lawn or you.

Aeration is one of those tasks that most homeowners don’t talk about, which means you might not have learned about it before you gained a lawn of your own. Fortunately, it isn’t too late to start aerating your lawn and ensuring the lushest, greenest grass in the neighborhood.

The Ultimate Home Security Solution – Aluminium Roller Shutters

Michelle from Modern Architecture Concept

If you are looking for the ultimate home security system, forget CCTV and the latest home alarm systems, as the answer lies squarely in bespoke aluminium roller shutters!

You might be thinking that roller shutters will turn your home into Fort Knox, and while this might have been the case a few years ago, todays sleek systems blend in perfectly.

Made to Measure

Forget off the shelf solutions, as the slimline aluminium roller shutters are made to millimetre accurate dimensions, which means they will fit like a glove. Bespoke solutions ensure that all the units are perfectly sized for the openings, and with a range of attractive colours, your security system will actually enhance the look of your home. Whether you’re looking for roller shutters in Melbourne or Sydney, all it takes to make contact with a supplier is an online search, and with their help, you can design the perfect security system that is always on guard, 24-7. It matters not the shape of your windows, as bespoke solutions allow for any size or shape to be fabricated, and with the doors included, your home becomes impenetrable.

Added Bonus

Installing roller shutters adds an extra layer of home insulation, as well as better home security making your home cooler in the summer, while helping to retain the heat during the colder months. Aside from this amazing thermal insulation, roller shutters also add significant sound insulation, making it ideal when you want some peace and quiet on a Sunday afternoon. Many shift workers have discovered the many benefits of installing roller shutters for this very reason, and no matter what unsocial hours you work, you are guaranteed a sound sleep at any time of day or night.

Shading

Those long hot summers cam really destroy furniture, with strong sunlight coming in through the windows, yet with roller shutters, you can eliminate unwanted sunlight, something your furniture and carpets will appreciate. Windows in rooms that are not used can have the shutters closed, which helps keep the interior cooler, while protecting the furniture.

Auto Locking Mechanism

There’s no chance of forgetting to lock the shutter units, as they incorporate an auto locking mechanism that comes into play when the units are closed, making sure that your home is always secure when you are out. As far as deterrents go, there’s no better way to discourage a thief than installing roller shutters, as any opportunist will simply walk away when they see the shutters in position. The units have been vigorously tested and it is virtually impossible to gain access through a locked shutter, and unless you are storing the Crown Jewels under your bed, no thief would ever contemplate trying to break in.

Professional Installation

As with replacement windows and doors, the installation is a critical component, and with a team that have worked together on all sorts of domestic installations, you are in good hands. The units are fabricated in the factory, and with all the equipment onboard their vehicle, it doesn’t take long to install the units. When looking at potential suppliers, make sure the company directly employ their installation teams, which pretty much guarantees a professional installation. The long product warranty is a reflection of the quality, and with a professional fitting, your roller shutters will perform for many years.

Roller shutters offer a lot more than security, as you have fine adjustment of shade and if you want to blackout the living room to watch that epic movie, just close the shutters. If you would like to explore the potential of bespoke aluminium roller shutters, all it takes is an online search.