How to bring more light into your home

OK, so I am ashamed to admit that I actually wrote this blog entry back in the middle of a cold, dark, wet day in June.  The start of Winter, when you think you might never see the sun stream through your windows again.

The intention of the article was to look at ways of bringing natural light into your home or workspace during the colder months when you need to be more creative about bringing what daylight there is, inside.  Now though, with only a few days left of Winter and the promise of Spring knocking at the door, I guess it is equally relevant, now that we perhaps have some sun to capture.  So here it is ….

This week’s blog topic -

How to bring more light into your home

OK, so it’s winter.  Days are short and the sky is grey – most of the time.  You want your home to be warm and cosy, but have you ever noticed how dark it is inside ?  You have the lights on all the time – even during the day.  How depressing !  So why not kick out those winter blues and bring in a bit of sunshine !  In fact, the winter sun is a great way to warm your house, not forgetting the all important Vitamin D factor !!

So without further ado, here are some great tips for bringing more light into your home.

1.       Re-assess your window furnishings

Window furnishings are a must at night time in winter.  They help to keep out the cold and keep in the warmth around windows which are generally one of the biggest sources of heat loss in a home.  But during the day, when the heat from the sun can be one of the cheapest and not to mention, the cheeriest way to heat your home, there is absolutely no reason to have those heavy shades drawn.  Even on a fairly grey day, the light coming in from the windows can make a big difference.

 

So, take a look at your current window furnishings.  Are they working to their full potential ?  By this I mean, can you pull them across the window at night and then open them right up, clearing the entire window in the daytime ?  No ?  OK so how much of the window is covered by the curtain during the day when the curtains are open ?  Curtains like the red ones shown here can actually cover the window opening by more than 50% letting in only half the amount of light.

 

We suggest going for a curtain which can clear the window opening when open, while still remaining effective at night.  If you’re worried about privacy, then sheer curtains are the best way to restrict what can be seen from the outside, while allow most of the daylight in.

 

 

 

 

2.       Consider painting out wood and exposed brickwork

              Does your home have exposed timber or brickwork ? 

 

These are both great features to have, however in small spaces, they can really dull a room, leaving it feeling small and dark. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painting out some of the exposed timber or brickwork can make a huge difference in reflecting light around the room.  If you like the timber or brickwork, why not pick out some parts and make them a feature, while painting the remaining sections a light colour. 

 

Ceilings are really important for light, so if you have a lot of exposed timber on the ceiling, perhaps you could leave the main structural members exposed but paint the rest of the ceiling white. 

 

3.       Ceilings

Speaking of ceilings, one of the most important areas of the home if you want to keep it looking and feeling light is the ceiling.  There is no grey area here.  The facts are simple.  Paint your ceilings white if you want your room to be light filled (plus you’ll get the added bonus of the ceiling appearing higher than a dark ceiling as well).  So unless you have 12ft ceilings, then the answer is white, white and white.

 

4.       Light fittings

Assessing your current light fittings, and globes, is another great way to improve light levels within your home.  Are your lights appropriate for the space ?  Do you have enough lights and are the globes of a sufficient wattage ?  Have you replaced globes that have blown or are missing ?

 

The shape and style of light fitting makes a big difference to the way in which light is emitted from the fitting.  Pendant lights, for example generally hang directly down over the space which is required to be lit.  They are great as task lighting and as a feature in a room, such as hanging over bench in a kitchen, but they are not the right kind of light to provide maximum lighting levels within a large room.

 

 

 

  

 

The general rule is that the closer the fitting is located to the ceiling, the more likely it is to provide a wider beam of light to a room and therefore will light a larger space.

 

5.       Mirrors

Mirrors, and reflective surfaces in general are another great way to maximise the light within a room.  The more reflective the surface, the more the light bounces around the room.  In fact you could almost consider it as recycling light, as once you bring the light in to the room, it gets used over and over again.

 

Mirrors can be used over fireplaces, they can be framed like pictures and hung on the wall – you can even cover a whole wall with mirror.  This is most commonly used in spaces such as bathrooms, but could be used anywhere – perhaps as a splashback in the kitchen.  As a rule, they really help to make spaces feel larger, and much, much brighter. 

 

Shiny tiles on floors, or highly reflective joinery or bench tops in kitchens again help to bounce light around a room and make good use of the light you already have.

 

6.       Skylights

Ok, ok I can hear the groans from here, as most of you are currently imagining the skylights of the 1980’s, which were ugly square holes in the ceiling that brought in about as much light as a postage stamp.  But hear me out.  The skylights of today are many and varied and are much more attractive and effective than ever before.  Skylights are a great way to bring in light when windows are not an option. 

 

 

Personally I think Belle Skylights in Moorabbin would be a great place to start looking into skylight lights as an option, but see for yourselves online at http://www.belleskylights.com.au/index.php what options could be available for you.

 

Alternatively, roof windows are another cool version of the skylight, and are usually openable, meaning that not only do they let in light, but are also useful in letting out warm air in summer and increasing ventilation.  The accepted worldwide leader in roof windows would have to be Velux.  http://www.velux.com.au/  Another useful website for getting ideas I think.

 

 

 

I hope we have inspired you to start thinking about some of the ways you can maximise the potential in your home.  We’d love to hear about any ideas you have about bringing light in to your home, so feel free to share your ideas, comments and questions below. 

 

 

 

 

 

How to maximise space in your home

This is our first blog entry in a while.  Previously, the blog has focussed on our projects under construction.  We will be returning to these projects to see where they are at and how they have turned out, but next on the agenda is some great information on improving the way our homes work for us, including some inspirational pics and useful information on how to achieve miracles without spending a lot of money.

So, if you want to be inspired ….. stay tuned !

This week’s blog topic -

How to maximise space in your home

You’ve probably lamented a million times about how you could do with more space in your home, but let’s face it, popping an extension onto your house to give you more space isn’t a short term solution.  So we have come up with some great tips for maximising the space you do have in the meantime.

1.       Have a clean out

OK, so this might seem like an obvious one, but in no time at all, clutter builds up around us.  Most of us are pretty time poor and the piles of things not put away when we last used them, or things that just don’t have a home build up pretty quickly.

Don’t try to de-clutter the whole house in one go, but take it room by room.  Walk into each room and try to imagine you are walking into someone else’s house.  With a pair of fresh eyes, what are the things in the room that are taking up major space and making it look cluttered ? 

Go through your existing storage areas like wardrobes, cupboards, bookshelves. 

Are they stuffed with things you never use ? 

If so, they are probably stopping you putting away the things you do use.  Why not make up some bags for charity, sell some things on ebay or do a big run to the tip ?  You will find that once you make space in these areas, it is easier to regularly put things away, ready for next time.  We have a two year rule in our family, that is, if you haven’t seen it or used it in two years, you don’t need it.  Two years is pretty strict, but maybe you could start with five years and see how much you can get rid of that you don’t need.

Try to keep flat surfaces like tables and benches free from items not put away.  It really goes a long way to making a house look less cluttered.

And lastly, try to train your kids from an early age to put their things away.  When everyone in the house is motivated to keep things tidy, it makes it much easier to keep the place looking great.

2.       Storage

You probably already know the areas in your home that you can utilise for storage, but can you be more creative with the types and locations for storage that you have available to you?  Well thought out storage can become a feature in a room rather than an eyesore.

Think about what it is that you need to store and what kind of storage solution is best suited to that item.  For example, baskets are great for storing lots of little kids’ toys in.  They are easily tipped out when you want to find something, and quick to pack back up when you’re done.

Are your drawers full of junk ? 

How about some drawer dividers to help keep everything in it’s place ?

Don’t forget to utilise your walls too.  Wall mounting a TV frees up the space around it, particularly the floor.

3.       Built in Storage

Do you have spaces in your home that are underutilised, like underneath a set of stairs or beneath a window ?  Built in storage can help to make the most out of places in the house that are small or difficult to get to.

Wall space also tends to be a bit of a premium, but built in cupboards along a wall – perhaps in a dining room or even in a lounge room, with space for the tv, and dvd collection can make a huge difference.

How about a study nook in a cupboard ?

4.       Furniture

Is the way your furniture is arranged creating spatial issues ?  Do you have too much furniture ?  Or do you have furniture that is too big for the room it is in ?  Try moving your furniture around - you might be surprised to learn that sometimes having it arranged differently either gives you more space, ar at least the illusion of more space !

A friend of mine had a very small lounge room and the sofas that were in the space had large rolled arms.  The actual seating area of the sofas wasn’t large, but the amount of space they took up, compared to the size of the room was amazing.  These sofas also sat on legs, about 10cm off the floor.  This made them look even bigger ! The worst kind - not only were they too big for the space, they even looked too big for the space (and yes there is a difference).  Years later, they bought new, squarer more compact sofas …. and the difference was unbelievable !

What about space saving furniture ?  The sofa bed is a good example of this – but even considering changing your dining table to one with extendable leaves  or even a coffee table with a storage shelf below could make a big difference to your space.

Just a few ideas to start with anyway ….

We’d love to hear some of your space saving ideas – feel free to comment and let us know what things you have done in your home to maximise space !

Will St - Week Eighteen

The before and after

It’s been a few weeks between blog posts because the kind of work that is being done on projects at the moment is about 60% waiting for things to be installed and 40% small details like siliconing around the bathrooms, and painting window frames which don’t make for great reading.

However, this week’s visit to the Will Street project has seen some big changes.  Namely, the flooring.  When I last posted, we were waiting for the painting to be finished so we could get some flooring down.  Well, the painting is now finished (well nearly), and not only do we have new carpet, but we also have sanded, stained and polished floorboards.  Talk about transform a building site into a home again !  It has even got the owners excited with the hushed tones of moving back in on the agenda. 

We also have nearly functioning bathrooms, which is pretty exciting.

We are still waiting on the wardrobes, the laundry fit out and the kitchen benches and splashbacks, which will be some major wow factor, but for this week I think the best way to demonstrate the transformation for this family is by showing before and after photos. 

It should be noted that in some of the ‘before’ shots, it is hard to pull back and see the whole room in one photo.  This is because the rooms were so small that while taking the photos I am standing back as far as possible and still can’t fit the room into the shot.  Maybe I need to get myself one of those wide angled lenses that all real estate agents seem to have when taking photos.  If you’ve ever been house hunting, you’ll exactly what I mean !

So here is a bit of a tour ….  I’ll focus on ‘problem areas’ in the original house, which for these clients were kitchen, dining, laundry, and lounge.

First up, the kitchen.  The original kitchen at Will street wasn’t particularly old.  I’d say it was put in in the early 1990’s and was light, bright, cheap and cheerful.  Given the level of quality, it was probably quite reasonable that it needed replacing 20 years later – the main issue was the size.  It was tiny, and totally enclosed except for a doorway into the dining area and a doorway into the hallway. 

Also, the fact that it had no pantry, yes you heard it – no pantry, the clients had installed some pantry shelving in front of the doorway into the hallway in order to be able to store food actually in the kitchen.  The result, a total shambles of course.  The total lack of bench space, food storage, storage for plates, platters and appliances meant that every bit of available space was jammed packed with all the things that didn’t have a home. 

So, with the new kitchen, we targeted the key issues.  First, a kitchen that is totally enclosed, so the new kitchen sits within a corner of the open plan living and dining area.  When extra space is needed in the kitchen, because it is now part of a larger space, it can expand and then contract again to accommodate the spatial requirements.  Secondly, food storage.  This was something that we played with a bit.  Pantries come in all shapes, sizes and configurations, but we settled on a simple 1m wide cupboard configuration which provided maximum space for minimum cost. 

We also got smart and designed a massive wall unit using the standard configurations available from the flat pack kitchen company who did the kitchen.  This saved us thousands on custom joinery.  The builder built the wall unit into the wall for us for only $220, so we have the custom look without the custom price tag !

So, now to the existing dining area.  The main issue – no surprises here.  Enclosed on three sides, which we have already discussed is very inflexible, and too small !

The solution was to design a much larger space which sits within an open plan area.  This not only gives the illusion of more space, but actually provides a larger, more flexible space, which again can be made larger or smaller to suit the need. 

These days, sometimes the only flat space to do anything on is the dining table, meaning that many of us have the nightly ritual of cleaning all the accumulated stuff off the dining table so we can set the table and eat dinner.  Will street was no exception to this, with the dining table used for everything from homework to planning their extension !  Hopefully, the new island bench in the kitchen will also provide some additional flat space for homework and all the other uses for a table top.

Thirdly, and probably what I considered to be the room with the biggest space issues, the laundry.  The existing laundry consisted of a door in, a door out, the world’s ugliest laundry sink, and a space for the washing machine.  That’s it.  So for a family of four, it really just didn’t cut it.  The solution was to give the owners a much bigger space, one with natural light, with a full length bench top, a full height storage cupboard, and as much storage as we could squeeze into it, not to mention a few handy storage cupboards for the sorting and storing of washing in it’s various stages. 

Still a work in progress as we speak with cupboards being installed, but you be the judge – better ?  We think so.

We think the back of the house is a bit of an improvement as well.

So what is the problem area at your place ???

Tourello Street - Week One

New beginnings

Welcome to the Tourello St project.  I guess a little background is in order before we start. 

Abby and Sam came to me with a fairly standard requirement – more space.  There was only one problem, they needed it right now !! 

Abby is pregnant with the couple’s second child and so we needed to design, document and build a new staircase, upstairs bedroom, bathroom and new bedroom in less than 9 months.  A pretty tall order, but hopefully achievable, even if we are all hoping that this baby breaks a few world records in lateness !!

Thankfully, they pretty much knew what they wanted when they came to us, it was really just a matter of helping them to make it happen.  The old staircase, which was ugly and just a little dangerous, needed replacing, but as it wasn’t built to code in the first place, it turned out that it couldn’t just be replaced, well not in the same place as where it had been.  So really, moving the staircase and relocating it entirely, was the perfect opportunity to do the extension that had been up their sleeve for a while now.

After working through a few alternative designs, and then preparing working drawings, building is now underway.  And Gene and the boys are ripping into it like men with a deadline do !

The first step was to demolish the existing staircase and the old fireplace in the lounge room, which had never been used, and remove a wall between the kitchen / dining and living areas. 

Next week, the external wall comes off upstairs to allow the new staircase and additional rooms to be built.

Stay tuned, this project is turning out to be a race against time !

Will St - Week Fifteen

The pointy end of the project

This week at Will Street has been all about finishing off.  Before the Christmas break, the priority was to secure the outside from the weather , but now, it is all about getting the interior ready for painting and tiling. 

Firstly flooring has gone in where previously we had holes in the floor – or no floor at all.  The remaining plasterboard has gone up and been sanded, and cornicing applied.  Door and door furniture has been hung and architrave and skirting is also going on.  Things are really taking shape.

The clients, Lyndell and Andrew start painting inside over the weekend, which is no mean feat.  They have to do three coats on everything – walls, ceilings, trims and they have around a week to do it in !  The perils of doing some of the work yourself means that you have to be able to drop everything and get your part of the work done when the project is ready, so as not to cause any delays to other trades.  Luckily, the builders have been running to program, so that Lyndell and Andrew have been able to plan their annual leave around the painting.

The electrician has now finished his rough in, so once the painting is done, he can come back and start putting in light fittings and switches.

Torrential rain on Wednesday when  I was doing a site inspection made it the perfect opportunity to make sure that the new roof was leak free, which I can happily report, it is !  We are still waiting on the rainwater heads, which apart from looking totally awesome, will stop the “waterfall effect” which is currently happening when it currently rains, as water is being directed into the guttering from the roof, and then into nothing.

In the next week or so, we will have a skylight in the bathroom – (let there be light - finally) some kitchen benchtops and splashbacks, tiled bathrooms and the odd few fixtures in the bathroom as well.  We’re sure at the pointy end of the project now !!

Will St - Weeks Eleven and Twelve

Heading for lock up !

To say that work at Will Street is continuing at a good pace is a little bit of an understatement …. In fact, the plasterers have now been sent home because there is no space for them on site to be doing their job !  Thank God most of the plaster is already up, but this will mean that they will have to sand their joints after Christmas, which also means that Lyndell and Andrew, the owners, will have to wait until after that to get the first coats of paint on.  Luckily for them, there are a million other things for them to do in the meantime – like painting and staining the exterior and painting doors and windows.  It is sure to be an incredibly exhausting and rewarding time for them.

So the score at the end of the year is as follows ….

·         Internal walls constructed and plastered – check

·         Kitchen cabinets installed – check

·         Deck built – check

·         All external cladding complete – check

·         All roofing material on – check

·         All doors and windows installed – check

All in all, it has been a very positive couple of weeks, with lots and lots of visible progress, as opposed to the boring kind like setting out and preparation.  In fact, after Christmas we only really have tiling and the installation of fixtures and fittings in the bathrooms and laundry and wardrobes to go, which is pretty exciting.

I did however break my two golden rules on this project, and as bad luck would have it, they have both come back to bite me.  So I bet you want to know what my golden rule s are.  Well, one is slightly convoluted, but here goes – “where possible, try to avoid designing anything that has to fit perfectly within something else” and two, “never rely on someone else’s measurements”.  In this case the two rules have combined together to create a few headaches on site, serving as a stark reminder of why I have golden rules in the first place.

In reality, we have been both lucky and in extremely good hands with the builders on this project, both of which make life much, much easier when building.

So, with Christmas fast approaching, I hope you have all enjoyed the ups and downs of the progress of the Will Street renovation.  I thank you very kindly for your interest and support.  Detail 9 are planning some big things for 2012 and have some great ongoing projects which we’d love to keep showing you, as well as some brand newies lined up. 

Be kind to your families and have yourselves a happy and safe Christmas / New Year period.  We can’t wait to give you the next instalment of this project, and introduce you to some new ones on the go. 

Best Wishes, Rachel

Will Street – Weeks Nine and Ten

Roof on, brick work up

Work at Will Street continues at a cracking pace.  Early last week, the section of the extension with the flat roof had its roof sheeting installed and later in the week the recycled tiles went up on the other section of the extension.

Brickwork went up in a day, and the recycled timber windows are in.  The aim is to have the project at lock up in time for Christmas.  This means we still need the new doors and windows to arrive on site and be installed (please cross your fingers everyone) and the external wall cladding to go on. 

Fred and the boys are currently building the deck and installing the framing which goes over the deck as we speak. 

Scott the electrician was in over the weekend poking wires through the external wall framing so that the lighting above the deck will go in seamlessly.  It’s amazing how much work goes into making something look simple !!

Right now, plasterboard is going up on the walls, and next week the kitchen is going to be installed.  By the end of next week, it will be Christmas and the boys will be downing tools and having a short break before getting back into it in early January.  Two weeks with no one on site will be just enough time for Lyndell and Andrew, the owners to get in and do the first couple of coats of paint on everything.  Yep, the owners have had a few jobs to do on this project including some of the demolition, the cleaning of the bricks, and painting – both inside and out.  Doing the painting themselves will save them a couple of thousand dollars, which all adds up on a relatively small project. 

So, what have we learned this week ?? 

Firstly, that fly screens can easily cost more than the door or window they are there to protect ……

Secondly, that the reason why things from Ikea are cheap is that very often they are missing bits or have to be installed in a very, very, very odd way.  Contacting Ikea to sort this out it definitely not for the faint hearted !

Thirdly, that joining an old ceiling to a new ceiling really is in the “too hard basket” and should be avoided at all costs. 

Other than that, things really are progressing smoothly, and I can't wait to get you some shots of the inside, once we start getting some action on that front.  Exciting times !

A large part of the smooth sailing can be attributed to the Builders on this project, "Constructing Spaces" for their friendly and professional work.  Their knack for taking the stress out of the construction process for both the owner and the architect has been very much appreciated. 

So until the next instalment, thanks for reading and keep those fingers crossed that we can get some doors and windows for Christmas !!