Practical projects and tips for the backyard DIY fanatic
Fashionable Fabric Bags This trendy fabric bag won’t break the bank, but it will rival any designer creation for style and panache. Choose any two fabrics that look great together. One will make most of the bag, the other will be the lining and the decorative...
Finger Painting – The French Alternative Homemade finger paint can be a lifesaver when the kids are bored. The paint is simple to make and you’ll probably have most of the ingredients in the pantry. Ingredients 1 cup cornflour 1 litre...
Tap Timers Watering is more complex than many people think. Standing out in the garden with a hose is really a very inefficient way of watering your plants. You’d cut down on garden maintenance, save time and waste less water if you installed an irrigation...
Indian Curtains Rita Hill showed how to create your own colourful, soft, shimmery curtains using beautiful sari fabrics from India. Sari fabrics make fantastic flowing curtains for any bare window. They’re also perfect if you’re renting because you can...
Why Timber Rots Don looked at a typical example of dry rot in the timbers of a house. Water had been sucked into the ends of the wood by capillary action, creating a wet zone which rotted as it dried out. This problem is less likely to occur if the ends of the timber...
Italianate Courtyard Con Bilionis loves Italy and everything Italian, so he asked landscape designer Paul Bangay to transform his featureless courtyard into a fabulous Romanesque entertaining area. When talking about design in a restricted space, Paul emphasised the...
Leaf Loo Paper – The French Alternative If you find yourself stranded in the loo without any toilet paper, don’t worry. Jackie French has a green alternative! Tree Mallow or Lavatera (Lavatera arborea) This famous dunny ‘leaf’ used to be known...
New Millennium House The owner of this fabulous, ultra modern beach house has combined vibrant colour, cutting edge design and the latest technology to create a home for the new millennium. Peta worked closely with designers and architects when planning her fantasy...
Nindooinbah On a clear day you can stand on the verandah at Nindooinbah and see about 110km (60 miles) over the water and across the valley. Nindooinbah is a local Aboriginal word meaning ‘the place of ashes’. In times gone by the Aborigines used to camp...
Modern Courtyard Landscape designer Ian Barker was given a simple brief by his clients for the courtyard of their modern townhouse: they wanted something easy and something different. Features of the design Corrugated galvanized roofing iron was used on the exterior...