Practical projects and tips for the backyard DIY fanatic
Don and the ‘Burke’s Backyard’ team visited Margaret Porritt and Warwick Callander, who were spending the weekend at their spectacular beach house at Portsea, on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. The 80 square house was completed at the end of...
Laurie Seaman is a retired civil engineer who spent most of his life designing bridges all over the world. He lives in a sandstone house built by his grandfather in 1918, when there were only four other houses on the hill overlooking Palm Beach and Pittwater. Today...
Jackie French has a beautiful complexion (for someone who spends most of the time outdoors), and she owes it all to her Aunt Ethel’s homemade moisturiser. Don’t bother with expensive commercial products – Aunt Ethel’s moisturiser is cheap,...
Julie Harvey was once a Sydney businesswoman, but had to take time off work due to illness. During her convalescence she became interested in painting, and then enrolled in art school to learn how to sculpt figures. Julie never returned to her job – instead she...
In our segment Scott Cam built a swing set for toddlers for around $200. Scott reckons if you build this swing set for your kids you’ll be a hero, yet this will be one of the easiest home projects you’ve ever attempted! Siting the swing Choose a site on...
Don looked at a beachside house in Victoria, which was not what it seemed. What appeared to be a spacious, modern house had been created by converting and linking two farm machinery sheds. The result was a beautifully appointed, six-bedroom, 60-square home at...
Rita Hill demonstrated how to clean tarnished silver without using any elbow grease! The tarnish on silver is a layer of black silver sulfide, formed when proteins come in contact with the silver. When silver is cleaned using an abrasive polish, some silver is...
Home owner Louise Holly was inspired when she saw the Burke’s Backyard in Spain program. She painted her white Spanish-style house with Dulux ‘Tuscan Gold’.
Wonderful effects can be obtained if the paint colours on a house match or contrast with the colours of flowers and foliage in the garden. The house Don looked at in our segment is a good example of clever and tasteful colour coordination. The front of the house opens...
Balconies can be real problem areas for people who live in apartments. When space is very limited, it’s often difficult to come up with a design that is both functional and attractive. Jamie Loft’s innovative design for a tiny balcony includes a fountain,...