Tag: Home Renovations

Parenting

How to Make a Bathroom Child-Friendly

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How to Make a Bathroom Child-Friendly

Even though you will ultimately be carrying out bathroom renovations for yourself, it’s worth factoring your family into the decision-making process. The more they are catered for, the more convenient your bathroom will be for everyone – including families with children who may purchase your property. So, what makes a bathroom child-friendly? Some of the following things just might.

Double Vanities
Two vanities or a Jack and Jill sink can add much convenience to the average family bathroom, especially if there is only one bathroom in your home.

Rather than have to wait for the kids to brush their teeth, you can brush yours at the same time. Sure, you now have two sinks to clean, but you now have double the functionality, which ultimately makes up for that minor inconvenience. 

Pullout Steps
Most bathroom vanities are not designed for young children – but we still want to encourage youngsters to wash their hands. Rather than storing bulky plastic stools in your bathroom, consider investing in custom vanities with pullout steps. These are tucked away in the kickboard area of the cabinet – out of sight. With one pull, they can become a functional and safe stool for kids to use. 

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DIY

Get Your Laundry Basics Correct

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Laundry Basics

It’s an essential room in every home and if you manage your laundry basics well, then the chore of doing the weekly washing and ironing becomes much more enjoyable. A mess in any room looks bad and leaves you feeling overwhelmed, which is all the more reason to have your laundry designed with practicality, this will help you maintain a well organised space. Here are some laundry basics to help you get your laundry back into shape:

Make space for folding: Install a countertop so you have a place to fold clothes as they come out of the dryer. Ideally, it should be right above the dryer, if space is limited then have a fold out table nearby so that you can bring it into the laundry when needed.

Create a space for hanging: Every laundry room needs a place to hang clothes fresh from the dryer or delicate items you prefer to air-dry. Installing a hanging rod either under your cabinets or next to them is one of the laundry basics.

Laundry organisation: Have a cabinet with shelves and spaces which can handle all your detergents, powders and pegs. You could also install a drying cabinet for air drying delicate clothes and a storage cabinet to put washed clothes in before ironing.

Convenient ironing: A wall-mounted ironing board which can fold in or out is a great space saver and makes ironing less of a chore. When planning your inbuilt ironing board make sure a power point is close at hand.

Plan it out: If you’re starting from scratch in designing your laundry and toilet, think of your plumbing. Place appliances where the outlets are placed. If you have a front-loading washer you can use the top for other things.

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DIY

Kid-Friendly Bathrooms

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Kid-Friendly Bathrooms-img

There are many things to consider when designing a bathroom, especially when you have kids. With a little human in the home, life is a little different, which creates the need for Kid-friendly bathrooms. First think about storage. Kids have their own towels, toys and things for bath time. If you can include a colourful toy box or cabinet just for storing your child’s belongings, it’ll be easier to encourage putting things away.

Then there is the all-important toilet in Kid-friendly bathrooms. From potty to normal toilet is a big step for a small child so a transition toilet is a great idea. And don’t forget the sound of your toilet seat. Little humans tend to let them drop so a seat with a silencer or at least the appropriate padding is a great idea.

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DIY

10 Kitchen Trends

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Let’s face it, the kitchen is the heart of your home and the kitchen is one room which reveals your personality and your style. With the year about to end, let’s look back at the top kitchen trends for 2013. According to the design experts at the lifestyle channel, here are the top 10 Australian kitchen trends:

High-Tech: If you like to keep up with the latest kitchen trends in design, gadgets and style then your cooking HQ will almost certainly have LED lighting and the latest in hidden hi-tech gadgets. Pop-up range hoods and dishwashers hidden behind kitchen cabinetry are all common design elements in new and upcoming kitchens.

Retro: Of course modern kitchen trends can include older styles in the ‘everything old is new again’ situation. There’s nothing like a touch of retro to show how modern you really are.

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DIY

Big Ideas for Tiny Bathrooms

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Big Ideas for Tiny Bathrooms-img

There is nothing more frustrating than having tiny bathrooms that feel cramped and has little to no storage. However there are ways to turn an uninspiring and small bathroom into a stylish and practical space. These ideas are simple, can often be DIY and are inexpensive. Bathrooms are essential and so too are the many implements and products we store there. But where to store is often the taxing question.

One brilliant solution is to install a medicine cabinet on the walls of tiny bathrooms; these cabinets are slim but capable of holding a variety of products safely. White such cabinets look great and when attached to a wall in your bathroom gives you storage without much if any hindrance. The ideal spot is over the toilet but because of the shallow size of the cabinet, there is little or no chance of banging your head. Just keep the toilet lid down before opening the cabinet!

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