Greetings and welcome to the first issue of Renovate and Extend for 2009, and incidently, my first issue as editor. As a survivor of two home renovations, I hope I’m pretty equipped to talk about renovating!
Granted, I did have a lot of help from my super dad and father-in-law, not to mention my husband, but I was more than happy to paint walls, choose colours, lay flooring and pick the various elements which went into our kitchens.
As I write this editor’s note, we’re in the early days summer – not that you would know it with the wild weather that has lashed Brisbane, and the snow that has returned to the NSW mountains. So to mark my favourite season of the year, our backyard trends feature on page 24 will surely get you inspired and prompt you to turn your attention to this area of your property and spend some time outside. After all, we do have the weather for it and our outdoor areas are becoming an extension of our homes.
In this issue, we’ve got much of Australia’s eastern region covered when it comes to renovation projects – there’s architects and builders with homes in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and even award-winning projects from Tasmania and Canberra.
Speaking of Queensland, be sure to read our huge Queensland living feature by Tracey Hordern from page 91. It sure has me thinking of moving up to the Sunshine State.
One thing I have trouble with is storage. Although I recently progressed from a two-bedroom unit to a three-bedroom house (bliss!), I still find I don’t have enough room to put things. A place for everything and everything in its place? Not in my house. But since researching for our storage feature, I certainly have been inspired to dedicate a little more effort to incorporating smart storage solutions into every aspect of my home.
An area of the home which I haven’t had the pleasure (or displeasure) of renovating is the bathroom, but for those who are thinking of embarking on this space, turn to page 106.
If you’re thinking of updating your home’s look with some new flooring – be it carpet, timber, rugs, tiles, bamboo or vinyl, our flooring feature from page 31 has you covered.
And for those greenies out there (and let’s face it, we should probably all become more green in our way of living), our regular Green Living feature from page 17 is packed with lots of products to inspire the greenie in you.
Happy renovating and happy reading,
Danielle Townsend,
Editor
