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A big, warm welcome to the Bendigo Advertiser's Your Home 2021. This issue showcases the many aspects of your home, from a new build right through to renovations and maintenance.
Like the wildlife of the field and forest, we all make our home, 'our nest', the way it best suits our lifestyle, and this is clear to see when you glance at the many photos in Your Home.
We have gathered some of the best 'twigs, leaves and moss', aka builders, designers, homewares, kitchenware and more, to show you what's hot, and how others have taken the best ideas on offer and made it their own.
Your Home offers topical information from credible sources you can trust, so read on and find all your options; you'll be armed with the contacts and confidence you need to make the right choices for you.
Happy reading.
First up is a look at how Preston Lane Architects, managed this significant heritage renovation to an existing unlivable house in Brunswick, Victoria. The client's brief called for a four-bedroom house with two living areas as well as off street parking via a rear lane.
Retaining the front section of the original house, the front two rooms and original entry hallway were converted into a master bedroom suite.
This approach ensured the new extension was located to the rear and did not impact on the streetscape of Collier Crescent.
This new entry and study space set up a zoning to the house ensuring separation from parents at the front, living spaces to the rear and then kids bedrooms upstairs. Given the new extension was built boundary to boundary a large void was inserted to allow eastern light deep into the plan above the kitchen space as well as connecting the upper-level kids living room with downstairs.
Weatherboards were an obvious choice for the upper-level rear mass providing a contextual fit with the materiality of the original house.
The main challenge of this project was trying to achieve our clients brief in terms of a large house on a medium size block in a heritage overlay. The existing house was severely dilapidated and virtually unliveable, however located within a heritage overlay, meant the existing house had to stay and any new proposal had to respect the existing dwelling and heritage streetscape.
Then for more helpful information you can scare yourself by reading the Detox Your Home story on page 7 here. Did you know our families spend more than 90 per cent of their time indoors: at home, at school, at work and as we travel in cars and public transport. It makes sense then to make our indoor spaces as healthy and safe as we can.
With so many allergies and medical conditions worsening, it makes sense to check your home and detox it.
The average home has over 100,000 synthetic chemicals and although most are safe, some of these chemicals are toxic and many are untested, according to a 2009 study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
The less strong chemicals you have in your home, the better. While these harsh chemicals may not kill you, they can cause skin conditions, headaches, asthma, hyperactivity in children, breathing problems and much more.
Certain new carpets, furnishings and coverings as well as chemical cleaning products can give off volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Combined with other chemicals, they contribute to poor air quality and ill-health.
Children may be more vulnerable to chemical exposures and at greater risk than adults plus common cleaners and chemicals around the home are responsible for 95 per cent of all childhood poisoning incidents. There are good strategies you can apply to your home, so don't despair.
And for something more colourful in your day ... Did you know the nasturtium is one powerful plant - for food and for 'painting' a pretty picture. This great story is by Hannah Moloney and Anton Vikstrom from Good Life Permaculture
"Nasturtiums are my favourite plant ever - one of my earliest memories is of drinking raindrops out of their leaves (cause that's how the fairies did it) and they've really stuck with me ever since.
We often have a big bowl of the flowers in our house and each friend who comes through the door leaves with at least one in their pocket to have a go in their own gardens.
- Hannah Moloney
"As I grew older I loved the fact the you can eat the leaves, flowers and make 'poor man capers' out of the seed pods, plus they're a great living mulch in the garden, attract beneficial insects and are easy on the eye.
You can eat the leaves, flowers AND TUBERS, and while it is a perennial, it's sensitive to frost and cold so will die back in winter and grow fresh plants from new tubers in spring.
So late winter is the time to pull it up and subdivide all those tubers for eating and/ or growing.
It grows rampantly as a climber or ground cover and the flowers and leaves are similar to the common nasturtium plant, but have their own twist.
We tried eating the tubers roasted (just like potatoes), but sadly weren't in love with their taste.
Apparently baking and boiling them with accompaniments like cumin is the way to go, or grating them raw over salads.
They can also be added to soups and stews and be pickled too. The key is they soak up flavours. And they're beautiful, don't you think?"
There's so much to embrace in the Autumn edition of Your Home. Settle back, relax and pick up your device and click the link for more great Your Home content.