Archives June 2021

Halfway into 2021, it appears the working from home scenario many of us adopted in 2020 may be here to stay in some capacity – whether through lifestyle choice or necessity. Either way, we may find ourselves looking around our hastily prepared home office spaces of last year wondering how we can make them more appealing and productive. So, we’ve put together a list of key home office trends for 2021.

Light – Create a working space that is light filled and fresh. A dark, moody environment will make it even harder to be productive when you’re struggling for motivation or inspiration. Maximise natural light, avoid heavy or overly patterned window treatments and go for a minimalist look and feel. Use a table lamp to provide soft lighting.

Colour – While a neutral colour palette lends itself to a focused environment, a lot can be said for injecting some colour into your home office – especially when you’re missing out on the ‘colour’ that face-to-face co-workers provide. A happy medium? Keep your walls, flooring, and window coverings neutral and add splashes of colour with a bright floor rug, statement chair, inspiring artwork or indoor plants.

Indoor plants – Not only do they bring the outdoors in, provide a calming, relaxed environment and look great, they also clean the air. A must for keeping your home office fresh. Think Peace Lilly, Fiddle Leaf Fig, Mother-in-law’s Tongue and trailing plants like Devil’s Ivy or Chain of Hearts.

Backdrop – The thing that nobody thought of as we started working from home? The Zoom or video call backdrop. Have you started a video meeting only to realise your co-workers or clients have a direct view into your bathroom? Or kids and pets are running past the doorway? Start your backdrop off with a blank wall and add a side table with some books, plants, or a piece of art.

Furniture – It goes without saying your home office desk and chair are crucial to your productivity. While it’s important to have pieces that are visually appealing, their ergonomic design and functionality can’t be overlooked. Whether you go for a classic desk, a console table with thin metal legs, a wide desk fixed to a wall or windowsill or a traditional desk with drawers and storage, comfort and size are key. Similarly with your chair. It may be tempting to have that spectacular looking piece of furniture in your home office, but the reality is after a few hours of sitting you’ll be wishing you went for the more practical, deep, wide chair with a range of height, back and head adjustments. If you can, strike a happy balance between comfort, functionality and design.

And most importantly when working from home – remember to switch off at the end of the day. Don’t be tempted to check your emails or finish that report instead of dinner with family, connecting with friends or unwinding with a book.

Looking to create a space to work from home? Give us a call to discuss how we can help get it done!

Whether you’re planning a renovation, gathering ideas to start, or you just have an interest in the home design field, home renovation blogs are a great place to get ideas and inspiration. Blogs can show many sides of a renovation that you may not know. They can also offer advice, and other ideas that can be useful to you, no matter where you are in your renovation process.

• Three Birds Renovations

Run by three friends, Three Birds Renovations blog is a well-designed, information-filled site with lots of tips, inspiration, and start-to-finish remodeling ideas. With photos and visual inspiration, as well, you’ll find get your creativity up and running.

• Emily Henderson

HGTV host and stylist Emily Henderson runs a blog with a lot of beautiful photos, ideas, and tips for remodelling and staging your home. Look for specific projects or trends and materials you can use in your home.

• The Inspired Room

The blog at The Inspired Room is designed to help you find the right style and materials for your current home. With lots of advice and photos, you’re sure to come away inspired and ready to start.

• Houzz

If you want to find the latest trends, as well as information and ideas on materials, furnishings, and projects, then be sure to check out the blog at Houzz. This powerhouse website is filled with information that you can tailor to meet your needs perfectly.

📲 Looking at getting a renovation or addition done? Give the team a call today 6373 2494!

Planning to sell your home? The best way to maximise profits is by creating a well-maintained property that new owners can move into without doing major work. Here are 10 easy steps to renovate for profit.

1. Refinish the floors

Ripping out carpet or old floor tiles is a large-scale improvement for maximum impact but not necessarily a cheap one.

Pull up the grungy carpet and put down a hard surface like laminate floorboards, or real timber if the budget allows, to radically change the property.

For maximum impact go for laminated spotted gum floorboards in high gloss, they can make your property look like a designer home.

2. Spruce up with paint

For every dollar you invest in painting you’ll typically get a $5 to $10 return.

It’s one of the most powerful ways to transform a property. Applying just one coat of fresh paint to ceilings brightens the space. For walls choose a modern, classic scheme.

The no-go color is yellow as it can date fast, go for colors like light clay, mocha, cream, natural stone and earth tones.

3. Update interior doors

When it comes to internal doors there’s no need to replace them.

There are lots of drab timber doors that simply need to be cosmetically refreshed with paint and a new handle. You don’t have to buy costly door handles as there are some really great fake clones.

Go for either curved or straight lines but not both. Straight is better because it’s more modern so the
look tends to lasts longer.

4. Turn up the lights

One of the first things to do is rip out the single pendant lights and install halogen or LED recessed downlighting. The objective is to lighten and brighten.

5. Dress the windows

Installing window treatments is an essential home makeover job and important to get right.

Dark curtains block light and aren’t the best option for people suffering allergies.

They tend to detract from a light, bright and airy home. Blinds generally cost less and give a more modern look. The trend at the moment is for slimline venetians because they cost so little and you can simply buy them to install easily.

Match your fixtures and furnishings to your home, making them relative to the property’s worth

6. Resurface the kitchen

Buyers identify the bathroom and kitchen as the two big cost centres. After they buy, replacing the kitchen can cost them up to $20,000 plus another $15,000 in the bathroom.

So they could potentially discount your property by up to $35,000 if those areas aren’t renovated. But of course you can do them for less.

7. Refresh the bathroom

If a bathroom has good bones but everything’s dated with the wrong colors then refresh with tile paint and resurfacing. You can get a new look in just a day for a fraction of the cost by keeping the existing fixtures.

8. Revamp the entrance

Instant kerb appeal means potential buyers stop and look at the property instead of driving past.

The top jobs are cleaning up with a high-pressure washer, painting and fixing the fence.

If the fence needs replacing build to the maximum height allowed.

9. Update the driveway

To give paths and driveways a facelift, use paving paint.

Poor driveways and pathways can pull down the value of the rest of the property. It’s like baking a cake then forgetting to ice it.

10. Green up the lawn

Many homeowners concrete the front yard for easier maintenance but turf is a highly valued commodity. People love having a lawn at the front and back, it’s added bling.

Are you thinking about a renovation? Then contact us today to discuss what you have in mind.

Call AllGroup WA 6373 2494, the team are ready to discuss your ALL projects, big or small.

Whether you’re planning to knock down some walls or touch up your bathroom or kitchen, you may need to borrow some money to pay for the material and labor costs. One of the options is to refinance your home loan and free up some cash to pay for the renovations.

Also called a cash-out refinance, this option lets you tap into your home equity by refinancing your home loan to increase your borrowing. The difference may be withdrawn in cash to pay for renovations or to meet other personal expenses. A few lenders also let you access the money as a flexible line of credit. Some borrowers may find this option better suited for long-term renovation projects, as it offers periodical payments when needed (up to the loan limit).

Your equity is the difference between the current value of your home and the outstanding amount on your mortgage. If you’ve been making regular mortgage repayments for a few years, and your property has increased in value since you purchased it, you may have built equity that can be leveraged to pay for a renovation project.

With a cash-out refinance, you can use this equity to borrow up to 80 per cent of the current value of a property. You are also likely to get a more competitive interest rate than other financing options, like a personal loan. Besides, with interest rates being at an all-time low, refinancing to a lower rate could potentially save you in interest costs.

Comparing home loans for refinancing from different lenders is one way to find a competitive deal to get more out of your mortgage. You may start by comparing similar home loan products online to see how your current interest rate stacks up against the market average. If you find your lender is charging you more than what they’re charging new customers for a similar product, you could call them up to negotiate a better rate and top-up your loan to avoid the costs and paperwork involved in switching lenders. If that doesn’t work out, you have the option of changing lenders to get access to a better rate and features.

In either case, inform your lender about the requirement for extra renovation funds and how you plan to spend them. Different types of renovations are covered by different types of loans, and a lender might suggest another alternative more suitable for your requirements. For instance, if you need to do some major work like raising the roof, a construction loan may be worth considering. Or, if you’ve been making additional repayments on your home loan, redrawing some of these advance payments could help to finance a minor cosmetic renovation.

If you aren’t sure about the financing option that’s best for you, discussing your requirement with a broker can help. A decent broker will help you evaluate your choices better and also try to negotiate a more favourable rate and terms with your lender.

What to keep in mind while refinancing your home loan for renovations

When planning a renovation project, it helps to be clear about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it to keep the costs under control. Discussing your plans with an expert will give you a ballpark figure for the project. It will also help you ascertain whether the modifications are likely to add any value to your home or not. For example, you might be considering some cosmetic changes to your bathroom without realising the extensive plumbing work it might entail. An expert will tell you about these costs in advance so you can plan your budget accordingly.

Once you have an estimate, you may choose to apply with a lender to refinance your mortgage and increase how much you borrow to pay for the project. However, increasing your debt is likely to increase your monthly repayments. So make sure you have the capacity to repay the additional debt in the long run, or you might find yourself falling behind on your repayments. If you don’t want the monthly repayments to increase, you may choose to increase the loan term, but remember, this could increase the cost of the loan over the longer term as well.

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If there’s one thing architects, interior experts, forecasters and leading designers agree on it’s this: our collective experience of lockdown will fundamentally alter the way we live in the future. Our recent awakening will change what we place importance on; from the materials we choose, to the design of our living spaces, who we live with, and how we want our spaces to interact with and ultimately fulfil us.

Read on for how thought leaders say the life-changing experiences of 2020 will play out in the near future. And a note that the links to further stories will give you a comprehensive overview and more insights into all the trends we see coming in the near future.

1. The rise of antibacterial materials and biodesign
If there’s one thing the pandemic has burned into our brains, it’s the importance of hygiene.

As individuals we’ve embraced hand washing, sanitising and the wearing of masks.

And just as sanitary practices have become a life-saving virtue, a rise in automatic washbasins, touch-less flushing systems, and infra-red sensors in our bathrooms will meet our desire to reduce excessive contact with surfaces.

There will be a greater demand for surface coatings that are bacteriostatic (capable of inhibiting the growth or reproduction of bacteria). Copper and its alloys, brass and bronze, fulfil this criteria so expect to see more tapware, and kitchen and bathroom fixtures such as sinks and splashbacks, made from these materials.

2. Tiles and bricks as the new vehicles for self-expression
Where once experimentation with colour and texture in a home was primarily through paint colour and application, it is now moving onto tiles – and bricks – with incredible results.

3. An increased focus on clever small home design and adaptive large-home layouts
Let’s start with what won’t be happening. The ‘big is good’, philosophy and fundamental belief in set layouts that can’t change and grow with a family will be revisited.

Our houses (and apartments) need to be designed to be more adaptable to provide opportunity for quiet. Open-plan living has its benefits but how to optimise space within our homes is more critical than ever.

There is an increasing necessity for creative solutions for living small. Younger generations are seeking creative space-planning solutions for small-footprint dwellings and apartments, driven both by housing affordability, construction costs and an environmental consciousness. You only need to look to Japan as proof that living small can be elegant and beautiful.

4. Nature as savior
Designing for wellbeing – green roofs, internal courtyards and external sightlines – is growing in importance.

Increasingly, architecture and interiors are looking for interesting ways to integrate nature throughout [a home]. Connection with nature is essential to wellbeing. When we design any space, the garden is a central part of the design-making process. The two need to work together and be seamlessly integrated.

If you are thinking of embracing any of the above, get in touch with the team today to discuss how we can help make it a reality.