With rising costs in holidaying and eating out, many people are opting to stay at home to holiday and dine. Furthermore, a well-designed outdoor space can also be a great retreat after a busy day at work or on the weekends. Here are six tips then as you embark on designing the perfect outdoor space.

Determine your use of space
Although it may be tempting to buy a new outdoor lounge chair that looks absolutely amazing in photos on the brochure, consider whether it will really be put to good use. Are you or someone in your household fond of sitting outside to read a book or magazine? Or would your money be better spent on nicer chairs around the outdoor dining table? Think about the activities you enjoy and design your outdoor space around that, rather than what’s advertised.

Add more plants
While you probably don’t want to have a mini forest in your backyard, adding small flowering plants around the perimeter of your patio is a great way to add more color to your outdoor space. If you want to be extra sustainable, consider buying some native plants that are well suited to your climate. For those with a little bit more time on their hands, consider starting a small vegetable patch – it can be as simple as growing cherry tomatoes and herbs in little pot plants!

Add more light
You might be asking, isn’t it already sunny outside? Even though your outdoor space may be in full view of the sun, there’s a good chance that there will also be neighbouring trees providing a considerable amount of shade. One inexpensive way to add light and atmosphere to your outdoor space is to install accent lighting. This could be in the form of string lights along the trees, lights at ground level, or even candles in sturdy candle holders.

Make it family friendly
Whether you have children or not, it’s likely that at some stage, more frequent for some, children will want to play in your outdoor space. If you have children yourself, consider installing a small playground, swings, or basketball hoops in your backyard to keep your children happy and active. A simple patch of grass large enough to run around works well too. And for an extra step: make sure the floor coverings on your patio are smooth to avoid any nasty scrapes and bruises!

Exercise restraint
Just as you maintain a discerning eye when looking for houses for houses for sale in Epping or house and land packages in Craigieburn, remember to show similar care when designing your outdoor space. Imagination and creativity is important, but there’s nothing economical or aesthetically pleasing about a beautiful outdoor space that’s only used once a year, if at that. Make sure you only buy what is really essential and balance function with appearance as you go about your designing.

Remember the seasons
If you’re keen on outdoor entertaining and willing to splurge on an expensive set of outdoor furniture, by all means go ahead with your proposed purchases. However, you should also consider the seasons. How many months will you be able to fully utilise this space before it’s too cold outside? Should you invest in an outdoor heat lamp as well? Or perhaps your garden looks dull at winter. To remedy this, choose late blooming shrubs such as Heather and Hydrangeas!

Author bio: Amy Hopkins is a university student and freelance writer who is interested in property and real estate.

To begin, find out how much your desired upgrade will cost. Determine a timeframe in which you might realistically be able to afford the upgrade, and calculate your income over that time period, whether it’s 1 year or 5. Then subtract the cost of the project from your income. That will be the amount of money available to you over that time period. If you divide that amount by the length of your timeframe (in years), you’ll get your yearly income after savings. Now determine whether you could make ends meet with that level of income. If so, then your timeframe is probably realistic for being able to save your desired amount of money. If not, then you may have to lengthen your timeframe.

Assuming you have come up with a realistic number, you then have a responsibility to stick to your commitment to save. In order to persevere, you will benefit from budgeting your income after savings. Subtract all of your necessary expenses from your income after savings, and this will leave you with the amount available to you for any expenditures that are not necessary. Your job is then not to spend more than this amount.

By putting some numbers on the cost of your desired home improvements, you can get more specific about what it will take to achieve your goals. By setting and sticking to a budget, you can then ensure you make good on your commitment to save. Good luck!

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The new year has arrived and spring is just around the corner, which means it’s high time for us green-fingered folk to start preparing the garden for this exciting season. Now is the perfect period to plan which vegetables you want to grow and what summer bulbs you’d like to plant – not to mention review your seeds and equipment, taking stock of what you need to buy.

So, without further ado, here are my top ideas for getting the garden ready for spring.

Decide what you want to plant
I think the most obvious job for the pre-spring period – and one of the most enjoyable – is planning out what you’re going to plant once the season arrives. Personally, I like trying a mix of favourites (which are things I enjoy growing and I’m quite confident cultivating) and experiments, by which I mean things I haven’t grown before. This way, you get a good balance between having a – hopefully! – good crop and avoiding too much disappointment if new things go wrong.

When you’re doing this, make a note of what exactly you intend to grow and the time it should be planted. For example, sweetcorn and French bea

ns should be sown in mid-spring, but lettuce and beetroot can wait till late spring if needed. This should help you be more organised, and will also give you some idea of when you need to purchase which seeds by.

Check your existing seeds
The next thing you should do is take a look at any existing packets/stores of seeds you have and check their condition and expiry date – after all, you don’t want to plant any duds. Throw out any unusable seeds and make a list of which you need to buy before the springtime.

Now’s also a good time to see if there are any issues with storage, since this’ll come to light when you’re reviewing your seeds. If you’ve discovered pests are getting into the shed, for example, or that the environment you’re keeping the seeds in is too damp, you might want to consider ordering a new wooden shed, or buying new containers for your seeds.

Do an equipment check
When you’ve checked your seeds, move on to your equipment – after all, you may as well do it all in one go! As well as testing whether large tools, like lawnmowers, are working, you should also take a peek at things like trowels and oil them if needed.

Don’t forget to consider smaller items, too, such as gardening gloves (you may well need a new pair by the time spring arrives!), labels and canes. Now Christmas is over, most garden centres will have their shelves full of all the coming season’s essentials, so it’s a great time to shop.

Tidy the shed
While you’re waiting for spring to arrive and you’re checking on your seeds, tools and such, it’s a good idea to tidy up your shed. After all, this can become cluttered incredibly quickly, and it can be hard to find what you need after a period away from the garden.

So, take this opportunity to clear out any accumulated junk (there’s always some, no matter how conscientious you are!) and get things organised. Locate all those tools and bits and bobs you’ll need to achieve your spring goals, and make sure they’ll still be easy to find once the time comes for planting.

Many self-builders decide to manage the construction of their new home themselves, rather than pay a project manager to do the job for them. This is a perfectly viable way to do things, as long as you’re well prepared.

One of the biggest issues for most self-builders is finding time to deal with the day-to-day running of the site. You may therefore want to consider whether you’ll need to take some time off work at particular stages of the project to ensure everything runs smoothly. Here is an outline of a basic construction schedule, although you should always be prepared to be flexible, as things can often change once you start the work.

Preliminary work
The initial stages of a self-build project will involve quite a lot of legwork on your part. You’ll need to find a suitable plot of land, agree a mortgage in principle with your bank, survey the site, draw up preliminary plans, hire your builder and architect, and apply for planning permission. It’s incredibly difficult to put a timeframe on this part of a self-build scheme, especially when it comes to finding the right site. You may be lucky and come across the perfect plot of land early on, or it could require months of searching to get what you want.

Early building stages
The construction work will begin in earnest once you’ve got all the necessary planning approval and have your contractors hired and ready to go. Typically, you should allow around three weeks to clear the site, excavate trenches and pour the foundations, although this will vary depending on your particular piece of land.

You’ll also need to install drainage and pipework around the fourth and fifth weeks of your build. Make sure you’ve applied for water and electricity before you get started on the construction work. Remember to arrange to hire construction equipment and scaffolding rigs well in advance of beginning your project. You’ll find more information about how to go about this here.

Constructing the frame and walls
The actual construction process for the walls and frame of the house will depend on what materials you’re using for your project. For instance, standard brick-and-block construction will usually take around five weeks from the time the foundations and drainage are installed, whereas a timber frame home will go up much more quickly as it is prefabricated.

You should allow an additional two to three weeks to construct the roof, lay the membrane and install the tiles. It’s important to weatherproof the property at this stage, as this will allow you to get on with work on the interior.

Windows and basic internals
Fitting the windows and guttering is the next logical step and, as your property should now be protected from the elements, you can begin the plumbing and electrical work inside. Once this is completed, you can lay the flooring and install insulation. At the same time, you can render the exterior of your property, construct things like the chimney and add any additional decoration to the outside of your home. This is also when your scaffolding will be removed.

Internal work
This should take you to roughly 20 weeks on your building schedule if all goes to plan and, by this point, you will primarily be concentrating on the interior of your home. Plastering the walls, doing the second round of work on the plumbing, heating and electrical systems, decorating, tiling and carpentry jobs are the kinds of things you’ll be focusing on.

Make sure you allow time towards the end of the project to do the snagging. This refers to going around the home and making a list of anything you need your builder to fix before you are happy with the property, and then rechecking it once this work has been completed.
The final step is connecting all the services and testing them, before you will finally be ready to move into your new home, typically around 28 weeks after the building process started.

An oven in a contemporary chrome

For a contemporary kitchen, stainless steel is ideal because it emphasizes the modernity of your space. Combining perfectly with white furniture and gray. Do not hesitate to offer a refrigerator in the same finish for a touch of more decoration. If your kitchen is white, but some of your items are chrome, you can easily opt for an oven with the same finish to highlight your devices. The oven will be coordinated well in the fridge, the sink and hood.

An oven in a kitchen with charm
The oven for a kitchen with charm is not like choosing a model for the slight break with  modern decoration in mind. You can then opt for a  cooking oven that can be placed between two pieces of furniture . For a timeless touch, we choose a model chromium.

The mysterious black
In your home, try the black. Color that will surprise and shakes codes. Black ensures both dark and mysterious effects in the interior. To avoid total black look, you can also play on contrasts adding a touch of white. This play of light between black and white will make a decoration and modern design. Black fits with everything to offer a safe and protective cocoon in your home.
Affirm your choice by adding a touch of color flaming in this black box. It adapts perfectly with a touch of bright color such as red, orange or yellow. Black in your decoration fits all your needs. It can be both graphic as a wink back chic, or total look and imagining a universe minimalist pleasant contrast or to wake up your decor and illuminate your home.

The smooth gray
The gray is a soft color that blends perfectly with white. In this quest for simplicity and elegance in your home, choose the tenderness and delicacy of a refined tone. In this sophisticated world, succumb to the delicate shapes and soft colors in gray and white. This soft and neutral color blends well with black for a chic and glamorous result. Romantic and charming, gray apply on the walls and the floor to provide discretion and sobriety in the room. The different shades of gray can dress the windows and sheer linen. A classic and discreet, do not hesitate to refer you to design furniture and modern clean lines.

Browns warm and comforting
Browns recall the harmony between man and nature. They comforted by their declination warm colors. The brown color is considered as comforting winter break for the fire. The variations of brown soothe and bring a sense of well-being in your home. They reveal soft colors and sensual. In these reassuring tones, adopt natural in your decoration.