Home Innovations Display Centre

Fact Sheets

Design Tips for an Outdoor Room

Creating a truly functional and relaxing room for outdoor living is now much the same of planning your indoor rooms, it requires careful planning & yes that means doing your homework. You will need to consider architectural style, colour harmony, traffic flow, space requirements and comfort while not forgetting about privacy and creating shelter from the sun, rain and wind.

Alternative Heating & Cooling

Even for existing homes there are many ways to reduce energy bills, improve comfort and help the environment. Gone are the days of just your old gas wall heater or an open fire place, heating and cooling has become much more advanced now with everything more sustainable in todays building technology.

BUYING A NEW KITCHEN - How to Avoid Costly Mistakes

Questions to help you build your profile as a kitchen buyer, Avoid costly mistakes. Also 10 designer tips for your new kitchen.

What is Essa Stone?

Essa™ stone defines contemporary yet timeless style. Essa™ stone is classically beautiful, remarkably durable and virtually maintenance free.

“What is grid connect solar power”

Grid connect photovoltaic solar power systems are the most cost effect way of using solar energy to power your home, school, office or commercial facility. Why you ask?

10 Pre Kitchen Renovation Questions

What's the recipe for a successful kitchen reno? The way you live, the way you cook, the way you entertain all help determine what you want out of your kitchen renovation project. You then need to get an idea of what fits your style, functional needs and budget.

Kitchen Design Options

There are 3 key zones to a kitchen which professional kitchen designers aim to link together by creating the work triangle.

Tips on Small Kitchen Design

The kitchen is often the focal point of any house, as well as a place for cooking and eating it is often a meeting place where the whole family gather. Therefore it is important to have a kitchen that is both functional and pleasant to be in.

Synthetic Turf vs Lawn

Tired of wasting precious time mowing lawns instead of relaxing with family & friends? Synthetic grass is extremely durable & designed to replicate the look & feel of real grass, with low maintenance & will compliment any garden, around the pool or outdoor area

Selecting a Shower Screen

Shower Screens can be the most important component in any bathroom, so which one is the best for your bathroom? This Fact Sheet will help you find the answer.

Space Planning

If you are renovating or building - or just looking for a new look - you will need to solve important space issues.

Why Renovate?

Renovating can be a very rewarding excercise but before you launch into renovations. Take time to carefully plan and research your project to reap the rewards of a successful renovation.

Boost Your Home Resale Value

Hold that hammer. Before you put your home on the market, consider these quick and easy tips to boost your home's resale value. What did you notice when you first saw your house from the outside?

Bushfire Precaution Checklist

The recent events throughout country Victoria have been tragic and there is no longer a time when residents in fire prone areas can lower their guard. There are many things that you can do around the home to make your castle less susceptible to bushfire danger. Regular maintenance and inspections using this checklist will provide a good guide for ongoing awareness of the ever present dangers of the Australian Summer.

Furnishing Your Dining Room

Whether you have a separate dining room, a kitchen dining area or even a small dining table in the lounge room, it can be daunting trying to find the right furniture for you...

Top 10 Bathroom Renovation Tips

Todays bathrooms are no longer the smallest room in the house. People are also looking for relaxation and pampering. Here are some important tips to consider when redesigning your bathroom.....

Lighting Tips

Before designing a room, you need to consider two types of lighting: natural and electric. Make the right choice and you can turn a dull, soulless room into a vibrant space. Choose something more versatile than a single bulb hanging from the centre of the ceiling. Use multi or directional lights on a track, which can be used to highlight your favourite painting or mirror.

Create a Lighting Plan

In an ideal world, you'd start with a completely clean slate and no existing cabling or sockets to restrict you......

Colour Wheel

You will need to decide which colours combine well, whether they are toning, harmonious or complementary. By getting to grips with the rules of colour, you can give your room a professional look.....

New Colour Scheme

Creating the right colour scheme for your room is no easy task. Let our expert guides help you make the right decision. A tonal scheme or monochromatic scheme means you use just one colour but in varying tones. If you choose everything in the same tone and colour your scheme will look bland or boring.

Interior Styling Secrets

Discover 15 tricks that can make your home look like it jumped off the pages of a magazine. 1) Keep glass cabinets attractive with themed contents, for example, bright and bold for fun, or perhaps all white and stainless steel for an elegant, contemporary look.

Door & Window Selection

The key to selecting the perfect window and door style is to examine the architecture of your home. Replacement windows and doors should suit the architecture and, ideally blend in seamlessly. Or you may wish to create a feature with a complementary style.

Mould & Mildew Problems

Mould & Mildew are Fungi, simple microscopic organisms that grow & thrive anywhere there is a moist environment. These tiny pests can cause many people problems in the wet areas of their home......

Colour Selection

When planning a new colour scheme it is both fun and helpful to create a mood board to give you a direction for your creativity, somewhere to crystallise your thoughts and a way to share your ideas with others......

Removing Wallpaper Guide

Just bought a house? Retro wall paper everywhere?! Here is a simple guide on how to remove the wall paper from your home. The 1st method is using a wallpaper steamer, a piece of equipment that can be rented. It send steam through a hose to a flat metal plate similar to an iron.

Furniture Restoration

When it comes to furniture restoration, often the piece of furniture just needs a good clean. Here are some basic tips on how to restore furniture and how to clean it up......

Timber Flooring

Timber flooring in your home is not just an attractive flooring option, but is practical to clean, timeless in appearance and long lasting. Timber Flooring is beautiful; relatively maintenance free & depending on the timber can be virtually indestructible. It holds character which cannot be matched by any other flooring type......

Pet Friendly Homes

More & more people are becoming *Pet Parents*. Gone are the days where the family pooch or cat is restricted to outdoors only. It's not really suprising that people are adapting their homes and lifestyles to accommodate their furry family members......

Handy Storage Solutions

Are you trying to find storage space where there doesnt seem to be any? Smart use of storage space means that you can increase and expand on the space that you already have without paying a lot of money to renovate, extend, or on expensive storage systems. Try these 15 handy hints in your home & you will realise that you can make a feature out of storage spaces.

Creative Kid’s Bedrooms

Ask a child what their favourite colour is and they will say green, no blue, no orange, red yellow & purple! Kids love colour so why not turn their bedroom into a stimulating & fun place to be for them? There are endless possibilities when decorating a children's bedroom, but a very important factor is to encourage your child to contribute to the project.

Achieve The Perfect Paint Job

Handy tips on the perfect paint job, from surface preparation to the end result. Surface preparation is a vital part of the painting process, it can make or break a project. Make sure that you fill any holes and remove any old flaky paint and then sand it back to ensure a smooth and even finish.

Choosing a Benchtop Material

Choosing a suitable bench top for your kitchen, bathroom etc can be a hard task. Here is a brief overview on many of the most popular materials with Pros & Cons to make your selection process a bit easier......

Carpet Stain Removal

Most of us at some stage have either caused a carpet stain or had to clean one up. Done the right way, cleaning can remove the stain completely or at least make it less noticeable. Now you don't have to cover up that red wine stain with a rug or a piece of furniture. Here is a simple guide on the different stainsto remove them all.

Choosing the Right Flooring

Choosing the right flooring for your home is an important. Make the right choice when selecting flooring for your home. You need to select a type of flooring that fits in with your lifestyle, tastes and one that is comfortable for you.

Decoration Styles

There are many different decorating styles for your home. Sometimes it can become confusing between Modern & Contemporary, French Provincial and Shabby Chic, etc.... So here are some basic descriptions of some popular styles.

Living Small Tips

Today the traditional Australian home includes apartments and town houses; therefore we are living with a lot less space for furniture and storage, fewer backyards and more balconies. Here are some simple tips on how to make the most of our limited space.

10 tips on Finding a Builder

Building a house is a lifetime investment for most of us. So you need to find a builder who is reliable and can deliver the goods he promises on time. How do you do that? 1) Ask family and friends for recommendations of builders that they have used. 2) Create a list of builders that you would consider using.

Balcony Design Tips

Balconies are often forgotten or neglected when in fact they can be one of the most important features of your home be it for entertaining or simply relaxing. Consider these important points before embarking on a balcony or terrace design project

Kitchen Quiz

For many, the kitchen is the hub of the home. Italian contemporary, classic vintage, modern chic? Defining your kitchen style can be as confusing as reading a wine label. However once you've got a general sense of your preferences you'll have a good starting point for further research, or conversations with designers if you chose. Find out what style suits you best by answering 5 simple questions......

Planning to Decorate

Avoid a home improvement nightmare by following our essential guide to DIY preparation. Follow these easy to follow tips to ensure you achieve real improvements, while saving time and money. If you're going to redecorate a room begin by deciding how far you're going to go.

How to use Colour

When it comes to decorating, pouring over paint charts is undoubtedly one of the most exciting parts of the project and that moment when you first take the lid of that tin of paint is even better. Colour is perhaps the most personal and dramatic statement you can make in your home......