take note* KEEPING YOU IN THE LOOP

Redefine Your Living Space

In keeping with this year’s “My home, My way” theme, discover the transformative power of colour in redefining your living spaces at the East Coast Radio House + Garden Show. This year Plascon will be inspiring visitors with their “2 Palettes, 2 Rooms” concept. The two rooms will see talented Durban-based designers drawing inspiration from Plascon’s Colour Forecast theme for 2023 –“Bringing It Home” – to create spaces that will inspire from walls, to decor to furniture. Drawing from nature’s own colour story, the palettes that will be on display exhibit soothing hues, rich pigments, and monochrome combinations for a fresh graphic appeal.

FOR MORE INFO: Head over to the show from July 1-9 at the Durban Exhibition Centre. Visit www.housegardenshow.co.za or follow @housegardenshow on W

The increased demand for sustainable and energyefficient solutions has driven developers to heed the call of investors and home buyers to include alternative and off-the-grid capabilities in their developments. This is in the wake of the rising costs of electricity, water shortages, and a conscious awareness of the impact our carbon footprint has on the environment.

According to Murray Collins, Director of Collins Residential, there is an upswing in people looking to live in secure estates that are eco-conscious and put the environment first. By incorporating biodiversity into developments, developers fulfil the homeowner’s desire to live in communities that have green spaces and whose environmental footprint is low. However, often trees and other natural elements are removed and replaced with bricks and mortar.

“Our mandate as a company is to create ecosystems that benefit homeowners by enhancing wellness while protecting the environment. We are creating biodiversity where both fauna and flora abound within a residential environment while also keeping our carbon footprint low through energy-efficient solutions for homeowners to run their homes on a day-to-day basis,” says Murray.

According to Murray, with all their developments on the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, they only develop on land that has been previously degraded or disturbed, overused or over-farmed. “If we cannot enhance or improve the land, we won’t build on it. Seaton Estate is a great example of this. We spent many years rehabilitating the land by planting trees, removing invasive species, and allowing the grass to grow naturally before we introduced Seaton to the market. This rehabilitation process started with insects, owls and other mammals returning to the area with the objective of returning the land to its former glory before it was sugar cane farms,” Collins explains.

Seaton Estate’s rehabilitation programme will see more than 10 000 trees being planted. This reduces the carbon footprint of the development, and when combined with the environmentally-