FEATURE STORY
Happy home The year 2021 has been dubbed the year of renovation, and by all accounts, 2022 is also shaping up to be strong for the industry. The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that Aussies spent $2.9 billion on home alterations in the September quarter – a 19.7 per cent increase on the previous year’s reporting. According to a report from industry body hipages, a kitchen, bathroom or living room renovation can start from $10,000 and increase quickly depending on the scale of the project. However, home projects don’t necessarily have to cost a lot. There are plenty of smaller DIY tasks that will brighten up your home. With the Easter long weekend ahead of us, there’s no time like the present to get to work. Compiled by Candice Holznagel.
10 My Weekly Preview | April 7, 2022
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Cherie BARBER Renovation queen Cherie Barber is once again sharing her advice with My Weekly Preview readers. As the founder of Renovating for Profit, Ms Barber is a familiar face on television shows such as Channel Nine’s Space Invaders, Today Extra and popular lifestyle program The Living Room on Network Ten. Ms Barber has renovated more than 150 properties valued at more than $75 million and trained more than 20,000 students through her renovation school. This week, Ms Barber shares advice on
how to create a healthy and happy home with a few simple updates. “When you start to think about the concept of a happy and healthy home, what doesn’t spring to mind is the modern world we live in today,” Ms Barber says. “It’s hard to imagine life before mobile phones, laptops, iPads and all the other modern devices we enjoy today. But the difficulty is tearing ourselves away from these very things, when in all truthfulness, we probably should be quietly curled up on the lounge with a good book and a cuppa. “It’s like we almost have to force ourselves to take time out from the digital world we live in. “With this infiltration of digital technology in our lives every single day, homeowners and renters have been very quick to hop on the fast-growing trend to create home environments that cocoon us from this manufactured, artificial world to one that reconnects us with the natural world. More than ever, we want to bring peace and Zen into our homes and lives generally.”
RECONNECTING WITH NATURE Ms Barber says there are plenty of simple ways to connect to nature in the home environment. “Designers have really cottoned on to this. By choosing colours, textures, materials and even smells that remind us of nature, and by creating homes filled with sunlight, natural
ventilation, green plants and leafy views, we can get as close as possible to the natural world outside.” The biophilic design concept is a growing movement that centres on connecting humans to nature through architectural and style elements to improve wellbeing. Project: Why not consider installing a vertical garden, plant an edible garden or buy a DIY water feature and install it in your garden.
Tip! Planting an edible garden? Broccoli, lettuce, spinach, spring onion, rosemary, thyme and coriander are all great varieties to plant during southeast Queensland’s autumn months.
myweeklypreview.com.au
4/04/2022 2:38:13 PM
