Outdoor Furniture that Works Indoors

With summer upon us you might be decking out your outdoor area with a few bits and pieces to make your guests feel comfortable. There's some fantastic outdoor furniture to choose from, many of which look great indoors too...

Hammocks

There's nothing quite like looking up at the sky, swaying back and forth on a hammock. Traditionally, hammocks are kept outside. But, homeowners are bringing this piece of outdoor furniture indoors. And it works!

Hanging Chairs

Probably one of the most versatile pieces of outdoor furniture is the hanging chair. It seems to work in every room. Placed in front of the fireplace, beside your bed or in the lounge room. They come in all shapes and sizes. Mostly large and egg like but some are designed to take up less space and kept simple.

Polished Concrete Tables

Concrete is commonly used as a material for outdoor furniture for its durability, strength and weather resistance. But polished concrete looks incredible indoors too! Kitchen bench tops, flooring, tables and seats are just some places you'll find polished concrete in the home. The material works well if you're trying to get that industrial look indoors, but can also be toned down with the right surrounding colours and decor. This coffee table is one of our custom made furniture pieces. It was created using reclaimed jetty timber. The contrast of the timber and concrete looks amazing indoors! If you're looking for  a custom made piece of furniture for your home you can contact me here.

Concrete Seats

These concrete block seats double up nicely as side tables or extra seats. They're beautifully craftedusing lump aged concrete and CorTen steel. If you'd like to find out more about these custom made seats for your home - get in touch with me.

Traditional Dining Table Outdoors

On the flip side, if you fancy a quirky look, taking some traditional furniture and placing it outdoors looks good too. Head to your local furniture op shop and pick up some mismatched chairs and a table for your outdoor area. Dress up the chairs with some cushions and give the table a lick of paint to bring some colour to your outdoor area. READ: Adding a vintage look to your kitchen.

Ergonomic Kitchen Design Tips

Standing on your tippy toes to reach a wine glass? Bending down too far to get a heavy pot? If you're stretching, climbing or bending in your kitchen on a regular basis you may need to look at your kitchen's ergonomics. A few design changes and product additions can improve the ergonomics of your kitchen. Here are some ergonomic kitchen design tips to get you started...

Raise the Dishwasher

The most common kitchen ergonomic blunder is the height of the dishwasher. It takes a good few minutes to pack a dishwasher, which puts strain on your back and knees. There are some awesome raised dishwasher designs, some of which are DIY. Some homeowners manage to raise the dishwasher themselves by adding a piece of plywood within a cabinet to hold the dishwasher. We'd recommend getting a plumber or carpenter in to assist you with this.

Sprung Flooring

Whether it's waiting for that pot to boil or catching up with friends or family around the kitchen island, we spend a lot of time standing in our kitchens. Spring flooring absorbs shock, giving a softer feel. Sprung floors are often used for rooms where physical activity takes place, but you can also install them in your homes too. If you spend a lot of time standing around your kitchen why not add some additional comforts: a mini herb garden, music or a book reading station.

Raise the Rangehood

If you're tall, you may be stooping down to stir at your stove. Instead of straining your neck and back, try raising the rangehood a bit higher. Rangehoods have a maximum distance allowance. Check what yours is and lift yours as high as you can to avoid strain.

Bottom Freezer Fridge

Ever pulled a heavy piece of frozen food from your top freezer and dropped it on your toes? I have. A bottom freezer fridge is more ergonomic as you can crotch down to grab what you need from the freezer. Instead of reaching up or overhead to putt it down.

Install a Wall Oven

If I had to choose one thing to correct in my kitchen, it would be the oven placement. Reaching down to pull hot stuff out of the oven is not only bad for your back, but also dangerous. If the tray is heavy and hot, there is a good chance you may drop it. A wall oven allows you to insert and remove trays of cooked food as a comfortable and natural level - not straining your back or arms.

Plan Your Storage Cupboards

Carefully plan where your kitchen items will go. Keep the lighter stuff in the higher cupboards and the heavier stuff in the bottom cupboards. Glasses and mugs should be as close to eye level as possible, so you're not stretching to get them.

Benefits of Concrete Flooring

Concrete flooring has been a trend for a few years now. But many people still see it as a cold and sterile option when it comes to using it in their homes. We reckon it's because many people just don't what can be done with concrete flooring - let alone what the benefits are! So this blog post reveals the benefits of concrete flooring and just how beautiful it is...

Low Maintenance

Concrete flooring only needs to be cleaned once a week and doesn't require any fancy household cleaners to do the job! You can mop your concrete floors once a week with some warm, soapy water. We recommend using a sweeper or dust mop before mopping the floor. Make sure the soap is completely mopped away so it doesn't leave marks or stick to the floor.

Beautiful Designs

With the right techniques and finished, concrete flooring goes from boring to beautiful! Dyes can be added to concrete for colouring. From red through to olive green, brown and gold - polished concrete can be dyed to suit your kitchen or office's design style.

Sustainable

Seeing as most houses have a concrete sub-floor, it’s possible to simply remove what ever is above that and make use of that as your flooring. If you do this, you're not using up any new materials and your new floor doesn't have to pass any regulation tests.

Timeless

 Concrete flooring won't go out of date. It's simplicity suits so many different design styles that it has really stood the test of time. Home owners dress their concrete flooring up or down with rugs or furnishings as they need to if a trend changes, but the appeal of the concrete flooring beneath remains the same. Looking for more kitchen flooring options? Check out another blog here to see what else is out there! Or get in touch with us today to find out about polished concrete for your kitchen.

Hidden Fridges

I've worked with a few clients who want a hidden fridge. Why? Some people believe it ruins the aesthetics of a kitchen. Others have old appliances in a modern kitchen they want hidden away.  Some people just reckon hardware appliances shouldn't be seen.  Whatever the reason - this blog showcases a couple different ways you can hide the fridge in your kitchen.

Cooler drawer

Disguise your fridge as just another drawer in your kitchen. Drawer coolers are great for water, cheeses, snacks and the smaller things that would usually go in a bulky fridge. Price range varies from $1,500 - $2,800 depending on brand, size and design. The drawer featured in this image is from Fisher & Paykel and can be found on Appliances Online. Some of these cool drawers are multi-temperatured - they cn have up to five temperature settings depending on what you want to put in there. Freezer, chill ,wine and pantry are just some of the modes these drawers can be set to allowing you full flexibility to use your drawer how you want!

Cooler cabinets

If you're single or a couple, a small hidden fridge can be integrated into one of your kitchen cabinets. Bear in mind that the space will need to be specially prepared for a fridge to go in as it needs to have the right level of ventilation so it doesn't overheat. There are some 'how to' guides out there on how to fix a fridge into a cabinet base if you fancy giving it a go!

Wine/ drink coolers

There's a lot of awesome, sleek wine cooling fridges and these are our favourite kind of hidden fridge! These fridges work well in your outdoor or indoor kitchen. Like the cooler drawer they come in single or multi temp with the single temp fridges coming in at around $1,500 and multi temp between $1,800 and $3,500 for something top of the range.

Integrated hidden fridges

If you're looking for a family sized fridge that will fit seamlessly in your kitchen there are some incredible hidden fridges to look at! An integrated fridge is designed to specifically be hidden. They have smooth lines and perfect symmetry to ensure this.

Standalone cabinet fridge

If you'd like a hidden fridge in your kitchen without the hassle of re-designing or re-building you can buy these really neat standalone cabinet fridges. Some are portable, some are fixed, but either way these standalone cabinets are a good place to start if you want a hidden fridge in your kitchen.

Pantry Storage Pros and Cons

We all aim to have a super organised kitchens, but it's not always easy to do - especially your pantry. So we've come up with five pantry storage systems and their pros and cons to help you get your kitchen organised :)

1. Shelves

Pros: Adding shelving to your kitchen is pretty easy and cost effective. Generally there's a lot of flexibility with shelf depth and width too.

Cons: If the shelves are too deep and not U-shaped it can be frustrating to reach back and pull out several items before you get what you need!

2. Pull out drawers

Pros: Easy to install and generally flexible in size and height.

Cons: Weight restrictions, runners getting stuck, depth variety and needing to pack the shelves specifically to get everything to fit are just four cons that we came up with for pull out drawers.

3. Pull out baskets

Pros: Commonly used to store vegetables. Easy to clean/require minimal cleaning. Create the illusion of space and are cost effective. They also come in a range of materials from stainless steel to plastic or coated steel.

Cons: Don't allow for as much customisation as other shelving types.

4. Stand alone baskets

Pros: Super easy and affordable to 'install'. They come in all different shapes, sizes and materials (plastic, wicker, plastic, steel, etc.) Great if you want to achieve a traditional or boho kitchen look.

Cons: Can be hard to clean (if you've chosen to go with the wicker option). Can be tricky to maintain as kitchen items need to be packed a certain way to ensure they fit into the space. Can be dangerous  if you have little kiddies around who may pull the drawers down as they aren't fixed.

5. Combination systems

There's no rules here! Pick and choose a mix of shelving/storage systems depending on your personal needs, requirements and/or style. Use wicker baskets for tea, coffee and cereal, pull out drawers for your pots and pans and shelves for your food and groceries.

Cosy Outdoor Area

Don't let Winter get in the way of you enjoying your outdoor area! We've whipped up a couple ideas to to inspire a cosy outdoor area in your home...

1. Rug up

Furnish your outdoor furniture with cosy rugs, cushions and warm textured fabrics to create a cosy feel. Think woollen blankies and warm colours like red, brown and burnt orange. Shades of blue work well too!

2. Park a bench

Bench seating is a great way to create a cuddly feel in your backyard. Benches allow for plenty body heat transfer which helps keep things cosy, but also closes up a space giving it a warmer feel. You could go for a dark bohemian look or a light pastel look depending on your style preference. The boho colours work well through all seasons.

3. Close it off

Adding a temporary ceiling or cover to your outdoor area closes off the space.  This could be a build pergola or a make shift shade cloth. Pick what you like depending on your budget! If you go with the built pergola roses, honeysuckles and jasmine are all lovely flowers to allow to grow on your pergola. Having flowers covering it will also make it cosy.

4. Light it up!

Lighting is a super important part of creating ambience in your home. Use fairy lights and/or lanterns to create cosy, dim lighting in your backyard.

5. Sofa - so good

Everyone loves a cuddle on the sofa so of course a sofa will help 'cosy up' your outdoor area. The only downside to this is that it needs to be protected from rain otherwise it may get mouldy. You can pick up second hand couches pretty cheap or you can scout for them on hard rubbish days.

Indoor Outdoor Kitchens that Work Together

We love our outdoor kitchens and more home owners are looking for ways to merge their indoor and outdoor kitchen seamlessly to get the most out of both areas. Here are some tips and inspirational pics to help you achieve a great flow between indoor outdoor kitchens.

1. Consistent flooring

Keeping the flooring material the same from indoors to outdoors keeps a nice consistent flow and feel between the two kitchens. Although this is a less cost effective option (well it can be depending on the material) it's a great way to merge the two areas together. Doing this will also create space between the two areas.

2. Picking the right palettes

When picking benchtop and cabinet colours you want to think about colours that work well in and outdoors. Light colours that complement natural surroundings and natural light work well.

3. Features and framing

Think about what materials and features you can use to bridge the gap between the indoor and outdoor kitchen. It could be something bold like a thick black frame or perhaps something more subtle like a sleek timber frame.

4. Get cosy

If you're looking to create a cosy vibe bridge the kitchen gap with beiges, blues, whites and textures. Utilise textured furniture like wicker chairs and hessian pillows.  Mixing modern and traditional materials means you can keep your kitchen modern but also enjoy the comfort with more traditional pieces of furniture and finishings.

Window Blinds Pros and Cons

Renovating or building a home isn’t always easy. We’re confronted with loads of options of brand, material and cost it’s sometimes hard to know where to look. We’re here to help. Our blog seeks to provide useful blogs that make your decisions a little easier.

This week we’re looking at outdoor window blinds pros and cons.

PVC Shutters

Pros:

• Really durable and typically come with a 15 plus year warranty
• Hold up well in wet conditions
• They’re cheaper than aluminium and timber
• Great heat insulator

Cons:

• They generally have a maximum width of 600mm
• Slats can become saggy and floppy in the heat

Aluminium shutters

Pros

• Can be made to look like timber
• Also a great heat insulator and handle windy weather well
• Decent air flow control
• They can be lockable for safety
• Come in many colours

Cons

• They can be expensive
• They can be a bit noisy

Awnings

Pros

• Work well motorized
• Can be made in mesh which is good for natural lighting and to cut glare
• Generally cheaper than any other option

Cons

• Need to be rolled up in bad weather
• Can become mouldy

Got any questions or comments we can help with? Looking for any general advice on building your outdoor kitchen Houzz page or contact us here.