Australian home design directory site map

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Find a home designer

• Find an architect, building designer or interior designer .
• Browse for an architect, building designer or interior designer.

Find a builder

• Find a builder on our Australian online builders directory.
• Browse for a builder on our Australian online builders directory.

Featured builders

Central Coast, NSW

• Central Coast builder Les Smith has built over 100 new homes, townhouses and units over the last 30 years in the Central Coast and Newcastle.
• Central Coast based Seascape Building specialise in renovations, decks, pergolas, privacy screens, and extensions. With a network of suppliers, Seascape Building is your dedicated building and construction company on the Central Coast.

 

Home design articles

• Seven deadly sins of home design. There are seven common mistakes that people make when designing their home and here are some ways to help you avoid them...
• How to design your own home. The steps outlined here will teach you the basics of the process that is followed by design professionals in the building industry. Follow this process and you will have a better chance of designing a home that functions well and works aesthetically...
• Environmental house design. Good environmental design positively effects the thermal comfort of a building allowing the occupants to be comfortably warm in winter and cool in summer - with minimal energy usage...
• Some design tips on lighting, colour selection, outdoor spaces & more...
• Australian home design styles. This article gives a brief explanation of some of the residential architecture styles found in Australia. Just as these styles have developed from previous ones, the current styles are also being combined to create new hybrid designs, some of which work better than others...
• Council requirements and reports. Drawings are only a small portion of what councils in Australia require to enable them to give consent to your development application, building permit or building licence. Reports such as Statement of Environmental Effects, BASIX (in NSW), waste management reports, geotechnical reports, landscaping plans and more may need to be lodged with your plans...
• Home design and construction process. Most people do not experience the design and construction process more than a few times in their lifetime. The processes are constantly changing but the drawing production process and council preparation stays the same...
• Residential building cost estimator. A handy tool to help you determine a rough cost for that dream home you are planning to build...

 

Interior design & lighting articles

• DIY interior design. Why can some people make their home look stylish, cozy or just plain brilliant when others, no matter how hard they try, simply make a mess of it?
• Colour wheel tool. Use this tool to help you select a colour scheme for your home. (This colour tool should ideally be used after you've read the following two articles.)
• Picking colours for your home. Why can some people pick the right colours and and other can't? The answer is simple, they have not read this article... (page 1 of 2)
• Colour selection rules for your home. When furnishing, decorating and painting the interior or exterior of your home you should consider the following rules when selecting colours... (page 2 of 2)
• The use of neutral colours a case study by Colour Consultant Samantha Bacon

• Light and lighting in and around the home. Most light is delivered by the Sun Corporation and is thankfully free of charge. This is called natural light. Natural light has two forms...      The most important areas for good light are the work areas- bench tops and stove. Ideally light falls on this area from two directions. A window behind the bench top is great light source. A long, narrow, clear or milk glass window between bench and cupboards will give a very workable light...
• Energy efficient lighting and quality of light If you haven't already started to feel guilty about the lighting in your house, someone is going to make you feel that way soon! There is a huge, and well founded, move towards encouraging us to make the lighting in our homes more efficient. After all - if we can create the same amount of light for 20% of the energy...
• 3S Lighting: Energy efficient lighting specialists The 21st century is seeing new milestones being set in energy efficient living. Consumers and regulatory bodies are demanding that the community be responsible and efficient with their energy consumption. There are now companies that specialise in manufacturing energy efficient products and...
• Lighting terms A lumen is the measure of the perceived power of light. Lux is the number of lumens per square metre...

 

Construction articles & tools

• Construction cost calculator. A comprehensive and useful tool that uses a technique similar that used by many building professionals to get a rough idea of the cost of construction before any work begins...
• The building process fully explained... This article spans several pages and is written for owner-builders and property owners hiring a builder who want to familiarize themselves with the home construction process. It covers:

  Legal requirements Site Preparation Footings & Floor Construction Wall Construction Roof Construction Roofing Materials Windows & frames

  Doors Screens Wall Finishes Wall & Ceilings Water/Drainage/Gas Electrical

• So you want to be an owner builder...   then read this article
• How to read a builder's quote. Reading a builders quotation can be frustrating and can leave many people wondering what it actually includes! There are a few essential things that you can do to greatly improve receiving a thorough and easy to understand quotation...
• Residential structures: the basics. Many people that don't work within the construction industry have little idea of how a simple home is constructed. Here we have provided some examples of basic home construction details so you can better understand how your home is 'put together'.
• Sample construction specification. Here we have provided a few sample pages from a full construction specification document that building designers and architects produce for clients.
• How to read construction plans. Each type of plan is explained interactively. As you move your mouse over the plan diagram explanatory text is displayed.
• DIY page. Our do-it-yourself portal.

Home renovation articles

• Overcapitilising with renovations. Whether you are renovating your home for more space, updating its interiors or developing with the view of selling, you need to consider whether your investment will be recouped by the value you add to the property...
• Home renovation resources...   Our portal to various online DIY renovation resources.
• Aussie renovation case study How profitable could it be? Everyone had reminded us that it's not easy renovating and then immediatly selling a house for profit. Many have failed miserably, some tragically...
• Renovation tips. Renovating your house can be a personally and financially rewarding undertaking however is often fraught with frustration and stress. Depending on your time, skill, inclination and budget you may like to DIY. Most DIY renovators are actually...
• How not to blow your budget. Renovation costs always blow out no matter how much I try as a professional to keep it under control. The client always wants more than they can afford...

 

Bathroom articles

• Find a bathroom specialist in our online kitchen and bathroom directory.
• Bathroom cost estimator. A useful tool to help you get a rough cost for your new bathroom project.
• Australian bathroom design. What to do with a bathroom really depends on how much the bathroom is used. An entire family using one bathroom warrants more upgrade and facilities (like double showers, basins) than a one person bathroom...
• DIY bathroom renovation. DIY renovations can be a satisfying and cost saving process, but should you do it all yourself? Most DIY renovators do the project management, demolition, colour scheme selection, source the fixtures and fittings, remove and install most fittings such as hooks and towel rails and paint. However, unless they are really skilled...
• Japanese toilets. Enter a modern Japanese home and one is struck by both the sophistication of electronic entertainment and white goods. The pursuit of design and high technology seems imbedded in the Japanese psyche. Also imbedded is their art of cleanliness...

 

Kitchen articles

• Find a kitchen specialist in our online kitchen and bathroom directory.
• Kitchen cost estimator. A useful tool to help you get a rough cost for your new bathroom project.
• Australian kitchen designs & appliances. In the last decade living spaces in homes have thankfully become much more open-plan. The modern kitchen has in fact re-invented itself. Once considered a utilitatian room solely for food preparation and a quick breakfast, the kitchen has become more exposed, more used and is now often the epicentre of the house...
• DIY kitchen design. Does your kitchen need a full re-design or just a makeover?
• Benchtops. Avoid the boring one, please! You may think that you know all there is about bench tops but lets push the envelope on conventional thinking...
• Blog article: Kitchen splashbacks. Why do we use them, are they really needed, and what kinds are out there? The kitchen is a fairly messy area in many households and...
• Blog article: Rangehoods. What a range there is in rangehoods. I thought doing a blog on rangehoods would be fairly dull but I have been pleasantly surprised! Recently there have been significant changes to kitchen exhausts and listed below are 6 different systems available on the market...

 

Featured product articles

• Polished concrete floors.  If we are talking ‘flavour of the year’ in architectural flooring, polished concrete would have to be ‘it’.  Not yet common place in the mass Australian housing market concrete flooring is relatively easy to install and is hardwearing, easy to maintain, cost effective
• Laminates, reconstituted stone, timber veneers, doors, flooring and more.  THE laminex GROUP is the leading marketer, distributor and manufacturer of premium decorative surfaces in Australia and New Zealand and has a portfolio of market leading brands. This iconic Australian owned company has been around for more than 70 years.
• Blog article: Funky claddings. Cladding can be fun, durable and classic; you just need to be careful in your selection. Many crazy items can be used as claddings but it's the waterproofing and longevity factors that will limit your choices, not your imagination...
• Blog article: American shingles. As an alternative roofing material to tiles and colourbond, consider American shingles, a commonly used roofing material in the United States and Canada. They are made from a base of asphalt and each shingle is recyclable...
• Composite windows and doors. Aluminium on the outside, timber inside, these composite windows by Timberview combile an easy to maintain powder coated aluminium exterior with warm, beautiful timber on the inside. Aluminium's durable nature eliminates exterior maintenance and performance issues such as sanding and painting, timbershrinkage, swelling and warping. Timberview composite windows and doors accommodate both single and double glazing.
• Door screens. The issue of insect screening has long been a limiting factor to external bi-fold door specification in the modern-day building and renovation industries. The desirability of uninterrupted views and unrestricted movement in the summer months...
• Fibre cement Fibre cement cladding comes in various forms but is often seen in horizontal boards, imitating wooden clapboard and in sheet form. Other formats include imitation shingles. Fibre cement cladding can be used to cover the exterior of a house...
• Stainless steel. Stainless steel sheeting for both interior and exterior use is available in a wide variety of both subtle and striking finishes. Sheets can be brush, matte, reflective, mirror, satin, bead blasted or coarse abrasively finished. They are available in a variety of patterns and decorative effects and can even be custom patterned or etched...
• Cement render. Traditional cement rendering is the application of a thin premixed surface of sand, cement and lime to brick, cement, stone or mud brick. It is often textured, coloured or painted after application. It is generally used on exterior walls but can be used to feature an interior wall...

 

Featured homes and architecture articles

• Home designed by Angela Elliss. The original mud brick home consisted of 1 bedroom, a loft space, 1 bathroom, a main living space, a kitchen, a laundry and a dining area...
• Home designed by John McKinney. The design of the dwelling was oriented to capture views over the entrance of Brisbane Water (the northern arm of Broken Bay). The style of the design was influenced by Frank Lloyd-Wright during his " arts & crafts " phase...
• Home designed by Brad Fitzpatrick. The site is located a few streets back from the Killcare escarpment and overlooks Bouddi National Park and Putty Beach and enjoys breathtaking expansive views to the south across Broken Bay toward Pittwater...
• Home design by Kevin Snell. Kevin Snell is a well known Sydney based architect. He has practiced architecture for over 20 years in both the commercial and residential sectors of the building construction industry.
• Wild and weird architecture. Why be boring? These buildings certainly are not!

Landscaping articles

• Aussie landscaping (A DIY article)
• Garden themes. Types of gardens and garden styles.
• Planning your garden. How to plan your garden on paper.
• Plants for your garden. How to select plants for your garden.