A garden in Tasmania has been named winner in the World’s Ugliest Lawn competition for 2024. The homeowner is proud of the accolade, however, saying that her garden is not only conserving water, but is a haven for native animals.…
Read moreAuthor: Adam Nobel
Get active on passive solar design
With our summers getting hotter and winters colder, homeowners are constantly looking for ways to escape the extremes without running up higher bills. The uptake of solar power systems is increasing exponentially, yet there are other ways to utilise the…
Read morePumping Station House
When is a house not a home? Maybe when it is a water pumping station disguised as a residence to assuage concerned neighbours. Since the 1970s, the city of Raleigh, North Carolina, has been hiding the ugly yet essential infrastructure…
Read moreColour of the Year 2024
For the dedicated follower of fashion, Pantone has decided that its Colour of the Year 2024 is 13-1023 Peach Fuzz – a ‘velvety gentle peach tone whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body, and soul’. Announcing the decision, Pantone Colour Institute…
Read moreValues lift 8.1% in 2023
Australian home values surged in 2023, new data shows. CoreLogic’s national Home Value Index rose 8.1% in 2023, a significant turnaround from the 4.9% drop seen in 2022, though well below the 24.5% surge recorded in 2021. December’s 0.4% increase…
Read moreTake back the night
The Christmas holidays might be over for some, but we are all still enjoying as much time outdoors as possible, whether relaxing by the pool, gardening, or entertaining family and friends with a barbecue. Unfortunately, we aren’t the only ones…
Read moreApartments drive up approvals
Approvals to build new apartments jumped again in November, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The latest figures show that the total number of homes approved rose 1.6% in November, in seasonally adjusted…
Read moreThe doll house
Most of us like to fill our gardens with flowers and shrubs, but that didn’t work for a homeowner in Toronto, Canada, who has spent the past 20 years covering every inch of her front garden with dolls. Not surprisingly,…
Read moreAverage home price now $925,400
Home values have showed no signs of slowing down over the past year, according to data released this month by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The latest figures show that the total value of residential dwellings in Australia in the…
Read moreChristmas Beetle Count
Anecdotal reports suggest that Christmas Beetles have not been showing up in past few years, in the numbers we are used to seeing. If you see any this year, take some photos and let the scientists at inaturalist.org know, so…
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