The Australian government has imposed new and stricter swimming pool regulations to pool owners. Each year 60 children are admitted to hospital following near-drowning accidents in NSW. These new regulations have been put in place with the goal is to decrease the rate of accidents and ideally eliminate them completely.
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How to build a happy home
Would you like to create a happy home? Good advice is rare but certainly worth noting down when you come across it, writes Pete Wargent for the Property Update. In his most recent article he shares one of the most profound pieces of advice he has ever received. And its a good one!
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Home Insulation – Doors and Windows are the Weak Points
Doors and windows are integral parts of home renovation and yet they get the stick many times. Home owners who are worked up towards concept, colour, design, and adequate utilisation of living room spaces, kitchen and bathroom spaces often miss out on getting the right windows and doors in.
Light and Shadow
I just came across an interesting article by Thomas Schielke, a writer of a monthly column about light and space – light matters. Schielke is a co-author of the book Light Perspectives. In his post he presents his ideas regarding the issue of whether shadows give form to architecture. He used Leonardo da Vinci’s and Louis Kahn’s ideas to present the role of shadows in architecture.
According to da Vinci, there are three types of shadows. These are attached, shading, and cast shadow. Kahn considers these type of shadows in his architectural designs along with the idea that light is the giver of all presences. There can be no shadow without light so his creations doesn’t have pure dark places. A dark place must have enough light to differentiate darkness and light.
When designing a building, it’s important to have harmony between light and shadow. The form of an architecture is defined by its structure and its natural light’s character. When playing with shadows, it’s all about balance to create a mysterious space.
You can read the whole article here.
Home Ownership Data in Australia
Empowered Women
Discrimination between sexes may not be entirely a thing of the past but we are definitely getting there. Diane Lew of Property Observer compiled a detailed information about the real estate market in Australia. According to Lew, the 2011 census data from ABS indicated that more women own their own homes – 61% of women compared with 58% of men are homeowners, while 65% of single women compared with only 55% of men own their own living space.
The change in numbers was brought about women’s increasing role in business. Unlike before, women nowadays work on par with men to manage businesses. Women now are more capable and knowledgeable to handle top roles in the corporate world enabling them to become financially stable. This brought about the change in home ownership statistics.
The Current Real Estate Market
This result influenced the marketing strategy of real estate brokers in Australia. Given that 59% of the female respondents consider the kitchen as the most important room of the house, we should see more renovation activities focused on kitchens. Especially as Australia’s real estate market now prepares for the increase in buying activity during autumn.
As Lew quite rightfully points out, today’s buyers show interest in properties where they see potential and they are also clever in assessing the renovation cost before they can convert that idea into a reality.
You can read the whole article here.
The better we understand market forces and buying preferences of people, the better we can determine which type of renovation makes sense and will increase the home’s value beyond the cost of renovating. Always a good thing.
Subdividing Instead of Selling Your Home As Is
Making the decision to sell your family home isn’t easy. Mark Armstrong presents the options available for you once you’ve decided to sell your property. You can either make a few renovations to improve your home’s market value or level the property to create two properties and sell them separately.
Renovating your property is easier and faster than subdividing. However, to make an informed decision, you have to compare the figures. If you’re planning to renovate your home, you need to consider the cost and the length of time it’ll take to complete the renovation. On the other hand, if you choose to subdivide your property, you need to consider the cost of demolishing your home, cost of permits, architect fees, labor cost, cost of materials, interest, rental cost, and the cost of selling the new properties.
If you find this route more profitable despite the hassle and the load of work that you need to do, then by all means choose this option. Whichever you choose among the two options, make sure that you’ve studied and analyzed the figures first before finalizing your decision.
You can read the whole article here.
What do you think is the best option for your property?
Future of Housing – Your Home in 2042
What will living in your home be like 30 years from now? Carolyn Boyd from Domain.com.au has made a few interesting predictions as to how your home will look like and function in 2042.
The Jetsons and Home Automation
Inventions are made because of mankind’s pursue for quality living and convenience. Home appliances like rice cooker, juicer, vacuum cleaner, and water heater are popular because people wanted to do more in lesser amount of time. Rick Delgado, in his article What You Can Learn from The Jetsons About Home Automation, highlighted the similarities of today’s home automation devices with that of The Jetsons – a cartoon TV show created 50 years ago.
The Jetsons’ Home Automation Technology
The Jetsons’ creator, Hanna Barbera, thought of home automation technology 50 years ago and incorporated it to her animated show. Until now, The Jetsons’ home automation technology is way ahead than our own.
Rosie, a house helper robot, does everything for the Jetsons. She’s a cook, a nanny, and a cleaner. The Jetsons don’t even have to worry about changing their house’s temperature and managing their lighting options because these mundane tasks are done automatically for them .One of the best display of home automation technology is the Jetsons’ automatic meals. With just a push of a button, they can eat whatever they want without even bothering to clean the dishes. Imagine how fascinating these ideas were 50 years ago.
Today’s Home Automation Market
The nearest device available to compete with Rosie is the iRobot Roomba. It can cover every corner of your floor. However, a robot that can cook, clean, and watch over the kids remains an idea waiting to be realized. On the other hand, Nest and Hue can solve our problem with automatic temperature control and lighting. The closest thing that we have to compete with the Jetsons’ automatic meals is the Smart Refrigerator. It manages the content of your refrigerator, track expiration dates, and make dinner suggestions based on what you have. It’s still far from the Jetsons’ automatic meals but it’s a start.
In today’s fast changing times, many gadgets and devices are invented with the hope of achieving a fully automated living experience. There’s nothing impossible anymore considering how humans started off with stone tools but still managed to invent smartphones. In due time, there’s no doubt we’re going to surpass the Jetsons’ home automation technology.
You can read the who article here.
When you won’t even need to spare a couple of minutes for household chores, how will you make use of that extra time?