zoning – The Interiors Addict

Spend on hard flooring and get a free rug to zone your space

I’m a huge fan of hard flooring, especially with a youngster who drops food and makes all manner of mess, and the combination of hard floor with a beautiful rug is the ideal in my book! Hard flooring is durable, easy to clean, hygienic and looks great, then you simply add a rug for an extra layer (literally) of decor, texture, colour, pattern (or all of the above) with the added bonus of being able to create zones in open plan areas, and something soft under foot when you get out of bed or to sit on in the living room.

The latest special offer from Choices Flooring allows you to do just this: spend $2,000 on their Plantino hard flooring (engineered timber, laminate or bamboo) or Genero Euro (luxury vinyl exclusive to Choices Flooring) ranges and get a rug of your choice for free! That will certainly help take the sting out of paying for home improvements!

While using the same type of flooring in your entire home is a sure fire way to make it look bigger and feel more cohesive (ripping up the daggy carpet and replacing it with laminate flooring throughout was the first thing we did when we purchased our new home recently), it’s still important to zone your different areas for different uses, especially if your home is open plan, as is increasingly the trend. Zoning defines a space and stops furniture look like it is ‘floating’. It’s an age old interiors trick that always works! A rug is key to pulling together your furniture and homewares in any room.

Watch for more on the Plantino engineered timber flooring:

From the timeless beauty of timber to the contemporary textures of bamboo, decorate from the floor up with Choices Flooring’s exclusive Plantino or Genero Collections and zone it with a free rug of your choice! With more than 100 timber, bamboo, laminate and luxury vinyl designs to select from, visit a showroom today to see which will suit you and your home.

Choices Flooring has over 140 stores across the country. They understand that purchasing flooring is a big decision based on lifestyle, budget, and individual style and that is why their in-store and online experience is second to none. They now offer digital technology in-store to help you find the floor you’ve been searching for.

Watch for more on Genero Euro luxury vinyl plank flooring:

For more information on this offer.

Going green: the homeowner’s guide to saving energy

With energy costs rising and consumers becoming increasingly environmentally conscious, builders and renovators are looking for ways to save costs and ensure their own build is green.

Ask an Architect, the online building design, inspection and advice service, offers owners, builders and renovators some helpful advice that could not only save money but hopefully help save the planet. Here are their tips:

1. Quality based building inspections. One of the biggest trends in new homes and renovations is the introduction of quality based building inspections, which are aimed at ensuring homes with a six or more green star design will actually perform as expected. The six star building code rating only applies to the building fabric (floor/walls/roof) – how the owner lives in the home can bring the performance down substantially.

2. Site orientation. The first step in orientation is maximising the northern aspect, where exposure to the sun is best controlled. Eaves and pergolas can be precisely designed to block the summer sun, and still allow the desirable winter sunshine to penetrate. It is important to prioritise rooms based on access to views and solar penetration orientation. An open-plan kitchen and living area, for example, should have top position, while bedrooms or bathrooms require less daylight, as they are largely used for short periods of time, or at night.

3. Zoning. By zoning the home, unused areas can be closed off, and cooling and heating appliances can be designed for maximum efficiency and minimum use.

4. Additionally, Ask an Architect recommends the following:

Insulate the ceiling
Weather seal windows and doors
Fit blinds, curtains or drapes
Buy high star-rated appliances
Install solar panels
Replace single flush toilet cisterns with dual flush cisterns
Upgrade your heating system to a more efficient design
Put in a rain water tank
Upgrade your hot water service
Fit a grey-water diversion system
Upgrade your windows using double glazing or other high-tech glass

For more information.