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Most of us dream about improving our home in some way or another.    Tell us what room in your house most desperately needs a makeover and why?   Jason  
Hi all,   We have an Apricot tree in our backyard, which bears a lot of fruits each year...only they stay ripe and never ever ripen!    Any suggestions on why this may be and what could be done t... See more...
Hi all,   We have an Apricot tree in our backyard, which bears a lot of fruits each year...only they stay ripe and never ever ripen!    Any suggestions on why this may be and what could be done to change this?    PS: I'm not exactly an expert gardener (have no clue at all), so hope there is an easy (non green thumb requiring) solution.   
Hi everyone.   We have gall wasp in our lemon tree. We’ve been repeatedly cutting it out over the years but it keeps coming back! I just want to let my poor tree grow!! Do those yellow pe... See more...
Hi everyone.   We have gall wasp in our lemon tree. We’ve been repeatedly cutting it out over the years but it keeps coming back! I just want to let my poor tree grow!! Do those yellow pest strips actually work? Or anything else other than severe pruning?   Keen to hear everyone's tips. Thanks.  
Hi everyone,   Looking forward to lots of discussions on this site.   We are in the planning stages of our reno and considering double glazing for windows and bi-fold doors. We are planning... See more...
Hi everyone,   Looking forward to lots of discussions on this site.   We are in the planning stages of our reno and considering double glazing for windows and bi-fold doors. We are planning to have a particularly large set of bi-folds out to a deck overlooking the backyard. But we’re not doing the whole house so not sure it is worth the expense if we don’t replace every window and door in the place. I suspect the heat will just escape out the old windows… Has anyone got experience with double glazing?   Thanks heaps, Vicky
Hey all.   I know the BBQ connoisseurs will talk up charcoal cookers, but I’m not sure I can be bothered. Am I misinformed that there’s a lot more work and preparation and clean up involved com... See more...
Hey all.   I know the BBQ connoisseurs will talk up charcoal cookers, but I’m not sure I can be bothered. Am I misinformed that there’s a lot more work and preparation and clean up involved compared to gas?   I am happy to pay for a good gas BBQ as I love my food and want to learn more about the art of cooking great BBQ, so feel free to talk me out of buying gas...   Cheers,   Mick
Two years ago my husband and I got the keys to our new home, the next day our friends came over for 'demolition day' and over 6-weeks we renovated our kitchen, main living areas and bedrooms. (with h... See more...
Two years ago my husband and I got the keys to our new home, the next day our friends came over for 'demolition day' and over 6-weeks we renovated our kitchen, main living areas and bedrooms. (with help from builders, electricians and plumbers of course!)    This post will give you a bit of insight into the Kitchen Project....   Here is our kitchen before: The decor was not really our style, plus we thought it was quite inefficient for cooking, with limited bench space, little storage and a heritage oven.    The space was tight and this wall, pictured here, was already planned to be removed to open up the living space, so this meant we could stretch our kitchen out a bit - which led us to dream of a huge island bench.   Having never planned a Kitchen before, we needed some help to realise how we could make the most of the space. I work at Bunnings, so knew we offered a Kitchen Consultant Service (they come out and help you plan your space) and so I turned to them first to help put together a basic plan of our kitchen.   We went to pinterest first to collect images of the styles of kitchens we like, the features that kept resonating with us were; large island benches (lots of cooking and collaboration space!) subway tiles, big farmhouse sinks, goose neck taps and I wanted my own tea draw to store all my leaf teas and cups/saucers in.    We took these to the consultant who visited our home and helped us plan out our kitchen. This was really the first step in mapping out how much space we had, where everything would go and ulitimately realising our dream.   (Ooohhh look at all that wood pannelling - I'll save that for another day!)   We took a good look at a few kitchen providers, but ultimately decided that the Bunnings Kaboodle Kitchen would suit our needs best and we ordered our kitchen through them.   The day came to putting together all the cabinets, and we spent the day, screwing together cabinets. The instructions weren't that easy to understand but once we did a few, we got the hang of it and it was actually quite easy. Meanwhile the floor had been sanded and using the kitchen plan, the plumber 'mapped in' the utilities - where the sink would go, where the oven was, the range hood spot etc.   We used a builder to physically put the cabinets into place and add the door handles. We had our heart set on a particular set of heritage looking handles and sockets so we sourced this from another provider.     Here is the final result:     I also added in a counter spot below the window, with bench stools as a coffee spot, using a small custom benchtop. My cute old skool Roberts Radio sits on here for some PBS radio in the mornings!   Here is my farmhouse sink and goose neck tap, I love how elegant this looks, plus there is heaps of space for washing dishes!   We didn't want the dishwasher to ruin the look of the wooden island, so we got an integrated dishwasher with a door panel to match the rest of the island   This final picture shows how big the island is and how it integrates into the main living area, for a more sociable setting at a dinner party: So there is the final result. We are so pleased with the kitchen, it is the centre point of the home and a social hub for all our visitors.     We are happy with the amount of storage space and we are now trying to think of better solutions for acccessing condiments and spices in the panty (pictured above). We have heaps of space but it can be hard to find jars at the back of the cupboard and which is becoming cumbersome and the cupboards are getting quite hectic. Any suggestions are welcome?   I'd love to hear from you if you have any questions about Kitchen renovations or if you have any suggestions for our current panty disaster, write in the comments below.....    
I’ve just bought my first house and need to invest in a lawn mower. We have an average sized backyard and there’s also some grass out the front but my needs are pretty modest. I have no idea what to ... See more...
I’ve just bought my first house and need to invest in a lawn mower. We have an average sized backyard and there’s also some grass out the front but my needs are pretty modest. I have no idea what to look for. Can anyone give me some advice? I’m particularly confused on the benefits/drawbacks of 2-stroke versus 4-stroke. And are electric mowers now worth considering?      
Hi all,   We are about to renovate. The house currently has an old oil heater which we want to replace. I imagine gas ducted heating would be expensive to install, so just thinking about oth... See more...
Hi all,   We are about to renovate. The house currently has an old oil heater which we want to replace. I imagine gas ducted heating would be expensive to install, so just thinking about other options.   I know those electric panels are super expensive to run, so don’t want to go down that path. I like the look of some of the gas fireplace units but they are very expensive. I’ve also had people say that a split-system is now cheaper to run, as the gas price keeps going up. Getting confused now! Any help most welcome.
Our house was built in the 50s and we’ve renovated inside, but now it’s time to tackle the backyard...   We’ve decided that the double car garage, which has a leaky roof and some significant crac... See more...
Our house was built in the 50s and we’ve renovated inside, but now it’s time to tackle the backyard...   We’ve decided that the double car garage, which has a leaky roof and some significant cracks in the concrete floor and daylight between some of the bricks in the walls, is beyond saving. We don’t use it to house the cars as the driveway is a little too narrow to get cars up and down every day.   It’s primarily been used by the kids for table tennis and pool, as well as a place to store bikes, tools and a whole lot of junk.   We’ve decided to install a pool and build a new games room/teenage retreat with a similar footprint to the old garage.   We wanted a flexible space that will primarily be used for entertaining but could be an additional bedroom or granny flat if we needed it to be. We need part of it to be storage and it also seemed wise to include a toilet and bathroom, particularly as we only have one inside.   The first step has been to sell what we can on eBay and throw out anything we haven’t used for a while.   The second step was realising that we’d get a much better result using a friend who is an architect, which has been an interesting process.   Here’s the first design we came up with, which we’ve now had to change to reduce costs… Sadly, we've had to delete the special bricks which had a circular hole - we were going to install glass behind them but the cost was too high.      I’ll give updates as we progress with the build.   Jason    
Welcome to your Workshop. It is great to have you as a member of the community. We encourage you to say hello and introduce yourself.   Please reply to this post and tell us a bit about yourself.... See more...
Welcome to your Workshop. It is great to have you as a member of the community. We encourage you to say hello and introduce yourself.   Please reply to this post and tell us a bit about yourself. Whatever information you feel comfortable sharing is fine.   You might like to tell us about your current D.I.Y. and garden projects, your work, your passions, your hobbies, your dreams, what you struggle with, what you hope to learn from this community, and/or your favourite ice cream flavour.   And for something truly revealing about yourself - tell us what you call a barbecued sausage served on a single piece of bread.   We look forward to your post and getting to know you. Thanks for joining the discussion.   Jason Community Manager  
We have big plans for Workshop’s future.   In the spirit of D.I.Y. we will be constantly tinkering - adding new functionality, making the site easier to use, and adding new content.   For exa... See more...
We have big plans for Workshop’s future.   In the spirit of D.I.Y. we will be constantly tinkering - adding new functionality, making the site easier to use, and adding new content.   For example, we know the system for uploading images is currently a little clunky. We’re working on a quick and easy drag-and-drop solution that we hope to add soon. Stay tuned.     More importantly, we want to hear your ideas for Workshop. We would love to hear your thoughts on how we can improve your Workshop and make it even more useful to you.   Please reply to the thread below or feel free to contact us if you’re a little shy and would like to chat privately.   Many thanks for your input.   Jason Community Manager