Southern Shores | Your Guide For Coastal Living

Why Designer Garden Pots are Essential for a Balcony

Date June 3, 2013 Category Home Design

There are several reasons why designer garden pots are essential for a balcony. When you have pot plants outside on the ground level there are many elements apart from the actual pots that are visually attractive; the lawn or pavers they are standing on and the surrounding garden with its shrubbery and other design elements.

But when pots are on a balcony, much of that is missing. Any view is too distant to impact the visual aspect of the pot and so there is only the floor and walls, along with any other pots or ornaments you have on display. So the pot and the plant in it make the main visual impact statement. In this case it is important to have a pot that looks really attractive.

They offer colour

Designer garden pots tick the boxes for being visually attractive since they come in an array of colours not usually found in common nursery pots. Their shape is more unusual as well, which offers another visually appealing element overall, especially when you have chosen the shape of the plant to enhance the shape of the pot. You could have a mounding plant in an oval pot, or perhaps grow one with upright, sword-shaped leaves for contrast.

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6 Tips to Make the Most of Your Security Fencing

Date April 27, 2013 Category Home Design

When you have security fencing installed on your property it is usually in the hopes of keeping intruders out, thus limiting loss and damage. To make the most of your security fencing you need to think like a potential burglar. What they look for is a property that they can get into and out of quickly and unseen. So take a look at your fencing and how it is set up and see if it is really as secure as you could make it, especially if no one is at home all day long. Here are some tips to help you.

Since intruders don’t want to be seen they often choose a property with plenty of shrubbery for them to hide in. If your grounds are covered in trees or shrubs, consider cutting some of them down to provide a clear view from the fence to the house or commercial building.
Are there trees overhanging the fence? Low branches can help a resourceful intruder climb your fence. In addition, branches can fall from higher trees with enough force to smash a section of fence. Remember, there doesn’t have to be a storm or strong wind; sometimes branches suddenly fall down on a still night.

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Moving Into Your New Home – Tips for Seniors

Date March 17, 2013 Category New Home

Most seniors are only too well aware that they cannot do what they used to. This is one of the reasons that older people often downgrade, moving into a home that is smaller or easier to maintain in some way. However, even the actual moving is often difficult, especially when you cannot get any help from your family or a younger friend. The ideal way to move is to have a holiday somewhere while removalists do all the packing and unpacking. This is not always possible due to budgetary constraints, so here are some tips to make moving into a new home easier for seniors.

Start packing early so you only have to do a little bit each day.
Many older people have arthritis or a bad back that makes bending painful or even impossible. If you have to pack and unpack yourself, make sure you place the box on a chair or an unused bed so you don’t have to bend over.

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What Will Make Your Property Sell Faster?

Date October 12, 2012 Category Home Maintenance

There are many improvements you can do to your home to ensure a speedy sale for the price you want. While it is essential to make sure everything is clean and tidy and no repairs need to be done, the seller will often do some kind of quick renovation to enhance the look of the home.

Repainting or papering walls is a popular way to freshen up the walls and ceiling of the house, but what about the floor? Should you get the carpet cleaners in – or change your flooring to tiles or timber? It depends on two main things.

The condition of the carpet

If it is still in good repair and not too grubby, professionally cleaning your carpet would undoubtedly cost less than laying tiles or adding a floating floor.

You will probably be amazed at how new the carpet looks after cleaning. However, if the carpet is really old, it may be better to replace it.

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What to Expect When You Hire Equipment for Home Renovations

Date August 17, 2012 Category Renovating

Whether you are renovating a property or doing any similar job that needs large plant hire equipment to do it, the best way to get that equipment is to hire it. It is almost impossible to purchase high ticket equipment such as a bulldozer, excavator or bobcat due to the cost tying up your finances.

Such equipment is really expensive and if you need a loan to buy it, you will be paying probably over double the purchase price due to the interest on the loan, so hiring equipment is the best way forward. But what can you expect when you rent equipment?

You can expect the equipment to be in good condition with low work hours on the clock.
You can expect that the equipment to be delivered to your work site without you having to supply a truck to cart it.

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8 Tips for a Stress-Free Move

Date May 18, 2012 Category New Home

Moving house is one of the most stressful things you will ever do. Not only do you have to pack up all your worldly goods, but unpack them at the other end. Then there are still the children, seniors and pets to take care of and ensure they don’t get lost along the way. So here are 8 tips to help cut down the stress of moving.

According to professional removalists, packing and booking the removalists early is imperative, but not so many people think about connecting the internet at their new home. Arrange it several weeks before the move to be sure that there will be a connection on the day you move in.
The electricity connection needs to be set up for the day you move in so that you won’t be paying for the previous tenant’s usage.
Moving Pets and toddlers can be difficult to handle with everything else that you have to do. If possible, leave the children with friends or relatives and put the pets into a pet motel.

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Fibreglass vs. Concrete for Swimming Pools

Date July 17, 2011 Category Home Design

Once you have made the decision to have a swimming pool installed on your property there are several factors to take into account and one of the most important ones is what it will be made from; fibreglass or concrete. Here is a breakdown of each to help you decide which one is best for you.

The concrete advantage

Concrete swimming pools have several advantages over fibreglass, the main one being that every part of it can be customised. Shape, size, design, colour and accessories can all be unique because the construction is done onsite, not in the factory. This allows you to put a pool in a corner of any shape and size; it can even be a triangle if that suits the position best. You can have steps and levels in the pool however you want them and you can add lighting and even spa jets to enhance usage.

Concrete lasts a lot longer than fibreglass and is lower in maintenance. When a concrete pool is installed properly there will be no staining at the seams from groundwater.

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Stress-Free Kitchen Renovations

Date April 16, 2011 Category Renovating

Renovations in the house are often stressful, but when it comes to the kitchen it can be even more so. The kitchen is one room that is used throughout the day to get meals and snacks and if it cannot be used to its full potential due to ongoing renovations this is sure to cause a great deal of stress. Since stress is not good for your health, it is important to find ways and means to cut it out of your life, especially during renovations.

Good organisation is key

For some reason, many homeowners think they can renovate the kitchen on their own. But when it comes down to doing it, they get into strife because they haven’t organised the various trades to come on the right day – or at all – and so those renovations drag on for weeks, creating a stressful atmosphere in the home.

It is far better to have the whole renovations done by professional kitchen renovators who are used to working out exactly what is needed. If you are doing it yourself, you don’t really have much idea about how long each task will take. If you allow too long, time is wasted waiting for the next portion of the job to be done. If you don’t leave enough time, tradesmen are sitting around doing nothing while they wait, which costs you money for nothing.

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What to Expect with Professional Property Maintenance

Date February 3, 2010 Category Home Maintenance

There is no doubt about it that a home looks much better when the correct Perth property maintenance is done on a regular basis. Many people spend their leisure time looking after their garden and lawn and doing other maintenance chores around the house, just to keep it looking spick and span. But when it comes to rentals, not everyone cares about how the place looks. Unless tenants have signed a contract to say they will care for the lawn and garden they probably won’t and the value of your investment property can go down.

Be clear about what you want done

The best way to keep it all in order is to hire professional property maintenance people to get the job done. But it is essential to be clear about what you want done. Many professionals only offer gardening or lawn mowing services, so it is no use expecting them to do any more. They won’t have the right equipment for it.

When looking for grounds and property maintenance professionals you have to find one that will do the work you require, whether that is washing mould off walls and killing spiders that can make a mess on your walls and encourage wasps to move in – or whether it is just to mow and weed the garden. Most such professionals have a website that details what services they offer so that is the best place to start.

If you need minor repair jobs done, find out before you hire someone if they offer this service too.

Regular maintenance is best

Another thing to decide is how many times a month should they come? Often, much depends on the weather. Grass and weeds grow much faster in summer time, so maintenance crews need to come more regularly – fortnightly at least, maybe even weekly in hot, wet areas.

In the winter it may be that they only need to come and mow once a month or even less, depending on where you live. However, there may be other jobs that need doing. Pruning, weeding and mulching are all part of gardening but should be needed less often than mowing.

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Advantages of Using a Professional Scaffold Hire Company

Date April 21, 2009 Category Home Maintenance

Nearly all buildings need scaffolding in place before the building can start, or at least before the building can progress further than the ground floor. Many buildings today are huge and complex, soaring many metres into the sky. Without Safe Scaffold it would be impossible to get the job done.

It is important for the scaffolding to provide safe support and access to all the various parts of the building, otherwise the builders and others simply cannot work on it. However, the scaffolding is in itself a big build – one of the most important components of the overall construction. That is why it is important to use a professional scaffold hire company. Here are some of the advantages of doing so.

A professional scaffold hire company has engineers that can custom design the scaffolding so that it is right for your particular construction job. This makes it much safer than using generic, pre-made scaffolding.

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