Brothers and Husband

From left to right : Ludi, Rofi (husband), Luki, and Lusman- click to enlarge-
All of my brothers and my husband can gather together is really a rare moment; as they live far each other. About a month ago, we could be together as our father being hospitalized again at one hospital in Surabaya (East Java, Indonesia). After visiting our father, we wanted to take lunch. I captured the moment while they were walking side by side on Raya Darmo St. sidewalk, Surabaya.

The Weekend in Black and White and Weekend Portrait

Where to Go When Your Home Is Being Renovated

So you have finally decided to add that extra bit of much needed space to your home and hired renovators to do extensive work to improve your house. What you maybe didn’t think about was where you and your family will go while all this is happening. If you don’t find a comfortable alternative for you and your family to stay at in the meantime, you may start to feel displaced, scattered and unorganized. Here are a few ideas as to how you can continue on with life like normal and keep doing what you need to do even after having your home invaded and pulled apart.

Have a home away from home
There is no reason why you can’t still have all the comforts of home while you are having your house remodeled. There are more than enough options for serviced apartments in Sydney, Melbourne and apartments in Brisbane as well as any city in-between that will provide all the luxuries of your home in a neat little unit. Not only will you feel at home and be able to continue business-as-usual, but also you don’t have to worry about utilities and general maintenance for the duration of your stay in the apartment. Apartments are generally located in central and convenient locations so you can still be close to work, your friends and other amenities of your daily life.

Set up in a hotel
If money is an issue, a good alternative to the apartment is to find a nice hotel that is in a good location. Often hotels will give a discounted rate on long-term stays, and you will feel like royalty with convenient services such as room service and a daily cleaning service. If you have a large family, however, then serviced apartments may still be the best option so that everyone can have their own room.

Stay with family or friends

If you are lucky enough to have friends or family with a sizeable house (and don’t mind being imposed on), why not crash there for a few weeks? This is a great opportunity to spend some quality time hanging out and catching up, and you can all take turns with the housework. Just make sure you remember to invite them over to your new and improved home for a barbie to show them how much you appreciated their hospitality.

Go on a holiday
Being displaced from your home during a renovation can have its benefits. This is the perfect opportunity to finally go on that holiday you’ve always wanted to go on. If you’ve always wanted to take the family overseas, but didn’t have anyone to look after your home, now is your chance! Have you ever wanted to go on a cruise or is it time to finally visit distant relatives you haven’t seen in while? Take advantage of having this kind of freedom, because you never know when you will get the chance again!

Having your home renovated doesn’t have make your life more difficult, use this time to sit back, relax and let the professionals do all the work.

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An Old Lady

A candid shot. During on the way to Bandung (West Java, Indonesia) yesterday, we dropped by a while at one rest area. My husband parked the car right on the right side of the benches. This lady sat on one bench. I was interested with the hair rolls on her hair. Cute!

Reviving the Past: Tips on Renovating a Heritage Home

People today are succumbing to the charms of heritage-listed homes and there are a number of great heritage listed areas in Sydney, ranging from Eastwood and Arncliffe to Strathfield and Parramatta. However, there can be a lot involved in renovating or restoring a heritage home, from finding experienced builders in Sydney, to installing the right flooring and, most importantly, knowing what changes you can and cannot make to a heritage listed home.

Outlined below are some of things you need to be aware of when looking to fix up a heritage home.

Tip 1: Know Your Property and the Laws

If you’re looking to buy a particular heritage listed property, or if you have already purchased one, it’s essential that you know the historical background of the property.

Get in touch with the local council and a heritage adviser to find out the historical significance and value of your home. By knowing the historical relevance of the house, it will help you decide on what is required to restore it back to its original period, or if you want to renovate and incorporate some modern fixtures.

It’s also essential that you research the laws regarding heritage listed properties and any specific regulations that apply to your residence. Familiarise your self with the EPBC (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation) act of 1999, which will help explain the parameters of the changes you are allowed to make to a heritage home.

The reason why you need to familiarise yourself with the property’s history and the heritage conservation laws is because homes that are heritage listed often have restrictions placed on them. These restrictions ensure that renovations or restorations have no negative impact on a place’s heritage value.

Tip 2: Developing a Management Plan

When renovating or restoring a heritage home you have to write up a development management plan of all your intended changes to a home. This plan also has to be submitted to the appropriate government officials so it can be determined if your plans are going to have a damaging effect on the properties heritage value.

When developing a management plan enlist the aid of professionals, such as a local historian, construction builders, interior designers, flooring specialists etc. so that they can help you ensure that your renovations are viable and not going reduce the heritage value of the property.

A good development management plan (in combination with the advice of professionals) can also help you establish a budget. The budget will provide a rough idea of what your renovations are going to cost.

Tip 3: Hiring Experienced Professionals

When getting a group of professionals on board, such as builders, interior designers and flooring specialists, make sure that they have had previous experience in working on a heritage home.

Renovating a federation or heritage listed home requires a certain finesse and knowledge, because you’re essentially working with foundations, fixtures and a structure that can be over a hundred years old. Heritage homes require more care and can require specialised materials or knowledge of older building practices.

Tip 4: Don’t Be Afraid to Modernise

Whilst some heritage homes cannot be changed much, many heritage homes do allow for the inclusion of modern fixtures and features.

Owners of a heritage home shouldn’t have to feel that are constrained to the historical period of the house. A great home can be established that retains the old world charm of its period and yet incorporates a number of necessary and comfortable modern features.

Modernised bathrooms and kitchens can complement an old federation home well. The installation of modern floor materials (such as heated tiles) can also bring style and warmth to an older home.

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Inside a Mosque

Many praying places, whatever the religion is, have great building structures, such as this old mosque (Sunan Ampel Mosque, Surabaya, Indonesia). It's the part of original building that built in 1421.

The Weekend in Black and White

8 Reasons You Should Build a Kit Home

There are many reasons you should build a kit home. Kit homes are a fantastic option instead of building a conventional home. They have all the benefits of a normal home except you can save yourself a lot of money. There are many designs to choose from and styles to suit your exact location. You can also still include all the usual extras that you might have on any other house, such as patios, verandas, solar panels or rain water tanks. There are kit homes in Victoria being built all the time, including other states around Australia. Kit homes are being increasingly popular.

Cost

A kit home is a very cost effective way of building a home. The materials to build the home will be delivered to your property all at once, along with comprehensive instructions as to how to build it. The home will come complete so that you can build it to lock up stage. You will usually still then need to do the plastering, the electrical work, the plumbing, fit out the kitchen and bathroom, put in the flooring and paint. Despite this it is still a cheaper way to build a home. You can have a builder construct your home for you, but to save even more money you can build it yourself.

Quick to Build

Once the materials have been delivered to your property the home is relatively quick to build. If you worked on it every day you could build your new kit home in as little as eight weeks. It is likely the procedures would be slowed a little when it comes to waiting for different tradesmen to do things like the plumbing or electrical work. You also might lose time due to bad weather.

Flexibility

With many kit home companies you have the flexibility of altering the floor plans of different home designs to suit your lifestyle. Some companies will also include the kitchen and bathroom if you wish. You can sometimes have the choice of a home built with a timber framework or one constructed from steel. You can choose to either build it yourself or have a builder do it for you, or you might use a builder for some parts of the construction.

Owner builder

The fantastic thing about kit homes is that you can build them yourself, in the meantime saving yourself a lot of money. It could be a fantastic project for you and your partner to complete together.

Designs

There are many different kit home designs to choose from, different sizes and styles to suit many different locations.

Steel frame

Another advantage of building a kit home is having one with a steel framework. They are easy to put together and are very strong but light weight. They also have the benefit of being termite resistant and will survive a bush fire better than a timber framed house.

Choose your own kitchen and bathroom

If your kit home comes complete to lock up stage only you have the advantage of being able to design your own kitchen and bathroom completely from scratch.

Additions

With a kit home you can have all the usual additions that you might make to a conventional home, such as a veranda, a patio area for entertaining or you might install solar panels or rain water tanks to make your home more eco friendly.