Author Archives: Bill Hutchison

Easy Garage Storage Shelf Solution Finished

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I put up my cheap and easy garage storage shelf a few weeks ago, with plans to finish the shelf off with a bit of timber along the front and side of the shelf. Here is a photo of the finished project …

Easy and Cheap Garage Storage Shelf Solution

As you can see, I added the timber trim around the outside of the garage shelf and painted the timber that I used to join the two shelves together. My original plan was to paint the timber trim white, but I like the raw timber look, so I reckon that I will leave it at that.

All up the project for a 3.6m long garage storage shelf cost me around $120.00, which is a lot cheaper then any of the ready made solutions I could find at Bunnings or Mitre 10.

Synthetic Stone Bench Top

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When installing our new double kitchen sink we discovered that the countertop was synthetic stone. For some reason I had just assumed that it was a laminate countertop, but it turns out that I was wrong…

Sythetic Stone Benchtop

The synthetic stone bench top has very similar qualities to solid stone bench tops, but at a significantly lower price. The lower price is due to the fact that it doesn’t need to come from one large hunk of stone, but rather it is manufactured to suit the install requirements.

It is very hard wearing and easy to clean. Despite our best (accidental) efforts we have yet to chip or scratch it, although we have lost a few glasses and plates to the hardness of the synthetic stone.

If you want the look and feel of a granite or marble countertop, but want to save some money, then have a look at a synthetic stone option. It should still probably be professionally installed, but it will look great, and save you a bit of cash.

Install a New Kitchen Double Sink

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Quite a while ago now we installed a new double sink in our kitchen to replace our existing single sink. Our first flat had a double kitchen sink and it certainly made cleaning up easy to handle.

The first thing that we had to do to pick our new double kitchen sink was to measure the exterior dimensions of the old sink. The new double sink had to be the same size, or bigger, than the old sink, otherwise we would have to look at replacing the countertop, which we would rather avoid.

Single Bowl Kitchen Sink

Because our single sink had drains on either side of it we had to get a double sink with drains on both side. It was wider than our single sink, so we had to cut out some of the bench top to make it fit, which was a lot harder than we expected since the bench top ended up being made of synthetic stone, rather than the laminate that I thought it was.

After grinding away at the counter top and making a heck of a mess we finally got the new kitchen sink in. One thing that I hadn’t planned very well for was the drains. We almost had to remove the shelf on the left side of the cupboard under the sink, but after getting the plumbing set-up just right we managed to get around that problem. It’s pretty tight under there, but it’s not too bad.

Double Bowl Sink

Ideally I would have liked a double sink with a drain only on one side, but this worked out pretty well for us.

Get A Free Water Saving Kit …

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but only if you are in Victoria, Australia.

I was pretty excited when I first saw this offer, but then bummed out after seeing that it is only available for people in Victoria. The free water saving kit includes:

  • 4 Minute Shower Timer
  • Water Saving Books
  • Water Saving Tips
  • Information on How to Receive a Free Water Saving Showerhead

We have actually been looking for a while for a good shower timer, and the other three things would prove useful as well I’m sure (although we are about to sell a spare water saving showerhead in a garage sale in a few weeks).

If you are interested in the free water saving kit, and you live in Victoria, then check it out here.

Source: Australian Freebies