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Choosing the right furniture for small spaces
Before you rent a place it's a good idea to have a look at the floor plan and all the dimensions and make a plan for where the furniture will go. We caught up with interiors maestro Darren Palmer from TV's The Block and asked him how to get the most out of a room. "In smaller spaces," says Darren, "it's funny because sometimes big furniture actually really works. The thing to be really considerate of is the space you need to move around the room."
As well as the physical size of furniture you need to imagine the buffer zone around them. By planning out and measuring walkways between objects you can ensure that you don't end up with too much furniture and a space that feels cramped. For example, Darren recommends building in a walkway of 800mm2-900mm2 between furniture, or between a sofa and a wall. A smaller 500mm gap will work between objects that go together, like a sofa and a coffee table.
If you're buying furniture and you don't know where you'll be living next a safe option is to buy occasional furniture rather than large bulky pieces. Armchairs, side tables, and coffee tables that are a basic square shape will fit into any home, and choosing moderately sized pieces will give you flexibility.
"One thing to avoid," says Darren, "is big L shaped modulars that have a fixed left or right-hand side. With those you can get really hemmed in and the L shape might not fit into the next space you move into. If you are really loving the versatility of modular furniture, make sure you choose pieces that can be reconfigured. What you want is a chaise longue or ottoman that clips on and can join up in either direction."
How renters can light up their lives
If you're renting you probably can't swap out the light fixtures, but you can use lamps and lightshades to set a mood.
"You can do a lot with lamps," says Darren, "and they work especially well in symmetry, be it on side tables or next to sofas. There's plenty of different ways you can slot lamps in so that you get visual interest as well as different levels of light."
Using multiple different lamps gives you the ability to play with areas of light and shade. "When you light a space very evenly," says Darren, "it can feel very cold and soulless, like the striplights in a 7-Eleven. What you want to do is give a room different areas of light and shade, highlighting areas of interest. If you use spotlights and have things dropping to the background behind them you get multiple levels of contrast visually."
Once you have multiple sources of light in a room you can also use it to create the illusion of more space. By dimming down the main lighting to be dark and moody you can then highlight a wall with spotlights and make the room feel like it has more depth.
There's nothing like a fresh coat of paint
When it comes to painting walls in a rental property, you'll need to get the permission of your landlord and for that you'll need your powers of persuasion. You might be able to agree on a colour and have the landlord pay for the paint if you offer to do all the labour. Another possibility is agreeing that you'll simply repaint back to the original colour when you are ready to move.
So what kind of paint job will make a room feel more spacious?
"The first thing is that you need to paint all walls the same colour if you want the room to feel bigger, don't just do a feature wall," Darren says.
When it comes to tone, plain white walls will make certainly a space seem bigger. But it's certainly not the only option. "Funnily enough," says Darren, "that old wives tale of dark colours making rooms seem smaller isn't actually true if you do it right. You can paint walls very dark with white accents and feel like you're in a bigger room because it hides all the corners and you can't actually discern where the edges of the room are."
If this all sounds like a lot to take on by yourself, throw a paint party and tap the efforts of your handiest pals. Tell everyone to show up in their old clothes, order a bunch of pizza and get each person to paint a wall. Don't forget to take before-and-after photos of the room, or maybe a group selfie when you're all covered in paint!
Use houseplants to improve air quality and add a splash of colour
Plants are an easy and inexpensive way for renters to add colour to a room without doing any decorating. In addition to looking pretty, plants will improve air quality and instantly make a room feel more like home.
Darren says: "It's all about orchids, ferns and succulents. Orchids are brilliant because they can flower for up to a month or two. Once you've got them in a happy spot try not to move or touch them and to care for them all you need to do is put half a cup of water on them once a week."
Succulents and cactuses are a great option if you travel a lot because you don't need to be around to take care of them. "They need very little water," says Darren, "so you can have them around and only look after them intermittently and they'll still thrive as long as they've got light."
How renters can create some outdoor atmosphere
It's great to make the most of our outdoor space, somewhere to relax and entertain. For renters this is an absolute must and not difficult to achieve.
"There's plenty of great outdoor furniture options," says Darren, "you can choose to put in a whole outdoor setting or just a couple of nice chairs and a side table. There are even outdoor rugs on the market that live permanently outside."
If your rental property has some existing old outdoor furniture you can give it some new life with bright cushions. Look for soft furnishings made from all-weather materials so you can be sure they'll dry out naturally when they get wet.
Lighting is also integral to the mood and vibe of your outdoor setting, says Darren: "You can get some outdoor lanterns hanging in the garden or put them on tables. Fairy lights can look good if they're done well, especially woven through plants, and you can always take them down again and bring them with you to your next house."
If you're renting you're limited in what you can build, so if you're thinking big, Darren recommends a mobile fire pit that you can take with you when you move. "You can buy them for about $1200," says Darren, "and they look really great in a backyard or your courtyard."
Investing in wireless tech is a must for renters
The technology required to pump your music to rooms all around the house used to involve lots of wiring and expensive audio systems. Nowadays anyone can get the same effect with a decent bluetooth speaker that plays music from your phone while you luxuriate in the bath, on the sofa or in bed!
"An AV system that's wireless is brilliant," says Darren, "something like Apple TV which is plug and play, is really easy to set up and you can take it with you when you move."
Wireless AV devices like the Apple TV and Google Chromecast bring on-demand online video services like Netflix and iTunes into your living room and also let you stream movies from your laptop or tablet straight onto your TV.
While all these devices need an internet connection, many renters don't want to be tied into lengthy broadband contracts. The new generation of wireless modems, like Optus Home Wireless Broadband, are great because they run off a sim card instead of copper wire. This means that no engineer needs to visit to install them, so there's no downtime when you first move into a house and are waiting for the internet to be installed. Instead you can get yourself up and running on day one, and when you come to move, take your internet connection with you.
How to decorate with a strict lease
For some renters, there is just no wriggle room on their lease. So, what can renters do to liven up their walls if their lease forbids them from painting or putting up art.
"A good trick is to make rooms look more spacious with mirrors. If you're renting you're not going to pay to mirror a full wall of your apartment but what you can do is go out and buy a really big mirror and lean it against the wall if you can't attach it. This will give the illusion that you have much more space than you have," says Darren.
Once you've chosen the frame and detailing of your giant mirror, you can match it with an oversized lampshade and turn it into a design feature. "Often in rentals," says Darren, "you just have a basic hanging light fitting. If you've got that you can fit any lampshade onto it, which is a nice way to upgrade a light without an electrician. If you have a more complex light fitting you'll need to pay an electrician to switch it over and then put it back again when you leave."
For a kids room, Darren recommends wall decals: "You can get them in every shape and colour imaginable now including metallics. But be careful when you come to take them off because sometimes they'll take a lot of paint off so you might have to do some touch up here and there."
The power of a good spring clean
One of the downsides to renting can be moving into a place with a musty share-house smell. Nobody wants their pad to reek like an op shop, so your best bet is to get the place shipshape and smelling great before you move in all your stuff.
"For starters, the carpets really should be steam cleaned before you move in," says Darren. It's definitely worth a call to the landlord with a polite request to send in a pro.
Failing that, you could try a carpet cleaning solution that you sprinkle on and leave for some time before vacuuming out. "To absorb musty smells in a property," says Darren, "clean with bicarbonate of soda. You can also put a bowl of it inside cupboards or wardrobes."
A thorough top to bottom cleaning can really make the place feel like it's your own. Tackle all the problem areas like the oven, cooktop, and under the sink on day one while you're motivated and excited about moving. While you're scrubbing every nook and cranny, make a detailed list of things you want the landlord to fix, be it broken fittings, windows, hinges, or leaky taps


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Another Friday, another twitter mailbag.
What did you think of the 7th inning?
— Jake Tremblay (@JakeLobito) August 10, 2017
So, about that 7th inning…what gives?
— Rob (@RobBishopSD) August 10, 2017
Here's how I'd rank the priorities of Andy Green this season, particularly for the last couple of months.
- Develop young players
- Develop older players/maximize their future trade value
- Keep good clubhouse moral and all that jazz
- Read at least one good book a week
- Go all-out to win games
On a contending team, those five things might be reversed (toss the books), but the Padres are 50-64, and they're in no position to make any kind of run toward even the periphery of the playoff race. They're not a winning team, and we essentially knew they weren't going to be a winning team all season. They shouldn't treat games the same way a winning team treats games.
Yesterday, in the seventh inning of a one-run game in Cincinnati, Green violated the hierarchy of priorities, putting no. 5 over no. 2 while brushing up against the warm fuzzies of no. 3 in the process, likely ticking off Kirby Yates. With runners on first and second, one out, and Joey Votto at the plate (in a 2-2 count!), Green yanked Yates for All-Star Brad Hand.
So, just to be clear here, Green brought Hand, an important future trade candidate, into a game in the middle of an at-bat against one of the best hitters in baseball to try to protect a one-run lead against direct tank competition.
What's wrong with that move?

subset: commoncrawl


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As ball is inside the yard so he can turn the goal to face him.
Bs ball is outside the yard. He will have to play into the yard in order to turn the goal mouth towards him or he can try to shoot in over the top of the goal (a punt) from outside the yard.
For more detailed information, see the complete list of rules or refer to the book New Zealand GolfCross® by Burton Silver..