Month: February 2023

“Sometimes I feel like a chef at a farmers’ market,” says decoupage artist John Derian, amid the vast collection of antique etchings, engravings, and manuscripts in his studio on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. “What’s available is what I end up using,” he says of the prints, which he finds at estate sales and flea markets and fashions into his signature creations. For more than two decades Derian has sold his own plates, lamps, and other objets alongside a selection of artisan-made home goods at his eponymous shops in New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Now his favorite images—from delicate 18th- and 19th-century botanical and animal studies to charming children’s drawings—have come out of their storage bins (Hermès boxes and vintage suitcases) and onto the pages of his first tome, John Derian Picture Book (Artisan, $75). “It’s like a self-portrait,” he says of the volume. “These images have been part of my life for so long, they’re like friends.” On the occasion …

Over the last 10 years, Australian local governments have implemented systems like BASIX (in NSW) to encourage homeowners to design and build new homes that are energy efficient as well as thermally comfortable to live in. But what about new homes that seem to slip through the cracks on compliance, or the vast majority of Australian homes that are not new? How can these homes be altered to enhance their energy efficiency, thermal comfort and overall functionality? Well, its actually not that difficult, you just need to follow some important tips.

1. Install insulation
If you can only afford to spend a minimal amount on improving the energy efficiency of your home, spend it firstly on insulation. A house loses heat initially through the ceiling, then the walls and lastly the floor. So always insulate your ceilings first for the most noticeable increase in internal warmth and energy savings.

2. Reduce open plan spaces where possible
Reduce open plan spaces …