Here's how to transform your home from tired and dated to warm and welcoming

With 2021’s biggest interior design trends embracing neon lighting and the ideal home office, we’ve got the latest must-have for the perfect family home.

Our round-up features everything from transforming your garden with plants and greenhouses to giving your home an update with wifi boosters and stylish new doors.

How to keep your plants safe and happy


Find the greenhouse of your dreams


A well-constructed greenhouse can make a world of difference to your garden and your plants. Founded in 1938 in Greenfield, Lancashire, Hartley Botanic has been making handmade, made-to-order greenhouses and glasshouses for over 80 years and is so trusted that its entire range is endorsed by the Royal Horticultural Society. Each glasshouse is handmade to your requirements, using high-quality, durable materials.

Designs are available from three product ranges (Victorian, Heritage and Modern) or customers can create a totally bespoke design with Hartley Botanic. Models are available in a variety of colours and sizes, along with options for glass-to-ground, free-standing or lean-to. All Greenhouses come with a 30 Year Lifetime Guarantee.

For more information, visit hartley-botanic.co.uk or call the team on 01457 873244.

Light up your space


Light up your home with glamourous neon signs


Bring a little glamour to your home with the power of neon. Custom Neon offers a wide range of neon lights and signs, including predesigned pieces. You can also create your own to brighten up any room in your home. Each light-up sign comes with a dimmer switch, enabling you to create the perfect ambience for a cosy date night in, as well as an optional flash setting for a party atmosphere.

Say it your way with a choice of colours and fonts, or upload a photo and the team will help you create an amazing bespoke piece. The signs are lightweight and easy to hang and move around. From kids rooms to kitchens, garden bars to lounges, create a fun space with your own personal message or artwork. Enjoy a 10% discount by entering NEONIFYME10 at checkout. Offer valid till 22 March 2022. Visit customneon.co.uk or call 020 3608 5978.

Upgrade your garden with the perfect plants


Have all of your gardening needs met in one place


Spring is on its way — the perfect time to spruce up your garden. The Gardening Club, based in Enfield, offers members the chance to browse a 25-acre plant nursery, walk through the crops and choose from hundreds of varieties of bedding, hanging basket plants and vegetables.

With plants sourced from growers all over Europe and expert advice on hand, creating a garden space you love has never been easier.

The Gardening Club is open to the general public and to trade. The first year of membership is just £5, with renewal at just £2.50 per year thereafter. Join now at www.thegardeningclub.co.uk

Sewing is easy with a Singer


Get crafty and make your own clothes with a brand new sewing machine


Sewing is enjoying a renaissance, with many of us making our own clothes, toys and home furnishings. Simply grab your sewing machine, a pattern to work on, some fabric and you’re ready. From beginner sewing machines to advanced offerings, Singer Outlet has everything you need. It offers the largest range of latest-model Singer sewing machines, overlockers and embroidery machines in the UK.

Singer has been the leading sewing machine manufacturer for 160-years due to its ongoing commitment to quality, reliability and innovation. This dedication to developing and expanding the range with newer, innovative machines and models has resulted in an expansive range of the best sewing machines, all available at Singer Outlet.

Visit SingerOutlet.co.uk or call 0800 050 2232.

Boost your wi-fi signal without any fuss


Make sure your wi-fi extends to all parts of your home


One of the most frustrating elements of modern life is your wi-fi going down or falling out of range. Sidestep this annoyance with devolo Mesh WiFi 2, a nifty wi-fi booster that uses your home’s own powerline to transmit data and boost your signal.

A mesh wi-fi hotspot can be created at any power socket, making sure that pesky walls and ceilings won’t slow down the speed, allowing you to surf and stream without interruption.

Available from Amazon and devolo.co.uk

Create a home that works for you


Ensure that your home works for you in every way that matters


Over the past year, our homes have become makeshift classrooms, offices, cafes and more. With the help of Origin’s bespoke aluminium doors and windows, homeowners across the UK have transformed their homes to suit their new lifestyle.

All its products can be tailored around your individual needs, whether it’s letting in more light, opening up your living space or creating cosy new corners. Plus, Origin’s products come up with a guarantee of up to 20 years, ensuring your home is ready to deal with whatever life throws at it.

To find out more about how Origin’s doors and windows can help your home work harder for you, visit origin-global.com

The DIY way to transform your home


Revitalise your home quickly and easily


If your interior design needs a boost, the wide range of home improvement products from Hemway Home Collection will give your home a new lease of life. The high-pigment Chalk Paint provides a smooth, long-lasting, matte finish that will transform your furniture and walls without the need for sanding or priming — perfect for a shabby-chic effect.

Use Hemway Glitter Grout Additive to jazz up ordinary tiles with a classy glittery shimmer. It’s available in six different sizes and over 50 colours for a truly bespoke design. Make the most of the three-for-two sale to create a fresh combination of matte colour walls and stylish sparkling tiles.

Use code 3for2 across the full range of products at hemway.com. Offer valid until 1 June 2021.

Planning to travel more? Short let your home while you’re away


Be clever and look into short-lets


If you’re thinking about relocating, are looking forward to returning to frequent travel, or have a second home that is often vacant, short-term rentals could provide a new source of income.

Since it was formed in 2014, UnderTheDoormat has welcomed over 12,000 guests and fully manages over 300 premium homes. The company provides homeowners with the comfort of knowing their home is occupied through short and mid lets of anywhere from three nights to six months. The dedicated homeowner team looks after you and your home through every step, in line with the company’s Peace of Mind Pledge.

UnderTheDoormat offers market-leading insurance, guest vetting and personal check-ins for every stay, as well as a professional cleaning service, covered by its 10-point Hygiene Promise.

Underthedoormat.com

Treat yourself to a luxury scented candle


Candles add an unmistakeable air of peace and tranquillity to your home


There are few things in life as instantly soothing as lighting a candle and letting its fragrance gently wash over you.

Candles By Luma’s premium candles are hand-poured in the UK. They’re expertly formulated with the ideal wax-to-fragrance ratio, ensuring a long-lived and consistent scent. All candles are cruelty free, vegan friendly and clean burning, using only the highest-quality natural soy wax. What’s more, all packaging is sleek and minimal, so they make a stylish gift.

USE Code FREE150 to get a free medium candle with every large candle bought. Offer valid until 15 May 2021. candlesbyluma.com

Frame your garden in style


Give your gardens a modern edge


Give your outside spaces a lift with stylish garden fencing from Contemporary Garden. The specialist in contemporary garden design has been creating fitting solutions and offering installation advice for 35 years.

The popular Tempo range features a unique modular design that enables it to be used as cladding, a decking border or as a fence panel. It’s perfect for big and small places alike and will elevate any modern garden project — simply keep adding panels to make up your desired height.

Made from pressure-treated softwood for long life, it comes with a 15-year guarantee against rot.

Indonesian authorities arrested 72 people accused of using illegal fires to clear land across Borneo and Sumatra as a worsening dry season generated heavy transboundary haze and contributed to the closure of nearly 600 schools in neighboring Malaysian states.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul convened senior military and intelligence officials after more than 50 bombings and arson attacks targeted infrastructure in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, prompting an urgent review of security measures amid fears of renewed insurgent violence.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced that every Singaporean child will receive about 70,000 Singapore dollars in financial support through cash payments and grants by age seventeen, as the government steps up efforts to address the country’s declining fertility rate.
Thailand has begun enforcing updated electric vehicle requirements that oblige foreign automakers to produce two vehicles locally for every one imported this year, alongside new battery sourcing rules intended to deepen domestic supply chains in the Eastern Economic Corridor.
Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry upgraded its annual economic growth forecast to as much as 5.5 percent, citing robust global electronics demand and a sharp increase in the adoption of agentic artificial intelligence among local businesses.
President Prabowo Subianto inaugurated Indonesia’s national electric motorcycle initiative in West Java, backed by state financing and designed to build domestic capacity in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing while positioning Indonesia as a global production hub.
Thailand received investment applications worth 1.4 trillion baht, or about 43.6 billion US dollars, in the first half of the year, a 37 percent increase from a year earlier as global technology companies expanded data centers, cloud infrastructure and advanced electronics manufacturing.
An Indonesian court convicted twenty-six-year-old Luzian Andrin Zgraggen of blasphemy after he breached strict holiday restrictions and posted an explicit video from an empty beach.
An Indonesian court on the island of Bali has sentenced twenty-six-year-old Swiss national Luzian Andrin Zgraggen to one year in prison for publicly insulting Nyepi, the sacred Balinese Hindu Day of Silence.

The verdict follows Zgraggen's arrest in March after he recorded and published a social media video that violated island-wide religious restrictions and sparked widespread public outrage.

During Nyepi, Bali enforces strict, mandatory observances requiring residents and tourists alike to remain indoors, extinguish lights, cease travel, and refrain from loud noises or public activities.

The island's international airport suspends operations and commercial internet connectivity is largely restricted for twenty-four hours to maintain complete silence.

Zgraggen violated the curfew by walking onto a deserted beach, filming the empty surroundings, and sharing the footage online alongside captions containing expletives.

Presiding judges ruled that Zgraggen's deliberate breach and subsequent social media broadcast caused profound offense to the Balinese population and desecrated religious customs.

In court, Zgraggen expressed remorse and offered a public apology, testifying that he had failed to comprehend the scope and religious gravity of the annual holiday before violating the rules.

The prison sentence reflects an intensifying campaign by Indonesian authorities to enforce local laws and religious standards amid record post-pandemic tourism volumes.

While immigration officials have historically deported or briefly detained foreign visitors who violated local ordinances, local prosecutors have increasingly sought formal custodial sentences for deliberate acts of public blasphemy and disruptive behavior at cultural and religious sites across the province.
Japanese police intervened after the child was discovered abandoned for hours in rainy, foggy conditions at 2,000 meters while his father continued hiking toward the peak.
Japanese police have castigated a forty-eight-year-old father who abandoned his seven-year-old son on Mount Fuji in poor weather conditions to continue climbing toward the summit with his older child.

Mountain hut staff discovered the boy sitting alone on a bench near the trail's sixth station at an altitude exceeding two thousand meters, prompting an emergency call to local law enforcement.

The boy, left behind with only a soft drink and a snack after complaining of fatigue, was found waiting in dense fog and rain.

Police officers located the father hours later between the seventh and eighth stations, approximately a three-hour hike further up the mountain.

By the time authorities brought the father back down to reunite with his son, the child had been left unsupervised for approximately eight hours.

Police reprimanded the father upon his return, emphasizing that abandoning a young child on the mountain under adverse weather was entirely unacceptable, regardless of climbing ambitions.

The father apologized for what he described as a rash decision.

The incident occurred along the popular Fujinomiya route, which begins at the fifth station and typically requires an eight-hour round trip to reach the 3,776-meter summit.

The mountain, an active volcano and designated UNESCO World Heritage site that attracts roughly two hundred thousand hikers annually, has experienced a series of safety incidents and overcrowding issues, leading local authorities to enforce stricter route management and daily visitor caps.
Malaysian policymakers are examining expanded social care arrangements after federal welfare spending reached seven hundred twenty-eight million ringgit, warning that responsibility for elderly and social care cannot rest entirely with families.
Philippine security forces arrested a wanted bombing suspect and a Lanao del Sur vice mayor facing murder charges in separate operations in Mindanao, strengthening the government’s efforts to combat crime in the volatile southern region.
Gold industry representatives are preparing talks with Thai ministers to oppose proposed taxation measures, warning that the changes could disrupt one of Southeast Asia’s most active physical gold markets.
Indonesian police arrested one hundred ninety-seven people, including Singaporean nationals, in a raid on an illegal gambling network in Batam and seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and other assets.
Thai authorities have widened investigations into three companies in Pattaya as part of a broader crackdown on nominee arrangements allegedly used to circumvent restrictions on foreign ownership of property.
Executive Secretary Ralph Recto has rejected claims of a systemic garbage crisis while blaming improper waste disposal for clogging waterways and worsening severe flooding across Metro Manila.
Thai transport authorities are assessing a seventy-four-kilometer rail expansion intended to connect with existing national infrastructure, reduce logistics costs and improve urban and regional connectivity.
Cambodian policymakers are channeling workforce-development funding into electric vehicles and agricultural processing to build industrial skills and attract higher-value manufacturing activity.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered faster humanitarian relief as severe flooding affects Nan and eight other northern provinces, with authorities also strengthening early-warning systems to protect communities and agricultural production.
Private-sector executives are calling for greater technology adoption, knowledge sharing and access to finance to unlock the potential of Thailand’s three point three million small and medium-sized enterprises amid a volatile global economy.
Chinese luxury companies in jewelry, watches and premium wine are increasingly targeting Southeast Asia’s affluent consumers as a testing ground for international expansion, intensifying competition across the region’s high-end retail market.
Thai policymakers are examining new frameworks to strengthen trade and logistics links with New Zealand, as Bangkok seeks to diversify international commercial partnerships and expand its role as a regional distribution hub.
The ASEAN Observer Team has inspected parts of Banteay Meanchey province after Cambodia protested the deployment of shipping containers by Thai forces, highlighting continued tensions over territorial demarcation.
Vietnam has deployed thousands of emergency personnel after Storm Narra brought extreme rainfall to northern and central provinces, triggering landslides, damaging infrastructure and disrupting local supply chains.
Strong public registration for the new TH-AI Passport and growing interest in digital asset tokenization point to accelerating adoption of advanced digital financial technologies in Thailand.
A series of coordinated arson and bomb attacks in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat led to the suspension of State Railway of Thailand services and prompted Malaysia to advise citizens to postpone non-essential travel to the border region.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has rejected demands from China’s embassy to remove the grounded naval vessel from Ayungin Shoal, reaffirming Manila’s position on its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
President Prabowo Subianto has ordered a major emergency response to forest and land fires in Kalimantan and traveled to the region to oversee containment efforts, while authorities pledged tougher enforcement against environmental violations.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong used his National Day Rally to warn that intensifying US-China tensions and fragmented supply chains are creating a more uncertain global environment, urging Singapore to deepen partnerships that protect its position as an international hub.
Thailand’s Civil Aviation Authority is advancing modernization plans across regional airports to distribute rising tourism flows more effectively and strengthen the country’s role as a major aviation hub in Southeast Asia.
Malaysia’s Immigration Department detained one hundred ninety-eight undocumented workers during an operation in Subang Jaya, as authorities continue a nationwide crackdown on unauthorized foreign labour and warn businesses against employing unregistered workers.
Public health experts say the high cost of newer dengue vaccines is a major barrier to wider protection as severe outbreaks across Southeast Asia claim dozens of lives this season.
Bangkok municipal inspectors have identified severely overcrowded residential facilities housing migrant workers with official identification cards, prompting reviews of sanitary conditions, housing standards and possible labour exploitation.
Conservation groups and residents are urging Singapore’s planning authorities to reconsider proposed residential development near Gillman Barracks, citing concerns over the ecological value and biodiversity of Maju Forest.
A fatal shooting at Ateneo de Zamboanga University, in which a student killed a peer before taking his own life during a livestream, has prompted renewed discussion in the Philippines about campus security and institutional responses to student safety.
Thailand’s disaster authorities are coordinating relief operations across six provinces affected by persistent flooding, while officials in Nan province are strengthening flood preparations ahead of further heavy rain.
Malaysia’s government is advancing legislation to repeal a university law dating back fifty-five years, responding to longstanding demands for greater campus autonomy and more space for student political activity.
Thai authorities have ordered the removal of unauthorized durian plantations covering six hundred rai of protected state land in Trat province as the government tightens enforcement around the country’s rapidly expanding export-oriented durian industry.
A series of coordinated bomb and arson attacks targeted infrastructure in Thailand’s southern Narathiwat province, injuring two people and underscoring continuing security challenges in the area bordering Malaysia.
Indonesia is preparing stricter local content requirements for electric vehicles as policymakers seek to attract more investment in domestic manufacturing and make greater use of the country’s large nickel reserves.
Government officials, central bankers and business executives are meeting in Singapore for the Reuters NEXT Asia Summit to discuss artificial intelligence, supply-chain shifts and the outlook for economic growth across Southeast Asia.
Early economic data indicate that Thailand’s latest co-payment subsidy has increased domestic consumer spending and retail activity, providing additional support for the government’s efforts to strengthen the economic recovery.
Malaysia has temporarily halted the extradition of a Malaysia Airlines pilot arrested in Jakarta over alleged drug trafficking as Indonesian authorities investigate whether the case is linked to a wider international smuggling network.
Thai authorities have raided more than sixty companies suspected of using illegal foreign nominee structures in major tourist destinations, intensifying enforcement of rules governing foreign participation in property and hospitality businesses.
Malaysia and Brunei are using ASEAN channels to address hazardous air pollution after high Air Pollutant Index readings in Sarawak and elsewhere, with the two countries pressing for action against peatland and agricultural fires.
Trade analysts warn that US investigations into alleged tariff evasion by Chinese manufacturers could disrupt legitimate exporters across Southeast Asia, where production networks are closely integrated with Chinese manufacturing.
Google is working with Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society on data privacy and regulatory frameworks as the company prepares for major cloud infrastructure investment in the country.
Indonesia’s disaster agency says seventy-five people have died following a seven point seven magnitude earthquake off Flores island, while tens of thousands remain displaced as authorities repair damaged infrastructure and provide emergency assistance.
Singapore has allocated two hundred megawatts of additional power capacity to four major data center operators as the city-state seeks to meet rising demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
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