Pimp up your home

Aged brass, rose golds, aged metals and metallic-inspired materials are the raging trend in interior design.

DesignWorx NZ’s Amanda Neill, who is running interior design seminars at the Home Show, said the colours worked in everything from tapware to materials to tiles.

“You don’t have to have it all in one finish, you can mix it all up and combine a number.”

This range of furniture brings a new meaning to the word antique, being made of wood that dates back 25 million years.

Zoicwood offers stools, coffee tables, and dining tables in petrified wood, which existed millions of years ago but has turned into stone. It is sourced from an area of volcanic ash in Indonesia.

Managing director Ron Moon said the products were natural and organic.

“It is colourful, decorative and has intrinsic value because It’s a small ball — but it can pack a powerful punch.

The Elide Fire Extinguishing Ball is a nifty little gadget that explodes over a blaze and douses the flames before they get out of control.

It explodes within three-five seconds of contact with a naked flame and sprays out a dry chemical powder. It also emits an alarm to alert people to the fire.

the product is getting rarer and rarer. Only a finite amount of it is available.”

Quick Dams has a range of expandable flood barriers — lay them down in the wet zone and as the water arrives they swell like a sandbag to prevent flooding. They can be packed away in a cupboard and whipped out when needed. And as they dry, they shrink back down again.

Manners Building Products general manager Bridget Manners said they would have been perfect for use in the wild weather that flooded hundreds of homes in Auckland and Eastern Bay of Plenty this year.

“The idea is for people to have them in their homes when a storm is coming. They swell 90mm high and can be stacked three high.”