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Melbourne has a long history as a centre for textile manufacturing. In recent years, low Asian labour costs have cut sharply into this sector, traditionally focused around Dandenong, but, for the most part, the high-tech nature of carpet manufacturing has left it much less vulnerable than clothing or footwear manufacturing. VIC Carpet Company Logos Why
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Home carpeting really began in Victorian Britain. A collision of economic and social factors made both clothing and home fashion in the period from around 1840 to 1900 very distinctive. If you have a Victorian or a Victoria-style home and are thinking of buying new carpet, here is a quick history of what makes Victorian
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First, ‘Home Renovators’ is a little misleading. Our weekly Home Renovators auctions have all kinds of things that even those allergic to do-it-yourself projects will find tempting. Last week, for example, we had a nice collection of bicycles – even a motorised version. Every week is different. There are always more than 300 lots on
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Most people know Fowles as a fantastic place to buy discount carpet, and our carpet sales are legendary in Melbourne. However, if you look at the categories above, you’ll notice that we have a Home Renovators’ Auction and a Timber and Building Materials Auction in addition to our Carpet Auction. In this post, we’re going
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It’s the beginning of a new year, and Fowles has some unusually good carpet values at auction right now, with plenty of year-end closeouts from manufacturers. Every week, we have a different selection of discount carpet at the carpet auction, and we never know exactly what’s going to be available until just before the day.
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If you’re like many people, you have never made a purchase at an auction. In fact, when you think of an auction, you might picture a high-class art auction full of society’s elite or a farm auction with a fast talking, hard to understand auctioneer. Either situation is intimidating to the average homeowner, and for
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Here we are at the start of 2015, and Fowles’ weekly Carpet Auction is ready for the new year. In fact, our carpet sales in Melbourne are stronger than ever. In the recent past, we’ve done blog posts about installing carpet runners on stairs and options for room-sized rugs. This seems like a good time
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Ceramic tiles have been around since the dawn of civilisation, but it wasn’t until around 2,500 BC that the Egyptians started using glass in mosaics. The Romans picked up the practice and, of course, improved it. The issue was obtaining the heat necessary to create molten glass. It takes 600C to melt glass, and to
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You’ve picked up brand new, energy efficient, feature-filled home appliances, maybe from one of our kitchen auctions. Now, what will you do with the old stuff? The state of appliance recycling in Australia is pretty good, but far from the best anywhere. What becomes of recycled appliances, especially refrigerators and freezers, may surprise you. Scrap
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Carpet runners look great on stairs, and there are some practical reasons for having them. Carpets will reduce noise and will reduce wear to the stair itself. They can also make the stairs less slippery and easier on the feet. You can install a carpet runner yourself—here’s how—however, we can connect you with professional carpet
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An area rug can be beautiful, a good investment and a versatile design tool. Designers use area rugs to enhance the look of furniture, make rooms look smaller or larger and provide warmth and atmosphere to interior spaces. Rugs can change how the size of a room is perceived Brightly coloured rugs tend to make
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You really have to visit one of our weekly auctions to see the diversity of innovative appliances, building materials and carpets on sale in Melbourne. Case in point is the remarkable range of specialty bath tubs. It used to be that a tub was just a tub. But now there are designer tubs, whirlpool tubs,
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Large area rugs have remained popular since about the 1830s. To find the reason for that, we need to look at a bit of history. Rugs and carpets have been around for a very long time. There’s good reason to believe we’ve had rugs as long as we’ve had domestic sheep: about seven thousand years.
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“Mind boggling,” is the only way to describe the huge variety of modern kitchen taps. Our weekly home renovation auctions display hundreds, if not thousands of different styles of faucets over the course of a typical year. You can change the look and functionality of your kitchen just by changing the faucets, but the range
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If you browse the showroom prior to one of our weekly Home Renovator Auctions, you’ll discover the many, many different materials that basins can be made of. Which material is best depends on how the basin will be used. Ceramic, concrete, acrylic, marble, stainless steel and even soapstone are all used to make basins, and
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‘It doesn’t keep things cold any more’ is not necessarily the right answer. From an energy consumption standpoint, the biggest sign you should replace your fridge is hanging on the wall: a calendar! Replace Your Bridge Improvements every year Energy consumption by refrigerators has been declining by about two percent every year for at least
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Advances in technology mean you can lay carpet in places that were strictly off limits before, places like bathrooms and el fresco rooms. The secret is in the new materials that are available today. For example, carpet made of Olefin, a byproduct of the petroleum industry, is perfect for use in wet areas. Olefin Berbers
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Planning a make-over for your garden is one of the pleasures of home ownership. Need to be inspired? Here’s a thought: pop by one of our Wednesday Timber and Building Materials auctions. Better yet, go to our Melbourne showroom anytime from Monday to Friday, 7:30 am to 5:00 pm, and browse the lots that will
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Carpet installation isn’t difficult, but there may be circumstances where you want the assistance of a Fowles professional. There are basically three types of carpet installation: direct glue-down, double glue-down and stretch-in. Stretch in installation involves tacking the carpet near the walls, then stretching the carpet, either by hand or by machine, and finally tacking
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If you live in Australia, then space conditioning—heating and cooling—probably uses most of the energy in your home. However, according to the Australian Government, about a third of the energy used by residential customers powers appliances. Energy Hogs First: Refrigerators and Freezers Your most energy hungry appliances are the ones that are on all the
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Are you planning to build a new wood deck for your home, or are you thinking about making additions or repairs to one you already have? If so, there are a number of exciting options for making your deck look better and do more. If you could use some inspiration, then consider these four great
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Shopping for carpet shouldn’t be a big deal. It’s not something you buy often, so when you do, you need to be armed with as much knowledge as possible. That means knowing where to buy it, how to buy it and most of all, how to look after it! Obviously, Fowles is the place the
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Here at Fowles, we sell appliances through our weekly Home Renovator’s Auction. Depending on what we’ve got available on a given week, you might find cheap fridges, dishwashers, clothes washers and more. Whatever we get a good deal on, we auction off to you at incredible savings. In fact, you might save up to 90%
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Timber flooring is popular for a reason. It’s attractive, durable and easy to keep clean. It’s all natural, renewable and recyclable, too, so it’s a good choice for the environment. Timber flooring is warmer to the touch than concrete, ceramic or stone. With occasional sanding and refinishing, a good quality solid timber floor can last
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In last week’s blog post, we talked about the most common types of electric hobs. This week, we’ll discuss a few issues that you might want to consider when you choose between sealed plate hobs, ceramic hobs and induction hobs. Of course, gas hobs are another matter all together, and they’re a great choice if
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Where would be we be without the hob cooktop? Most of us can manage without a grill or even an oven, but the hob is where we do most of our cooking. Last week we talked about why so many people love a gas cooktop, and you can read it here. This week, it’s the
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The cooker is arguably the most important kitchen appliance. In fact, where would any of us be without one? And, the perfect kitchen certainly deserves the perfect cooker. But as with everything, when it comes to investing time and money into a home purchase, it’s worth doing your research before you reach for your wallet.
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When planning a new garden or thinking about giving a current one a makeover, it can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of choosing and buying lots of colourful plants for your beds. After all, these are the main feature of a garden and when they do bloom, flowers can give so
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The fridge has undergone something of a revolution. It’s no longer a white, boring, boxy appliance placed in the corner of the room. The ‘ice-box’ of today has been redefined – it’s energy efficient and super-stylish with a range of colours to choose from and a host of state-of-the-art features. We’ll show you what to
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The smallest room in the house doesn’t have to be short on style! Bring on the glamour and give a nod to art deco, a trend that never really went out of fashion … Art Deco was a distinctive style that summed up the roaring 1920s and 1930s. It — arguably —started in Paris and
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It’s not often you buy a new carpet, and it can be an expensive business (though less so if you buy it at Fowles Carpet Auction). If you have made the outlay for wall-to-wall carpets, you certainly want your investment to look good many years down the line — not an easy feat if you
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