Where do I start…

Apologies for the delay in posting. I was holding out until we received the final kitchen layouts, and possibly Council Approval, however neither has turned up. Yep, Council have had our plans since early January and are still yet to give us a green light. What’s more, our neighbours called hassling about when we will start building so we can have a fence installed and when we explained that we are still waiting for Council approval, they then let us know that they had asked Council to reject our plans. Lovely. Rather than coming to us with their issue, they’ve potentially held us up and cost us time and money. They feel that one of our bedroom windows will look into their ensuite bathroom, which has frosted glass anyway, however we triple-checked the drawings before submission so that we don’t look into anyone’s house. We don’t want to be looking into their bathroom any more than they want us looking in! We’re just disappointed that they went about things in an under-handed way. If they had come to us first we could have showed them the plans relative to their house, and had they been nice but still unhappy about the window, we would have changed it to a highlight window (an option we considered anyway). It would have been less drama and more amicable. We’re still paying for a temporary fence though as it is the fair thing to do.

Edit: Council finally got back to our builder this week, and have requested that more engineering drawings be drafted and a new site survey be ordered as they have changed the slab classifications since our plans were drafted. So, we’re looking at another $500 and two weeks for plans to be drawn, then more waiting while Council deliberate. This is how I feel about that:

&^*^*&&%^$Q*#!!@#$%^&*+(@)*&!@!@(@&!%$!+!&!%^@%#$!$#@!$%#&!*@#@)#@!!!

On the bright side, no mention of the bedroom window or neighbour complaint was made, so it looks like that isn’t an issue.

Anyway, our kitchen plans are coming along nicely, and I would have been able to show you but our kitchen contact decided to make more changes than requested, which we don’t like, and so we have asked him to change it to the exact specifications we gave. I’ll post them as soon as I get them.

Bathroom selections are also nearly finalised. Our poor builder has been asking for them for weeks now, but it’s tough when you can’t see the space or have weekdays off to visit showrooms, assuming they even have the items you want to look at on display! I will post more on these soon.

In the meantime, we ordered those pendant lights for the kitchen and they turned up today. We quickly took one out of the box and it looks great! I will take pics when we take the other two out to check them later.

Sorry for the sparse post but I have just started a new job and Mick is swamped at his, so we have been spending our time working with the spare moments taken up by house planning, weddings and other such things. This weekend we’re heading up to Newcastle to visit family (with a possible quick stop at Reece to look at toilets) and on the way back we’re seeing a very dear friend who is losing a family member. It is sad moments like these that make you realise that work and house plans, whilst important, aren’t what really matter in the grand scheme of things...

Still Waiting on Council...

So, we’re still waiting to hear from Council, who were due back to us Monday…

In the meantime we’ve been juggling training courses, weddings, job changes, and, of course, making all the final decisions so that Fairmont can start the ordering for our house. Going through the plans and decisions with a fine tooth comb is agonisingly awesome and stressful. I really enjoy this sort of thing but Mick and I are both keenly aware that any changes after construction plans are drawn will, justifiably, cost money.

Our final kitchen appointment is next Wednesday and the latest layout is looking great! It’s been tough-going deciding on what to upgrade and what to leave but we’re close now. That same day we will also be stopping by our favourite tile place, the Fairford TileCentre, to make decisions and, possibly, place orders. As nice as Macarthur Tiles were (our builder’s preferred supplier), Fairford Tiles have more the style of tile we like and are a really nice, family-run business. We’ll probably also head to the Reece showrooms around that area and, if we can squeeze it in, possibly grab some paint samples… Expect an epic post next week!

I also have some very exciting news on the light-front (or perhaps I am the only one who finds it exciting)…I have managed to find exactly what I want for the Kitchen pendant lights! Ok, they require re-wiring so they can be installed on a raked ceiling and have a longer drop, but they are beautiful and should (hopefully) suit perfectly! Here’s a pic and link:

http://www.completepad.com/shopping3.aspx?cat_id=0&subcat_id=258&product_id=8750  

While you’re checking them out, you should have a look through the rest of Complete Pad’s wares as they have some nice stuff and have been wonderful to deal with. We will be ordering three of the medium pendants in antique silver. The pendants are so popular that they are on back-order, but we have time and are happy to wait.

Kitchen, Bathrooms and that old Light Saga...

Sorry I haven’t posted for a while. I badly sprained my right thumb and have been unable to type until today (and it’s still a bit slow-going).

Quite a bit has happened in the past two weeks. Mick’s unit settled and we’ve been busy bees researching taps, tiles, vanities and kitchen products.

We’re edging closer to a finalised kitchen plan but it’s been a tough one balancing price with quality and practicality with form.  We’ve said no to soft-close (It’s $2.5k we can’t justify), integrated bins (we’ll install our own after hand-over), and a few other bibs and bobs we can’t see the value for us in adding. We’ve said yes to under cabinet lights (just one either side of the cooktop), 10 additional drawers (…and counting!), aluminium finger-pull handles, wine rack, and (my favourite) a book shelf. Jury is still out on getting 4cm caesarstone (instead of 2cm), extending the stone splashback behind the rangehood, pull-out pantry set and gloss cabinets vs matt. I will keep you posted!

Bathrooms have been another area that is requiring some hard decisions mostly due to cost (why doesn’t money grow on trees or things cost less..? Wishful thinking I know). Anyway, we’ve decided on a vanity for the main bathroom (we would have it for the powder room also as it does come in a 900, but it’s more than we want to spend there and unfortunately it doesn’t come in a 1500 or we’d have it for the ensuite):

http://www.reece.com.au/bathrooms/products/adp-desire-900-wall-hung-vanity#

This little unit we’ve chosen for the Powder Room...

http://www.reece.com.au/bathrooms/products/posh-dominique-900-rectangle-floor-vanity#

...as it looks good in person and feels great to use. Some models have clunky hardware. I’m not a fan of the soft-close used on vanities as it seems to make the drawers harder to open (sort of “sticky”), and that’s even the expensive, Australian-made models I’ve tried.

We’re still undecided about our Ensuite vanity. There’s less choice in the 1500 size than others and a large price difference. We’ve made some enquiries about some so I guess we’ll see how much they are and how they look/feel in person.

Tapware has been another fiddly one. Especially given I want to “mix and match” pieces, which seems to perplex everyone. I see why people like sticking to a range but I don’t like things too “matchy-matchy” and have yet to find a range that satisfies exactly what we want from our bathroomware, as lovely as most of them are, we do have some strict practicalities which limit us. So, our choices so far:

Vanity taps:

http://www.phoenixtapware.com.au/modules/mastop_publish/?tac=VIVID_SLIM_LINE_BASIN_MIXER 

Powder Room and Main Bathroom Shower Rail:

http://www.phoenixtapware.com.au/modules/mastop_publish/?tac=SONATA_SHOWER

Ensuite Twin Shower Rail:

http://www.phoenixtapware.com.au/modules/mastop_publish/?tac=RUSH_TWIN_SHOWER

Wall mixer for showers and bath:

http://www.phoenixtapware.com.au/modules/mastop_publish/?tac=IVY_SHOWER_MIXER

 We're also after a 'waterfall' tap for the bath (model TBA) and heated towel rail for the ensuite. The kitchen and laundry taps are likely to be a gooseneck side-mounted mixer (model TBA). We'll also be finalising the number and placement of towel rails, robe hooks, hand-towel rails etc.

Also, remember the saga of the lights? Well, I’ve managed to find a place in China who will customise the lights we like for a fraction of the cost. They have a great Ebay rep and seem to be the factory that makes a lot of the lights sold at commercial lighting stores. As much as I don’t like to do the Australian businessman out of money, sometimes you have to look out for number one and the savings offered by this company are too good to pass up. They can also customise the lights so they will work with our ceiling and everything else we're purchasing is bought locally and usually even made in Australia.

Here are some of our choices:

One each for the formal lounge and dining...though we can't decide whether to get black or white:

I love this light. We will be getting one for the Master Bedroom and one for the upstairs TV Room:

We will put this beautiful, crystal light in the stairwell. Mick worked out the total drop required and the manufacturer will adjust the string lengths accordingly. They can also change the number of lights in it, though they assure me that our height (1.8m from memory) will suit the full 24.

And last but not least, the kitchen pendants:

I could not find what I wanted (for a reasonable price) anywhere. These gems are a nice compromise (I hope!). They will be light and reflective and should hopefully 'disappear' in the space, which is what I wanted. Especially given their proximity to the skylights and downlights, I hope they look nice and shiny. The manufacturer will add extra cord length so that they can sit at the right height from the raked ceiling.

The rest of our internal lights will be modern-looking fluoro's bought locally. Outdoor lights will likely be purchased through Masters or Bunnings, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

With Council due back to us by next Monday, we're on the final stretch now as we ensure everything we want is in the tender and plans before construction starts.

Unit Sold and The Decision-Race to Construction is on!

Mick accepted an offer on his unit last week and cooling-off completed this afternoon. Yippee! So, the countdown for Settlement and Council Approval are almost in sync, with plans being submitted to Council on Monday.

Now the race to the finish line (which in reality is the starting block) is on, as decisions need to be finalised by the time Council Approval is in so Fairmont can do the ordering for our job. From then, changes will cost money so I am making sure that Mick and I comb through the plans carefully and make considered colour selections. The morning and afternoon train rides, lunch hours and weekends spent looking at colour swatches, emailing suppliers, coordinating showroom visits and googling like an addict will hopefully pay off as we attend our tiling and kitchen appointments 21 January (so exciting!).

This weekend I hope to also finalise our flooring. We’re having this done ourselves as it is cheaper and we can get what we want (our carpet is only available from Harvey Norman) and Fairmont are more than happy for us to do this. I want to have the flooring selected and samples at the ready when we go to our tiling and kitchen appointments.

I’m also happy to report that whilst Wattyl Paint is no longer available through Bunnings, they are available through Masters and our local store at Gregory Hills has a huge colour chart and is able to mix us up sample pots and colour match to Dulux if we need. Yippee! I am narrowing in on colours but won’t make those final selections until flooring, kitchen and tiles are finalised and sample pots purchased, brushed-out and analysed.

On an electronic-front, Mick and I have decided to install a video intercom/doorbell with three screens in the house. It not only makes answering and opening the door easier but also safer as we can see who is on the other side of the door before deciding to open it. It’s also great for re-sale and means Mick and I can call each other if we’re in different parts of the house! Yay for toys!

Here is the model our builder has quoted us for:

http://www.eos.com.au/product_detail.php?seqno=625&depth=1&category=2&sub2=1&sub3=1

Do we get the black or white..?

On the light-front, I can’t find what I want for the Kitchen pendants and whilst our earlier choices are great, we’re not so sure on them given we have a lot going on in that space already - raked ceilings, sky-lights, wall at the end of the kitchen island, unusual range-hood etc. I know exactly what I want, but I can’t seem to find lights like the following for sale anywhere:

I did manage to find a couple of Australian light companies that import commercial-looking lights from overseas and some of their brochures are promising. I like the following:

And so the search continues...

Let There Be Light!

Mick and I looked at lights today as we need to supply the pendant lights for the house ourselves and we might as well buy when the sales are on. We (well, mostly me) fell in love with a light for the stair well. Its the Zenon 12 Light Pendant in Chrome with Crystal at Beacon Lighting:

<Click here for more pics and info>

We also looked at pendant lights for above the kitchen island. We can't decide between these "nest" lights which we feel will go with both the kitchen and the long, dark-timber dining room table:

<Click here for more pics and info>

Or these suspended, modern fluoros:

<Click here for more pics and info>

Both options are modern and will go with the look and feel of the house we wish to achieve. We just can't decide...any opinions/suggestions are welcome :-)

We also learnt a lot from the Lighting Centre at Campbelltown. The very nice and helpful lady there gave us great advice on all the lights in our house. She told us to check with our builder as to exactly which LED downlights they're installing. Apparently, ideally we shouldn't run more than six on any single switch and they should be above 620 lumens and have a beam greater than 60 degrees. We also need to check they're gimble (though we already knew this) as this will allow us to alter the direction of the beam which is very handy in a raked ceiling! We also discovered that lights only account for around 2% of your energy bill and are often cheaper to run (and last longer) when left on continuously rather than switching them on and off again. The lady we spoke to used to turn her kitchen fluoro on when getting ready for work in the morning and leave it running until she went to bed at night. She didn't have to replace a tube in eight years! Anyway, assuming the information she gave us is correct, we learnt a lot.

The gentleman we spoke to at Beacon Lighting was also very helpful and spoke to us a bit about BASIX requirements and showed us the difference between different wattage and coloured (i.e. cool white and warm light) bulbs.

After our reconnaissance mission, we then popped by the Fairmont display homes at Gregory Hills. It was great to catch up with Kerry and to see the homes. We were especially interested in their single story home (the St Thomas) as it has a raked ceiling with sky lights similar to what we are building. Mick used his trusty tape measure to check the ceiling heights and ensure that the lights we like at maximum extension fit and also to see if their proportions will work. It was also really nice to take the time to sit in the Meals Area of the Dominico and feel like, just for a moment, we were home.

So, here are some pics from the gorgeous St Thomas display home:

  

 I can't wait to be able to see sky while standing at the kitchen sink!!!

Me being silly while trying to hide from the camera: