More miscellaneous

1) Kitchen - I am still waiting on my documents to be sent to me from Kitchen Culture a week later. Really, I don't think we are doing anything out of the ordinary. We were meant to have a week to sign off on any changes. Hmmmm, not really possible!
I lay awake last night thinking about things that I was not sure about or didn't organise at my appointment....
* Bulkheads - did I get any? Yes, I did.
* Breakfast bar overhang - completely forgot about this at the time. Doh! I think I will ask them to reduce the size of the cupboards on that side of the island bench to allow for it rather than paying for more Caesarstone.
* Pull-out bins - I want to look more carefully at the pull-out bin setup we have allowed for. I would love for the bin lids to open up as we open the drawer/cupboard. My decision was so quick I can't remember now what it's features are.

2) Laundry - EBH have now accepted 'responsibility' for our extra laundry cupboard to match the one currently in the plan.

3) Doors - I am now undecided about the internal doors though I am sure that price will help me with the decision in the end. We went with the standard door in White Gloss.

Now I am thinking they may be a little 'plain'??? What about one of these in the white?

4) Apart from these little ramblings, I am spending some time researching for our electrical & flooring appointment in 4 weeks. I really want to get in & out as quickly as possible.

 

Miscellaneous

1) Stormwater issues - None of the neighbours responded to the request for a stormwater easement over their property (not even a negative answer!) This means we have to go with the absorption trenches in the backyard. A statutory declaration has been completed to send to the hydraulic engineer. Our neighbours have saved us a LOT of money upfront (legal fees, compensation etc) but not sure about the effectiveness of the trenches.
2) Laundry cupboard - Felt a little stuck in the middle between EBH and Kitchen Culture about our extra laundry cupboard. At tender, EBH told us it was Kitchen Culture's responsibility and of course, Kitchen Culture told us that we were much better off getting EBH to do it so that it would be the same as the cupboard currently in the plan. My CSO has asked for a sketch of what I want so hopefully we can get it sorted.
3) I found a discrepancy on our plans as far as the direction of one of our stacker doors to the alfresco. The ground floor plan has it going one way (the way we want) whereas the elevation drawings have it going the opposite direction. An easy correction, I hope.
4) Changed my blog address too. As this is public, thought it best to get my full name out of the address.

Bathrooms

After deciding I wasn't going to upgrade the bathrooms too much from the standard, things changed at the selection day. Caesarstone vanity tops REALLY will last a lifetime in these wet areas, won't they?

 

 I chose a wallfaced toilet suite with soft close lids (ahhhh). This will go in all 3 bath/powder rooms.

Not the best angle but this is the bath chosen. Didn't quite upgrade to the spa model!

 Above counter basins in each bathroom so 5 in total. Changed the mixer as this one seemed a little long, don't you think?! I can imagine a few broken teeth from half asleep headbangs!

 This one is a little shorter in length...

The shower rail in the ensuite with detachable spray

And the cheaper one in the main bathroom!

 Towel rails

Powder room and main bathroom colours (Shitake stonetop & white laminex vanity)

Ensuite colours (Cocoa Fudge stonetop & Doe Skin Velour Formica vanity)

Tile appointment is yet to come....August 21.

Internal colours

Whilst again I can't get a swatch of the colour (Taubmans don't seem to allow it), I have found a photo from The Block that shows the wall colour we picked - Pebble Bay. Skirting and cornices will be in Crisp White.

 

Landscape design

Not sure if you can read this - I have issues reading the original as the font size is so small. Basically they propose some tree removals and some additional plants like camellias, gardenias and frangipanis. A retaining wall on one side of the house and a driveway, of course.

External Colours

Two days later and my head is still swimming with colours, designs and choices. It was a long and exhausting day, made that little bit easier by having Anastasia by my side. Here are the external colours we are using

BRICKS - Chocolatto

ROOF, GUTTERS, FASCIA, WATERTANK ETC - Colorbond Monument

RENDER, CLADDING & BARGE - Taubmans Mountain Shadow (no image)

FRONT DOOR - Taubmans Viking Grey (no image)

GARAGE DOOR - Colorbond Dune

EAVES & ALFRESCO CEILINGS - Bristol Greylocks

LAUNDRY DOOR - Taubmans Surfmist

WINDOWS & REAR STACKER DOORS - Airlite Bond Off White (no image)

Let's see how it actually turns out when on large areas, with shadowing, full sun etc. You can get the basic idea though...

Brick selection

I managed to convince the children that they needed to help me pick the bricks for our new house this afternoon (a McDonald's lunch helped the cause). I had an idea of colour (brown) and that I didn't want to pay for upgrading bricks. This made my selection very easy as of course the standard range has very few choices. At this stage, our choice is 'Chocolatto'. Next decision is roof, gutter, fascia & window colour.

Any thoughts? Monument (dark grey) or Loft (maroony brown)?