Be very quiet...I'm hunting tradies (again)

I'm thinking they are lost...GPS's aren't working? Otherwise I'm not sure why it is so quiet on site. Plenty of things lined up to happen...so let's let it happen boys!

The tilers obviously work a 3 day fortnight. They turn up, do a bit then disappear for another week. No idea why they don't come, finish the job and then move on...anyone else had grief with tilers?Plus they need to fix a boo boo. They have attached soap holders which we asked to have deleted from the contract due to our lovely big shower niches. SS is aware of this now and will ask them to be removed. - No pics at the moment due to program having a meltdown everytime I try to add one:(

The one kitchen cupboard door that was missing has appeared and our stone bench is due to be installed next Monday...can't wait! I really hope it comes on time - bit over hold ups putting us behind at the moment. We are still waiting for our front areas to be fixed before painting can start (supposedly once kitchen bench is in - so Tuesday would be the logical start day...) Will get back to you later in the week if anything exciting happens.

Plus I thought I'd let you all know (because you've been waiting with baited breath! haha) the winner in our flooring duel is...Sepia! The dark won out, went with our heart and feel very content with the decision. Couldn't bring myself to pick the recommended over the one WE actually liked best.

Night in the city was great. Amazing views, delicious cocktails and good friends for company...good distraction from the house:)

Very jealous of those of you approaching PCI any day now. Good luck, hope it goes well and that the keys are in your hot little hands in no time. I may get there by christmas...

Cheers
Kylie

The Week That Was...

Well, I feel like a phoney posting when really there is nothing to post:( We have finally had our roof problems resolved - yesterday - but it has been at the expense of anything else happening. I am very pleased at the outcome of what is being fixed due to water damage, and in the whole scheme of things a week or two isn't a big deal...but I know you all feel my pain - no hold up is a good hold up.

The ensuite and kids bathroom does now have floor tiles, but I think this was done either early in the week or late last week and we didn't know due to being locked out. There was due to be more tiling done this week - wall tiles, but no such luck. Not sure why this wasn't done... Again sorry about the poor quality photos

Kids bathroom - floor tiles

Ensuite floor tiles laid 

The next couple of shots come with a warning...not pleasant. Negative thoughts aside, Metricon are doing the right thing and fixing it all so what more can you ask for? As long as it's fixed it really won't distract from my beautiful home.

Oh Mr Hart...what a mess!

Gyprock and insulation has been removed for some brand spanking new stuff:)

DH and I are meeting a landscape designer to start making heads and tails of our yard. We are meeting with Intrique Living Design - a local mob: www.intriguelivingdesigns.com.au

I managed a great deal on our blinds and shutters with another local company recommended by a couple of friends : www.rounablinds.com.au

We are also locking it in Eddy with Cronulla Carpets for all of our flooring needs. (excuse the italic text, program is being difficult and an I can't be bothered fighhting with it)

Will let you know if by some miracle something happens onsite tomorrow but I highly doubt it. And seeing as I'm heading into the city for a chicks night at the Quay West Apartments and Bel Mondo with some lovely friends, I don't care!

Cheers

Kylie





Kitchen Love

Just a little long weekend Monday night posting. I was reading 'Driftwood Interiors' blog and followed on to a new blog they recommended. I was pleasantly surprised to see a very stylish abode have a kitchen quite like my new one-to-be. Now I realise there are a number of differences BUT it still reinforces for me that it will be a lovely kitchen when done. So, from this blog: http://georgicapond.blogspot.com/ I found these lovely kitchen pics...

Dark and white cabinets plus big island bench with waterfall edges:)




And this is how mine looks at the moment:

Now imagine a lovely big benchtop just like the one above, walls and ceiling painted, white glass splashback, appliances, flooring etc...what do you think? Will I get a similar look? I did decide against the mirror splashback but don't think it will change the look too much.

Anyway I just thought I'd share my latest find, and I do hope my kitchen ends up looking this lovely! Good luck with progress this week. Hope you've enjoyed the long weekend!

Cheers
Kylie

To be Cheap, or Not to be Cheap...That is the Question

It is official...we can no longer enter the property on a whim. Bifolds are glazed and the shop is closed for business. So it's therefore difficult to know if anything else has happened. The sand pile does look smaller...maybe some more tiling happened? Who knows...

The rain has shown us that the roof is still not 100% water tight at the front. Inside the garage shows that plenty is still getting in where the final roof tiles have not been put back in place. Must double check SS is aware of this, as our last communication indicated the gyprockers would be back to fix the ceilings this week. That's fine...as long as the roofers have finished first. I am anxious that this doesn't stuff around for another week because the roof is still not complete. I know once this is fixed, painters are due to start. At least the tilers can do their thing no matter what.

Meeting the interior decorator/designer was interesting and helpful. There is a true art to balancing colour and anchoring rooms with the right furniture (am I using the right terminology??) It was alot to take in and I look forward to her sending me details of her recommendations.

So this leads on to the 'to be cheap or not to be cheap' question. We came to a decision on floor colour. It wasn't one of the two I was considering. Due to my other colour choices in the room (kitchen cupboards, timber stains etc) and furniture that has been ordered, she recommended a much lighter colour. It has taken a couple of days, but I have come to be happy with the colour - Natural.

You can even see in this picture that it has been teamed with dark furniture like our look.

We have found this product at a very reputable local flooring supplier who we will be getting our carpet from and who we have used previously and been more than happy with. We have also found - or so we thought - this product at another supplier. When we visited this showroom however, we we told they no longer sold this product, but another made from the same manufacturer. We were given the speil about the products being the exact same...blah, blah, blah but to be honest I feel it is slightly dodgy brothers. Cheaper...yes, but will I be happy? That is the question!

So, do I assume it will be fine and hope for the best whilst saving about $800ish or do I go down the tried and tested track? What would you do??

Also I promised a pic of the chairs I selected for our living to go with our espresso 3 seater from king furniture. Hard to get a good shot and retail lighting doesn't help but you'll get the idea.

One of the reasons we liked it was the metal cross over legs...they look great.

 No, I won't be having these 'lilac with bird pic' cushions...

This pic shows a back view.

My blind quote has come back and I think we will go ahead and do the whole lot...close my eyes and hope I don't run out of cash!

So, fingers crossed that everything falls into place this week. I really want things to stay on track - as you do. Hopefully some tradies will be there working when I pop past so that I can have a sticky beak a couple of times. Really keen to peak at the tiles!

Hope all is well for everyone else building their dream...

Cheers for the rest of the long weekend (YEAH)
Kylie

Step by Step

Things have continued along this week. Not at the quickest of paces but I really shouldn't complain as there has still been something happen every day. They were back to complete the render on the piers which hadn't been completed. Front door handle and lock is on, as is the garage door lock (this handle is an old fashioned round one that I can't believe I picked - DH thinks maybe it was our only option...) will change to a nicer one after handover if possible. So as soon as they glaze our bi-folds we will finally be locked out.

The garage door handle that I'm not too fond of...

Front door lock and handle

Yesterday the tiler came to start but was not a happy chappy that the underfloor heating guys hadn't been in as planned to put the piping stuff down. So he did the laundry and toilet but not kids bathroom and ensuite. Today they have been so hopefully he will be back tomorrow to do more. Can't wait to see the rooms tiled.

The colour is much nicer - less creamy - in reality. Plus I love the texture in the tiles too which doesn't show up in pics.

The underfloor heating 'stuff' that was put in today.

One thing that had happened (which I haven't mentioned) was that the ceiling in our master bedroom and front entry was damaged (ruined) as one small part of the roof wasn't finished before the rain hit a week or so ago. I know it was probably silly to have the room done without the gyprock, but our SS really wanted to keep the build going and was having grief getting the tradies to turn up and do the job (so what can you do...best of intentions and a bit of bad luck). So now that the roof is done (99%) I am waiting impatiently for them to come back and re-insulate and gyprock our ceiling for these 2 areas. Impatient because I am guessing that painting is just around the corner and don't want that held up now either. Plus I know the carpenter was actually hoping that it would have been done so that he could have done more skirting and trim when he was there yesterday.

I did meet with the decorator and get a quote for blinds yesterday. All good, will fill you in later.

This long weekend we will no doubt do the rounds trying to find some half yearly sale bargins for the house and maybe lock in flooring. Hope everyone has has a productive week.

Cheers
Kylie

Mr Sandman

That would be our sand for the wet area tiling:

Happy times, marching on and all that:)

I did try to get a photo of the tiles but it is very difficult to get an idea of what they are like without seeing them in real life.

Kitchen cabinets were finished off and handles popped on. One cupboard door missing - must have been damaged, and 2 handles missing - must have miscounted...

Tomorrow is my decorator/blind quote planned around Dr app day. Will let you know how it goes. Looking forward to it but hope she (decorator) doen't hate my choices so far...

Kitchen installed (you can see missing door). Can't wait till stone is ready. How long from now til that happens?

Handles...2 missing

Sand laid ready for tiling to hopefully begin in the morning:) Toilet was done too.

This is the floor tile. Really hard to see the true colour and it has a 'stone' finish so will therefore need sealing. Hopefully I can get a better pic tomorrow,

This photo allows you to see the texture a bit better but the colour is washed out.

The big boxes are the large wall tiles. Some are the same as the floor and some are white.

We also bought two chairs to go with the lounge we've ordered from King Furniture. We didn't go Barcelona chairs after all...will try to get a pic for you soon. Lovely leather in a colour called 'chalk'. Super bargin - if we didn't get this deal they would have cost us nearly 3 times the amount and would have been beyond our budget.

Cheers People
Kylie

On a Roll

Well folks it has been another great week on site with plenty of progress to report. Doors are all hung, skirting is done, cornices on, cabinets nearly done and front pier has been hebeled. Very happy with how things are looking! Feature timber doors on the pantry and master bedroom look great. The bi-folds that were put on to open the wrong way have been fixed. Here are a few pics. Again my apologies, I thought I'd put my camera in the car but - no that wasn't the case, therefore dodgy iphone quality again.

Here are the pantry timber doors

Just a glimpse of the many metres of cornice and trim

Look - a closed bedroom door!

Ta daaa...my kitchen (still being installed as you can see - by a really nice local guy)

The cupboards and drawers on the back are white poly.

 Island bench cupboards - in asian night. Love the size of the drawers and I spied my bin drawer. Island bench will look excellent once stone top is on!

Feature doors to master bedroom

Front door from the inside

I heart my laundry cupboards. If you remember I changed these after construction started and to say I am happy with it is an understatement! Picture does not do them justice due to the light coming in.

The gap under the bench is for storing my laundry hamper

My ensuite cabinets. We extended these to be wall to wall. Little display shelves in middle for storing towels

Kids bathroom vanity. Small and neat.

The pier at the front has now had hebel applied to it.

Cabinet guy says he will be back to finish on Monday. Waterproofing will also be inspected Monday. I think tiling is scheduled to start Tuesday and not sure what else to expect.

Wednesday my son has a specialist appointment so I will be off work. I have arranged to make the most of a mid-week day off and will be having an interior decorator meet me onsite to help select flooring - we are really struggling here - and discuss colours and furnishings etc. I am also fitting in an appointment to get a quote for blinds. Will let you know how these appointments go.

Here are two of the bamboo samples we are considering - in our turn around from having travertine...what do you think?

Yesterday we ordered our fridge, a new T.V for the rumpus and a dryer as our old one had kicked the bucket. The fridge is a gorgeous electrolux 690L side by side with cold water and ice dispenser:)

Hope all is well for my building buddies.

Cheers

Kylie