Grey Pail *FAIL*

I didn't think I was going crazy! At least not over this paint colour. This is the Dulux Grey Pail sample colour sheet the pillars were SUPPOSED to be in front of the pillars and the icky colour it actually is! A colour I detest! It's like an icky snot green.

I'm 110% sure they've used the wrong colour. I guess they'll have to come back and redo it.

Ladder or Rail?

The freestanding bath is in its final place and the mixer taps in place. It looks perfect!! Just as intended. The only thing left now is the towel ladder that was go to behind the head of the bath along the wall.

It's really hard to find a rounded bar towel ladder that's not heated, believe it or not. There were lots of square ones and loads of heated ones, but I just wanted a plain one with maybe 4 or 5 rails.

Then last night when I was watching "The Block Bathroom Reveal",  I saw Phil and Amity's single rails on top of each other. A simple idea, but looked fabulous! Now all I needed was to find a single round towel rail that didn't have a plate at the end.

This Sussex Pol Single Towel Rail would be perfect! I could probably get away with just three rows at the end of the bath.

PS: I love The Block!

Rules

Rule No 1 - Do not wear wedges to site.

Rule No 2 - Do not wear wedges to site after it's been raining

Rule No 3 - See rules 1 and 2

This is the third pair of shoes I've ruined since the start of the build. I bought myself some gumboots now and they stay in the car for any scheduled or unscheduled site visits.

You'd think I would have learned the first two times. I'm a bit special.

Day 160 - Breakfast Bar Pendant Lights Are Up!

The pendant lights are up and I'll concede, I think you guys were right. The silver lights would probably have been better. These white ones just don't look quite right - what do you think?

Maybe once the splashback has gone in and all that crap on the bench is gone and everything is cleaned up with some accessories it will be a bit better. In the meantime it kinda just has no impact.

Maybe they're too big? Or is there just too much white in the space? I can't really work it out and I couldn't turn the lights on either as they hadn't been connected yet. I'll leave it for now and then when everything's done I'll work out whether I should change it.

This is what it looks like from the kitchen facing out. They feel a little bit too big...I think. Ohhh, I hate second guessing myself!!

The Rear View

I had the grass cut (finally) the other day after probably five months and while it looked sooo much neater, it made the house seem even higher than it already looked, especially from the back.

The depth of the land is 50 metres and over that area is a fall to the back of about 2 metres. So at the back of the house, the height from the land to the top of the roof is almost 11 metres. That is an astounding height when you consider that before the flood you had to get a relaxation to go higher than 8.5 metres.

There's been two ideas tossed around:

1. Run a flying fox from the balcony to the fence.
2. Put a climbing wall on the rear downstairs panel.

Of course those ideas were from the boys. Let's just get the house built first hey guys?

The Shower Rails

The shower rails are in and this is one of those times I wish I'd spent the extra money to get something decent. They're from a brand name supplier, but from their budget range because I have three bathrooms and the costs were getting out of control.

I bought them from an online catalogue without going into the store and testing them. Big mistake! They're really just plastic, which is disappointing. The towel rails from the same supplier were fantastic - a heavy duty chrome that felt like great quality. These shower rails just feel like painted plastic.

It's always hard to know when to draw the line when it comes to costs but I think good quality fixtures and benchtops make the difference. But then, there wasn't really anywhere else I could have reduced costs.

It's all a learning process I'm finding, and one that I really enjoy. Am already making notes for my next build and things that I will do different. I'll be adding shower rails to the list.

Sweetest Valentine's Day Present Ever!

I can't tell you how devastated I was when the garden was destroyed during the flood and during demolition. I had a beautiful mock orange hedge, star jasmine vine on a frame, gardenias, magnolias and agapanthus.  It was a gorgeous, fragrant garden and I loved it.

Weirdly it wasn't the flood which destroyed the majority of it as I only lost a couple of magnolias and gardenias, it was the demolition that caused the most damage.

The hedge and surrounding garden unfortunately were directly where the new house was going and being so large there was little chance of relocating them. I managed to pull out all the agapanthus and relocate them to a friend's place, where they look awesome, but the rest were just destroyed. Heartbreaking.

This Valentine's Day though I was given these two Singapore Frangipanis, which may seem odd to you, but is incredibly romantic and thoughtful to me. They are just gorgeous!

This are my first plants for the new house. I will probably transfer them into pots and put them on the front and rear balconies.

Exterior Colours - Love/Hate

Front Door - "Simone Weil" Dulux Colour

Garage Door - "White on White" Dulux Colour

The painters have finished the exterior painting and it's a split love/hate on the colours.

I LOVE the "Simone Weil" colour on the front door. It's a gorgeous dove grey and once the large handle goes back on I think it will look spectacular. It's highlighted by the "White on White" of the rest of the house, the kwila hardwood timber rails and decking and stainless steel wire balustrades. Awesome combo! Love it!!

The garage door is just the same as the rest of the house - Dulux "White on White" just in a gloss. Eventually it won't be seen from the front as I'll enclose the garage, but in the meantime it just blends in with the rest of the house so the highlight is on the front door.

Laundry Door - "White on White" Dulux Colour

Front Pillars - "Grey Pail" Dulux

The laundry door is also White on White in gloss (I can tell this is going to be sooo hard to keep clean!). I'm glad we chose this door, the window in it lets in loads of light and as there's no wall window in the laundry this is essential.

I HATE the "Grey Pail" colour on the pillars. HATE IT!!! It looks green and doesn't match the door at all. I'm not sure what to do...I wonder how much it would be to change it?

The Wardrobes

The built in wardrobes have almost been finished! Hooray! I decided on just plain doors with Gainsborough "Align" leverset handles and painted in the same Dulux "White on White" in gloss.

Each wardrobe is a different size but the set up is similar for all of them. There will be a bank of drawers with an open shelf above and then a single hanging rail for dresses and a double hanging rail for shirts and jackets.

Hmmm....

Just before the fit off stage began I made a remark that the build had just gone so well so far, I didn't know why people complained so much about building.

The very next day is when the benchtop saga began. THE VERY NEXT DAY!!

And since then many little things have started to go wrong. Nothing insane that we haven't been able to find a solution for, but wrong nonetheless and it's starting to get to me.

Today the plumbers went to install the toilets and found that the cistern and pan didn't sit flush (hehe pun intended) and created a 35mm gap between the wall and the back of the pan. Grrr...the whole point of these toilets were that they sat flush with the walls. This was the worst one out of the three. The other one is about 8mm away from the wall and the third one is OK.

I've spoken to supplier so hopefully they will send out a replacement before the plumber leaves this week.

There's another problem  on the horizon but I can't bring myself to write about it until I've found a solution.

A bloody mess...

Don't be grossed out, but that's blood spatter. The poor plumbers slipped while cutting some pipe and cut two fingers down to the knuckle, severing an artery and spraying blood all across the tiles, wall and cabinetry across vanity just outside the toilet. They cleaned it up as best they could but I noticed this still left over.

He has had to have surgery.

Poor guy. Lucky I wasn't there. I'm not good with blood, I would definitely have passed out.

I do wish him a speedy recovery.

The Kitchen Sink Mixer

The kitchen tap has been installed and it seems opinion is divided straight down the middle - you either love it or you hate it!

Obviously, I love it! It's the Dorf Crystal Pull Down Sink Mixer and it was a bit of an extravagance I had to have. I thought it had a very gourmet look about to it and it's the centrepiece of the kitchen.

Love it or loathe it?

Who is Simone Weil?

I spent two hours the other night on the Dulux website trying to find the perfect colour for the front door after I changed my mind about making the entire house white.

I needed a colour that was darker in grey than the "Grey Pail" of the pillars but not as dark as charcoal. I just couldn't make a decision.

Decorating decisions are so  much easier when you have an interior designer! The next day I went downstairs to share my dilemma with Kirty, interior designer extraorindaire, and she sorted me out in 90 seconds.

And the winner is...Simone Weil!! I think it goes perfectly with the "White on White" of the house and will highlight that large decorative handle on the front.

Let there be light!

The sparky was on site yesterday to install all the light fixtures, fans and powerpoints. I needed to be there for the first part of installing the pendants to make sure they were hung at the height I wanted.

The stairwell

The Fillsta lights from Ikea that I fell in love with and spent so long putting together just didn't work in the stairwell. I had bought three of varying sizes to hang at different heights. The space was too narrow though and one was so big it took up the entire width. It simply didn't look right. It was so disappointing.

Pendant Light

I had to go back to Discount Lighting QLD at Rocklea to pick up an oyster light for the laundry that I had forgotten and saw this triple hanging pendant. The frosted chrome and glass tied in with the rest of the theme of the house and was more subtle and less obtrusive than the Fillsta lights. It was kinda perfect for what I needed. It was also on a single fixture, which looked much neater than three separate fixtures from the ceiling.

"Yeah just hold it there"

"Ah, a little more to the left..."

After much too-ing and fro-ing and making the sparky and the builder hold it up in various places over the stairwell (which they were much obliging but suitably not impressed), I decided the best place was centred over the landing. Each bulb can take up to 60watts so it will be very bright, but it's really just for aesthetics rather than practicality, so it wasn't needed directly in the middle for lighting purposes.

Trying the glass covers	Without glass covers...for now

I love it here, it works much better than the other lights as it won't impede so much on the wall behind too where I wanted to hang some artwork.  We've left the glass covers off while there are still tall tradies with ladders wandering around, just in case.

I still love those Fillsta lights though...I might find somewhere else in the house to hang it.

Trades Everywhere!

It was crazy with trades on site today. The plumbers were installing all the toilets, basins and tapware while there seemed to be painters everywhere putting the second coat on the interior.

The toilets are in, I like the compactness of them.

The interior is painted with Dulux "White on White" and they are onto the second coat. The space looks so much lighter and brighter and will make a great canvas for decoration.  I really like this colour, it's not too vivid. The interior of the original house was a super bright, vivid white and while it was clean and fresh, I found it a bit blinding sometimes. The "White on White" is lovely but not too stark.

Rocco didn't seem to care.

Day 153 - Bathroom basins are in

Awww I was on site this morning to meet with the rep from Stegbar about the shower screens and found that the basins have been installed.

They look fab!!

I love the combination of the above counter basins with the wall mounted taps and horizontal spout. I feel that although it's modern it will still be classic in years to come. Well, that's the plan anyway.

The taps were placed so that the tap was at the centre of the basin. I'm undecided whether it looks off centre. Not that it matters...it can't be changed now!

The Fillsta Lights

The electrician is coming on Tuesday to put in all the lighting fixtures. There are 32 downlights throughout the house and feature pendants in the dining room, over the breakfast bar and in the stairwell.

I'd chosen the Fillsta lights from Ikea for the stairwell and originally I was going to have three or varying sizes. Since I bought them though, I've realised that the width and the length of the stairwell is a lot smaller than I had visualised from the plan and there's really only room for two.

Because the electrician is on the clock I put them together myself to save a bit of time.

And that's how we roll peeps!

Downstairs Guest Bathroom Vanity

The Omvivo Neo 700 vanity in the downstairs guest bathroom has been installed and it's a beauty!! I love it!!

The builder hates it!!

In his words, it was a "bitch to install and a bitch to keep clean!" You can actually see how dirty it is. He also said it's easily scratched and there's only a screw keeping it in. So for any guests I have, no hanky panky on the vanity OK or it will probably just fall off.

The builder wants to put a tile around the left hand side and there's still the taps and chrome bottle trap to install to complete the look.

This bathroom is pretty teeny so we went for a very minimalist look with this. There's no cabinetry or shelving but there is a linen press just outside.

Am meeting with the rep from Stegbar tomorrow about the shower screens. The countdown has begun...

Stone Benchtop Replacement

The stone benchtop supplier has come good on their promise to replace the stone benchtop in the main bathroom which was firstly too long and then too short. It's been replaced and the size is perfect!

To their credit they also did it in the timeframe that was requested by the builder too - two days. Good work. The plumber is coming in on Monday so they needed to have the benchtop reinstated before then.

The new benchtop is now perfectly flush with the cabinetry, as intended by Daryl Wark, the interior designer who did the cabinetry design. His idea was for the cabinet to "float" in the space, that's why it's wall hung.

The vanity outside the toilet has also been moved forward so that the benchtop is now flush cabinetry. There doesn't seem to be any damage to the cabinetry at all which is fantastic.

The tilers are still to finish re-tiling the space so the bill for that is not yet finalised. While the stone benchtop suppliers have fulfilled their first promised to replace the benchtop but we'll have to wait to see if they fulfil their promise to pay for the labour. I'm quietly optimistic, but only then will we be able to close that chapter.