Photos at last..

Hi All.. photos at last..

Here are some photos, although since moving I have lost my camera charger so now my battery is flat and I can't take any more photos. Annoying!! Anyway, just ordered a new charger off EBAY, so these photos are going to have to do for now!

View from hall entrance. Kitchen to the right, dinning in the middle, lounge in the far distance.
Really happy with our e screens and roller blinds. Still debating on what coverings to do on the bi-fold doors in the middle.

Closer view of the Lounge area - liking my shelving more now I have put a few things on it. Still to be set up the way I would like it though..

My beautiful kitchen.. loving every inch of it.. hehe

The Girls massive bathroom... waiting on our plantation shutters.. :-)

My amazing reading chair I got for mothers day in my study... loooooooove it.. it even swivels.. hehe :-)

Our bedroom - it's a lot bigger than it looks in this picture.. Waiting on our plantation shutters, oops.. just a little miscommunication.

Our wonderful walk in robe - just loving this..

Ellie's Room.. she is loving her new desk...

Mia's room - she loves and needs her own space.. hehe (old photo as blinds were installed over a week ago!)

Girl's toy room..

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.. once my charger arrives I will load up some more.. until then, take care and I am off to have another glass of wine while enjoying the peace and quiet... Xx

Offically moved in..

"Officially moved in.. "

Finally, we officially moved in on Tuesday 2nd August - Photos to follow soon..

I have been so sick with the Flu, had to take a week off work and still there is so much to do!!

We have had a few little teething issues...
1. The valve in the ensuite toilet needs replacing - booked in for Tuesday

2. Internet didn't work - Telstra had to come and fix a few wires in the garage today

3. Waiting for someone to come and fix a few minor scratches on the bottom of the bath

4. Had to get the electrician back to put a power point in the cupboard for our oven as Greybox left the cables hanging out the wall where we were to install our own stove, however, thanks to our fantastic electrical inspector he advised we couldn't connect it this way as it is non compliant and it would void our warranty and also if we had a fire due to this the insurance company could reject our claim - so this was fixed today by Greyboxes electrician

5. Stainless steel splash back up and it looks fantastic. Just waiting on the canopy to be finished then my appliances will be all done - thanks G!

6. New fridge got plumbed in and we discovered it makes it's own ice and drops it into the freezer. It also detects when it is low and automatically makes more.. hehe.. love it

7. Dishwasher finally got plumbed in also.. YIPPEE... you all know how I love a dishwasher.. however, there is already an issue - my new dinner set plates are too bloody BIGGGGGGG... grrrrr... so the dovolacki that spins around that the water spurts out hits them... oh well hubby will just have to hand wash them.. hehehehe :-)

8. Our exhaust fans in both bathrooms don't seem to be strong enough to cover the size of the rooms and our walls are covered in condensation every time we have a shower - need to call Greybox as they don't seem sufficient enough to handle it

9. Corking needs to be completed in the toilet as tiles were replaced but re-corking was not done

10. Waiting on our plantation shutters for our bedroom, my study and both bathrooms due to some miss communication.. oops.. hehe

11. Security doors to be installed on Tuesday

12. Girls wardrobes to be fitted out by premium. They will be very similar to ours which I can't wait for them to be done in 2 weeks

13. Currently getting quotes for driveways - I HATE THIS!!

14. Side fence pillars have been cemented in with paillings to be completed on Tuesday. Still debating front fence so that is on the back burner for now.

Well fingers crossed that is it.. oh no it isn't.. now the landscaping begins!!! KILL ME NOW!!
I HATE gardening as much as I HATE doing the dishes.. lucky hubby likes doing them both.. lol

Anyway, time to keep unpacking my study.. although having the internet back is a bit of a distraction.. hehe

Till next time.. :-)

It's the Final Countdown!!

It's the Final Countdown!!

I know you are singing the song now!!.. hehe..
Well we are almost at the 'home straight' and it's now only a matter of weeks before we will move into our beautiful new house! Let me fill in you in on the progress since my last blog..

The Verandah & Alfresco decking has been stained and we are verrrry impressed with it - check out the photo above and below..

Our HUGE wardrobe was fitted out.. Lots of storage space (think I might have to buy some more clothes to fill it) hehe.. We selected to have draws, shelves and single and double hanging space - see below..

Full View of WIR..

Side view of WIR..

The tiles in the showers have now been completed and I am very happy with the outcome considering that they were originally meant to be laid vertically, but above and be all, the horizontal look with the additional tiles above look pretty good.. Just wanted to also thank Miguel for suggesting we do this.. Might just get you to come over and add another row of tiles above the bath though as I think it will match off better with the shower height.. :-)

Feature Tiles for both Bathrooms..

Ensuite Shower.. Tiled to the roof..

Girls Bathroom..

My pantry also got fitted out. I can't say I love the support post right in the middle of my bench, but I will see what my father in-law can do to try and move or fix it to make it more functional. Also, worried now that my deep freezer is not going to fit in due to the support post that goes down the side of the bench to the floor. Might have to get it cut and have it sit on the top of the bench for support - I think that would look better anyway!

Pantry installed..

Finally the Kitchen sink is in.. Hubby's new toy.. hehe.. If you know me well, you will know I HATE, DESPISE, CAN'T STAND doing the dishes. Although, as you can see there is a hole for his dishwasher to be installed.. see I am nice enough to let him have a dishwasher.. haha

Kitchen Sink.. Hole for Dishwasher.. For aka - Hubby

View from Kitchen Windows..

My wonderful new island bench top has been installed with the correct dimensions..

Full view of kitchen cupboards..

Full View of Kitchen..

Side View of Kitchen..

View of Kitchen, Dinning & Living Room..

Love my new Kitchen.. can't wait to get in there and start cooking up a feast.. Anyone for a Roast? Today I went to have a sneak peak at the house as they started laying the flooring yesterday and I was a little concerned about the colour of the boards we picked... however, seeing them getting laid I was very happy with what hubby talked me into.. see below..

View of Kitchen, Dinning & Lounge area.. compare this photo to the one above!!!!

Entry.. Can you see anything new???

That's right.. the shelving has been installed in the Lounge room... I'm not sure if I love it yet!! Will have to wait till it's painted and maybe even till it has some photos, etc on it... Time will tell..

Well that is where we are up to at the moment. The guys said they should finish the flooring either Saturday or Monday. Carpet is also booked in to be done on Monday and then our Independent Inspector on Wednesday.. yippee.. so THEN we should have a date once we know if there are any fix/touch ups to complete!!

I tell you what... this has been a journey and a half.. will keep you posted.. :-)

What a headache!!

Draws, Tiles, Benches & Drama!!!

Finally, reports are finished and the house is almost completed - although we won't be moving during the school holidays :-( Hopefully the headaches will stop!! Hmmm.... Fingers crossed again!!

Where do I start.. let's see.. o.k, well I told you all that I wasn't happy with my "9 cutlery draws" considering I paid just under $500 for 2 additional pot draws - didn't I?? In June 2010, I selected to have installed 2 additional pot draws and was happy to pay the extra cost. I believed I was being sold 'pot draws' as per the selection document. Yes, this document did state 'the actual dimensions and layout may vary', however, what we received was in fact, 9 cutlery draws!

The builder offered to deepen them and try and pass them off as 'pot draws' as the whole house had been fitted with draws approximately 13cm! Tell me how this happens? Anyway, as there were no measurements or dimensions for the width of the cutlery draws or pot draws on our working drawings, I didn't believe I was given a chance to make an informed decision. I was also advised by a staff member in the office that "the internal elevations present an indication of how the cabinetry will be constructed on site". That's right; I believed it was an indication of what I was getting as I believed they would look like the pot draws I was originally sold as per Greyboxes selection design!!

If dimensions were correctly provided, the same as they had been for our wardrobe fit-out, I would have had a better understanding of what I was being provided and then would have made the necessary changes back in JUNE 2010 - just like I did with alllllll of the other errors the administration team has made over the past year that I have had to resolve. I am actually getting really good at it and seriously thinking of a career change.. lol :-P At least I wouldn't have sleepless nights and probably no headaches along the way!!

Anyway, after going back and forth, we finally negotiated as Greybox believed due to us signing the working drawings off it was partly our fault. They advised it was going to cost $800 + GST to fix the issue. They would be happy to pay $500 if we were happy to pay $300 - well $330 with GST. So given that I don't want to live with these draws for the next 20 years, we decided to move forward and compromise. We had part of the cabinet removed (2 draws side by side) and replaced with one long draw. So now instead of 2 additional sets of pot draws (6 draws in total), I now only have 1 additional set of 3 draws that in total has cost us $830!!! Hmmmm... the upside is, all draws in the house have now been deepened and fitted with beautiful stainless steel runners.. :-)

New draws - from left cutlery draws, then long pot draws, then double deep pot draws, hole for microwave and underneath another pot draw!! Very, very happy now.. :-)

Back wall of kitchen - love that window!!

Very happy with how the colours have come together.. :-)

Kitchen Corner..

Full view of Kitchen - except now we have an issue with our island bench or as I call it "the flying carpet".. The caesar stone got installed last week so I couldn't wait to see it. Meet with our site supervisor on Tuesday morning and as soon as I looked at it I was like, ummm that doesn't look right! Out came the plans and sure enough it was the wrong dimensions. That's right, the island bench actually had dimensions on our working drawings thank goodness. At the back of the bench there is meant to be a 300mm over hang for our bar stools, but it is only about 100mm (see photo above).
As you can see from the above photo, each side of the bench hangs over 200mm.. what the?? Looks ridiculous and could easily take out a small child! Anyway, our site supervisor Paul (who is fantastic) was straight onto this and by the end of the day he had organised for it to be replaced with 50mm hang on either side and 275mm overhang at the back for our bar tools.

Laundry..

We have toilets.. probably will need those at some stage!! hehe..

Ensuite Shower - another drama!!
Some really smart little cookie at Greybox thought we wanted to cancel all of our tiles when I told them I didn't want tiles behind my oven as I would be installing a stainless steal splash back.. so then our feature tiles got canceled, as well as all of our kitchen tiles.

After speaking to my cousin (who is a tiler) and him advising us not to rip off any tiles due to it being more hassle than it's worth, he suggested we put in a horizontal feature above where they finished tiling and then tile above that. So in the ensuite we tiled to the roof due to having the 3 walls around and in the main bathroom we added the feature and the tiler still needs to add the additional tiles above to finish it off (see photo below). Looks better than I thought it would, so in the end I am reasonably happy, although still very annoyed with the cookie (who has now left Greybox) as I didn't get my vertical feature or shelf!!

Main bathroom...

Girls vanity - which is exactly the same as the Ensuite

Our beautiful hall niches with downlight.. love them.. can't wait to put the girls artwork or photos in them!Alfreso... can't wait to be sitting out there... fingers crossed 4 weeks!!!

Not much to do now... tiler and painter to complete, additional downlight to be added due to them not installing them correctly over the island bench, air conditioning unit to be installed, carpet, fly wire screens, kitchen sink, external lights, shelves in linen cupboards, pantry and wardrobes to be fitted out and floor boards... hmmmm.. I am sure there is more but that is all I can think of so far...

Will keep you posted and thanks for following... 1 week till school holidays.. that's 5 more get ups people!! hehe... yippee... :-) Doing a happy dance and a crying dance as we won't be moving during the hoidays... :-(

Decking & Doors..

REPORT WRITING TIME!!

I really haven't got time at present to update my blog due to report writing and no sleep.... grrrrrrr, but pretty much nothing really has happened anyway!!

See below for some updated photos.. our garage doors went on (very, very happy with our colour selection - especially once Greybox paints the window mouldings to match the windows and also paint the posts white) and our decking for the verandah and alfresco is pretty much completed also.. lovvvvveeeee my alfresco area... now just where do we place the spa and the drink fridge?? hehehe...

I would love our place to be ready to move in by 1st July, (6 weeks - next school holidays), which I believe is very reasonable... come on Paul, I know you can do it.. you have been a wonderful site supervisor so far...!!!

Big Kitchen + Delonghi = a woman's DREAM!!!

Big Kitchen + Delonghi = a woman's DREAM!!!

Things have slowed down with the house since I last posted on my blog. There was a delay with the kitchen supplier, but finally they have come to the party and have installed the kitchen, pantry, laundry ensuite and bathroom cabinets... This is very, very exciting....

Firstly though, all the plaster work, skirtings and architraves have been completed - see photos below. We selected Classic Colonial and I must say I am very happy with the choice and love that Greybox's standard range includes the higher skirting.

All the downlight, powerpoint and light switch holes have also been cut out.

Painting is still under-way. All the doors have been completed and hung and the walls at the moment only have one coat of paint with 2 still to be applied.
Check out the photo below of how they paint of the doors together. They join them at the top with little latches, place wooden peg things underneath and off they go..

The verandah has been started, however some &%$# really liked our timber decking and thought they would help themselves to it. Apparently ours wasn't the only one they liked. The boys in blue are now involved so hopefully their little fingers will be cut off soon!

The only thing I am not happy with, is the verandah cuts across one of the mouldings around our bedroom window due to it having to run off.. doesn't look the best, but once the roof is on, hopefully it won't be that noticeable - see below...

Kitchen - below is a full view of our kitchen, you can also see in the pantry door that the cabinetry has also been installed.

I must say I am not 100% sure I am happy with the colour, but hopefully once the floorboards are laid, the GLACIER caesarstone bench top (see below) and the mocca glass splash back tiles are installed it will all come together!

GLACIER - caesarstone bench top - 20mmit looks more cream on this picture, but it's actually more of a white with a speck..

Below is a photo showing where the fridge, stove and range hood will go...

View of the sink, dishwasher & window wall...

My huge island bench - From left, top draw is the cutlery draw and the rest are all meant to be pot draws!! Currently in discussions with Greybox to have these fixed as they all look like cutlery draws to me. I was so excited and couldn't wait to open the other draws to see how much I could store. However.......... all of the draws are the same depth and width as the cutlery draw!!!!
WHAT THE??? Text our site supervisor so hopefully this is rectified ASAP!!

Pantry - these are my built in cabinets for my pantry. There are two shelves to be installed about the cabinets and four shelves to go around the rest of the wall to the left.
To the right of the draws is where our deep freezer will reside..

Laundry - lovvvvvvve my big laundry.
I extended the bench so I can either place our washing baskets or put our dryer under it - still to be decided! In the middle of the room you will see a pipe. We added that as Dame likes to flood houses.. lol - only an extra $400 to install!!!!!!!!

Ensuite Vanity - really happy with the vanity's... again, not so sure about the colours. Hopefully it will all come together. One thing is that the architraves had to be removed as the vanity almost goes right to each window, so now they will cut them around to shape to fit around the vanity.. hope it looks o.k!!

Girl's Bathroom Vanity - they are both very excited to get their own sinks and cupboards, but are already arguing about who gets the extra draw... WHAT THE!!
They are only 6 & 3... lucky we put in 2 sinks, a bigger shower, power points on either side of of the vanity and their own walk in robs... plus made their bedrooms the same size, millimetre perfect!!!

Not only did I discover all the cabinetry had been installed, but on this wonderful day my DELONGHI, yes don't be jealous now, but my DELONGHI appliances also arrived from Sydney... HUGE thanks to Matty and my big brother - I greatly appreciate it.. Xx

See below for photos..

Beveridge Fridge - for our Alfresco - to be built in.. hehe... cold drinks while having a spa and watching golf... gotta love that!!

My beautiful new oven... soooooooo excited. I actually ordered a different one but my brothers friend upgraded it for me.. This one is 109 litres, has nine oven functions, a rotisserie and closed door grilling, blue LED display, durastone plus enamel (which apparently is easier to clean), removable slide out telescopic shelves, reversible catalytic liners and a gas cooktop with five burners including triple wok burner, fish burner and simmer burner... I AM IN HEAVEN!!!!! Have really missed not having my own Kitchen...

Stainless Steal Splash Back.. I think the picture says it all... hehe... but I do love the handle to put my utensils on!

My beautiful looking dishwasher.. better wash as good as it looks.. haha.. :-P
Any one who knows me well, knows I despise dishes...

Last, but not least... my range hood.. decided not to order the glass one as it's just more cleaning... plus I like this classic look...

So there you go... WOW, what a long blog this is.. oops... sorry, but I am getting excited now. Our site supervisor still hasn't and won't give us a hand over date... I was told after the kitchen was installed the tiler would be able to start what he has to do..

I can almost see the finish line now... fingers crossed it is smooth sailing from here on..
Can't see why the 1st July isn't still achievable... 8 weeks and counting..
I hope you all had a fantastic Easter break with your loved ones and I am looking forward to Mother's Day now... I have put my order in for a 'Snuggle Chair' at Plush.. It's a big round reading/relaxing chair for my new study...

Until my next blog... take care.. Xx

P.S Just to add to this glorious day, I got to meet one of our future neighbours who I have been chatting to via email and blogs.. Thanks Megan for welcoming me into your home today. Wish I could have stayed longer, but really looking forward to being neighbours very, very soon.. :-)