Introduction

Share our trials and tribulations as we build our new home - a custom Dominico by Fairmont Homes NSW

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Colours, Landscaping, Tiles and Spas!


With the second-coat of our paint samples drying as I type, Mick and I are one step closer to council submission. ‘Maltshake’ is definitely going to be our cladding colour. It’s warm, creamy and has a subtle pink undertone to tie it in nicely with the rose in the bricks. Colourbond ‘Dune’ seems to be a good segue colour between the ‘Barramundi’ roof tile and cladding. It’s just the render colour that is tricky. We’re waiting for the final coat to dry, but so far we like ‘Berry Bliss.’ It’s a sort-of “earthy rose” colour. I’ll update you with pictures soon.

I think that external colours are the hardest to choose. You need to be sympathetic to your neighbours’ colours and take into account the estate guidelines (if applicable) whilst still choosing colours you like.  In our case we can’t afford to render the whole façade and we can’t choose a dark brick, so our first two preferences are out. There are a lot of colours to choose at the front (roof tile, brick, guttering and fascia, render, cladding, driveway, windows and doors including front door and garage door, eaves, balcony railing etc) so you want to choose colours that don’t overwhelm, but the scheme needs to be able stand on its own when there’s not as much happening at the back and sides.

And of course we ended up falling in love with a brick that itself has two colours (Boral ‘Rose Cove’).

Oh well, it’s not like we see the front of the house all the time and we can always re-paint…right?

On another note, we ordered a spa bath for the main bathroom! It’s not a very large bathroom and we can’t fit a large bath, so we decided to indulge by making the small space count as much as it can. We’re getting the Caroma Newbury Island Plus Body Therapy Spa with hot pump and electronic operation (click here to see more details and there's a picture below). It’s the only one that is double-ended that fits in our space (and I like the rectangular shape), and the hot pump means that we can keep the water warm. I’m in love!



Also, while picking up tiles for the unit I found the tiles I want for the main bathroom and ensuite in the new house. I know it’s too early to choose but they are beautiful! You can see them in the photos/links below:

This tile for the wall and floor of the main bathroom:




…with the matching mosaic (which shimmers) for around the bath and in the shower niche (and the bath niche I’m going to ask for).

For the Ensuite, we want to use the black gloss tile that is on the walls in the photo below and also have the mosaic “feature wall” in the shower as pictured:



They are very beautiful tiles and I just hope that when it comes time to choose, they are still available and we can afford to buy them!

Speaking of money, Mick and I are trying to save a little by doing the landscaping plan ourselves. Mick bought a very complicated (and it’s not even the professional version!) piece of architectural software that we are slowly mastering. I hope to have a landscape design by next week. The software will also be handy for visualising the rest of the house and it saves us $1k in landscaper’s fees (click here to see the program). We’ll also be doing the landscaping ourselves, with the help of my family and a builder/handyman they know. I love gardens and my family has a lot of gardening and landscaping experience. Plus our block is not very big and our plans are not overly ambitious.

Lastly, Champion Homes have cleared the formwork from our block and it looks like our neighbours’ cleared our block of the green waste. We’ll have to pop by next weekend and thank them. Having an amicable relationship with your neighbours is important.

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