Frame On!

So in what seems like an age, we have major progress to report. We have a slab, we have framing and this week we may just have the roof completed to.

Frame On! (I love to see construction work - thunderbox are go!)

Garage, front entry and master.  

Back of the garage, laundry, and Evie's room 

Our room, bathroom, panty (see small window), lounge, deck, around to the two spare rooms.  

Side yard and the beginnings of our deck.

Our glorious red dirt - might need something to pound on it a little though.

Mid Century Scandawegian

So what's our style?

This is something that we have been developing for a long time. Tom and I have been together for over 6 years now and we know each other very well. We also know what we like and we know what we like together. 

We love wood, glass and steel. We love simply clean lines, minimalist sensibilities and neutral tones. Some of you may have guessed at our love affair with Mid Century Modern design. Whilst you wouldn't know it from our humble (and cluttered) unit, we really are modernists at heart. 

Hans Wegner Round Chair

Targa 5 point Light - Beacon Lighting

The look we are trying to achieve is probably best summed up as "Mid Century Scandawegian". (That's a total "Tomism" by the way.)

We love Frank Lloyd Wright (check out Fallingwater), Hans Wegner and generally all things Danish (even their smoked cheddar and salami). Tom's great grandmother "Blanche" (what an awesome name) was Danish - maybe that's where it comes from. Either way I would love to have 6 Wegner chairs around a Sean Dix glass table.  The use of organic materials, concrete, stone, steel and glass really applies to us. With so much of our house being new, we want to obtain (beg, borrow, steal and buy) items that have a history, as well as being able to work with everything else in our house. However, since my 6 Wegner chairs would cost around $3,600, I might just have to settle for one. Or maybe one at a time.

We didn't have this in mind when we went through another display home as few weekends ago, however we were promptly reminded.  The house had been decked out in all things mid century, even down to the Wegner round chairs, Barcelona lounge chairs and bright yellow laminex and slate styled flooring. We were in heaven. I may have even convinced Tom that we need the chairs - again though, probably only one at a time. 

Disclosing the Facts

We've had a little hiccup in the process the last few weeks or so. There is a difference between a Disclosure Plan and a Survey Plan. The NBN (National Broadband Network - fibre optic rather than asynchronous digital subscriber line or ADSL (yes I'm a geek) ) was one of the differences for us. Sewer lines, power boxes and lines, even street lights were listed on our plan, but the NBN was not.

On one of our weekly outings to the block we came across a Communications pit installed by the lovely chaps at Telstra, right where our driveway should be. Now this doesn't sound too pleasant and from a structural point of view it's not. If the pit remained we would need to have it reinforced to allow car rather than pedestrian traffic. We'd have to apply to council for the privilege (and payment) and then find a nice way of covering it up. All of this would naturally cost more money. It's a song I'm hearing a lot lately.

However, our Developer is awesome! He had a meeting with Telstra and the box has been moved. And not at our expense.

The visit on the weekend confirmed the relocation. We have survey pegs in, top soil and grass seed, a lovely light post overlooking our front yard. The land is set to be sent to council for approval! Can't wait to be real land owners!

Lights, Camera, Action!

The economic downturn was very evident yesterday. Whilst we had a public holiday that would normally see shops still open, many were closed across Brisbane. Ikea - Mecca for all things minimalist, was closed as were the majority of furniture stores. However luckily for us, Beacon Lighting was open. The staff were awesome and truly helped us with our lighting plan and selection. 

Lighting is listed as a separate component of our contract. This should show you how much emphasis should be placed on the design and selection process. It's just as important, if not more so, than the colour selection. Bad light will make all of your pretty colours look bad. Good lighting won't get noticed. 

Being married to an electrical engineer has it's moments.  There are generally geeky moments, and there are a few dull moments when they all get together and start talking shop. Shop talk however is always dull for a partner. Just like me talking about the complexities of a spreadsheet would be duller than mud for Tom at times. However when it comes to lighting plans it does help to have your very own electrical engineer on hand; especially a patient one. 

I don't pretend to know much about lighting plans. I unfortunately do know what I like and what aesthetic I'm trying achieve in the house. This can be a tad troublesome as I merge wants with price tags.  Here's my want list:

Habitat - Beacon Lighting

• I would like mood lighting so we can watch TV. 
• A pretty pendent light over the dining table (when we get a new one that seats 8 and not 4). 
• A set of lights for over the kitchen bench (either two, three or one light point that combines a three or more lights).
• Downlights under the kitchen benches for task lighting (ok, so that really is Tom's, but it is important and would be cool). 
• Fan lights in ALL bedrooms (air-con will have to wait for more pennies, so fans it is).
• Over mirror lights for the ensuite vanity.
• A good light for the WIR. 
• Lights outside, so that I do not trip over in the dark (and also see any potential intruders and "possibly" whack them!).

So here's the next series of questions: How many lights does it take to light a house? (There's a joke in there somewhere.) To light a room? How big is the room; what aspect does it have? What kind of lights? As with all new builds we are subject to the 80/20 rule. 80% of our house must be lit with energy saving lights, the other 20% can be cheap and nasty halogen lamps (usually the really attractive looking fixtures come with halogen bulbs). 

And then there's the cost. Ours is not a small house. We have 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, combined kitchen, dining and lounge, double garage, hallway, alfresco, porch and backyard. Each of one of these spaces requires lighting of some description. And being energy efficient is not initially cheap. It is a long term commitment. The price you pay today, won't pay off for at least 5 years (or 10 bulbs, which ever comes first). 

Compact Fluro
  Downlight

LED Downlight

So do we go the dearer, pivotable (also known as a gimbal) and prettier LED downlights or do we go the cheaper and okay looking compact fluro? At $200 (inc install) a pop for the LED or $130 (inc install) for the compact, we're a little torn. We need 10. LED globes are $25, but should last about 50,000 hours. CF globes are $10, but will only last 8,000 to 10,000 hours. 

Strangely, as I'm writing this, I've reached some clarity. I've made the decision to go the with the LEDs - they are dearer but will last longer and they also pivot. The LEDs come in square surrounds too. Any one who knows me knows how much I love squares - symmetry is very important to me. Look for this theme in further blogs - or my engagement and wedding rings!

Repeat the above and replace "light" with "fan"! Another headache here and even more so than the lights. What style of fan to install? Do we install fans with lights, with remotes or with switches? Where do we put them to maximise the effect?

We aren't doing air-conditioning for a while, due to current expenses, but we have allowed for it in the plan. We're hoping to get by with the fans, our lovely large windows and stacker door and the amazing Northern aspect and location of our land. We're at the top of the hill and get both coastal and inland breezes. 

We're are pretty much there with our lighting plan. Thankfully we have a few more months before we have to buy the light fixtures, so I can change my mind a few times by then. 

Choosing "STUFF"

Tom and I have decided that will we will build the Longbeach Q2 from Plantation Homes. 

It has 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a double lockup garage. The kitchen, dining and lounge open up to an alfresco area that faces north. Our master, has double sinks, large shower that Tom can actually fit under, separate ventilated toilet, and a VERY large walk in robe. The Longbeach is about 2 times the size of our flat. And has storage that we could only dream about. 

I will have not only a walk in pantry with a window, but two linen cupboards!

After 14 house plans, 3 locations and 2 builders, we have a lot more "stuff" still left to choose. 

Door Handles

Building a house is stressful, time consuming, a little daunting, but largely whole lot of fun. You get to pick stuff. And by that we mean everything. From all those door handles you never think about to the kitchen bench tops and facades you'll see everyday. 

When you build you choose the lot. This is your time to pour your heart and soul into the design to make it something great, worthwhile, and to completely avoid comments like "OMG WTF where they thinking?!". 

This is where years of dedication to the Lifestyle Channel, Sarah's House (All Fours Seasons), Design Inc, Backyard Blitz, Better Homes & Gardens and a good four or so magazine subscriptions to interior design mags, will pay off (or so Tom hopes). 

Upon "finalising" our plan and facade selection, we were given a guided tour of the Cosham Interior design studio, to help prepare us for our 3 hour design selection meeting. Our tour was to take approximately 1 hour. We began at 10am. We left the Plantation Homes/ Cosham Interiors design studio at 1:30pm dying for food and drink. We then headed over to Beaumont Tiles for another marathon effort... 3 hours of tile selection. We had selected just about everything. And then we needed to Vote! No, not just on stuff, but the local Mayor. 

Mood Board: Colour Selection Round 1....   (Fight!)

Here's some of our selections:
Walls: Dulux Dieskau

Architraves/skirtings: Gloss White

Carpet Selection

Ceiling: White

Window trim: Pearl White

Internal Doors: Gloss White

Benchtop: Quantum Quartz Polar

Lower cabinets: Licorice Linea

Upper cabinets: Platinum Micro

Splash-back: Land Rover White Gold

Wall Tile: Sector Satin White (200 x 400) Matt finish 

Floor Tile: Lifestyle Charcoal (400 x 400) Matt finish

Timber look flooring: Chocolate Charcoal - didn't actually give me a name, so this will do. 

Carpet: Sandypoint, Gecko (Nylon goodness. Tom assures me I can replace it in 5 years time when the warranty runs out! Then it will be "Bah Bah Black sheep, have you any wool". )

And these are all just finishes - which sink, which tap, which handle, which kick plate, which front door, which garage, which coloured render, which Colorbond roof..... and the "whiches" continue for another two pages.  

Naturally there is a plan to all of this. And a mountain of research as well. Here's a few of our considerations.

Inspiration

We both have dark hair; we have two cats; we hate cleaning. Darker floors it is.

We wanted colours that started dark at the bottom and graduated to  lighter tones on top. It seemed more natural to us.  Much like the sky is darker the closer to the horizon.

We wanted a colour palette that was both traditional and contemporary. After watching many episodes of Sara's House, we both fell in love with a her use of White, Cream, Grey, and Walnut tones. The picture to the left epitomises what we were trying for. I think we came pretty close. 

The pictures above aren't quite crisp enough (iphone in low light) to capture the true colours. I promise we will take better ones when we have our final selections sorted out. 

This weekend we are finalising our lighting design and attempting to put together our landscaping design. Thankfully I married an electrical engineer who did landscaping to get through uni.

Lighting is daunting for me. How do you space everything properly? What size fan do you need to do a kitchen, dining, and lounge room? Will one be enough? Where do you put it so that it doesn't throw your pendant light out of whack? Do you want down lights? Do you want a wall switch or a remote or both? Thankfully Tom is being very patient (yes, even more than usual). Let's see what the Labour Day Public Holiday brings... hopefully consensus.