Colour and Kitchen Selection

The appointment for colour and kitchen selection is at the Fowler Colour Studio in Wetherill Park. My brother already had his at Clarendon last week. Took him the whole day to go through all of the selection. (Lunch provided.) He was saying that there were so many options and upgrades. For every item, they have to go through the pros and cons and the costs.

In my case, we finished everything in half a day - bricks, roofing, gutter, fascia, downpipe, windows, garage, water tank, driveway, doors, door handles, carpet, kitchen layout, kitchen appliances, bath/shower/toilet/laundry selections, etc. The reason we finished relatively quick is because I have already decided on most of the colours prior to the appointment, based on my brother's suggestion. Also, Fowler doesn't offer as many options and upgrades as Clarendon. I mean, they do, but for some reason they don't proactively offer them to their customers. If you don't ask for it, you don't get it. You simply get the standard inclusions.

Personally, I don't care about the fancy bricks, the premium roof tiles, or the designer bath and vanity. I'm more interested in having a cold water point for the fridge, external gas point to the alfresco area, option for skylights and whirly birds, and converting the wardrobe hinged doors to sliding. These turned out to be more expensive than I expected, so the only option I selected is the sliding wardrobe doors for an extra $550.

For reference, here are my selections:

Austral Bricks - Everyday Life Range - Engage
Off-white mortar
Flush mortar joints

Bristile Concrete Roof Tile - Designer Range - Magnum

Colorbond Gutters - Contemporary Range - Monument

Colorbond Fascia and Downpipes and Garage Door - Contemporary Range - Surfmist

Trend Window Frames - Standard Colour Range - Anodic Off White

Cladding/Pergola/Timber Post - Taubmans Manhattan

Moroka Finish - Taubmans Coffee Cake

Driveway - DT Bluestone with Flagstone stencil

Front Door - Corinthian Urban Primed PURB 2

Wardrobe and Internal Doors - Corinthian Flush Door

Front Doorset - Gainsbourough Tri-Lock Entry Set

Internal Doorset - Liana 105LIASC

Garage Door - Gliderol Panel Glide - Tuscan Glide with centre lift T-handle lock

Crisp White ceilings and cornice and White Pearl for everything else (internal walls, door frames, balusters and handrails, skirting and architrave).

 

As for the kitchen selection, the layout and the choice of appliances and sink/basin type is pretty much standard:

• Venini GEH9011 stainless steel 900mm wall canopy range hood
• Venini VO95S stainless steel 900mm multi-function fan-forced oven - 5 functions
• Venini VGH90 stainless steel 900mm gas cooktop with wok, enamel trivets
• Venini VDW60S stainless steel 600mm electronic dishwasher - 7 programs, 12 place settings
• Venini GEM252TK stainless stell 25 litre microwave with grill and trim kit
• Everhard Wattle semi-recessed basin for the bathroom
• Everhard Desert Rose above counter basin for the ensuite

For the kitchen and bathroom benchtops, it's Caesarstone Ice Snow, while the cupboard doors are Formica Cinnamon Ash.

Landscape Plan

Landscape design is done by EcoDesign. They emailed me three templates, and I'm supposed to choose which one I like best. EcoDesign will then adapt the design to fit my particular lot. Having no idea what those trees and shrubs are, their characteristics, and how many are required, I simply chose one that matches my lot the most, and told the landscape architect to reduce the tree/shrub count to the bare minimum. Low maintenance works best for me.

Land Contract

Went to my solicitor's office to sign the land contract from Leppington Pastoral Company Pty Limited. He actually received the contract since last Dec. 9, but for various reasons, it's only ready today. Signed some papers and paid the 5% deposit by personal cheque.

PCA, CDC, OC

Received the PCA, CDC, and OC forms, which I need to sign and email back. Dunno what is the rush about, as the land is not yet registered. And I still need to do the following appointments:

• external finishes
• colours and inclusions selection
• kitchen
• electrical

before the forms can be submitted to council.

Preliminary Drawings and More Deposit

Received 9 pages of preliminary architectural drawings (done by Marretta Design) on Sept. 27.

Lucia of Fowler had been asking for the remaining 4.9% of the deposit.

Tried to delay payment for as long as I can, but looks like today's the day. Again, paid for by my credit card.

Newer House Tender

Apparently, there was some miscalculation somewhere, so I was given a new tender. New house tender price was reduced by around $2,000. Sounds good to me.

New House Tender

Received the new home tender from Lucia on August 24, which includes the $7000 for the extended price freeze.

Paid another deposit of $5000 to cover the costs of preparing the architectural drawings, engineering details, CDC lodgement and approvals, etc. Thank you, credit card.