Our Colour Selections

External

1. Bricks - Pearl Grey Velour (Flush Natural Mortar)
   
2. Render - Hog Bristle 1/4
3. Garage Door - Dune
   
4. Roof - Gunmetal
5. Gutter - Monument
6. Fascia/Downpipe - Surfmist
7. Windows - Ultra Silver Gloss
8. Front Door - Dune

Internal
General

• Tiles - Portifino - Bianco Gloss
• Carpet - Village Stone
• Walls - White Pepper
• Doors/Trim - Flokati

Kitchen/Pantry

1. Overhead cabinets to either side of Rangehood - Polar White
2. Pot Drawers either side of Stove - Mushroom Linea
   
3. Kitchen Alcove cabinets - Mushroom Linea (upper and lower)
   
4. Island Cabinets - Mushroom Linea
5. Splashback - Red Box
6. Benchtops - New Diamond White
7. Pantry Appliance Bench - White Valencia
8. Pantry Pot Drawers - Mushroom Linea
   

Laundry

1. Upper and lower cabinets - Mushroom linea
2. Benchtops - White Valencia
   

Powder room

1. Stone benchtop - Starlight Black
2. Fixed Panel - Smokey Sapelle
3. Pearl Mosaic feature tiles
   

Ensuite

1. Stone benchtop - Starlight Black
2. Cabinets - Smokey Sapelle
3. Pearl Mosaic feature tiles
   

Bathroom

1. Stone benchtop - Rio
2. Cabinets - Mushroom Linea
3. Pearl Mosaic feature tiles

Study Nook

1. Built in desk - Fudge Stream
   

Variations

Our List of Variations in addition to the "Ultimate" promotion

External

1. Ashmont Facade
2. Tiling to Balcony
3. Render to Balcony
   
4. H Class Slab with additional piers to side due to easement
5. Telstra Trench
6. 1m extension to Garage with Window
7. Cat 3 Bricks
8. Additional Solar Panel
   

Study

1. Add wall and door to Study

Lounge

1. Add wall and double doors to Lounge
2. Add wiring for rear home theatre speakers
3. Tiles to Lounge Hallway
   

Rumpus

1. 2 Flush Panel Doors
2. Projector and Speaker wiring

Alfresco

1. Speaker Wiring
2. Fan
3. Tap
   

Kitchen/Pantry

1. Pot Drawers to either side of Stove
2. Overhead cabinets to either side of Rangehood and Kitchen Alcove
3. Appliance Bench to Pantry
4. Set of 3 Pot Drawers to Pantry below bench
5. 40mm Benchtop to Island
6. Cold Water Point to Fridge Space
7. Upgrade Handles
8. Tiles above appliance bench in Pantry
9. Additional upper shelving to Pantry
10. Third laminate colour
    

Laundry

1. Sliding Internal Door to Laundry
2. Overhead cupboards to Laundry (2 Walls)
3. Broom cupboard to Laundry
4. Bench to rear wall of Laundry

Powder room

1. Upgrade Tap and Basin
2. Feature Tiles above vanity
3. Cat 2 Stone bench
   

Ensuite

1. Flush Panel Door
2. Mixer to Shower
3. Feature Tiles above vanity
4. Cat 2 Stone Bench
   

Bathroom

1. Cat 2 Stone Bench
   
2. Feature Tiles above vanity
3. Extended Mirror
   

Master

1. Door to WIR
2. Double hanging rails to 1 wall of WIR
   

Games/Bed 5

1. Add walls and door to game area to create Study Nook and Bed 5
2. Add Robe to Bed 5
3. Add Desk/Bench and shelf to Study Nook
4. Additional Evap Cooling point
   

Bed2/3/4

1. Change windows in Bed 2 and 4 to match Bed 3
   

General

1. Soundscreen to 5 walls
2. 5 Privacy Locks
3. Upgrade Underlay to Cat 3
4. Upgrade Door, BIR Handles
5. Translucent glazing to Entry sidelights
6. Upgrade insulation to R1.5 in roof and 3.5 in walls
7. Relocate Meterbox to opposite wall
   

It's been a while!

Ok, it has been a long while, but a lot has happened. We moved house and settled on our old house which was disaster after disaster. There was a 3 year old with a broken finger, the buyer claiming we had removed things from the house that never exisited, and the ANZ refusing to go to settlement because of some notes a broker had placed on our mortgage. Luckily it all turned out well and we are now living happily in a rental house two streets from our block of land.

We also had settlement on our block of land, which was another long string of disasters which included a trip to the city to get the documents signed and submitted in time for our settlement because if we were late we would have missed a $5000 rebate. Luckily it all came together and we got the rebate thank you to Choice homeloans for their persistence in the matter!

We went to our tender appointment and Porter Davis were fabulous with my obsessive attention to detail regarding the cupboards. We left feeling very happy with everything.

The tile appointment with National Tiles was not quite as brilliant. It was very rushed and we were out of there within 2 hours. But I am happy with our selections. We only ended up with 3 different tiles in the whole house but I think that's a good thing, less is more! We spent about $600 on tile upgrades though, but we budgeted for $1000 so that was a bonus. I'll add the list of all our colours separately.

The electrical appointment went really well, we'd allowed for $4000 and by the end had only spent $2700 so we were desperately trying to think of things to spend it on, and ended up adding the wiring for a projector and home theater system and some nice lights to our powder room, then we were over budget by $200 but that's alright.

The colour appointment was on the same day as the electrical and we were very happy with that, we did a few upgrades, Cat 3 bricks, door and cupboard handles, 40mm benchtop to the island, cat 2 Caesarstone to the bathrooms and powder room and a few other little fiddly ones. PD's standard selections were pretty good and I think we slapped together a pretty decent colour scheme. There was many months of preparation for it though, lots and lots of brick viewings and kitchen planning, but in the end I am very happy with the whole thing.

We have also had the contract appointment which also went very well, PD are 100% with customer service, everything was great. Hubby couldn't attend so they were happy for me to take the docs away and return them signed the next morning. The only thing missing for the contract and our 10 pages of variations was the robe handles we upgraded. Which PD said they would wear the cost of as it was only $3 and the effort to do a Post Contract Variation wasn't worth it! So that was a bonus.

On site the big news is that we got a tap last week!!! Very exciting I know. I had a vision of keeping an extremely detailed blog on the whole building process, but I don't think I will manage to be quite as perfect as I would like, I promise to try though!

Changes so far...

We will be making a few changes to the plan internally as we want a 5 bedroom home but the standard is only 4 bedrooms so we are going to separate the upstairs games room into a bedroom and small study through the addition of a wall and convert the feature nook into a BIR.

We are also going to extend the garage as much as possible but as we have a battle-axe block we will have to see what we can get over the side setback.

We will also be closing off the lounge and adding double doors to the lounge and rumpus.

Cupboards are my weakness, and I seem to have added them everywhere possible! J the Sales Consultant was losing the plot over my extensive list of cupboard additions and variations. We are off for our second appointment in a few days so I'll add the list once it is finalised.

I'm undecided though if I should add cupboards to the Powder Room, that bench is just screaming out for some, but I'm thinking maybe it will be too much of a good thing and ruin the aesthetics. Hmmmm... I'll have to ponder that one some more.

It Begins...

We began on this inevitable journey in 2006 when our family of four became a family of six with the birth of twins and we no longer fit into our 3 bedroom 1 toilet house. That's when we realised it was time to move on, however it took countless Open for Inspections across the 4 corners of Melbourne to realise most established homes either didn't meet our needs, were too expensive or were just plain wrong.

So by March 2009 we realised the best option was to build a house that met our requirements, now and into the future so we put a deposit on a nice block of land, 885sqm, flat as a pancake but with views, in the west of Melbourne.

We looked through every display home within a 200km radius and locked in a deal with one builder on a single level house, but we ended up modifying the plan so much that the costs were blowing out to nearly the cost of a double story. So we decided to change house and builder and have now settled on the Porter Davis Cremorne 42.

During this time we have also sold our ill-fitting house and have secured a rental property which we will be moving into in a few weeks. We have paid our $1000 deposit to PD and are finalising our plans next week.

We decided on the Cremorne for a number of reasons, firstly we wanted the two floors of the house segregated according to activity (sleeping upstairs, living downstairs) rather than occupants (adults downstairs, kids upstairs). Not only does this arrangement make more sense for the zoned heating/cooling system but it also means we get more quality time together as a family :)

We also wanted the Master Bedroom at the front of the house instead of at the back, so that instantly eliminated all of the PD Prestige double story homes and the Rowland and Marina from the Lifestyle range so we were left with the Cremorne. I like to work backwards on these things and eliminate the options that don't work to arrive the most logical conclusion. The Cremorne also has the best laundry I've seen in a long while and given how much time I spend there that sealed the deal!