The next step

With my garage door and down pipes now on, the outside of the house is almost complete.

The garage is 'woodland grey', the same colour as my window frames.

Outside, they still need to finish the painting of the down pipes, above the garage door, around the large front window and under the eve of the house.

My Simonds Customs Relationship Officer (CRO) said the driveway concrete will be done soon. The concreter will contact me to get permission for the cross-over as well.

My CRO also showed me through the house on Friday because my SS went on holiday for a few days.

The tiles have been laid (but still need cleaning).

ENSUIT PHOTOS

My floors are 'Grigio Satin' 400x400.

The skirting and shower wall tiles are 'Portofino Plateau Gloss' 200x400

(the same colour as the floor, but glossy). 

Love my feature tiles!

They are called 'Polished Grey Wood Mosaic'.

Considering my bathroom and ensuit feature tiles cost an extra $184 combined,

I think they look amazing.

Just a simple extra touch makes all the difference.

KITCHEN PHOTOS

My splash back feature tiles are 'Silk Olive' 300x600.

They look a lot darker on the wall against the dark bench top.

They cost an extra $127!

What good value for money!

I love them!

I have left over feature tiles. I asked the CRO if I can keep them.

I asked if I could also keep the left over outside bricks too.

BATHROOM PHOTOS

LAUNDRY PHOTOS

Both walls are tiled next to the sink, but you can't see that in this photo.

This week the Electricians are coming back to do all the fittings - garage door power, power points, light switches and lights fittings. 

Things taking form

The painters have finally finished! I shouldn't complain. It has only been two weeks.

Now everything is painted

and the doors are on, things are starting to take shape.

I love the colour on the walls (Off-White).

It looks great with the white ceilings and it isn't an overwhelming colour

It is hard to take photos but I tried.

My cupboards arrived late last week. Love the colours. I don't know why I worried so much.

The cupboard are coloured Dawn and it matches the wall colour really well.

The bench top is Oiled Soapstone. The Skirting boards are Feldspar Shimmer.

I have been worried about work space in the Kitchen but there are two good sized areas with the sink between.

In the Laundry, Ensuit and Bathroom, the cupboards are Asian Night (love the subtle stripes). The bench tops are Cashmere.

Laundry

 

Bathroom (Ensuit is the same)

Now I just hope that my tiles match.

(They are sitting in boxes in my master bedroom).

Bathroom and Ensuit feature tiles.

They have also put my Bonair Air-conditioner on the roof.

And they have cleaned the bricks.

The last thing, when I was at the Simonds Gallery both my mum and the sales lady encouraged me to have the phone line put in. It cost extra and I thought it was a waste of money because I'm not having a home phone. But, I've changed my mind (not about the home phone).

Looking at these photos I couldn't imagine doing this after I've planted a garden.

It's scary how fast everything is going.

I've paid all but one invoice (the next is on hand-over).

Estimated time of hand-over: October 20th

WOW!

Confessions

I’ll be the first to admit that life never goes as planned (my life has had endless examples of that). Life is full of unexpected turns and surprises: some good, some not so good.

And, for those who are close to me, I also confess that I have been a closet stressor about my house. This is only something I realised in the last few days. Having a little devil on my shoulder whispering doubts in my ear was fine at first. You’ll never afford the loan repayments and bills; What if you have to leave your job; You will never be able to have kids until you sell; The choices you made will clash and you’ll hate them every day you wake up; Now the fence bill; Now the rates bill; Now the rain and mud; You’ll never be able to afford a garden; You’ll choose plants that will die in the Ballarat weather; Oh the weather, you’ll freeze.

Now, all that was fine, really! But this week I was organising my birthday party and the added stress just got to me. I tried not to over-react to things but I know I did (tears, tears and more tears). It could have been worse (I held back a lot). I’ve been dating a fantastic guy for almost 6 months, and I know he is thinking I’m an emotional stress-head and a silly billy, and I know he rolls his eyes when we are talking on the phone and I’m over-reacting or crying (sorry babe).

But now the invitations are out, I have calmed down (a little). You would think being on holidays would help de-stress, but it has just given me more time to think and stress, and I haven’t had one day of just doing nothing (maybe I’ve been making myself busy on purpose- another confession).

I’m still stressed about the house. I was meant to have an inspection on Friday last week, but it was cancelled (even though I drove into town early for it). The painters were in. And I know that I shouldn’t complain that I’m up to the painting stage. So my inspection was re-scheduled for yesterday (Monday). With the stress of invitations, my inspection was cancelled, yet again. That doesn’t help!

Now, it is re-scheduled, again, for Friday. I hope and pray that the paint colour looks alright and that only two coats of paint will cover enough.

New photos after inspection (I hope).

Update

For the last two weeks lots of things have been finished off.

1.     The brick work is complete (photo to come soon).

2.     The plaster holes have been filled.

3.     The cornice has been put up.

4.    And during last week the internal doors and other stuff arrived (not sure if they are installed yet).

I'm in the process of organising a formal inspection. Can't wait.

Also, with all the wonderful end of financial year sales, I went and bought a fridge (well on lay by)- Westinghouse 610 litre side-by-side fridge/freezer. Retravision gave me a really good deal, $1600. I have been looking at this fridge for a while trying to get a good deal. Harvey Normal had the same fridge for $1900 (apparently on sale price).

I have never bought a fridge before. It is so... grown up. I guess so is building a house. I can't wait to have a new fridge after a few second/third/forth-hand fridges.

Fridge                                     Freezer

More photos this week