As we farewell the first month of 2011...

Thats our progress for January folks!!!

Our slab date has now been pushed back to February 26.  NOT a happy camper!

But on a more positive note, Loz starts his new job today.  Thank God.  We came very very close to having to cancel the build.  Please keep everything crossed for him that today goes well. xxx

What Paddy shot at

One of my "boys" at work came out with this "What Paddy shot at" phrase a few months ago.  After a solid 20 minutes of tears-and-all-type laughter, we HAD to google it to find out what it means.  Turns out, it's a really old fashioned saying for NOTHING.  And that is exactly what's been going on at the orange house this week - a big fat nothing.

The first date we were given for our slab pour was Jan 20 = gone.

The second date thrown around was Jan 24, which is Monday.  And considering we haven't been plumbed or boxed up, I'm guessing this is pretty unlikely.

Our CSC did tell us last week that we were due to have our portaloo delivered any day, and our scrape was booked for the 12th of Feb. 

I'm fairly sure this is our block...pre-christmas.  Hmmmmm.

There's a sea elephant in my kitchen

Dulux sea elephant that is. Our new splash back colour. Thank you Lauren (from Carlisle) for allowing us this final, and very last minute, change.

So here's a pic of our kitchen...

And here's our revised selections...

EDIT: As my fellow house tragics correctly pointed out, the image I posted was NOT of Osprey.  Hope I've got the right one now!  And I've added our floor selection.

From the display pic, where the darker laminate is, we're having Wenge.  White where it's white.  Sea Elephant on the splash back, which blends perfectly with the window and sliding door frames.  Adios oriental spice!!!

So that's it - no more changes - they're too expensive.  This change (and the increased door height to the theatre) cost us a $500 variation fee.  Exy I know, but better than having an orange splash back -apologies to anyone who DOES have an orange splash back ;)

SS

Nope, we haven't purchased a new commodore, we have a Site Supervisor, Rod, and he's going to be brilliant, I can just tell :)

He intends to call every Thursday afternoon with an update of the past week's progress and where we're heading next. He may regret this, but he's okay with us calling him every day if we feel the need, and he'll be happy to put our detail oriented minds at ease.

I was actually expecting a gruff, blokey bloke who likes to keep clients as far away as possible. But he's come across as enthusiastic and totally hands on with us.

.....

The much anticipated slab party will have to be postponed until Monday 24th (maybe even later if the rain keeps on doing it's thing), but we've waited 12 months already, so what's another 4 sleeps??

.....

Carlisle have allowed us to change our splashback colour (don't yell at me Deb) AND after a fair few emails, they've agreed to amend the height of the double doors into the theatre from standard 2040mm to 2340mm in line with the rest of the house per our original request (we didn't notice the reduced height on final plans).

So it's back to Spectra tomorrow morning to pick a new splashback colour. Any suggestions....??

Purrrrrrrrr...

..mmmmmmmmiiiiittttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!

Yep, our planning permit came through today and our build is back on track for a Jan 20 slab pour!

A hugely massive thank you to both Emilio and Kerry (fellow Avenue neighbours also awaiting on a permit for this stupid overlay on our land) for openly sharing info that has helped us get this through with minimal stress.

xx

Stacked stone - hot or wot?

We found a house on the weekend with pretty much the same colour scheme as we've planned - beige royal/surfmist, jasper and stacked stone in delhi bronze. But now I'm freaking out...
Is stacked stone still "in", or will people point and laugh at the funny lady's rock house?

I'll put a poll up on the sidebar so you can vote in private if you don't want to hurt our feelings. But we've got pretty thick skin, so feel free to comment too :)

Love is blind

I got the cutest little package in the mail today from Blinds Online with some fabric samples I had ordered.

Expecting to just get a few hastily & haphazardly cut bite sized pieces of cloth thrown in an envelope, I was really impressed with their presentation.

 

Which also came with little cards that take you through their 4 step process

As well as handy hints on the back to make sure you get what you actually want...

And then, nestled in their little envelope, came the moment of truth...

Sounds easy!  And the best bit - they're made locally in Narre Warren :)

Our tiles are movie stars

Well...maybe not quite MOVIE stars, but they do make a cameo appearance in the Spectra Selection Centre video tour on Carlisle's new website.

These will feature as a strip in each shower flanked by white gloss tiles.  Dark chocolate, slightly mottled tiles will be on the floor.  They'll also be the hero of the powder room jutting out from behind the mirror. But the part I'm biting my nails over is having these in the ensuite as the vanity splashback and on the mirror wall of the spa.  Might be a bit too much.

How long til the slab pour??????

EDIT: On a recent visit to Spectra to re-select our splash back colour, I snuck a decent shot of our tiles...

De-kor-8-shun

These are my last 2 mood boards - I promise (Reinsey reserves the right to change her mind and create more and more mindless collages featuring borrowed images of house porn)

How many sleeps until our slab pour you ask?
Seventeen (17)

Oh blimey I'm getting excited about living in this brown, white and orange house of ours!!!

Pillow talk...

I've been doing a little pillow analysis of display homes and builder websites to find some ideas to dress the beds in readiness for the string of "open for inspections" we're about to undergo.

Of course, coz it's me, I've categorised them...

I might have to start working an afternoon shift coz it's going to take me all morning to pile these babies up.

And just thought I'd mention that our slab is being poured in 18 sleeps (in case you'd lost count).

A new year...

Just for today, I'm not going to obsess about house colours, worry about finances or freak out about real estate prices. 

Today is all about new beginnings and drawing a damn thick line under all that has gone before. 2010 wasn't the best of years, but there's no point dwelling on it. 

I'll take from the lessons, change what I can, ditch the traits that no longer serve me and move onto a brand new, exciting, life-changing year.

Welcome aboard 2011.  I'm super excited that you're here!!