Come on a journey of inspiration & adventure while renovate & restore a beautiful Victorian home 'St Elmo' in the picturesque Hunter Valley, Australia & laugh at a few of our family adventures along the way.




Sunday, August 21, 2011

A plan at last

We finally have plans together & are ready to submit a development application to our local council to actually get this long awaited dream house underway.

source A view on design

We have been working hard on pricing the whole build. We will be sitting down with some kitchen guys in the near future for some quotes on, not just the kitchen, but laundry, bathroom vanities & a few other joinery items I have been dreaming about( some will stay a dream, I have NO doubt, LOL) but this is definitely an area I am most excited about.
 I have selected the white goods I would like, giving myself a plan A & plan B, depending on how the budget stacks up. I have prices for carpet, tiles, tilers, blinds, now its just a matter of shopping around on these items for the best deal.
Any recommendation's greatly appreciated.

source Tinkaliscious

We have set budgets for all areas of the house, so far some have come in under budget, but others a little over budget, hopefully this will balance itself out in the end.

source BHG

I will be calling on all of you stylish bloggers to help with some decisions & advice along the way. No doubt I will, at times, bomb bard you with questions??????

source Decorpad

You can be sure it will be a very long & drawn out process as we are doing this as owner/builders, whilst the dream guy maintains the all important income source, that we refer to as his day job.
I will be the full time wife, mum, cleaning lady & trades assistant. Apparently I'm not allowed to paint any tools pink & claim them as my own....some men are NO fun ;)

source The Lennox

My dream guy is rather clever with his hands,so we will be hiring very few trades to help along the way, although this saves money it will no doubt take A LOT longer to complete the build.
I am guessing that the whole journey will be the ULTIMATE test on our relationship, we are currently great mates,but we do have very different ideas of how this place should look.
 Originally the plan was that I had total control over the choices involving color scheme & how the inside looked. My dream guy was to have total control over landscaping & his man cave(shed).
 Since he has decided to take on the role of building this fine joint, he now seems to want a little input into things... scoff scoff..., "How dare he!!".
 So fingers crossed, we come out at the end of this with a dream house & a great marriage, he he he!!!

source Veranda

I do have some plans to show you, but, unfortunately I was unable to upload them. Once I sort out this small technical issue there will be a post for sure!!!

CHEERS
Trish xxx

17 comments:

B is building a house said...

I am so happy for you and can't wait to follow your progress :)

How long have you allowed yourself to finish the house? Or are you just going to take it as it comes?

B

B is building a house said...

The worst thing about a man who is hard working and clever with hands is that he doesn't often pay someone else to do the jobs he can do. At least this is what Mr B is like ... Although it is great because it has saved us lots and lots of $$$ it does take a lot of time because he only has weekends to work on the house :(

B

Laura said...

Yay!!! i am so excited for you trish!!! I am sure you and your husband will be fine by the end of it!! i reckon if you can cope with kids, building a house should be a breeze!!!! Love the bathroom image with the big mirror!!! gorgeous! And thank you so much for the link, i will be trying it for sure, .. thankyou so much for thinking about me! thats so lovely of you! I really appreciate it, it was so thoughtful of you xx((()))xxx hugs!!! Cant wait to see your plans!! hugs from Laura xxx

Jenny said...

Good luck with your plans Trish, I hope you are able to start soon. Can't wait to see your plans. ;-)

Honey I'm Home Blog said...

Congratulations! I'm excited that your dreams are getting underway.

Warmly, Michelle

Shayne said...

Oh, how exciting :)

Can't wait to see the plans. Love the pics in that post - one day I will build a completely custom house and not be governed by the rules of a volume builder!!

Beautiful House said...

Hi Trish, "Yay", so excited. I can't wait to follow your journey. We have been in our house for 3 years now. I already have another folder full of ideas.x

The Decorating Emporium said...

Great news, Trish! So excited for you that things are starting to move forward!

M
xxo

Unknown said...

That is fantastic news Trish. You must be looking forward to getting started on the build. I can't wait to see your plans. xx

KL said...

Trish, I am so very excited for you. You have been so patient! Doing it yourselves does take longer but thats good too; there's no rush decisions and time will give you the ability to find a happy compromise if ideas clash! Remember that happiness is in the journey and not at the destination! Its a family adventure! Looking forward to seeing your plans as they unfold; I always love your posted inspiration pics so you obviously have great taste! Good luck with the council step! x KL

Urban Road said...

I just stumbled across your blog & so glad I did. Looking forward to following the progress of your dream home. Suzie xx

designchic said...

So exciting...can't wait to follow along!!

Melinda said...

Great fun- can't wait to follow your progress and share ideas, inspiration and tips along the way. You seem to be far more organised than I am or was. That whole budget thing is such a dampener!

Melissa @ Veranda Interiors said...

So excited for you, just remember to breath and have fun!!!

HMB said...

Wow! Have fun will live dropping by to see the progress

Simple Daisy said...

That is so exciting!! I would LOVE to build a house someday!!!! Have fun!

Farmers Wifey said...

I am so happy and excited for you! As you know we are coming to the end of our adventure, and we are still married!!!!

And he still won't let me use the power tools..what's with that??

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