Ideas for Interior Design

As you are aware from my last post, the council signed off on our plans and have moved us to the 'advertising process'. In this period we are basically notifying all of the neighbours that we are going to renovate, and they are given the opportunity to lodge an objection to our plans. Hopefully nobody objects, but if somebody does, the council decides whether to consider the objection seriously. Otherwise, we get the all-clear! When this is acheived (I clarified avec ma mère) we go back to the architects and decide on all of the interior details - side note, I say YES this job could hypothetically be given to an Interior Designer. When finalised, we can present the plans to potential builders to depict what we want to build. We have to decide on all of the intricate details now so that the builder doesn't build something to their own preference due to vague information.

I have compiled a selection of Interior Design photos that I love, and are my latest inspiration for Almora. I have 3,077 photos to date in my "Interior Design" folder, so some serious culling of images has just occured for this post. These looks you're about to see are yet to be approved by my parents, AKA the mortgage payers, but some design advice will hopefully push them in the right direction. From what I gather, we are all on the same page in terms of an overall traditional look with some contemporary elements. So, a transitional style; "Transitional style is a marriage of traditional and modern furniture, finishes, materials and fabrics. The result is an elegant, enduring design that is both comfortable and classic." (from http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/204463/list/Transitional-Style--A-Bit-of-Modern-and-Traditional)

Bathroom

Now, I'm not sure if this sort of detail is required in the plans, or if this is communicated to the tiler on the day of installation. Nevertheless, I believe in playing up pattern. That means layering patterns (contrary to what many people believe) and changing up the norm "subway look", like with a play on the herringbone layout below. This pattern is reminiscent of the classic checked pattern of black and white tiles, and is made unique with the variations in the finish of the marble. Love it!

Source: http://www.georgicapond.com.au/about/faq/

Again, I don't think wall paper choices need to be conveyed in the plans, but still I want to share my inspiration. Here we have large scale, busy pattern in a small room (powder room). Interior Designer Sarah Richardson preaches that bold pattern can be applied to a small room, because the overall intake is actually quite small. I think it would be fun to  be adventurous with pattern and wallpaper. Too many people are not!

Source: http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/portfolio/sarahs-house-4/powder-room

Recently my mum and I visited Schots Home Emporium - a furniture and homewares store that specialises in traditional design. (NB: not a brand deal).  They have a really nice range of bathroom fittings, like the faucet below. I am obsessed with this style of tap. It is so American, and I love the ornate, sculpted look. It is a complete opposite to your typical plain-Jane, squared tap... I believe the finished look of a room shouldn't appear as though it came straight out of a single catalogue. There should be unique pieces, elements that aren't ordinary (but not weird) like this tap so that the room looks custom-made.

The following three photos are my own orginial photography.

I see this style of bath tub in lots of American bathrooms. I'm bored with plain bath tubs. I love the sculpted façade with the ribbed edges and base. 

 I couldn't establish whether or not the counter top on this vanity was genuine marble or not. Either way, it's a pretty neat option. I love the shaker doors, the drawers down the middle, and the sufficient counter space. The curved cut-out on the base prevents the vanity from looking too boxy.

Once again, tile pattern in the bathroom, but continued up the wall. Patterns can definitely clash if they aren't thought out properly. I love the idea of having three different tile arrangements in the bathroom. The first being on the floor, similar to the layout in the photo on the right, with the stone laid in strips, separated by narrower strips. This option is great for combining cheaper tile with expensive tile. It is a cost-effective solution for achieving a high-end look with quality tile, but not blowing the budget just on the floor. Using a more accessible large-scale tile and separating it even with a standard small-scale tile can make the floor look totally designer. The second pattern on the wall should probably be least fussiest in arrangement. Often designers opt for a simple paint job rather than tiling every inch of the walls, becuase it is quite expensive to do so and unnecesary for some areas to be fully tiled. For the third, if the floor is fairly pared back in terms of pattern business, and the walls are plain, then you can have fun with a feature wall. Now I use that term carefully because I don't mean a block colour one one wall, with the other three white. I take reference from the tiled niche in the right photo. In mine and my sister's bathroom, we want the main feature pattern to go in the shower. We also really admire the marble wall tiles in a honeycomb arrangement in the left photo.

(left) Source: http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/portfolio/by-room?room_type=9

(right) Source: http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/portfolio/sarah-101-season-2/refreshed-master-bath

When building a house, lots of people opt to have the same cabinetry from the kitchen in the bathrooms too. I have never been keen of this concept because (I know this is strange) I think of it as if you would preparing food in the bathroom. I think it is just my subconscious pathetic excuse to explore two different cabinetry designs. I reckon I could get by with the same cabinetry, but different paint or stain finishes in the kitchen and bathroom. Nevertheless, I really like the custom Art-Deco inspired vanity by Sarah Richardson below. I love the patterns in the wood, don't you?

Source: http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/design-team/sarah-richardson

 Bedroom

These two photos are more for decorating inspiration. I am not against a neutral foundation finished with colour and pattern. Although I want to be brave and have "colour commitment" somewhere, sometimes tastes change, and a good way to be economical in preparation for this potential change is to let the expensive stuff be neutral (this goes for every room, really), such as fixed cabinetry, expensive furniture, and window dressings. The fixed elements should be neutral for re-sale purposes too, but don't completely dismiss your own style and taste if you are going to be living in your house for a while before you sell it! Decoration pieces like lamps, throws, and cushions are inexpensive especially if you buy online, so they can be easily changed up. This allows you to inject some colour and patern and texture into your room. My current bedroom follows this advice, and I intend to continue to maintain that. Except I've noticed I am constantly wanting to upgrade everything - chairs, dressers, linen, cushions... - but I've found out this is a common symptom of Interior Designers. Phew.

(top) Source: http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/portfolio/sarah-101-season-2/kid-free-retreat
(bottom) Source: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/514677063636836739/ 
 
Interior Doors

My favourite doors are the colonial doors that I describe as "the ones with squares in them". They are classic french doors, have a beautiful aesthetic, and suit traditional styling. I would love to see at least one door like below as an interior door in our house, whether it be in the hallway separating the bedrooms from the main living section of the house, or the door into the second living room.

(left) Source: http://indulgy.com/post/ZNwUpCsG71/bright-white-walls-and-warm-wood-floors-heaven
(right) Source: http://www.amaratimber.co.uk/door-products.php?doorCategory=viewAllInternalGlazed

For the other inteior doors for bedrooms and bathrooms, I would like to see us diverge away from the usual four-panel door, and install five-panel doors or three-panel doors like below. They are still traditional, just a different aesthetic. Also a common American choice. (All I do is rave about America! Don't be surprised when you learn I've moved there in the future.) A few years ago I was reading the blog "The House that A-M Built" and one tip Anne-Maree gave was to use exterior-grade oak doors for internal doors. Not only would they feel substantial when you open and close them (not weak and flimsy), but they would also be better at sound-proofing and insulating the room. Hopefully we can find doors intended for external purposes with a nice aesthetic and use them inside.

Source: http://www.houzz.com/photos/1802361/P-630-Interior-Mahogany-3-Panel-Single-Door-contemporary-interior-doors-tampa 

I am obsessed with American East Coast design, i.e. The Hamptons. One of my favourite TV shows is Revenge because the set design is absolutely stunning.What I really admire about "Grayson Manor" is the black finish on interior doors and windows. I would love to paint our windows and doors like this. Not a matte black paint, but black stain so that you can still see the wood grain underneath. Otherwise, the doors in particular might actually look like exterior front doors. Perhaps just the  windows, front door, middle-entry door, and rear french doors should be black, and leave the other interior doors white? Still musing...

 

(top) Source: http://design-home-house.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/the-revenge-house.html
(below) Source: http://www.thefurnishingtouch.co.za/set-in-stylepart-2series/

Exterior

Again with the Hamptons look, I love this architecture below. Unfortunately, this isn't the style of architecture our house will have, particularly in terms of roof shape. Although, we could still adopt the colour scheme. Light grey, white trim, dark grey roof, black front door. Just not yellow cream. I really like the oval windows, and the french doors on the right photo.

 

 (left) Source: http://www.pinterest.com/anguishm/

(right) Source: http://www.lanegroupinc.com/blog/gallery/

Flooring

The current floor boards in the heritage end of the house are baltic pine. This would be found in almost every heritage house in Australia. I don't have an issue with the pine, becuase I love the grain in each board, and the variations between them. What I dislike is yellow stain. Ew. I prefer a stain that is more of a light brown. The below photo is an American Oak floor, but we could stain our boards the same colour. The extension will most likely be laid with baltic pine flooring. I hope we don't choose another wood all together, becuase the juxtaposition between the two boards would be so obvious (at the moment this is the case, a narrower more modern floor board is in the extension) and would divide the house. We want the extension and original building to flow in unison. Consistent flooring will definitely help with this.

Source: http://www.houzz.com/photos/4354623/New-White-Oak-Character-Grade-traditional-hall-dc-metro

Kitchen

Hamptons kitchens have become popular recently. They didn't use to be so common, but that doesn't deter me from wanting a similar kitchen. I will help my parents design a unique kitchen, classic in aesthetic and modern in function. That should be my tag line. I have expressed my admiration of shaker-panel doors before, so I don't need to reiterate that I want them in the kitchen. A white colour schemr kind of expected. I don't have an issue with that, but I'd be happy to see a contrasting island installed. If we went ahead with the dark stained inner window frames and doors, I reckon, for consistency, we should stain the island the same colour. However, the stain, and this goes for the doors and windows too, must work in harmony with the stain of the floor boards. The two colours cannot be exactly the same, or totally different. I reckon we should draw out a darker variation in the floor board colour and use this for the windows, doors, and island.

Source:  http://newvisionprojects.com/construction-services/kitchen-renovations

For the counter tops I initially liked the idea of carrara marble, but then I learnt about its vulnerabilty to stains and scratches. I thought, it is such an expensive material to use, you don't want it to be ruined! Instead of marble on the counter tops, I reckon we should have a quartz counter top, like Caesarstone. Caesarstone is definitely cheaper than natural stone, but is more durbale than the likes of marble. We could still incorporate marble in the kitchen, just on the backsplash like the photo below. Marble tiles surround a feature pattern above the stove top. The backsplash is less prone to stains than the counter and is a great way to add a fancy design aesthetic that you can see from a distance when standing up.

Source: http://newvisionprojects.com/construction-services/kitchen-renovations

I love the idea of a raised breakfast bar, perhaps on the island. This would shield views of a messy kitchen from the living room. If it isn't too high, it shouldn't separate the room. We want the kitchen/dining/living areas to feel open. In the kitchen photo below, I love the wine fridge tucked into the profile of the bench.

Source: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/3465673/start=563/thumbs/Suzy-s-Inspiration

Living Room

The built in cabinetry in the living room should be an extension of the kitchen cabinets because the room is open and undivided. I think that a gas fireplace would be cozy to have in the living room, flanked by cabinets like the photo below. I love how those cabinets have glass on the top, and solid doors on the bottom without a shallow bench separating them. I really like the idea of keeping the depths the same. The marble surround of the fireplace is beautiful, too.

 Source: http://www.houzz.com/photos/1737707/University-traditional-living-room-dallas

Look up! I adore coffered ceilings. I don't know how likely it is for us to have a coffered ceiling in our living room, or at least somewhere else in the house, but I like to imagine so. I think they are great eye candy for a room. They are an architectural feature, like an American take on the Victorian ceiling rose.

Source: http://rikkisnyder.com/blog

Stairs

You might have seen in the CAD elevations I have shared of the interior, that the stairs are going to be open-tread. All along I have wanted a filled stair case, with treads the same stain as the floor and and white risers. However, due to the narrowness of the house, keeping the stairs open will allow for the house to feel more open too. I was against open-tread stairs because I think they look like a skeleton and they are really contemporary. But they have lead to the transitional style aforementioned. I think a balance of contemporary elements and traditional elements will be nice. As long as there are traditional elements with straight lines to reference the stairs.

Source: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/Stairways

Wardrobe

This wardrobe is the inspiration behind the wardrobe I've designed for my bedroom, which will be reflected to be the wardrobe for my sister's room too. What I admire about the wardrobe below is the colour, the shelves for shoes, the thickness of the shelves, the shaker drawers, the counter space with a mirror, and the high shelves and cupboards. I think a chandelier would be glam too. I will continue the carpet from the bedroom into the warbrobe for continuity and put an ottoman in the corner. The wardrobes will have a skinny window for heritage restrictions, so I'll have plantation shutters over it, just like in my bedroom.

Source: http://www.pinterest.com/prismma/wardrobe-design-ideas/

I have included a CAD screenshot I drew up of the high (off-centre) window in my room with my headboard and bedside tables drawn in for reference, as well as my wardrobe designs. The last shutter on the right is the fake.

Original design created by me, Suzy Rose.

This concludes my interior inspiration for Almora. I hope you've learnt something new and enjoyed musing over some of my favourite photos!

Happy weekend all
XO

Council approved our plans!!

The title says it all! Today, Monday, June 2nd, 2014, the town planning coordinator said that we can move to 'advertising'. This means that council is happy to approve our proposed plans, considering the locals are happy too. So it's not quite 100% approved yet, but very very soon this will be the case.

Advertising involves displaying the permit for the proposed additions out the front of our house, which outlines what the renovation is, i.e. extension to current dwelling. If I am not mistaken, advertising is for two weeks. In this period neighbours have the opportunity to lodge objections. Council decides whether or not a complaint (if any - ideally none) is worth taking further. From what I've heard, a lot of complaints are stupid and don't have much ground to stand on considering plans are within the guidelines of council. One of our neighbours said that there is a neighbour around the corner (so really, not directly impacted at all) who objects to a lot of plans because she wants the local area to remain unchanged. What I say is, all that anyone will see from the street is the outside of our house from the front. Considering this council is so strict on keeping the facades untouched, the look of the local area won't be dramatically changed by our renovation. The upper level extension even has to be hidden from the street view. I think we are doing the area a favour making our house pretty again. 

Once we get the all clear from council re objections I believe we get final approval. There is a small process of sorting out the nitty-gritty details, like a "walk-through" of the house to decide shelf heights, window designs, faucet types. Well those are the examples I've been given anyway. The proper name escapes me right now. I think it goes in hand with "tendering" which is along the lines of seeking potential builders and discussing their costs. Either way, I think it sounds a lot like what an interior designer decides on and designs for their clients. So it should be right up my alley! We have to go back to the architects for this process. I am not entirely sure if it happens during advertising or after or before final approval or what else, but I am positive I will be learning when very soon.

You might recall the few objections the council initially made about our first submission. My parents went back to the architects to discuss them. The architect sent an email today to the town planner in question. Some of the things we responded with are as paraphrased below (my comments in the brackets):

Issue: That the exterior of the upstairs  addition should match the (ugly unaesthetically pleasing) materials of the west neighbour's second storey.
Response: We do not understand the comment re the materials of the two-storey addition on the west...it is a single storey. 

(They do actually have a two-storey dwelling but it is next door to our garage, not the main house which is only one storey.)

Issue: That the two-storey addition is too close to the heritage roof line.

Response:  The proposed second storey is some 2.5 metres from the existing roofline...entirely generous! 

(I think they were just knit-picking).

Issue: Move the stairs.

Response:  It is difficult to move the stairs off the boundary; in any case it would need to be one metre off the boundary for building and fire regulations, which would result in the first storey being too narrow. The stair direction minimises impact on west neighbours and street frontage. The proposed configuration allows for northern light and southerly sea-breezes. Internally, it allows for optimal spatial configuration and traffic flow. 

(Oh please,  if you have an issue with these stairs, you try designing the house with the stairs anywhere else but the boundary. If we move the stairs, we re-do the entire floor plan. Trust me, I have experimented with SO many stair configurations for this house and this is the only logical concept!) 

Considering after those responses, along with a few others, were sent to the council today that the town planner responded with "Let's go to advertising", I think it is a very positive outcome. I am quite optimistic that we will achieve final approval within the coming weeks. 

Soon we will be shopping for carpet and tiles and door handles and I seriously cannot wait! 

Happy, happy Monday, I hope all of my readers have a super duper week.

XO

Plot twist!

Bad news...the plans were rejected by the council on Monday. It's a slight set-back, but I am so determined to keep moving, so I call "PLOT TWIST!" (I love this quote).

There is absolutely no point sulking about the situation. I do not want to waste time with this project! All that we can do now is adjust the plans to the (vague) criteria we were provided with in the rejection letter and give it another shot.

The list of "no-nos" is filled with phrases like "should be" and "not recommended" which implies we could get away with the issue they're referring to. In particular, the stairs on the boundary wall "would not be recommended for approval". The architect told us we can do that if the neighbours allow it, and when we spoke to them they said they would. So, we'll try. The town planner mentioned something negative about "shear walls" in the rejection letter. I'm still yet to learn what a "shear wall" is (the town planner actually wrote "sheer wall" and when I googled it the spelling was incorrect #grammarpolice). The internet failed me. I didn't understand what I was reading even when I clicked "Did you mean 'shear wall?'".

Oops

I don't think there's anyone to blame in this situation. But I did wonder if having one of the newer architects from the firm as the main "plan drawer" had a small impact. I flipped through the plans we had submitted and found a few mistakes and noticed the areas that the town planner pointed out as issues. I do agree that the information we put forward could have been clearer. For example, the new window design we want for the WIRs downstairs. The window is currently about 1200m wide and we propose that a perpendicular wall will cut it in half (to form the two wardrobes). In the plans we submitted the windows look like this:

However, no where is there an annotation explaining how this would work or why we are doing this to persuade the council's approval. 

What irks me the most is the second chimney on the lean-to of the old house. It is yellow-brick, falling down, and CLEARLY an 80s DIY addition. We want it gone. Yet the council wants us to keep it - "retain and restore", to be exact.  BUT, again, no where in the plans does it say that particular chimney is not orginal. So the town planners probably assume it is the original chimney. I can tell you we won't give up this fight easily.

 This is a good lesson on being totally thorough with notes and details. They've asked for specifics like paint colours (except I have heard lots of interior designers advise choosing paint colours after your furniture is in the room so that you pick the right colour) and interior wall heights. We will be sure to give them in the next submission. What we put forward won't be a compromise (relevant cliché, "Don't settle for less"), just a different way of doing things. The plans will be an improvement, and hopefully a success.

I've already started drawing potential changes, as you could have guessed. I'll update you again next week once we have visited the architects.

XO

Let me remind you...

As we wait in anticipation for the plans to be accepted by council, I thought I would rejig your memory about Almora's condition by sharing some candids I recently took. Probably the most notable difference to when I showed you the last lot of photos of the inside is that the kitchen is gone. It was in mint condition so we sold it on eBay and a lovely couple took it away. 

This is the state we are left with:

 Its absence makes the space feel so much bigger. You wouldn't believe the dirt that was accumulated over the last however many decades that kitchen was there - look at that pile of foam. Gross. Soon this area will be a thing of the past, as it will be demolished to make way for the new extension, in this order: study, middle entrance, stairs, pantry, kitchen, dining, and living.

Speaking of the past, I can't wait til this bathroom is a thing of it. Oh wait. It already is. #1970s

 

Here we are in the heritage zone. This is the middle room that will become the infamous walk-in-wardobes and my mum's gargantuan store room.  The window you see in this photo is going to be divided in half to service both wardrobes. Due to the heritage sructure the window has to remain. We could just board it up, but we opted for natural light. Doing so means that the layout of the wardrobe (i.e. hanging space, shelves, etc.) will need to be clever and out of direct sunlight as it will make the clothes fade. The fireplace will be boarded up, with half of it my wardrobe - only taking up 60x40cm of floor space - and the other half in the store room.

 

I can't decide if I think the hallway is long or short.  From memory it is about 11 metres long. We used to have a double fronted Victorian, so the hallway was only 2/3 of this one (two rooms either side, not three on one side). Do you remember the grotty persian rug that was down this hallway? The floor looks so much better without it. You might also remember the very noticeable lean down to the right. We had the floors restumped and now it is not so bad - still there ever so slightly, but bearable. In this photo the hall appears quite light-filled. There is a wide-ish window about two metres above the ground on the left, just past the archway, that lets west light in. We are lucky to have that already built. It would have been added in the 80s or thereabouts before heritage restrictions were in place. We can't alter it, but we can leave it there, and we will because without it the hallway would be a lot darker.

 

 This photo is of my room and its off-centre window. Due to the dimenions of the room, my bed will have to be placed underneath this window. However, the window is totally off-centre, and there is not enough room to have the bed (a queen) centred unerneath, as the walkway into the wardrobe would be too narrow. It is a total eye-sore. I was hoping to have a third of the window boarded up to make it more balanced. Except I don't know if this will be possible because it would mean altering the facade of the heritage zone.

  

 This is the view from the pink living room to the kitchen/dining area.

I have told you about the enormous pine tree on numerous occasions but I haven't shown you just how much of a lean this tree has! This particular photo is so deceving...

...until you see this!

It's practically falling over! And the sad thing is, I don't think people are in the market for the leaning tree of palm.  And the even sadder thing is that a supposed tree expert reckons it would have to be chopped up to be removed. Is our dream of some extra cashola in the pocket from the sale of this tree simply just a dream? I think I'd rather get the opinion from a professional tree removalist.

This garden actually used to be a jungle. Believe it or not, it has come a long way! Still lots of trees and plants to be removed, and the endless weeding, oh, and the extension to be built, before it becomes a lovely landscaped eden. 

Happy Sunday

xo

Submitted to Council

It was the 2nd of December, 2013 when we saw the early stages of professional house drawings come to light. This was 15 weeks ago. A process that was thought to take less than a month took three, but I can finally say we are all done! The plans are finished and are officially signed off to go to council. On Monday the plans will be submitted and we will be a big step closer towards the start of the build.

There were a few dramas before we committed to the final  drawings, namely the kitchen and middle entrance. The kitchen's issue was the lack of natural light due to the placement of the pantry. The architects rejigged it to make the pantry basically parallel with the stairs, but it left the flow of the kitchen unsettled becuase it was like the main work space was split up around a corner. 

Here's the elevation:

See what I mean by the corner? It's kind of like an L-shaped cross galley style kitchen. Personally, it's too weird and unconventional considering this house isn't intended to be iconic for new architecture trends. 

The second issue was the width of the door in the middle entrance. It was orginally about 900mm, slightly larger than a standard interior door. However, the purpose of this particular doorway is to make it comfortable for us and the guests when they are coming and going. The idea is to have it so two people can stand in the doorway and not do the awkward, "Come in, come in!" while walking backwards three metres to make room in the entrance, or at the end during goodbyes and you go to get the door with your guests right behind you but the door is too narrow for all of you to be within any proximity of each other that the guests have to step outside while the host leans on the door frame like the king of the castle. #obnoxious 

So, yeah, now its 1200mm . I hope it's wide enough, a lot of thought has gone into this.

The past two weekends saw us over at our neighbours' houses showing them our floorplans and discussing any effects there may be on their property (for example, the ginormous, leaning palm tree needs to be removed, but its roots are underneath the boundary fence, so a new fence will need to be erected.) Both sides of neighbours did not seem peturbed by any of our plans, save for the concern of the garage. The garage of one of the neighbours is dependent on ours, so if we pull it down the other will need to be supported. However, this isn't a problem right now, as the garage is not one of our priorities until a few years down the track.  

Both of the neighbours were appreciative that we had taken the time to come and speak to them personally. If you have been reading my blogs for the past few months you would probably notice the one short-term goal I kept referring to was council submission. And this is finally achieved! I can't wait to tell you when the plans have been approved, so I hope you're checking Casa Almora regularly to keep up to date!

Xo

P.S. To the readers who know me, I got my braces off today

Almora in 3D

Finally! Finally Almora is in 3D (almost)! This morning we had another meeting at the architecture firm and were shown the latest floor plans and elevations. Not only was it cool to see the changes I proposed last time in a CAD drawing, but to be given a virtual tour of inside the house. 

And it was exactly how I imagined.

The interior's joinery (cupboards) are more modern and sleek looking than what I envision (Shaker-style doors throughout - pic below) but I can look past that because I know that's not set in stone. 

Source: http://www.channel4.com

What is more likely to be staying modern is the open tread stair. The reason for this is that the narrowness of the house calls for a greater sense of space. This is achieved with steps that have an open riser. Initially I was opposed to the skeletal look and contemporary style. I always imagined a traditional American balustrade, but currently it looks like it will be a glass panel. Now I'm thinking of the stairs as an impressive sculpture, a work of art. It should also bring the contemporary/traditional ratio that I like to 50:50.

Here is one angle of the kitchen and stairs: 

See what I mean by the modern kitchen? I think shaker style doors and open tread stairs won't juxtapose too much because of the consistent straight lines and edges. What I really don't like is the cylinder range hood (I think it looks like an exposed ceiling HVAC pipe) and how it hangs alone. It definitely needs to be flanked by overhead cupboards. 

This is the view from the kitchen out to the back yard. I love the fan windows above the bifolds, and how the whole end of the living room is glass. You can just see the legs of the pergola on the left. 

This is the rear elevation. It looks amazing in colour and in 3D on the computer, but you get the idea with this picture. I was always trying to avoid an asymmetrical look because I thought it would appear lopsided, but the architects have executed it really well. The screen on the first floor is going to be a bit shorter. It has to be incorporated for council regulations - you can't look down into the neighbours' gardens. The architect suggested louvres (amongst other ideas but this stood out the most) and this sort of style sprung to mind:

Source: http://www.homeoptiongallery.com.au/ 

There might be a second balcony attached to the living room upstairs for a southerly breeze. It might look similar to the one with louvres at the rear. The idea of it is to add more light to the room. And there's also a new window in the kitchen! It was going to be really dark but now there's a full length window just beside the pantry entrance. Speaking of the pantry, it is big. There are shelves on both sides, with counter space, and it manages to accommodate a huge fridge too. The kitchen is a little on the small side (to what we're used to) so storage needs to be maximised.

I am also stoked about the bedroom/wardrobe configuration. Now both bedrooms get a WIR and built-in desk, so floor space shouldn't be an issue. 

You can see the massive store room in between that I want to install a wrapping station into. Exuberant, I know. The downstairs bathroom is to the right of bedroom three. The architect had designed it with a wet room (a designated room behind glass for the bath and shower, i.e. a room to spray water absolutely everywhere). And both my parents and I were like, "uh, no." I'd be the one who'd have to wipe that room down! No thank you. I am very happy with a conventional shower and separate bath. It's a modern idea, and if it works for you then so be it, but not for us. So now the shower and bath are on opposite sides of the bathroom, the vanity is inbetween and the WC has stayed in the powder room.

After the meeting I asked one of my parents what they thought of the latest plans, expecting "they were absolutely brilliant. Let's ship them off to council right now!" Instead the response was along the lines of, "It's interesting to see how the architect's made it evolve" and "I'd like them to add some flesh to it" to which I said, "What does that even mean?" Personally, I'm super happy with it and I don't want to drag it out, but it's best to get everything planned to the nth degree now, before it gets too expensive to make changes. 

I hope you enjoyed today's blog! This meeting was the best so far, seeing a realistic visualisation of Almora was so, so cool. If you stick around you'll get to see even more.

Happy Vanlentines Day for Friday!

Xo