...dreaming of a white kitchen

Out of the million and one things that need to be decided when building a house, the kitchen colours will be the easiest for me. Its the one thing I know for sure what I want… thank goodness.

I decided long ago that I wanted an all white kitchen, thats right ALL WHITE!
I just love them, so bright, fresh and classy... and when I say all white I’m mean cabinets and bench tops. Colour can still be brought in with the splashback tiles or with accessories.

When I finalise my colour selections with my builder, ill be sure to share them on here.

I can imagine sitting around with family and friends, serving drinks and nibbles in my pretty white kitchen. Still seems crazy to me that it will be a reality soon. Cant wait!

Now for a few amazing White kitchens for us all to drool over….

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Buying land story - Part3

I’ve broken this story up into a few parts as it’s a bit loooong. You can read part1 here and part2 here

Two days later I receive a call from the real estate agency, but a different agent this time.  She tells me that they had spoken with the vendor and they were willing to drop a few thousand of the price, I tell her I’ll have to think about it and I end the call. So without me saying or doing anything they have supposedly gone off their own back and managed to get a few thousand off for me, once again this sounded suss. 

Without delving into too much detail, we knew who the vendor was and how we could contact them. Although it’s not the proper way to go about things we decided that we should just contact them and ask ourselves if they really were a fixed price. If they were then I could move on. After a few phone calls back and forth, a few days pass by and I get an answer, yes they will review ANY offer put forward. They knew nothing about a fixed price. So the agent was straight out lying the whole time. 

A few more days pass by when I receive another call from the agent, ‘what would you like to do?’ she asks me. I explain that I’ve been told that I can make an offer and that’s what I would like to do, I can come down that day during my lunch break. She’s says that’s fine and off I go. I get their offices and the agent assists me with all the paper work, I fill in my offer and leave. 

The next day I get a phone call, and whadoyaknow the vendor has accepted the offer. 

Wow, what a run around. Basically what I learnt from this is you really can never trust anyone who’s trying to sell you something. All I wanted was to make an offer on a block of land, I would have been fine if they didn’t accept it. But instead I was lied to, made to feel like I didn’t know what I was doing, they were trying to pull the wool over my eyes because I was a first home buyer, they assumed I knew nothing, assumed I would have just accepted what he had told me and signed there on the dotted line. I’m very thankful to my parents who stood by me and helped me uncover the lies, and in the end get the block of land I wanted at the price I wanted to pay. 

Hopefully that didn’t all sound too doom and gloom. I can only laugh about it all now, and this experience hasn’t discouraged me but only made me stronger. Once of those great life lessons I guess!

Buying land story - Part2

I’ve broken this story up into a few parts as it’s a bit loooong. You can read part1 here

April 2013 I had found another block that I liked. 

The land had been available for some time, it was in an older area which I guess could put some buyers off but there was to be 10 new houses built along this street, so I knew in time It would be a good move. There was also a reserve at the rear with gumtrees which I believe is a much better sight that your neighbours back fence. The blocks here were also much larger for the asking price, but still a little over my budget. However as I had been following the market for so long I knew that there was a time the previous year when they briefly dropped the prices on these specific blocks, this gave me hope that they may in fact accept a slightly lower offer. 

I rang the agent to discuss things further, a few days later we met at the block. Everything was great, he went through the services and encumbrances and it all felt right. Without me saying anything about price he told me that the vendor might drop a little but not much. The following week I rang the agent and explained that I wanted to make an offer, he was happy for me to come down the next day during my lunch break. So I’m all excited but also a bundle of nerves of what I was about to do. I walked into the offices where he greeted me at the door with a big grin, we sat down at his desk and he dumped the contract in front of me, he started going through it, it all made sense, then he tells me the contract price... Hang on… I thought I was coming down to make an offer? I tell him I want to submit an offer below the asking price. He flat out said NO, not possible, it’s a fixed price contract, I ask again, almost begging for him to at least show my offer to the vendor. He once again says no, and then he closes the paper file, pushed it towards me and said 'sorry for wasting your time’. I was shocked at the way he spoke, I grabbed the file and walked out to my car, all I wanted was the chance to make an offer, sure they might have rejected it but shouldn’t I at least have that opportunity? Nowhere in any of the advertising did it say these blocks were a non-negotiable fixed price. 

I went home in despair to tell mum and dad what had happened, they were equally as shocked at the way the agent spoke to me. Dad wanted to ring him up right there and give him a piece for the way I was treated. I told Dad that would only make things worse and if the land was a set price I would just have to accept it. However it all smelt of foul play, it just felt like the agent was lying. Why did he say on our first meeting that they would drop a little, if in fact it was a set contract price all along? It made no sense; there were too many holes in the agent’s story. 

Update, you can read part 3 here 

Buying land story - Part1

I’ve broken this story up into a few parts as it’s a bit loooong. 

I thought I’d share a little bit about my land buying experience. I try to not let things stress me out as this whole house building process should be fun but buying land was a little bit different than I had expected. I expected to walk in, make my offer, have it accepted, and yay I’m a land owner. Well things didn’t all go according to plan. I’ve not mentioned any names or locations as I’m not trying to slander anyone, I’m only hoping to help other home buyers to be aware that some agents are not to be trusted.

It all begun back in November 2012, after dreaming for so long I decided the time was right, time to move on this dream of mine and buy a block of land. After following the local land sales for years I knew what was available. My budget was tight so there wasn’t a lot to choose from but there was 1 block I had in mind, it was an odd shaped block with no right angles but sat at the end of a cultersack in a new housing estate, it was nice and within budget. I rang the sales rep and asked for a few details, and told her I was interested but I still needed to follow up with my bank and builder etc. The rep said she would put my name next to that block, like a verbal hold. Well when I rang back I was told it had now been sold. I was disappointed, not so much that I had lost that particular block but that the sales rep didn’t tell me that someone else was interested. Oh well, I took it as it wasn’t meant to be. After this I decided to wait a while, I was having mixed feeling about if I was doing the right thing building a house, I think every first home buyer has those jitters.

Fast forward to April 2013, I realised that if I was going to do this, I had to move on it now. What’s the point in delaying my dream?

Whats my Interior Design style?

So what's my Interior Design style? well I don't really know. I love so many different styles to narrow it down to only one - industrial, country, modern, eclectic. Really a mish mash of everything I guess.

Probably the only way to really give you a good idea of the kind of interiors I love, would be a have a look through my pinterest boards. Which you can find at www.pinterest.com/misslibe

House Floor Plan

I've always loved looking at house plans. Imagining what each room would be like, how it would flow, seeing how the space had been utilised to its maximum potential, positioning of windows, doors etc. I remember way back when I was probably 14, maybe even younger, excitedly waiting for the Sunday paper just so I could look through the 'Home' liftout. I would analyse each floor plan and pick out what I liked and didn't like. Of course back then I was drawn to the big fancy ones with 5 plus bedrooms, buttlers pantries, walk in robes the size of my bedroom. but who doesn't fantasise about that! Maybe I'll have a McMansion one day.

Anyway fast forward to 2012 when I decided to have a poke around some display homes with Mum and Dad in tow. With my budget, a small 3 bedroom would be all I could afford, but in reality its all I need. Plus I knew that no matter what house, what size, I would love it because it was mine. I was just ecstatic that this was really happening, I was actually looking at houses for real! So we ended up looking through 3 display homes that I had picked out of the catalogue which fitted my criteria.

I knew the moment I walked into the display home that I am now building, it was the one for me. It just felt right... you know when you get a gut feeling and you just know. It ticked all my boxes!

It was open, spacious and light filled. the perfect first house for me!!

Its main features include:

3 Bedrooms
2 Bathrooms
Open plan living area
9 Foot ceilings
Attached garage with internal access
Alfresco area under main roof
Walk in Robe to master bedroom
Build in robes to minor bedrooms
Open and airy feel
Lots of Light

So what do you think? perfect first home or what..

Land details

Selecting a block of land is a lot easier said than done. There is a lot to consider - size, orientation, slope, location, available services and of course price. Plus every man and his dog that you speak to has an opinion on what areas are good, not good etc. but in the end I had to choose what was right for me, my lifestyle and of course my budget.

I am very, very happy with my little piece of land and I know I made the right decision.

So all the details....

My block is 721 square meters, 15 meters wide by approx 48 meters deep = long and skinny.

The front of the block faces west, with the left side facing North.

My favorite feature of the block is the reserve at the rear with huge gumtrees and a small creek, which is actually just a water drainage area. I don't know about you but I'd much rather look out my back door to see gumtrees than looking at the back of a neighbours house, especially for a small block like mine.

All along my side of the street is vacant building lots with the other side being older established houses. My house will probably be the first built on my side of the street, which not ideal but not much I can do about that.

I'm so excited to see it all come together and see my house built there soon. I have a vision in my head and I know it will me amazing.

Welcome

Having a home of my own has been something I’ve wanted for a very long time. It might be a bit strange for people to understand as I’m only young -"Why don’t you want to travel the world?" Why don’t you do this or do that? 

I can’t really explain it other than it’s just what I’ve always wanted. Everything fell into place this year and I am now building my first home. Woohoo! Exciting.

I love love love anything to do with interior design and home DIY projects. I love looking at floor plans, paint swatches, fabrics and DIY ideas. I could ramble on about it all day long if you let me.

I can’t wait to make this house of mine amazing!