Down, down, the prices are down!

I find it impossible to pay full price for anything.  It's simply not necessary - the are plenty of bargains to be had no matter if you're buying clothes, cars or building products.  Half the fun for me in making a purchase is calling, visiting and googling about 100 different suppliers to find the best price.  Ironically its the first place I've gone to that I generally return.

I have to acknowledge that I am very lucky that I'm able to use my contacts  to obtain particularly good pricing on a range of goods (special thank you's to Brett's Timber & Hardware, Finlayson Timber & Hardware and Boral) for this project.

However, the most amazing bargain of all, one that has nothing to do with my work and something that anyone else can obtain, is the incredible kitchen, pantry and laundry cabinetry that we sourced through the wonderfully helpful Adam at Aussie Cut.

Aussie Cut is a high-end cabinet making factory.  They've got this wonderfully clean and tidy, high tech factory at Brendale - it has huge computer operated machines that slice, dice and create kitchens following some data entry and the press of a button.  I've had seen their advertisement in the Master Builders magazine about 18 months ago and then coincidently my mum and her partner sourced their kitchen from them last year - they got top notch quality at a brilliant cost because basically you are cutting out the middle man ie the kitchen designer.  Of course this wouldn't be for everyone - you need to have a pretty good idea of what you want plus you need to draw up a plan and measure everything yourself.

And so this is what we have done.  I must admit it wasn't particularly easy and it took a couple of trips out there to get it right.  On my first visit - the first Friday of the school holidays  - I had to leave and burst into tears when I got in the car because my two naughty brown eyed, brown haired boys misbehaved so badly I couldn't concentrate and was getting my measurements topsy turvey.  In hindsight this was a blessing because we really hadn't put enough thought into things.  Happily some holiday time and James' huge effort in drawing and measuring up ensured the next time went smoothly.

It's semi gloss lexicon quarter 2 pac for those that speak "builder".  40mm organic white ceaserstone benches to come 

Still getting the plans "right" before going to the factory and then spending a few hours sitting with Adam talking through the plan and checking measurements was quite nerve-wracking - like sitting an exam.  If we made any, they would be expensive mistakes! We asked if we were particularly inept or if they often got people walking through their door with similar plans.  We were pleased to hear our approach wasn't uncommon!

My pantry - not quite finished  but getting there...

The kitchen took about 3 weeks to manufacture - most of that time it was getting "2-packed", it was then delivered and installed by our builder.  And the result?  Couldn't be happier!  We've got a custom-designed 2-pac kitchen, pantry & laundry all with blum softclose drawers for less than I would pay for an ikea kitchen.  What's not to be happy about - as I said I truly love a bargain!

One side of the compact laundry - I've got drawers to store the dirty clothes...

Sink to go in the top of there and more drawers for dirty clothes!

The kitchen was delivered mostly assembled and our builders have installed it.

Brief briefs? Not for me.

It has been suggested that I am slightly anal.

This outlandish claim was made after I wrote a list for a new cleaner describing how each room and item of furniture should be cleaned.  Apparently cross-tabulating the list with appropriate cleaning products to use was where I crossed the line... 

To me this list just made good sense. Ensuring a job is done right the first time is easier than correcting mistakes down the track.

Consequently it will be no surprise to you that I took the job of briefing our designer, outlining what we wanted to achieve in our renovation, extremely seriously.   Having never written this type of brief before I wasn't sure what to include, so turning to my friend Google I asked "how to brief an architect" and "architect brief template". This research delivered lots of ideas and questions to consider when putting the brief together.

I also spent many pleasurable hours looking at house porn; Australian House & Garden, Inside Out, Home Beautiful and the hottest of all Architectural Digest.  I salivated over the dreamlike images, ripping and tearing out pages, slapping glue on the pretty pictures to create a scrapbook of visuals to stimulate our thinking.

The end product?  I produced the brief (which is pretty long) using the following headings, you can read the full document by clicking here.

• Who are we, what are we like & what do we like?
• What is our house like now and what do we like about it?
• What don’t we like?
• What we would like done: Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3 
• What are our priorities, must haves, would be nice to have...
• In a perfect world the house would have...
• What are our must haves...
• Would be nice to haves...
• What what we envisage each room to include where possible: Kitchen / Family room, Laundry, Outdoor area, Main Bedroom, Garage

We sent the brief to our building designer, Peter Latemore, before he came over to view the house and then come up with an initial concept.  He said he hadn't received such a detailed brief before. Had I crossed that line again?  Apparently not! He said the brief helped him understand our goals before he even crossed our threshold.  It would also avoid him having to drag information out of us and providing a greater insight into what our goals are.  In fact he had never received such a detailed brief before and was extremely pleased to receive it. It would help him get the design right upfront.

See mum, nothing wrong with being so anal after all!!  And who wants brief briefs after all - they just aren't a good fit.

How big is yours?

Do you know how big yours is?

According to our building designers, Latemore Design, today ours was big and wet.

Getting the house measured is a big box ticked - the first step in the design process. Like anything in life it's hard to make a plan until you know really what you are working with.  Today was Peter Latemore and his team's chance to understand just how big the sow's ear is.  Now they just have to turn it into a silk purse!

Peter & Andrew measure the dining room that will become a bedroom

I asked Peter if he could explain to me what happens at a "measure" because I let them in but then had to race off in the rain to work.  This is what he had to say...

"My boutique building design firm, Latemore Design, turned up today to measure Clarissa and James' house.  Three of us, plus a deluge of rain.  Luckily, because we always engage a surveyor to do a detail & contour survey, we did not have to measure the ‘yard’.  So we only got quite damp, not drenched.  We find it is better to measure regardless of the weather, otherwise things can bank up. 

Poor Andrew was the sketcher, and the 100% humidity meant he had to use several sheets, as each would nearly disintegrate from the dampness.  

We did it in just under 3 hours, as planned, so we did ok.  We use a laser measuring device, plus traditional tape, because the laser cannot deal with those smaller spaces or things like windows and doors.  We took hundreds of photos, as they help so much.  Julie wandered the yard with camera in one hand and an umbrella in the other – what a trooper!

We need to measure a building quite thoroughly, well I think so anyway.  Because everything depends upon that accuracy.  We produce an existing model of the house in the computer, and with a Queenslander this can include things like bearers and joists, the belt rails, door posts, vj walls.  We use that model to then ‘demolish’ and add ‘new’ things.  

It can be quite strange to measure someone’s house.  We have to open a cupboard or two, enter all parts of the building, so we are almost invading someone’s privacy.  We are always quite mindful of this and are very careful what we do with those photos.  I feel it is a privilege to be someone’s building designer, as you get to be involved in a major aspect their lives – their home or haven as I sometimes call it.  I love being able to influence a family’s well-being by designing a great house or wonderful extension and renovation."

Thanks for the insight Peter - I hope piles of unwashed laundry didn't fall out of the cupboards...everything at my house looks neat on the outside but it's all terribly messy when you open things up - perhaps this sums up my personality!  I am sure we will get to know each other very well during this process.

What kind of relationship do you have, or have you had, with builders/designers or anyone that does work in your home?  Got any advice?


DISCLAIMER !!! Please note I work part-time as Communications Manager for Timber Queensland.  TQ represents everyone from the growers of timber to end users eg architects and growers.  I'm fortunate that I will have access to people that might help answer some of my questions during the renovation.  However, it's important to note that this blog is my personal opinion piece and does not represent the opinions of Timber Queensland.

Who, what, where & why?

Welcome to my "We could, We should, We wood renovate" blog.

I'm Clarissa and together with my husband James and our two small brown haired, brown eyed boys William & Robert we live in a nearly 100 year old Queenslander style home in inner city Brisbane.

We've lived here since I was six months pregnant with William, who is now 7, and it's been a perfect house for a growing family - single level, nice flat backyard and easy access to my second home, the dirty old laundry.

But now three boys in a tiny kitchen all wanting me to do something different at the same time has become more than I can handle.  It's time to stop the talking and transform this house into something that will suit us for the next stage of life - bigger kitchen, a new ensuite, two new bedrooms and this time an indoor laundry!

The intention of this blog is to chronicle the experience of using external contractors to design and complete our renovation.

We are not planning to do any renovation work ourselves (although I might have to pick up a paintbrush towards the end if our money runs out!).  I have read many blogs documenting some incredible home handyman skills.  These are interesting; but they don't answer so many of the questions I have (and even questions I don't realise I should be asking) regarding renovating and the process of engaging building professionals.

For example:

• How do you go around getting a draftsman / designer?
• What should you find out about a builder before you engage them?
• What are the "real" & "extra" costs?  eg I didn't realise that builders quotes don't include things like carpets etc which impact budget planning
• Will living in my house whilst renovating impact budgets/timelines?
• IS IT REALLY AS STRESSFUL AS EVERYONE TELLS ME??!!!

So join us on our journey.  Feel free to offer your opinions and give advice!  

Why not start out by telling me the best piece of renovation advice you have given, received or heard?

I should also mention that in my work I do have some links to the building industry.  I work part-time as Communications Manager for Timber Queensland.  TQ represents everyone from the growers of timber to end users eg architects and growers.  I'm fortunate that I will have access to people that might help answer some of my questions during the renovation.  However, it's important to note that this blog is my personal opinion piece and does not represent that of Timber Queensland.