Brushed Mocha.

In the daylight....

Brushed Mocha Sample.

Bamboozled?

Had a chance to check out the "French Bleed" Arc bamboo (pictured in my last post) last week. It does not look anywhere near as good in real. The edges have quite a large chamfer which is stained black!

Aside from this, Bold informed me that the bamboo they use is supplied by green earth. (also known as green future, e-flooring and Kaizan flooring!) Stopped by their showroom this afternoon after work and picked up a sample of a very lovely bit of bamboo! This pic below really does not do this colour justice. (opposite to the Arc French bleed!)

Green Earth Brushed Mocha

So at this stage, Brushed Mocha bamboo it is!

Floored.

After visiting just about every display home in Brisbane and on the gold coast, I must say, hands down, rectified edge polished porcelin tiles are my pick for living area floors.

Unfortunately, their way over the top prices cannot be justified. So what can we use instead? I've never liked the ugly cement coloured grout lines of pressed edge ceramic tiles. So they are out.

A colleague suggested vinyl plank flooring. At first I was keen. I then realised that in a large area, due to the 'printed' nature of the planks, you would see a repeating pattern. Not to mention the fact that over time, it will look worn and tatty (Next time you are in a big shopping center, have a look in a lot of the clothes shops that tend to use vinyl and you will see what I mean).

Enter bamboo flooring. Harder than the hardest hardwoods, natural and random look and very affordable. My builer has quoted me for bamboo and the price is reasonable, though I have seen it much cheaper. I am waiting to find out who the supplier is as this is the colour I have in mind....

French Bleed Bamboo (Arc Bamboo)

Sketchup.

Google Sketchup is a bloody awesome bit of software! Combine this with the Maxwell Render plug-in and you can do 3D stuff like this....

Although this kitchen is not exactly the same as our chosen design (It was one I drew up for a heavily modified Plantation design), it's pretty close to what we want.

It took me a few months of watching youtube tutorials and messing around to learn enough to draw the above immages. I highly recommend sketchup and maxwell for visualising your home!

What's the plan?

Well! It has been quite some time since I've posted! Lot's been holding us back. Last year, I spent about a third of the year working in sunny Geelong and earlier this year, Joyce and I had a little baby girl!

Finally the time has come to stop paying the council money for a lump of dirt that's doing nothing!

First up, we will be building with Bold Properties. I've had quotes from Metricon, Plantation and Adenbrook (for an almost identical design.... Adenbrook have gone bankrupt! Thankfully, I only got their quote for the hell of it)

Soooo..... here is my modified version (as drawn by me) of the Bold design...

My modified design.... forgot to draw door to patio.

Having had quotes from three other builders for similar sized homes, I must say Bold are the best value for money hands down. (Although Adenbrooks quote was on par with Bold, the sales rep refused to give me a copy of the quote and required a $1500 deposit before we could proceede
further)

Bold have been extremely flexible with the design I have chosen. They have provided me with a wealth of information and details of several of their designs and have been absolutely up front about costs of everything I have asked for. Yes, we have already exceded the budget that I set, but not by much!