Dale Alcock in the Perth Hills...a few more pics...

love my shutter i have a combination family and retreat have a view so went for the see through blinds.
bed234 anad ensuite bed 4 also main bath went for shutters downstairs (we have a splitlevel) at front of house went for slimline venetians price around the five .
if you would like to see pics i can post them or they are on my building thread

We have used an online company called I Seek Blinds for wooden venetians and clear view roller blinds while renovating our current home. The quality has been awesome and we are really happy with them.

I am planning to put some curtains in the living areas in our new build & will offset the cost of having those done by doing the bedroom blinds ourselves.

I Seek do plantation shutters so they might be worth looking at if you don't mind measuring and installing yourselves.

I am a big fan of plantation shutters, especially for front windows because they look great from the outside too. Good luck with your decision!

Oh thanks ill look into that for my wet areas

Thanks everyone for the advice. I guess I don't have to rush into anything. See how the budget goes.

Well tilers have started. Was at the house with a flooring guy. Kitchen splashback was being done. Looked like it was a good job. Took a couple of photos. A couple of hours later when i was looking at the photos, i thought something wasnt right with the splashback and then i realised they werent laid in a brick pattern, they were all lined up! Had a panic attack, threw the kids in the car and raced down there. The tiler who did it wasnt there but his side kick was. I explained it to him and he said they should be able to pry them off and redo it. Ive left it with him. I feel terrible i didnt say something while i was there but i dont know why i didnt notice it. I knew it didnt look right, but i thought maybe cos it wasnt grouted? This build is making me go nuts.

On another note, our join in our benchtop along side the windows is in a very obvious spot, about 30mm in from the end closest to the dining room. Not happy with it. I'm sure someone told us that it would be near the sink. On the plans it says joins at the cabinet makers discretion. Do you think I have any grounds for it to be re done?

Omg, this build is going to make me go grey! I think I have to double my blood pressure medication!!

Oh poor Tracy. Yes why would anyone put themselves through this...and some of us id!ots several times!! I don't know if they'd redo it but I somehow doubt it as its so expensive. It's never quite how you pictured it, gotta just make the best of it. And after a while you won't notice it Tracy xx

Yes, u are right, already got my answer back from their office saying that was the optimal place for it because of blah blah blah!

And yes SB, why on earth would you do this again?? Although I guess that's what you say to yourself every time you have a baby, and then you forget the childbirth and the newborn phase and u go back for more!!

Oh bum.

We have the same issue with our downpipes. I really wanted one of the downpipes to be close to the edge of the wall so we could wall mount a fold out washing line next to it. Looking at the corresponding drain that doesn't appear to have been optimal for the builder.

Based on what you've said, looking into surrogacy now...

Don't listen to me fancy pants, having babies is fun, a lot less stressful than building you will need to have a few to fill up that house of yours!!

So my splash back has been fixed. No grout yet but pretty happy so far. Unfortunately there are cut tiles at the ends but I'm hoping once they have been grouted it won't be so noticeable. Was unavoidable if I wanted them laid this way.

This is how it was originally laid

And this is how its laid now

Tiler is finishing off the floors at the moment in the wet rooms and I guess wall tiles will be next. Hoping that it will be finished by tmw arvo but probably not. They did originally say by today but that is definitely not going to happen now.

Oh glad you noticed before they grouted! Looks much better

Wow it looks so much better the second way - its funny because initially I only saw the first photo and thought Why has traceyw had them laid like that? lol

Wow - yeah makes such a difference. Thank goodness you noticed! What colour grout are you using?

Lucky you spotted that one in time to get it fixed. Looks good!

Yes, it's a good thing we live just around the corner and I drive past it 6 times a day. Whenever there is someone there I go and have a stickybeak. The tiling layout was in the addenda so they would have had to fix it, but if it wasn't picked up so soon they would have made a lot of damage to the wall by prying them off.

Oh akb, u know me so well:) or is it that u have "shaker" on your mind!!!!

White grout. I have seen a lot of people using dark grout now with the subway tiles and I'm sure it will be a lot easier to keep it looking clean, but I'm a boring person, I like the white grout.

Love the subway tiles! I agree with the white grout - the darker grout always reminds me of the actual subway. White will be less gritty and more in line with the shaker aesthetic. Can't wait to see it all finished!

Looks fantastic and definitely better with the stretcher bond pattern. The straight bond looks more "modern" which, I think, doesn't suit the style of your kitchen.