Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Nov 03, 2012 8:26 pm We are in tender stage of building and will be doing so in a popular part of the estate for premium custom builds. We can't afford custom build but want to add a few upgrades to make the house feel a bit expensive. What are features in a house that make it feel special? I had a look at two open homes today at a similar price yet each had such different upgrades. Now I just feel confused on what I should upgrade and what things don't need it. My faves are floor to ceiling tiles in the bathrooms, large tiles on flooring and poly kitchens with stone benchtops. What else would you suggest? Land at Chermside At tender stage Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 2Nov 03, 2012 9:04 pm First impressions count. a good front door makes a big difference. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 4Nov 03, 2012 9:30 pm Good quality flooring throughout the house, front door like bashworth said, little things like nice and shiny taps and sinks, a good paint job and feature walls to make it feel a bit more special. I honestly hate tiles in living areas, but I don't know what other people feel about this; I know it's fairly common in Australia. But if it were me (and as we will do in our own house), I would invest in wood look flooring in the main living areas (living, meals, kitchen, rumpus if you have one). ETA: I agree that an upgraded splashback (such as glass) looks great and increases that "expensive" look as well! Settlement: 10.02.13 Slab: 06.03.13 Frame: 08.03.13 Lock-up: 05.04.13 Handover: 03.06.13 Build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59555 Brisbane Photography Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 5Nov 04, 2012 7:00 am I agree with everything that has been said so far, but really the list could go on and on. Just pick a few of your most desired things, you are the ones living in the home and your family is really what makes it truly "special"... having said that, things that make it seem expensive are: Stone benchtops in the kitchen are a must, I also like the floor to ceiling tiles in bathrooms and a nice front door/facade. I would probably add light fittings are important - choose a few nice feature pendants. Also, maybe some nice front external lighting. If you can't afford to do all the things mentioned in this thread then I would say some fabulous furniture and artwork - an ordinary room can look sensational and expensive with the right decor. Good luck. Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 7Nov 04, 2012 10:03 am I think gardens outside (front and back) make a big difference, it doesn't have to cost a big bundle to get a nice garden set up, just a long time (growing things from cuttings or from immature plants etc) but so worthwhile in the end.
Unfortunately I don't think people think about the garden in a monetary perspective, like what it's worth due to time and effort it took to get to that stage, but it's something that just makes a house that much nicer and more appealing without even thinking about it. And street appeal is the first impression people will get. The nicest house can be made to look ugly and cluttered with terrible furniture. Likewise an ordinary house can be furnished to look quite nice as well. As long as you have good quality and well chosen colour schemes for the basics that would be expensive to change later on (kitchen, flooring, bathroom) Me, I like a nice bath tub. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 8Nov 04, 2012 3:27 pm internal doors are cheap to change to something a bit more special than plain panelled. People always comment on our doors and they were $15 over plain ones. if you cant go 2.7 high ceilings, use 2 step/ alto coving (the cornice stuff) makes the ceiling appear higher. good lights. stone or 100mm laminate benches paint it in classic colours. maybe use wallpaper somewhere. I like niches in a hall. we have one at the end, and have wallpapered it and had a light directed into it. Didnt cost much, but gives good bang for the buck. we have a bath like pebble, but spent a few dollars on the spout. A BIG TALKING POINT as in 'wow, nice' invest in a bling mirror somewhere, people always like a good mirror. makes the place appear classy, cos mirrors are not cheap, look out for less expensive ones but that have a wow factor. good furniture which has been mentioned. And nice lamps. Nice lamps are the same price people as boring lamps! get some potted colour happening, and tidy the garden Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 9Nov 04, 2012 7:21 pm i know what you mean. for our house we wanted maximum wow factor with minimal $$$ spent. What we did was import top of the range miele stuff from the UK. From here it would of cost 45k all up for the appliances, but it ended up being 25k, this included shipping, taxes, gst. At the same time I imported 2 leather lounges for 6k. They were floor stock. The equivalent here for both of them was 20k!!! I also got really nice taps from a mate who had excess from his build. Saved me 40% off RRP. On ebay, i bought clipsal brushed metal switch plates for $20 each. From wholesaler my sparky bro quoted me ~$45-50 each (COST). Looking on classifieds I also scored 70m2 of boral silkwood pre-engineered jarrah for $70/m2 . I rang 2 different flooring places and they both quoted me $140+/m2 for supply ONLY. If you are prepared to do research and shop around, think about what people see and use in the house, try and upgrade those parts. Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 10Nov 05, 2012 6:13 am Hi everyone i think a nice Front door, as its the first thing you see, also lighting, interesting pendants, over the main areas like kitchen bench, dining table and main room, and hoping to get one in our ensuite after I speak to the sparkie next week. Also an interesting freestanding bath, we went for a black one and I love raised ceilings Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 11Nov 05, 2012 3:33 pm Keep the house minimalistic and use the interior design to make it come alive. Also, music, the smell of coffee and happy inhabitants. These make a house feel more special that all the house and its furnishing. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 12Nov 05, 2012 10:24 pm When we were looking at purchasing an existing home... Things I noticed had the wow factor was front door, and landscaping at front, flooring... If it was a cheaper laminated floor or had creaking floorboards it was not given a second look. Higher ceilings gave rooms a roomy feel, rooms had to be well lit by sunlight, alfresco areas were inviting, modern bathrooms and kitchens. All other details are personal touches. Built a Hawthorne 31 with EB nessjeffdreamhouse.blogspot.com.au Building an investment now with New Living homes... We are at nearly finished... Just landscaping and driveway to go! Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 13Nov 07, 2012 5:48 am I think open plan with rooms flowing one into another, with lots of natural light flooding in due to the near-perfect orientation and window placement. Of course, there must be many other factors. good luck Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 14Nov 13, 2012 9:40 pm Your front entry is important. After my first build i am not overly impressed, but its was my first go, so know a bit more now. The following is what I am looking for in an entry for my next build: - taller front double doors (I currently have single standard 820mm) - 9ft high ceilings (I currently have 8ft), but dropped/recessed at the edges - reflective porcelain tiles (I currently have a matt timber laminate) - wall niches for picture frames (I currently have 2 but they cut outs and I don't like that I can see into my lounge) The rest can be dressed up later, but the above is my minimum. Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 16Nov 27, 2012 7:49 am We went through the same process, basically we focused on what can not be changed later on and didn't worry about upgrading those things we can change later. We also pulled a few items from the build and are doing these post hand over (no builders margin). It is said that for every $1 you put in to your kitchen and bathrooms you get double back in resale so we paid to upgrade: Kitchen bench - upgraded to 50mm stone with waterfall edges appliances - pulled from our build and went to Winnings to get Miele Polyurethane kitchen with lots of pot draws all with bevelled edge (no handles) Island bench lighting - pulled out and putting in our own pendants above the bench Added bulkhead to above Kitchen cupboards upgraded ceiling height (10ft) and also the door heights to compensate Upgraded internal doors upgraded bathrooms - all floor to ceiling tile Upgraded front doors ( 2 x 820's) Upgraded brick to smoothface (couldn't afford render) Upgraded to Jazz cornice had bulkheads in outdoor lanai, entry foyer and main Family/meals/kitchen Insured Large walk in pantry to kitchen Insured good sized bedrooms Pulled out the aircon (single build so can do this very easy later on) pulled out main floor tiling - getting a friend to do post build Pulled out carpet - went direct to carpet court - fraction of the price Pulled out kitchen sink/tap - got our own (FRANKE black toughened glass sink - feature against the white stone) Don't worry about taps, shower heads etc - you can easily change these later at minimal cost Pulled out ensuite bath - bought free standing stone bath for $1495 from TASTE living (my new favourite store!) Found a really good priced builder - all the above even including us putting in the Miele (small fortune) and all the other stuff we pulled out - still under $980sqm. Still doesn't include air con - this is going to be about $14k for us even with a friend doing it and we can do without this until we have done the garden retaining walls etc, which are far more important for us at this stage. I have come to realise you can't have everything upfront, so put in what you can't change and then add as you can afford over time to those you can - gardens, landscaping if done right can come to about 30% of your build (obviously depending on block size) and is often not thought about. retaining walls, driveways etc if your builder is not doing this (ours isn't - pulled it), can be very expensive and the outside will be a work in progress, but my husband owns a wholesale nursery and is a horticulturalist and great at garden design, so we are lucky in that respect. Good Luck Blog: http://cbcbuild.blogspot.com.au/ Building Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=62155 Re: What do you think makes a house feel 'special'? 17Nov 27, 2012 8:03 am something as simple as the shape/style of windows makes a big difference and may not cost any extra to change. so many houses have just a plain square window on the front of the house but it is easily changed to multiple windows spaced vertically or horizontally etc to give a more modern/expensive look. In my opinion just a few more indoor plants and you're done. It's already a lovely space, you've managed a classic style without being too cluttered and that creates a… 1 17913 No. It's not original. Circa early to mid 90s would be my guess and maybe even as late as early 2000s 1 6623 Looking to start the journey of becoming an owner builder in SA. Feeling pretty (overly) confident on the building and construction details, but really struggling to find… 0 8366 |