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

Thanks serenity! To be honest, im not sure? I know all the panels around the island bench are vinyl wrap. There will only be the 2 panels exposed, those near the laundry door. Plus the panels underneath the overhead cupboards. I'll check them out next time i can get in and let u know.

Hi Tracyw,

I'm really interested to find out as our kitchen will have the end cupboard's side on view together with the rear panel (under the breakfast bar). Also the sides of the cupboards will be seen either side of the rangehood.

At first I hadn't noticed the difference on the display home kitchen as it is white but now I'm not sure what it'll look like if I change the colour of the kitchen cupboards and whether I could get a colour-match for the laminated mdf. On the display kitchen I could see a difference in the white of the outside of the doors and the side panels

My current kitchen has laminated doors so I don't know a lot about vinyl-wrapped doors and didn't realise that the kitchen spec that we have included them. Many Thanks for offering to check your's out

Thats great you had them included already. What builder are you going through?

Hi Tracyw, we are building with Plunkett Homes in Bedfordale.

We looked at a couple of their displays. They do some really beautiful farmhouses. My sister built with them about 10 years ago down in Australind and had a very good building experience with them.

That's good to hear We are building a modified version of the Bletchley Park.

Well, nothing to report on our house. I swear in the last week and a half, there has only been a days worth of work done on it. So frustrating!

Ok, so I have a question for all my fellow builders. Do I get what I really want and spend almost $8k on shutters for the bedrooms and study, or do I get the ready made white pre made PVC blinds for $1k. It's so hard. The $7k difference could go a long way elsewhere. We are looking at staying in this house long term, till our old age really. Are shutters really that much better?

I'm just going rollers (custom made though)
Maybe one day down track ill change. I plan to do shutters for ensuite & bathroom next year sometime. $7k is alot and there's so much to do when first moving in

OMG Your asking the question I'm asking myself all the time!

I'm going to take a bit of a hiding for my answer though.

I was bought up to pay for quality and it will last you forever - which is great however so much of our house is dictated by fashion.

If you walk into a 10 year old house today, bathrooms, kitchens etc which may have been cutting edge, expensive will somehow have dated, even if they are top quality. My current bathroom and kitchen are all full wooden Benchtops and doors where you when you open the door you can see the dovetail join. I would shudder to think how much it would cost to replace with a similar quality however I'm ripping all this out because it is dated and not fashionable.

I love the look of Shutters, but they are very fashionable at the moment and I'm not in anyway saying they are going to date, just that something else may come along and be just as fashionable in a couple of years time.

I'm normally the one who has spent $$$$ but this time around I'm trying to balance fashion, quality and cost. Thus I kissed goodbye to my $3k solid stone surface powder room vanity tops even though my husband points our they will last forever

Anyway just my thoughts

PS If you really want the shutters go for it but have you looked at purchasing them online I think I saw a couple of people had done that for a significant saving

I shopped around & got quotes from about 30 odd companies, in the it was only due to a fabulous sale through Curtainworld that I was able to get the Shutters for not only my bedroom but Theatre at a huge discount. The second best price was through Boardwalk (very good price).

I would look around, get as many quotes as possible & find out who is having discounts on them & then maybe do 1 room at a time as you can.

$8K is ALOT of money especially when you have lots of little things that will need doing. ( I have managed to get my Shutters in the Master & Theatre, Block Out Rollers in all other rooms (bar WIR, Master Toilet & Shower) for just on $4K)

Good luck

Yes akb, hang your head in shame! Getting rid of such expensive cabinetry! None of the project builders would even offer solid wood cabinetry these days. Have you thought about trying to sell it?

Thanks Leanne! It's just so hard!

Hmm that's not a bad idea - we currently have a two undermount sinks sitting in a 2m long jarrah bench in the bathroom (which is why I'm determined not to have undermount in the bathrooms now) - You know that saying what is old is new again

Not sure if I've been to curtainworld yet? Will have to check them out. Thanks Charlie:)

I love my shutters and absolutely so glad I spent the money on them however I was going with curtains and the shutters were less expensive than that option. I know they are fashionable at the moment but the Americans have been using them for years and they haven't dated. I think if you are going with classic or country styling they are always going to suit that look. However as you said that extra money can also pay for a lot of other things. I was already spending more anyway so it was a no brainier for me. Just wished I had put them in more rooms. Also mine don't have the middles strip down them to open/ shut them I think they look less fussy that way. It's hard to weigh up the look vs cost. Reason we didn't put stone in our bathrooms.

I love the look of shutters but we'll be going with something else. My Aunt has them throughout her home and they look fabulous, both inside and out, but they take up a lot of window space. By that I mean that the border and the slats, even when the blind is completely open, still block out too much light for me. I want the option to have as much light coming through my windows as physically possible! We'll probably go for Roman blinds instead, possibly with curtains in several rooms.

Oh ladies, you aren't making this easy for me! Too many good points on both sides. I think the cost factor is going to win though. My DH and I added up all the costs to finish the house and it was scary let me tell you!

After a week of nothing, finally had some work done at the house today. Doors were being primed and tiler was in getting ready for tiling. He said the tiling should start on Monday. Any idea how long it will take to tile 2 bathrooms, powder room, laundry and kitchen splash back?

Going to check out a current job of a flooring company tomorrow. I'm hoping its fabulous as their quote is about mid range and I really can't be bothered looking around anymore!

Just catching up on your thread. You did end up going with 2 handles per drawer. Good choice haha. I love it.
Love shutters too. Timeless elegance woohoo. Yes can darken the room somewhat especially when they are walnut colour like ours. I open both doors on each window all the way during the day, problem solved.

Hi SB, was always going to use the doubles on the island drawers, its the ones either side of the oven i was not sure of. Ended up going singles and im happy with the result.

Still not sure about the shutters. Was going to just go for cheap venetians but now my DH as said we have spent so much $$ building the house we cant go for crap window treatments. I dont know?

+1 to your hubby, will pm you some pics in a while, that might convince you either way