Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 24, 2008 11:57 am Firstly, for those who endured my first floor woes (Cabinfever in particular!), here is the outcome. I tried to take as much advice as I could. I got rid of the pokey entry to Bed 1, I moved the ensuite next to the main bathroom and hence got rid of the toilet that was going to be next to a large window at the front of the house. The ensuite is still tiny but I can live with that. We'll have a glass panel to protect the vanity and also get a smaller recessed basin than what is illustrated.
Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Now my next "issue" is the facade. We decided to lose the balcony, it was costing us $5k, we figured we could better use that money elsewhere, so now we think we'll have a portico instead. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Do you have any recommendations for me? I think what's bothering me is the tall rendered panel on the right of the screen. I tried to compensate with a small ledge, you can hardly see it, to break it up. I think the house looks kind of cute, not sure if cute is what I'm after though!! To overcome the "cute" I tried darker bricks. But I think the dark bricks work against hte gable which I liked for it's seaside kind of look. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ So then I tried without the gable. I think it looks ok but I really wanted the gable. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Comments, advice, pretty pretty please? Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 4Apr 24, 2008 3:01 pm I like the gable...as you said it gives a seaside look...I've always tended towards those facades...but that's a personal preference.
Also like the outdoor couches and vanity units to the left of the house...nice touch... Colors?....I'm a bloke...I'm lucky if my socks match... mmm....donuts Homer Simpson 1956- Links: Site Costs Ready Reckoner | H1 Addiction Medical Advice | Château TDL: The Backyard Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 6Apr 24, 2008 3:39 pm Thanks D@n, that really balances it doesn't it. I'm worried that it might look strange to have the whole front rendered and the rest of the house in brick though. Might look a bit funny? Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 7Apr 24, 2008 3:41 pm Cookiemonster No balcony!! Thats the feature I liked the best. oh no! We didn't think we missed it much, but that side does look a bit funny. Think we'll have to wait and see how much the next tender comes back at, might be able to afford it, I did like it for the facade, but that's the only use it had really as we're quite close to the street, so no view to speak of. Brittany, that was why we removed it, was expensive and no view. Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 8Apr 24, 2008 3:42 pm to_do_list I like the gable...as you said it gives a seaside look...I've always tended towards those facades...but that's a personal preference. Also like the outdoor couches and vanity units to the left of the house...nice touch... Colors?....I'm a bloke...I'm lucky if my socks match... Yeah I like the seaside feel, we're quite close to Pittwater, no views or anything of course, but we wanted a bit of a nautical feel, have moved away from that when we removed the balcony, but wanted to keep that kind of feel. hehehe knew someone would notice my outdoor set up, lounges outside would be lovely, not sure about the vanity units though!! Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 9Apr 24, 2008 3:44 pm haywgl I like the render colours - what are they - look similar to Dune and Jasper the 2 colours I'd like I like the first facade picture you posted btw Nice bricks! Thanks Bel, what a coincident! Not! Yep, it's Jasper but Paperbark instead of Dune. I was reading your thread this morning, I tried Jasper and Dune but the Dune was a bit grey for a large area so I tried Paperbark. I had similar colours there before but thought I'd put these in so I had a reference point. Thanks guys! Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 10Apr 24, 2008 3:50 pm Rachelle I'm worried that it might look strange to have the whole front rendered and the rest of the house in brick though. Might look a bit funny? What about getting them to Moroka the rest of the house? Our builder provides render to the front, then moroka (which is sort of like a textured coating over brick) over the rest of the house. The Moroka can be done in paperbark to match. http://www.kellymoroka.com.au/ It's a Taubman's product, but I think Dulux make something similar as well. After 4 years - we're in! Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 11Apr 24, 2008 8:18 pm What about some planter boxes on the front outside the windows. Then you can change the look as you feel.
ie make a 30 to 50cm side shelf along the front section to place them on. re the interior. Have a look at using a slider or opening the door to the main upstairs bathroom so if some is doing a number 2, they are not barged in on if they forget to lock the door ie make the door open the other way. yes it is strange swinging it into the middle of the rom, but it also makes it more private. I've owned a hosue with this layout and they door swang as per my suggestion. Worked well. re the ensuite. think about moving the sliding door a little to the right so when your doing you makeup or drying after shower, someone else can get into the room a bit easier. Nice layout except for the lack of eco friendly design to catch the sun and reduce your power bills and help your health with less forced heating methods. My thoughts. Steve. Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 12Apr 25, 2008 9:19 am Thanks for the link stonecutter, it might be something we consider later.
We're actually just getting the builder to do the whole house in brick, including the rendered bits, and we'll get the rendering done later. We might be able to afford the moroka finish aswell, we'll have to see how we go. I think the builder charges $6k to bag the whole house and we can't afford it right now, but might be cheaper to organise ourselves later. Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 13Apr 25, 2008 9:26 am Thanks Steve, I think I will flip that door. I actually did think about it to give the loo some privacy, but I thought it might be strange to have the door opening the "wrong" way as such.
I actually flipped the whole house after your comment in my last thread (well flipped it back - if you remember that at one stage I flipped it). So now North is coming from the front right hand side of the house (so corner of garage). East will be the back corner (alfresco). So the side of the house (north east) will be our main back yard. Now I have not many windows on this side. Downstairs is the garage (needs to be on this side otherwise it pushes the house away from the left boundary and eats into yard), and the kitchen which has a big window instead of splashback. Also on this North-East side is the alrfresco at the rear and the stair well which will have a massive window. The front of the house (North-West) will have the garge, the entry and study downstairs, and then a loungeroom and Bed 1 upstairs. How do you think we could improve the design to catch more sun? More windows on the North-East side? Another one in the loungeroom upstairs? Move the window in Bed 2 (white bed), to the North East side? Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 14Apr 25, 2008 10:19 am Hi Rachelle,
Like the entrance to bed 1 ... like the dark bricks and the gable.Austral has this dark brick range called bowral. Looks fantastic. There is house in Turrmurra done in that colour. If you want can pm address to you. Paperbark is nice for windows. Wht color is the front door? W* tends to always have three windows in the front. I have made mine two ( small cost) nicer look for a facade. Just a thought though... however if your windows are long and narrow three look good too. Raz If you think you can, you can. Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 15Apr 25, 2008 10:37 am Rachelle, I like this layout, you have also got better use of the TV room as you are not walking past the TV to get into any rooms, if I remember rightly this was a problem with the old design and it does get annoying if you are watching something and people walking past the screen.
Re the balcony: I think you have made the right decision - $5000 is a lot of money for something if you are not going to use it. Balconies at the front are great if you have a view but have the downside that you feel open to the public if your house is close to the street, also in your case you would once again create traffic flow past the TV, to get to the balcony door. Re: More facade help, have removed balcony... 16Apr 25, 2008 5:43 pm Thank Raz, I'll have a look at those bricks on the Austral website.
Our house actually had two windows there! It had two on each side and one in the middle. I haven't thought too much about colours yet, just put those in there to give an idea. We might go a bit lighter than that, maybe even light cream on the big rendered part and paperbark on the portico, decisions decisions! We're thinking about a timber pivot door, or otherwise maybe just a timber door. Again not sure! Not sure if a timber door would need some other timber feature, anyone? Thanks Helyn, yeah the walking past the tv was not a good idea! BIG thanks to cabinfever for making me see the light on that one! Yeah I think $5k is a bit much for us for something that is just for looks, we're on a really tight budget. Well you won't get cooked by the afternoon sun when sitting out on the balcony on a summers afternoon but you won't have much to look at besides the neighbours… 4 3755 First time building 2 storey home in NSW. Below Current plan have separate balcony. But thinking to do a multipurpose lounge with balcony (kind of sunroom) in first floor… 0 4780 |