Custom Farmhouse Build | Settling in & a few more pics...

Hi Sammi - just discovered ur thread too - your home looks gorgeous. Did I read somewhere that your floors are Bamboo?? Are you happy with them, and what is the colour and brand. They look great. Do you have any expansion trims. I am planning to put Bamboo in my home, but have been told I need expansion trims throughout , and that looks awful.

Hullo!

Yes we have bamboo, no we are not happy with our particular product. We have the Darren Palmer Provincial Lane 'Sepia' strandwoven bamboo as a floating floor. I would not recommend this. Yes it looks pretty for about 5 seconds after cleaning it, but beyond that the finish scratches from so much as looking at it wrong, not kidding. The scratches are very noticeable on this particular floor. I don't know whether this applies to all dark floors but every. speck. of. dust. shows. To keep it looking nice, I would have to vacuum and mop every day. I don't even have children, just me and my husband! I have always loved the look of dark flooring but I have to admit, I definitely regret our choice and spending so much for an entire house of it.

In our previous house we had solid Australian hardwood with a matte sealant. I think perhaps hardwood with a dark stain and low sheen seal would have been a more appropriate choice for us.

HOWEVER: This is not to say that bamboo is bad, only to say that I would not recommend Provincial Lane 'Sepia' bamboo. Bamboo in itself is incredibly hard wearing and more water resistant than hardwoods. I think overall it is the engineered finish that lets this particular product down.

We have expansion trims in almost all doorways, however with hardwood or bamboo this is unavoidable. Better to have a few trims (ours are only in doorways and not noticeable when doors are closed) than a floor of cupped, crushed wood!

Apologies that this is a bit of a negative response but I think it's best to be honest!

Thanks Sammi
I have been so confused about the bamboo, especially in terms of expansion trims. I have kids, so not sure if it will be a good idea to have the bamboo. We are looking at Vedura Brown Sugar, which is also quite dark but has a little texture in it, I haven't seen any reviews for it though. Does ur floor have any sort of texture in it??

No texture on ours, it's a smooth semi-gloss finish. Texture might be better as would disguise things but not sure if harder to clean? I wouldn't dismiss bamboo, I'm sure there are great products out there. Best to test samples first... We have to be careful vacuuming our floor as even the vacuum scratches it

Hi Sammi O! Your home is spectacular! It must be a joy to be settled in. I was hoping you could answer a couple of questions for me... I was looking at whisper white for internal wall colour and just love the freshness of your surfmist. Are you still pleased with your choice? Also , I decided I had to win lotto to afford the pendant lights I want for the kitchen- industrial style like yours! But noticed you scored yours for pretty reasonable. Do you mind sharing where they are from? You know you cant build such a beautiful home with impeccable taste and not expect us all to drool over it!! Thanks heaps.

Hi Rache, thanks for the lovely comments

In my old house I had whisper white in a spare bedroom and it's a lovely choice, white without any of the starkness and a hint of gray! Surfmist as an internal colour is also beautiful and am still pleased as punch with it. In my hunt for a nice neutral colour to go throughout the house, I wanted something dark enough that white trim/cornice would pop against it, light enough that it would remain bright and airy and a proper gray that didn't throw any other tones and Surfmist has definitely ticked all the boxes. In my old house I painted the entire house 'Limed White' before discovering that in most light, it looks lilac! Wasn't keen to make that mistake again and Surfmist has looked great in all light. I thought I would probably paint again once I moved as I like to change things up frequently, but haven't felt that urge to yet so it must be a good sign

The pendant lights are from Schots and actually weren't what I expected when I bought them. I bought the 'gun metal black' pendants and thought they were actually going to be black when in reality they are actually more of a gun metal grey... I still love them though so wasn't too bothered The lights we ended up with are the Parisian Pendant Light - http://www.schots.com.au/parisian-pendant-light-in-gun-black/. Well priced and happy with them too

Very stylish! Congratulations on your lovely new home.

Thankyou so much Sammi. I really appreciate your info. Nice to see you still have the H1 bug with your prompt reply, despite being nearly finished!

Just checked out that site Sammi. The gun black looks black as on there. Do you reckon they could have sent you the brushed nickel by mistake? Personally, if it was a mistake, what a great score coz they are perfect!

Just posting to let you know that i thoroughly enjoyed looking at the photos and reading about your build from start to finish! What an amazing home you have! LOOOOOOOOVE your decorating style too - it's inspired me! Cannot wait to start our build now. Thank you so much for sharing!

Sammi-O what a stunning home you have. Love the raked ceilings, the open plan living & the parents retreat. I also have to admit that i 'pinned' a few of your pics for future reference!
Congratulations on all your hard work.
How are you going with the patio and landscaping?

Love you whole house it is beautiful Your styling is amazing. Just wondering where you got your pendant lights from?

Adore those industrial pendants and the shaker cabs! A great idea I got from you is your "whole house" mood board. there's a lovely flow to your house. As koll says, you have have a great eye for styling Sammi, well done!!

Your house is stunning, thanks for sharing more photos!

Love love! That kitchen is glorious! Did you get your doors custom made, or were they an upgrade through the builder?

I love everything you have done with your home furniture choices are lovely!!

gorgeous kitchen! Love the styling of the whole house too