Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 141Jun 22, 2015 6:10 pm Hi Ru2014, as I've posted on your other thread I've signed up with Simonds on the weekend. Just wonder if you can share the lessons that you've learned from this project, any do's and don'ts. I like how big wide your kitchen splashback is. May I know what's the width of the window? I'm trying to upgrade my kitchen appliances to a Bosch but they said they have an agreement with Technika so they can't supply me with Bosch. Did u change your appliances or stick with Technika? Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 142Jun 24, 2015 10:59 am Nice pendants RU...Good work with the selection again... Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 143Jun 24, 2015 1:14 pm Congratulations and welcome aboard!, My kitchen splashback windows are 1.8cm length x 40cm width each. They really stand out because of the white windowtrims and deep white windo sills. All my window sills are deep actually thats the benefit of building with Simonds haha. My stove is Technika i just upgraded the same brand. Any do's oh aah make sure you check all your window sizes and enlarge your windows. Dont's cant think of any at the moment. Hope that helps. Which house are you building TenaciousB. Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 145Jun 24, 2015 7:35 pm Thanks Ru, we are going to tender first for Villa Toscana with Carringdale facade. Just to make sure it's within our budget. I love the staircase and the layout of the first floor. All rooms with WIR and the massive master bdr. We've put a lot of changes to the plan that it is close to 100k above the base already, scary. Major changes are the addition of a guest room downstairs, 2740 ceiling ground floor, 2590 ceiling first floor and a long list of minor non structural changes/upgrades. Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 146Jun 24, 2015 8:46 pm sounds like our build TenaciousB ...we went $100K over (even though we got an extra $30K thrown in/off. Can't find the Villa Toscana on their site ... wanna see, wanna see! Hope you get it, would be lovely to follow another luscious Simonds build of another variety. Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 147Jun 25, 2015 1:51 am TenaciousB Thanks Ru, we are going to tender first for Villa Toscana with Carringdale facade. Just to make sure it's within our budget. I love the staircase and the layout of the first floor. All rooms with WIR and the massive master bdr. We've put a lot of changes to the plan that it is close to 100k above the base already, scary. Major changes are the addition of a guest room downstairs, 2740 ceiling ground floor, 2590 ceiling first floor and a long list of minor non structural changes/upgrades. Wow you must be building in Qld. Lovely amd massive home. I actually walked in your house, (the display) at Rochedale and your Master bedroom, where the bed is, is same size as mine and i remember when i walked in that master bedroom i loved everything in it, so much space the retreat!, OMG- you are so lucky to be building this one and you have same kitchen window splashback as mine but omehow i have a feeling yours looked smaller in width on display than mine?, just check if so i would encourage ypu to get my size or larger. The other bedrooms are huge, anyways everything jn that house is huge, its just like my Sanctuary nothing smaller. You are going to absoluteley love it. Have you seen the display home?, and are you doing the retreat as per display ( little bar). The staircase is beautiful too. Where abts are you building. Its a huge house and make sure you make wise choices with colour selections. I am happy to help with anything colour selections etc. I cant wait to see your build unfold. All the best. Another do- overhead cupboards in Kitchen, increase shower sizes, niches, get full length mirrors on vanities. I did not upgrade my bath tubs but i wish i did and also if you choose the spa bath ensure to upgrade the spa tub too as i would have liked it bigger. Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 148Jun 25, 2015 6:43 am We're building at Hilltop Carindale. I did look at the display, that's why we chose it. So beautiful. I've asked for a bigger windows in some area and add some windows. Yeah that splash back in the display looks tiny and out of proportion compare to the whole house. I haven't asked to make it bigger, I should. I also feel that the bench top is not wide enough , compare to the Plantation one it's about 10 cm thinner. I haven't asked them to make it bigger cause as it is, I'm stretching my budget alr. I asked for a freestanding bath but not spa. Did u go for tender first? At tender, were you able to change things and were they able to tell you the exact pricing straight away? How does it take for them to get u the tender? I feel that they're a bit slower now as they're getting more customer. Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 149Jun 25, 2015 6:50 am Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I haven't got the proper file yet so I just took a pic of the plan. Ground floor is modified to fit a guest room. Not entirely sure about the kitchen layout and how we need to enter the laundry from the powder room. But we need to fit in so many things that that's the only way to do it. We want the L shape opening at the back too to create that open feel. I haven't slept properly for 2 weeks thinking about this. The joy of building. Would luv to get some input on it especially the kitchen. Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 150Jun 25, 2015 7:56 am Your floor plan is superb tenaciousB...Especially the stairs and the cloak room... How many squares is it in total? I would have thought of moving the kitchen sink into panty to get more space there and then change WIP to butler's pantry, if there is enough space there ... Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 151Jun 25, 2015 12:14 pm TenaciousB We're building at Hilltop Carindale. I did look at the display, that's why we chose it. So beautiful. I've asked for a bigger windows in some area and add some windows. Yeah that splash back in the display looks tiny and out of proportion compare to the whole house. I haven't asked to make it bigger, I should. I also feel that the bench top is not wide enough , compare to the Plantation one it's about 10 cm thinner. I haven't asked them to make it bigger cause as it is, I'm stretching my budget alr. I asked for a freestanding bath but not spa. Did u go for tender first? At tender, were you able to change things and were they able to tell you the exact pricing straight away? How does it take for them to get u the tender? I feel that they're a bit slower now as they're getting more customer. Yes so do increase the size of window splashback maybe a little more than mine in width. With the freestanding bath do ask for the size and picture as you may be surprised with a tiny looking bath. Funny you mentiined abt the thinner benchtop, did you want to say width is smaller?, yes i felt the same because Plantations island bench are wider. So here is the thing coz you and me have walked the same path from Plantation to Simonds. Plantations standard inclusions are upgrades to Simonds so if you still want your house to look like plantations in finishing you will have to upgrade everything or else you wmay be dissapointed and regret why you left Plantations. I did upgrade most of the things except widen bench tops(regrets), thick/deep pantry shelves (which i am now getting cabinetry person to come and change), bath tubs(regrets), toilets. I saw you mentioned you have increased the ceiling height to 2740- i would advice you to increase all windows and internal door sizes as well as i did not and i can see the effect already ( doesnt look nice), it is just me noticing it, hubby doesnt. In regards to your kitchen i would have liked the original kitchen layout, also remove sink from island bench and if you really want a 2nd sink, put one in your pantry then you will have to change the pantry to butlers pantry. Keep the sink on the same benchtop with stove. I have that and works well. Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 153Jun 25, 2015 12:38 pm Oh Ru, u probably understand my dilemma. I luv simonds layout and facade. But I prefer Plantation kitchen. Kitchen is a big deal in a house. At the moment Plantation is more expensive than Simonds. But I wonder if I include all those changes to the kitchen whether it'll work out to be more expensive. The problem is that I've fallen in love with the design, I feel like I 'owned' it cause I've spent so much time to make everyone's Wishlist in the plan (hubby and MIL). If you have to the benefit of hindsight would u still go with Simonds bearing in mind all ur 'regrets' . Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 154Jun 25, 2015 1:15 pm TenaciousB Oh Ru, u probably understand my dilemma. I luv simonds layout and facade. But I prefer Plantation kitchen. Kitchen is a big deal in a house. At the moment Plantation is more expensive than Simonds. But I wonder if I include all those changes to the kitchen whether it'll work out to be more expensive. The problem is that I've fallen in love with the design, I feel like I 'owned' it cause I've spent so much time to make everyone's Wishlist in the plan (hubby and MIL). If you have to the benefit of hindsight would u still go with Simonds bearing in mind all ur 'regrets' . Nothing wrong with Simonds but if i have to build again i will not build with Simonds but with Plantations. I like Plantations finish products. Also Simonds took 7 excrutiating months to build my house. Simonds still works out cheaper even after upgrading everything. Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 155Jun 27, 2015 6:13 am Ru after your post I quickly asked for my kitchen spec to be changed to make it wider like the Plantation one. I'm not sure if they're able to do it and what's the cost involved but I feel it's a necessary upgrade. I prob will only get the quote back next week will keep u posted. I told them honestly that I prefer Plantation kitchen but I love Simonds layout. They've changed my layout slightly then the pic I posted before. It is looking better now. I don't have to go through the powder room to get to the laundry but my hubby has to forego of his workshop and cloak/mud area. Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 156Jun 27, 2015 8:00 am TenaciousB Ru after your post I quickly asked for my kitchen spec to be changed to make it wider like the Plantation one. I'm not sure if they're able to do it and what's the cost involved but I feel it's a necessary upgrade. I prob will only get the quote back next week will keep u posted. I told them honestly that I prefer Plantation kitchen but I love Simonds layout. They've changed my layout slightly then the pic I posted before. It is looking better now. I don't have to go through the powder room to get to the laundry but my hubby has to forego of his workshop and cloak/mud area. Oh ok. I think thats a wiser decision. You would want your Kitchen to look best so do your best now. Thats good you got an entry straight. Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 157Jun 27, 2015 4:55 pm Hi Tenacious, Wow! Wow! Wow! We don't have this design in Melbourne, what a beautiful design and layout. Properly one of the best simonds layout I have seen especially that spiral stairs. RU and Harmelb are absolute right in all their advice and suggestion talking from experience with simonds . My advice is please please do not rush and make sure you make all the changes and you are happy before you sign the contract if you have not already. For my advice on the kitchen layout I would have prefer swapping the position of the theatre room with the kitchen meaning the kitchen with the pantry goes to the left of the house and the theatre room to the right and the dinning also comes to the right aswel so making the living area to look a little bit bigger as it will just be ur dining table on that side. The suggestion of removing the sink on the benchtop I think is very good as I did with mine too. Also RU is absolutely correct don't ever think things are standard with simonds it is an upgrade trust me. Best of luck as we follow your build. Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 158Jun 28, 2015 1:51 am Just checked out the QLD site. Wow, that Villa Toscana is a beautiful looking home. Are you thinking of the same façade TenaciousB? Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 159Jun 28, 2015 7:06 am Hi dran15, thanks for the input, I think it's a great idea to make the living area feels bigger by combining with dining. I might have to 'settle' with the current layout first as I'm keen to get a final quote then we can switch around the room config. TomCat I posted the same pic in your thread . I'm actually thinking of getting the Carringdale facade. I didn't think of this facade to be honest cause it wasn't available as an option you can choose. I think they just do it for the display. But another great idea, maybe I can ask about this facade. That's why I was asking TK15 where they're building cause if we build in the same location it'll be funny, not that it matters. Re: Simonds Sanctuary in Brisbane- Moved in, Pics!! 160Jun 28, 2015 9:33 pm k Glad you're loving life in your Sanctuary RU Joe, it depends on your certifier but we are noticing the ones we deal with are really cracking down. So i would recommend you follow your approved landscaping plans to… 4 11064 Hi Simeon, Thank you for laying it down for us. Makes sense. Appreciate it very much. Have a nice day. Cheers 2 9125 Hello Josh, This is Irving from PRIMA, we are a manufacturer of the staircase, railings, kitchen cabinets, windows, doors from China. If you have requirement to purchase… 0 5599 |