Our Simonds Build - Leon/Westbury

matalee · Apr 15, 2016 3:28 pm

After procrastinating & over thinking everything we've finally decided to build with Simonds.

We fell in love with the Westbury Express plan at the display village but wanted to make a structural change to the garage so decided to flick over the the Leon (which is almost like the Westbury), make the structural change & then change a few things on the Leon to make it like the Westbury.....confused yet? The structural change was only to add an extra 1m to the garage so hubby has a workshop of some sort in the garage & then while we were at it we changed the tile roof to colour bond.

We've settled on our land last Friday & have since started our retaining wall necessary for the build.

We've paid our first deposit with Simonds & have our Gallery appointment on 20 April, soil test on our block is 19 April, then we wait until our house settles to sign the contract.

So, I should be packing up my house which settles in 4 weeks or searching for a rental for the time it takes to build, but instead I'm stuck on the forum 'researching'.

matalee · Apr 16, 2016 8:06 pm

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Our block & our retaining wall being built

TomCat · Apr 16, 2016 8:49 pm

Ah the research! Lol
Congratulations, the Leon is lovely (haven't seen the Westbury. We built with Simonds - we love our house

matalee · Apr 17, 2016 2:46 pm

TomCat

Ah the research! Lol
Congratulations, the Leon is lovely (haven't seen the Westbury. We built with Simonds - we love our house

I just had a peak at your thread, your home is beautiful!!!

Halcyon · Apr 18, 2016 10:39 am

Yay another Simonds build! Looking forward to following your journey

did you make any other changes to the floor plan? I quite like the Leon, did you go for the alfresco option as well?

Make sure you take lots of photos of your selections at your gallery appointment, so you can look back on them later, but also so you can post them on here for us

matalee · Apr 18, 2016 9:05 pm

Halcyon

Yay another Simonds build! Looking forward to following your journey

did you make any other changes to the floor plan? I quite like the Leon, did you go for the alfresco option as well?

Make sure you take lots of photos of your selections at your gallery appointment, so you can look back on them later, but also so you can post them on here for us

Hi!!

We only made minor changes - moved the linen to the end of the hall, put the broom cupboard in the laundry, swapped the sliding door in the laundry to a normal external door so we have a bit more wall space for added benches later, added a door to the ensuite (why isn't that standard?!?!?).

Yes, we went with the alfresco option but we will probably add some more decking as well after hand over. I'll be sure to take a lot of photos of gallery, I'm doing gallery without hubby so he'll want to see what I've chosen. I'll post them here, too.

What Simonds plan are you building?

Halcyon · Apr 18, 2016 9:40 pm

Yes! The linen cupboard was in kind of an awkward spot wasn't it? I love the laundry door idea! Wish I'd thought of that! Does the door have windows panel things in it to let a bit of light in? Or did you add a window?

And I agree, we added a sliding door on the ensuite too!

call me old fashioned but I like a bit of privacy in the bathroom haha.

I also love the size of the wardrobes in all the rooms the Leon! Yay storage.

We will *eventually* be building a little Hudson
(I think this is a link to my thread? We haven't started building yet Haha viewtopic.php?t=80646)

Hubby must trust you to leave all the design choices to you! No pressure haha.

matalee · Apr 19, 2016 9:24 am

I love your plan, great idea with the pantry!! I'm quite jealous of it.

Yes, we've added a window into the laundry as well, I just wanted a glass panel in the door but hubby wisely suggested a window would be better for ventilation when the dryer is being used.

I've been talking through colour/design choices with hubby the last few weeks & we both like the same things, but I do feel like I'm holding all the power because I get the final say!! After looking at your thread (pretty sure it was yours) I think I'll make the change of the range hood built into the overhead cupboards in the kitchen.

Halcyon · Apr 19, 2016 10:39 am

Thank you ah yes that is very wise of hubby!

After our gallery appointment they gave us a sheet we could write any changes on, and we did make a few changes, nothing major, just noticed we didn't pick a colour for the bench top in the laundry and little things like that. Then at the contract signing they all got written down as variations that we signed as well - and that was free.

Yes we went for the cupboard rangehood thing, I think it was about $1000 extra,

but they look so much nicer! The cupboards are really thin so they're not really good for much, maybe spices or something haha.

GemmaS · Apr 19, 2016 3:10 pm

Following yours now too, looking forward to watching your build!! Your block is stunning, what a view!!!! We changed our laundry, did you see the pics on my thread?

matalee · Apr 19, 2016 4:50 pm

GemmaS

Following yours now too, looking forward to watching your build!! Your block is stunning, what a view!!!! We changed our laundry, did you see the pics on my thread?

I did see your laundry!!! I'm somewhat jealous. I have a similar design in mind to ask about at gallery tomorrow but it's on the 'want' list not the 'need' list so we'll see how we go with the price I'm quoted tomorrow whether we go ahead or not.

We love our view. We overlook the snowy mountains on the other side not pictured in the photo. It's beautiful. Standing at my sink won't be such a chore.

GemmaS · Apr 19, 2016 4:58 pm

Oh what an amazing part of the world, so jealous!

matalee · Apr 21, 2016 8:35 pm

So, here are my selections from my gallery appointment
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Timber flooring & carpet

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Kitchen cabinets (white) and bench top. And, our wet areas tile (which is more grey than pictured)

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Exterior

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My splash back tile (which I'm so in love with)

Halcyon · Apr 21, 2016 8:41 pm

Wow I love all the choices! What does hubby think? I think you've done really well!!
Yesssss we picked the same splashback tile, it's gorgeous! I think the wet area tile is the same too, haha. Is your timber flooring laminate?

matalee · Apr 21, 2016 9:03 pm

I promised hubby so faithfully that I would stick to the standard range.............and then when I saw that splash back tile I went back on my word with no regrets........I love it!!! He loves it, too. He was happy with all the selections I made. The only thing we're unsure of is the bathroom/ensuite vanities, I kept the same colours as the kitchen but now I'm starting to think I should've gone with something a little different.

We must have similiar taste if you've also picked the same grey tile for your wet areas. What colour paint did you choose for your walls? Aura? That's what I decided on.

Yes, our flooring is timber laminate.

Halcyon · Apr 21, 2016 9:16 pm

Haha well at least he likes it!! I saw this picture on instagram of the tiles in a white, they're just stunning. Did you go for the 150 or the 300 length?
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We chose aura as well, how funny! I love greys, I think everything I chose was grey haha, except the laminate floor, of course, which looks similar to yours as well

, I think ours was called sand oak... If you check out Gemmas thread she chose aura paint as well and it looks fantastic!

We second guessed ourselves heaps, if its something that keeps bugging you for a few days, it's probably something worth a change, we ended up coming up with a few little things before our signing. Did you get a form you can fill your changes out on before your contract signing?

matalee · Apr 21, 2016 9:53 pm

Yep, our floors are Sand Oak

So, we don't have 'similar' taste we have the exact same taste!!

We didn't get a form, we were just told to jot any changes down & then mention them at signing.

Halcyon · Apr 21, 2016 10:03 pm

Well then you definitely have fantastic taste

You guys will probably get started before we do so I'll get to see my choices in real scale! Haha is your block all ready to go now the retaining wall is done?

matalee · Apr 21, 2016 10:46 pm

We had the soil test done on Tuesday & we have almost finished the retaining wall so, the block is almost ready.

Now we just wait for contract signing, then council approval & then it's game on.

Halcyon · Apr 21, 2016 10:49 pm

Awesome! I'm told it flies once it all gets started, I sure hope so

how long have you been planning to build?