I'm building my first house. I bought a small corner plot of land in Westbrook in Truganina. (652 sqm). I wanted a corner plot for more privacy and to allow for more natural light into the house. I selected the Sentosa 52 design as I'm in love with the voids and how spacious the house feels. I also love the layout, it is very practical for me. In terms of look, I was going more towards neutral and practical (so lots of white and light grey), with the external looking a lot like the one they have on their website(Sentosa 52 facades), shades of greys. I like it cause it looks contemporary and very practical. For the void at the entrance I went with the copper stainless steel globes, one large and one smaller. I will be adding a modern chandelier/lamp feature for the kitchen island during post. I’ve also selected the Modern Facade.
This experience has been a very challenging experience, especially since I'm quite indecisive (lol) as well as cause I'm doing it on my own. (Been single for a while now)
As much research I've done I'm still constantly amazed by how much more there is to be done or to learn. So kudos to all of you, have so much respect for people building their own houses. It can be extremely stressful.
I've just gone for all my selections (electricals, internal and external) although there were still a few things that was missed. Thankfully it is the holidays so I have some extra time to make amendments.
My options/upgrades:
- 40k upgrades (promotion)
- Hebel & render construction for 1st floor
- 600 mm eaves to whole house
- 1200 mm wide pivot front door
- 3000 mm downstairs / 2700 mm upstairs ceiling heights
- increased height of doors and windows throughout
- standard variations to Laundry, Powder, Garage
- custom variations to Walk in Linen
- Made the bathroom for bedroom 5 ensuite smaller so that the sitting room is larger
- aluminium stacker doors to Outdoor room
- cavity sliding doors to bedroom 5 (ground floor), Ensuites
- black wooden balustrades with black japan finish for the rest of the stairs, as seen at their display with glass balustrade for the entrance void (when you first enter and look up at the void)
- Motion sensor for step lights (3 step lights)
- tiling to ceiling height on all walls of wet areas, stone benchtops and floating vanities throughout
- wall niche to master shower with LED lighting strip
- mirror doors to bedroom wardrobes
- 600 by 600 floor tiles category 4, carpet category 3 with 10mm underlay upstairs
- cold water point to refrigerator position (still waiting on a reply for this)
- Added a sink to the powder room
- switched the walk in linen on the ground floor into another powder room
- Upgraded roof tiles to a flat one (category 2)
- Cabling for home theatre
- Power points for air conditioning upgrade in the future (will be using a split system)
- Acoustic treatment for home theatre room and for the floor above sitting room and bedroom 5
- Flood lights with camera around the house (getting this from JB hifi)
- Ring intercom for the doorbell (jb hifi doing post)
- blinds for toilets cept for ensuite on ground floor (using textured glass)
- 3 phase external for future outdoor spa
- External power points
- multiple doubles throughout all the rooms
- power points for all toilets for future bidet to be installed
- Closed outdoor room (it's too cold most of the year to really enjoy that room so decided to close it up)
- Cabling for future fan install for rumpus area
- Cabling installed for home theatre on 1st floor
- SKYLIGHT above the bathtub on the master ensuite
- heated lamps for all toilets
- Upgraded the tall 5meter window at staircase area (Anyone else building the sentosa, DO NOTE, this is not a standard feature, it is an upgrade. Had two couples who've already started building without knowing this was the case, it is not easily seen in the elevation drawings)
- Upgraded the stacker and sliding doors to 2400mm height and category 2
- Free standing bathtub for master
- Added highlight windows for master, bedrom 5 and sitting room
- Bulkheads for theatre room, will be installing a starlight feature in the future
- Removed the wardrobe space for bedroom to enlarge the theatre room more. Will be placing the speakers in that nook and hiding them behind the large projector screen for the clean look
- Projector will be hidden in the walk in robe in the master
- The bar area next to the theatre room was modified from a walk in linen. Will be storing all the electronics, movies and popcorn machine and mini fridge there
- added a short back wall so that i could install the raised platform. That short wall has cabling for two light box features in the future
- Security system with smart features
- heating with touch screen and controllable using the smart phone app
- 13 watt white downlights for most of the house with the warm ones for certain rooms like the home theatre
- locking mechanism upgrade for the garage doors
- Driveway and letterbox selected with about $11k allowance left for landscaping Does anyone know much it would cost to do the fencing? I don't believe i have neighbours yet, does this mean I would have to bear the total cost?Also due to the pegola, does it mean that the fencing has to start after it? Below are some photos of my selections and rough layout. Any comments would be greatly greatly appreciated. There's so much to go through I feel like I'm always missing something. I can see why having a partner can make a hell lot of difference to the selection process. lol