FINAL QUOTES

A few weeks after our Selection Appointments, our quotes started pouring in. In an ideal world, you would receive them, sign off on them straight away and that would be the end of it. That wasn't the case for us. I made changes to every single one of them. Most were due to me just changing my mind on the smallest of things!

With every Quote received, i went over it with a fine tooth comb. I didn't want to miss anything and i also didn't want to regret the choices down the track so it was vital i get it right.

I often lost sleep over some of these decisions because it's not something you want to rush and take lightly!

Every Post Contract Variation (PCV), was inputted in my spreadsheet to keep track of the budget. As you can see from my pic on the right, i often took time to sign off on PCV's because i needed to mull over it with some wine! Some of my best decisions were made with the help of wine! Oh, and i often consulted with those on the Wisdom Homes thread (homeone forum) - a lot of my decisions were made based on some of their feedback!

DI LORENZO TILES

I wasn't overly thrilled with the feature wall tile in the powder room so asked this to be deleted. I think at the time, i was happy with the suggestion from the consultant, but after giving it some thought, i wasn't in love with it. And if you are not loving it, trust your instinct. Because of the minimalist look i was aiming for, i think it was safer to go as simple and minimal as well. I didn't want a feature wall to date - so many trends out there!

I requested neutral colour grout to the Ensuite bathroom tiles. The grout lines will be the thinnest possible at 1.5mm which was an upgrade, i think the neutral grout will add a little bit of contrast to the dark charcoal.

Ensuite & Main Bathroom

Powder Room

Lastly, i requested the home office to be the same oak flooring as the main flooring of the house in lieu of carpet. I decided not to close off the Home Office so having the same flooring as the main floor will create flow.

ELECTRICALS

There were a few email exchanges with this one and our lovely consultant was so patient with me and happy to make the amendments (about 4 in total!) . It's hard to keep track, so it's extremely important to keep emails in order and record any requests you make on a spreadsheet. One of my first requests were the placement of some of the switches and power points. By the third email, our consultant attached a pdf of their newly introduced range with Beacon Lighting! How awesome is that! I was able to pick some pendant lights and got this included - i was thrilled to find some that i really liked too - it will save us a lot of hassle organising this after handover, which i was so pleased about!

We opted to upgrade the power points and switches to all the ground floor in Ocean Mist. Pretty to look at, but not so much on the wallet! I don't regret this choice though because i really love this Clipsal range!

COLOURS

After about 6 x Post Contract Variations (PCVs), we signed off on our Internal and External Selections. Again, i can not fault Wisdom's extremely professional consultants. I had many questions and changes that even i was beginning to annoy myself! But throughout the emails and phone calls, Sarah was always pleasure to deal with. She was so easy going and no request was too much hassle! I am surprised she hasn't blocked my emails - haha! But in fairness to me, i was always very polite and apologetic for my many requests and amendments! Sarah from the Canvas Quarter is an asset to Wisdom Homes!

TIMPELLE KITCHENS

This was the quote i was most anticipating. I was nervous but eager to find out how much damage i caused to our budget! I was extremely happy with the drawings and final plans. The major request for changes were:

- requested doors and drawers in shark edge profile (ie no handles). I love the look of seamless cabinetry. I am aiming for the minimalist look and by changing these to no handles, i think we are going to be extremely pleased, even though there are upgrade costs to do this - it's totally worth it!

- we originally had white polyurethane base cabinets which were part of Wisdom's Live Boldly Promotion. I mentioned on earlier posts how many times your choices can change over time and mine certainly has! I thought i had my heart set on a white kitchen like this pic:

But after a few weeks of Pinterest stalking, i came across a kitchen i absolutely loved! So i changed the base cabinets to Polytec Black in Finegrain, as per the pics below. I am so glad i made this change on time. We had a few changes before this so this last (3rd change) incurred an admin fee. Couldn't be happier though, it just felt right. I love how the black and white breaks up the space and adds contrast and a little character.

Must have: 2 x Hettich integrated pull out bin