Glimpse of the facade

The journey to building our dream home started over 3 years ago. It started with countless weekend expeditions to HomeWorld visiting one display home after another. Right from the get go, Metricon had impressed us with their beautiful contemporary designs. The Laguna was at the top of our list until we saw a video showcasing the Hudson.

It was a leap of faith making the decision to build a design based on the floor plan, image gallery and a video. It would have been ideal to visit a display home to get a feel of the space but unfortunately the Hudson is not on show in NSW or anywhere else in Australia. Well it sure looks beautiful in the photos and video so if ours end up half decent then I’ll be one very happy camper.

I’m a visual person and I’d been dying to see how our modified facade and chosen colours would look like together.  My dabbling in SketchUp has been an epic fail and the closest I’d come to getting an image of the front elevation is through Envisage. Not exactly the same facade nor the colours but close enough to get a glimpse of how well or not so well the colours complement each other.

via Envisage – based on Kingston  Facade

so, imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon an Australian e-business that produces architectural visualisations. NewHomeVisuals specialise in creating 2D elevation plans and photographic images at very affordable prices. The products, textures and colours are the exact match as specified by the suppliers. I put my order in quick smart and in less than 24 hours I had the elevation visual delivered straight to my inbox. Talk about a quick turnaround!

Seeing the facade mock-up, I’m starting to second guess our colour selections. The cladding painted in Dulux Saudi Sand looks particularly different to the live sample. On the monitor, it looks  a lot darker and more brown than I’d envisaged.

Our Hudson Facade via New Home Visuals

We were inspired to use the cladding colour by the render on this Metricon display home. It’s painted in Saudi Sand and this is the shade we hope ours to come up in real life. Time will tell.

Render in Dulux Saudi Sand

I wish I’d known about this service before the exterior colour appointment. With our plans on the verge of council submission, I don’t think I should be making any changes or I run the risk of  incurring the husband’s wrath.

Landscape Plans

You know that saying ‘when it rains, it pours‘? Well after weeks of not much real action, it has been a busy week on the admin front. We signed off on the demolition quote after much deliberation on the contractor to hire and a bit of haggling over the fine print. And as I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, our file is also now with the Metricon design team working on preparing all the plans, drawings and reports required for council submission. One of these reports is a landscape plan showing the proposed hard and soft landscape works and planting schedules including proposed planting location, species, heights and spreads.

Landscape Plans

Nick and I had our initial landscape consultation with Emily from OutThere Landscapes and Design to discuss our ideas for the front and rear garden. If first impressions are anything to go by then we are in very capable hands. Emily was not only knowledgeable about the ins and outs of our local council requirements but she was so easy to talk to and shared a lot of common aesthetic. We left the meeting confident and happy that she fully understood our vision.

So what is ‘the brief‘ I hear you ask? Nick and I are no green thumbs so we are going for something practical that looks attractive but requires very little upkeep. We want a relaxing space for our family to enjoy and a child-friendly backyard where our kids could run around and play to their hearts content.

We also want a seamless transition between the indoor and outdoor living spaces by putting in decking that wraps around the whole back section of the house. The bucket list is brimming with nice-to-have’s that at this point are heavily dependent on how well we stick to the budget. One on the wish list is the in-ground concrete pool that we would love to build before the new house but is now on the wait list after handover.

Here are some of the ideas for the front garden

Front fencing with slats to give the house some definition

Paved pathway to the front door

Timber decking around the portico

For the back garden, I envision a lush weed-resistant lawn worthy of a world class golf course with low maintenance perimeter plants. I’m also dreaming of an outdoor entertainer’s delight with built-in barbecue and an inviting oasis to put our feet up and enjoy a glass of chardy.

My idea of a perfect outdoor living space

Dream pool

Collage of beautiful images for the side garden

I can’t wait to see our vision for the exterior reflected in Emily’s landscape plan. It’s so good to be ticking things off the to-do list! Baby steps…