17.2.12

Shopping again....but this time it's business!

Quirky 'roll-out' drainer mat sits over under mount sink.

I've been busy shopping again, but this time for clients. Everything needs to be selected for the Terrigal Project from sinks, tiles and light fixtures to roofing, soft furnishings and paint colours. (And a kazillion other things too!) For the past two days I've been focusing on the P.C items. There are always new products to be found and tried and true favourites to revisit.


I'm always impressed by the quality / style of Franke and Oliveri sinks who also seem to have a reasonable price point. I love these two examples of 'rounded' square designs because they are easy to clean and maintain. Practicality is always a top priority, particularly when the clients are a time poor professional couple with a young family.



A well laid out showroom always makes selection easier however I was surprised to find that in all but one bathroom display showroom that I visited, there were no sales persons available. Not busy with someone else. Not at lunch. Just not there. For the day
The plumbing supplies boys were helpful, (a few were impressive even) and could take my list for quotation but how very disappointing if you've got questions or need advice. I'm still extrapolating what this might mean fiscally and regarding the economy....


I particularly liked being able to 'play' with some of the products that were plumbed for use. Water flow, spray patterns and water reach were easily understood.



Our previous building clients have either provided their own personally sourced vanities or we have had them custom made within the joinery component of the building allowance. I have not shopped for redi-made vanities before and OMG! What an eye opening, jaw dropping experience this was! They are soooooooo expensive and the cheapies are just plain ugly! The best I found was the simple one pictured above. It comes in the sizes I need; 750, 900 and 1200 mm, can be wall hung, skirted or supplied with chrome legs. Straight from China of course (I need to do more research re quality)  but with a nice modern look, reverse mitre finger pull drawers and as the 1200mm wide unit was $499 R.R; (I should get these babies with trade pricing and negotiating my toosh off, for much less!) they're a immediate contender.

ADDED NOTE: 3/3/12
 I received the formal quotation from this supplier and prices didn't match the ticketed in-store items. On further enquiry it was discovered that the prices were incorrect. Drastically so. The seller was very appologetic and grateful that I had made her aware of the error. Sorry if I gave anyone else a bum steer!


Of course, with all this busy-beeing I failed to post a Happy Valentine's Day message to you all. Hope I'm forgiven and that your day was filled with lots of love as it should be. My darling children + the  residing boyfriend received a very quickly hand drawn card and sweetie treat and Hubby got the card below:


David's Valentine 'bah, hum-bug' attitude was resurrected with another annual soap-box performance. The day, according to him, is for young lovers who are either trying to bed or wed the object of their affections. Us old married cronies have no right to participate or waste precious money, energy or passion on this commercial trick. Excuse me?????


So.... this is where I booked, we dined and he paid, on Tuesday night. A sweet, romantic, seafood water front restaurant. Perfect! LOL!


And who knew that garden clippings could look so good? Murraya (Orange Jessamine, Mock Orange) branches, palm fronds and seed pods. I'll be reproducing this one at home!

x KL

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14 comments:

  1. I'm hearing you on the vanities, KL. I've been searching for ready-mades for a client and wondering if it wouldn't just be cheaper and more practical to have them custom made. I like the one you've chosen, though. Have fun bargaining!!

    M
    xxo

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    Replies
    1. Unfortunately the custom made ones are rarely cheaper but definitely better looking (especially from a 'built-in' aesthetic) and superior quality if contemporary look is required.
      x kl

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  2. Agh, the excuses that get trotted out about Valentine's Day - I know them all! Your dinner sounds like it was lovely though. And I have to agree about the garden clippings - I cut some branches from a tree in the back yard about 3 or 4 weeks ago and they look great and are still going strong in a vase in the kitchen.

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    Replies
    1. Yes! And I love the longevity of these decorations too!
      x KL

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  3. Don't get me started on vanities! I know all too well how expensive they are :( Could you possibly provide me with the make of the one pictured above? $499 for a 1200mm is a good price and it looks nice. How did the drawers feel to open?

    Also, I love that your hubby tried to get out of Vday and you didn't let him! I personally also had a great dinner with my partner and now need to kick my Dad into celebrating it a bit better in future for Mum. This year was a passing, "Oh, Happy Valentines Day Love," after hearing that I had received flowers and had a nice Vday dinner *shakes head* No excuse should be needed, nor passed up, to remind our partners how much we love them.

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  4. The card is fabulous - what a great quote! Love the notion of garden clippings in a vase - in fact, that is what most of my "floral" arrangements are at any one time.

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  5. The vanity is being imported direct from China by Coastal Tiles, 1 Bonnal Rd, Erina. P: 43651948 e: info@coastaltiles.com.au. They call it the "Gateway" Vanity. I suspect this info will only be of use if you're local as they are not a large franchised company.
    I agree with the nudges required for our parent's generation although as I get older I'd be happy with a cuppa if he remembered on his own! LOL!
    x KL

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  6. Hi KL, I don't usually have vanities but next reno I am having a vanity custom made. I am so over having nil storage options. I like the one you have pictured, simple. KP

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  7. I firstly need to know where you got that card from. I want to serve it up to my hubby! He'll like that one. lol Awesome!
    Your hubby's comments sound exactly like my hubby's, they must all go to the same pub or something to get the speel down pat??? It could be a builder thing?
    The bathroom supply centre that you went to looks amazing! So many choices, pity about the lack of sales staff, although, sounds like you had nicer things to look at???
    I know what you mean by custom or redi-made vanities. It's a hard call, sometimes a redi-made can save money for the client in the long run, because you can't 'add" anything to them.
    I find with custom, clients tend to changed, add, extend, etc onto their vanity, then presto it's twice the price they started with and ask "why is it sooo expensive???"
    Good Luck with that one!

    Have a great day.
    x Jode

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  8. love that valentine's card too...awesome! xo

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  9. Not sure if you are interested but barneys.com is doing $10 shipping to Aus if you spend over $100 :)

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