Come on baby, light my fire...

 The time has come to turn our attention to our lounge room, proposed fireplace.

Our choice back HERE was for an Ecosmart, Bio ethanol Fireplace

When we designed the house, we knew we wanted a fireplace to be the focal point of the main lounge.

 I was keen to have a room without a television...somewhere for adult entertaining with no black-box in sight! (Televisions are installed in the playroom / snug and family rooms). 

We initially installed gas fittings, anticipating a gas insert but after seeing the Ecosmart display at a Grand Designs Show, we were swayed by this new, clean fuel and visually more substantial option.

The room is large so the scale was, in my opinion, perfect. 

Fast forward to this year (The Year of The House!) and we have spent the last few months designing our custom made fire box and obtaining bio ethanol burner costs. Those quotes, now in hand, have almost tripled since we first entertained this option, as more information about bio ethanol use has become available with its increased adoption.  Many commercial establishments, and early adopters, are now removing theirs due to high fuel prices and health concerns relating to the lack of flues. 

Long story - short? We were back to the 'drawing board'....

With the fireplace surround already framed and gyprocked to accommodate a 2 metre firebox, without major re-hashing, we had very limited options:

Lopi Linear: 1550 mm wide

Real Flame Simplicity: 1800 mm wide

Jetmaster Horizon: 2000mm wide

To be honest, the Real Flame was my preferred choice. 

The representative met me on site (the only one to do so) and was extremely professional. I loved the product, the variety of options and the overall look of this fire compared to rivals. This company even do a 3300 mm version. W O W! And money-wise it was a very close call.

But balancing the look I wanted with size (width) and budget had me ordering the Jetmaster Horizon Lowline Inbuilt in the 2000mm wide option (I customised the log / coals feature)

I've ordered a 'frameless' version so we can square-set the plaster up to the firebox. 

It's not a deep nor as high as we'd wanted but for our budget, and the pre-built wall cavity, still creates the grand focal point we initially desired. It has a one month lead time which is also pretty good too...

Above is how I hope it will look...

P R O G R E S S !

x KL

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You are very welcome and encouraged to comment, I love receiving feedback!

My week...

H e l l o ! ! !

It's been a busy week here with lots of different stuff going on. 

I've decided to start a de-clutter, commencing with my wardrobe. Why? 

Because I have have not come to terms with never being a size 6 or 8 again! *sob* 

(Still holding out hope for a 10 or 12 though! LOL!)

I found this brand new Oroton bag in the back of my cupboard! Eeeek! Took it for an outing to Grand Designs on Sunday but I now like a longer strap to keep my hands free so onto eBay it went. Click HERE if you're interested!

Love this little Jonathan Adler tray in silver (and the gold version too). Wishing someone in Oz would stock it so I can avoid those exy US shipping charges.

The lovely people at Rolling Stone Landscapes have given me the faux lawn supplier's deets! Yay!

Click HERE for further info!

I was thrilled to receive my recently ordered West Elm cutlery after THIS fiasco. Um....x 2!

1800 # assistance quick to apologise and easy to to get on to, but after three lengthy conversations, still no promised return authorisation docs. Apparently I wasn't charged for the $600+ of merchandise (they were very grateful I rang!)... hopefully they can survive these teething problems and don't scoot back to the US prematurely!

Darling daughter # 1, S purchased a new laptop. Oh My! Techno loaded and pretty too at < $1K!

The BF's parents have returned from OS bearing gifts....too funny!

And oops! I wrote a little one where a zero should've been on the custom shaving cabinet drawings.

A half hour installation turned into a four hour re-make, then install. Lucky he loves me!

Needless to say the vanity waits for another day. Thank God the other crucial deets were correct. 

When glazed, the cabinetry will sit perfectly flush with the walls. Whew!

Oh, and although this isn't my pic above, Mum & bub whales gave my girlfriend J and I a very similar show at brecky! Love living in paradise!!!!

x KL 

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Grand Designs - 2013

David and I attended Grand Designs Live 2013 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre on Sunday courtesy of Cafe Lighting. (Thanks guys!) We thoroughly enjoyed the 2012 exhibition and really looked forward to attending again.
As last year, the displays were arranged in four zones: Building, Kitchens, Interiors and Outdoors.

Unfortunately, some of the exhibitors we looked forward to seeing (Engineered stone displays to be specific) were absent but surprises were provided by others. 

Add caption

The creative stand designs provided some of the best inspiration. (above)

We liked being able to 'touch / feel / play' with new Hettich products though frustratingly, found the reps uneducated and therefor unable to provide any meaningful information for the newest products on display.

 

Loved the House of Bamboo stand. It showcased creative applications of their product.
How clever is the slat-look screening? (Left & middle below)

Last year we were very enamoured with the Rolling Stone Landscapes expansive display. This year it was equally visually arresting though disappointed on a few levels. I love being inspired by creative design but placing the focus on a single $9 000+ priced item (show 'special' price too!) is a turn off for the average Joe-blow.  The weathered paling fence walkway (a more budget friendly concept)...looked good but by day three of the exhibition (the day we attended) was an auditory migraine. Eeeek!

We also liked their application of synthetic grass but....the representative couldn't tell me what it was because "they got it free for display and the supply guy doesn't want the work". W.T.F.? Grrrr.

Lurved this light fitting.....and all the stand employees at Lewy. They were so enthusiastic and excited about their new products it was infectious....and we saw them on their final day!

Exy but worth every cent; Australian made / manufactured quality... *sigh*

Bonsai (O.M.G. impressive variety), cool art and arty-farty chairs from Chair Candy were surprising exhibitors.

Davey found some building 'stuff' that piqued his interest for, like, 30 seconds. Impressive!  

(Honestly, NO sarcasm implied)

And we were both really impressed with the products seen L - R above.
Modular Wall Systems, Landscape Tanks and
 Historical Timber Floors.

I drooled over the Enzie Spiral Staircases and got a glimpse of the Mr. Kevin McCloud!

 Not a bad day, all in all!

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. 
You are very welcome and encouraged to comment, I love receiving feedback! 
 If you enjoy my ramblings, perhaps consider following by Email, Bloglovin' or Google+. 
 Join this site via Google Friend's Connect so I can follow you too!

Grand Designs Live

 David, J and I attended Grand Designs Live at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre last year and found lots of interesting and inspiring displays. You can read all about our experience HERE. We enjoyed it so much that I am thrilled to be attending again. Luckily, I have won tickets  thanks to a Facebook promotion by a wholesale supplier, Cafe Lighting.!

Whoop Whoop! Many thanks!!!!

If you're interested, it is on in both Sydney, 18 - 20 October and Melbourne, 25 - 27 October

and tickets are currently selling at 30% off!

Click HERE for all the deets!

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment, I love receiving feedback!

grand designs

David, J and I attended Grand Designs Live at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre last Friday thanks to Scyon. It was well timed as we stayed nice and cool throughout an unexpected, very hot day.
I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of things we found interesting and inspiring. So sorry about the quality of the iPhone snaps!

The displays were arranged into four zones; Building, Kitchen & Bathrooms, Interiors and Outdoors.
  .

Seeing many fireplace designs was perfect timing for us as the decision of what to install at La Hacienda needs to be made before the framing is finalised and the gyprock commences upstairs. We were very impressed with this custom built Bioethanol fireplace by Ecosmart fire. I loved the larger version of their outdoor fire-pit too!

We soaked up all the landscaping inspiration as well. The landscape designers were on-hand to answer technical questions which we had by the barrow load! Free advice! Yay!
They were very accommodating and welcomed having their brains picked! Double Yay!!!
I've been trying to warm David to my suggestion of faux lawn on our front deck for two years but he's actively discussing it now as an option! Here is an example that we saw that helped sway him:

Saw a myriad of indoor and outdoor decorating items to add to the 'wish-list'. Both the pot above and the light bulbs below were already on the list but it was excellent to see / touch / experience them rather than just drooling over them in magazine pages. The crystal bulbs of Lee Broom below have definitely moved up the list! (I posted better pics before HERE)

J was kept entertained by food (expensive and very ordinary) and some interactive displays. Nice to be at a non-trade event that encourages interaction with the displays and photographs!
And we were all entertained by Grand Designs Australian Host, Peter Maddison's interview with owners of homes featured in previous episodes! 

Seeing some spectacular kitchen designs was wonderful as well. Although I love living on the Central Coast of NSW, we are generally very 'behind the times' design wise. Although I wouldn't consider the above benchtop for a spec house, it definitely had WOW factor for those committed enough!
I have posted about Taste Living before HERE and I almost put my money where my mouth is! We seriously considered bringing this massive island home! We negotiated the 'take-as-is' display down by $20K but, realistically we need plastered walls before another piece is put into storage.
Sad, but sooo true. *sigh*

The German engineered composite stone benchtop retracted over the hotplate and sink. Not many homes could accommodate it's size but it was exactly the right dimensions for our space. I just hope I don't regret this missed opportunity further down the track....

Discounting that at this point.....and having received an estimate of $30 000 for our island bench alone clad in Carrara Marble, I'm seriously open-minded to all alternatives; that look good too of course! The Smartstone display above was sheeted in Santorini Collection - Carrara which I had seen online but not in person. Although lacking the distinctive veining contrasts of the real thing (this has light 'spider-vein' colouration - no comparison really), it still looked spectacular in this large formed bench. Liked it better than the Ceasarsone variations (Frosty Carrina & London Grey) too which were displayed elsewhere. Might be a serious contender with its ease of maintenance too.

So all in all, the show was a great experience for us at this time. It has reignighted debates about style direction and material specification which we keep loosing sight of in such a slowly completed house. We're working on moving forward though and I've got a few progress pictures comming up.

Thank you so much for reading, contributing where you do and supporting my little blog.
I appreciate every follower and comment!

x KL

Thank you for stopping by my blog. You are very welcome and encouraged to comment. I love receiving feedback! I also love watching a new pretty picture box added to my followers - would love you to join me so I can get to know you too!