After our external colour appointment with Metricon’s Studio M last week, we were alerted to a very useful, and relatively unknown website called Envisage. Seemingly part of Studio M, this website allows you to better visualise your external and internal colours and see how well they go together.

Here’s our take at it. While the shape of the house won’t mimic ours, it still does a pretty good job of letting us know how our colour selections will end up looking like.

We were able to choose the brick style, weatherboard texture and colour, roof type (Woodland Grey Colorbond), and even front door and window types (we’re going with wood windows on the front of the house, so we’ve naturally selected wood). You can even select the stain type you’re using on the wood!

You even have the ability to visualise the interior of your house – from a living area to the kitchen. It’s fun to play around with the different colour combinations, and try to understand how colours play off of each other better.

You do need to register to use it, but you DON’T need to be a Metricon home builder (though it does help). Enjoy!

We’ve had our external colour appointment with Metricon’s Studio M. Tell me, how many different shades of white are there? Below is the sheet that Metricon sent us of our selections, if you’re interested. It didn’t scan particularly well – in fact I’d venture to say it came out pretty bad, but the colour names are there, and you’ll get the basic idea of what we’ve gone for. The colours might be completely off, depending on your monitor.

We spent the better part of a day trying to figure out what colours we would be using for our home – and this was only the outside! In an attempt to both abide by the developers guidelines and create a  palette that contains an earthy blend of colours, we finally nailed down the colours we’ll be using for the brick, weatherboard, colorbond roof, gutters, downpipes, eaves and fascia. I think the entire process took about four hours, but I’d venture to say that most of our work was done ahead of time. It was an interesting experience to say the least, but I’m glad it’s over. Not because it was a chore to undertake (though at times it felt like it), but quite the opposite – now that we have the colours selected, we can start to really visualise how the house is going to look once it’s completed!

Below is the sheet that Metricon sent us of our selections, if you’re interested. It didn’t scan particularly well – in fact I’d venture to say it came out pretty bad, but the colour names are there, and you’ll get the basic idea of what we’ve gone for.

View it larger here.

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We had our hearts set on a beautiful Merbau deck for our outdoor room – at least until we came across an article in a recent Better Homes & Garden magazine.

Merbau is a very oily and very durable hardwood that is particularly resistant to termites. No wonder why it has become the wood of choice for decking and outdoor building. What keeps us from committing 100% to the decking is the cost ( around $350/sqm) and ongoing maintenance. We really do love the look, but the ongoing maintenance may prove to be an issue. And oh, by the way, we’ve got a dog, and likely another once we move in. I don’t know how well the wood will stand up with these guys racing across it. But what really threw us for a loop was an idea we saw in Better Homes & Gardens.

Pavers are simple, generally easy to maintain, and relatively inexpensive. When designing the new home we thought we’d go with decking for sure. We still will have the front porch decked in the entry way, but our thoughts may have changed for the backyard. We’re now thinking of paving with dark grey pavers (matching our roof and step stones around the side of the house) and framing them with Merbau slats.

But what look do you like? Vote now for the style you like best. We need help!

Well, we’ve bought the land, and we’ve started to get to know the neighbours. Yet we’re still around nine months from even being able to move in. It’s weird to stand where your kitchen will sit, or where guests will stay, and know that we will soon start calling this plot of dirt and weeds – home.

Here’s a few shots from our countless trips out to Stonecutters Ridge. Soon all these empty lots will start filling up with homes and families. Pretty crazy, huh?

So, we’ve really just started when you look at the entire build process. Even so, it has been fun, but then again we haven’t reached the building stage yet. How will it change, over the next nine months?

We’ve decided to build the Metricon Liberty 42 out at Stonecutters Ridge in North West Sydney. It’s a relatively new neighborhood with the first few homes only slated to be finished within the next few weeks. It’s all a new process to Megan and I, but it’s something we’re both looking forward to. We’re not sure what to expect, but we’re sure to learn heaps over the entire build process.

While the look of our house won’t exactly match the above picture, it’s pretty darn close. We’ve decided on the Plantation facade and although we’re not rendering the house, the brickwork color matches the color very close, and the other colors are pretty similar. We’re set to submit our colors to the developer later this week, and then hopefully to Council by Christmas. Here’s hoping it all goes smoothly.

Over the coming months we’ll update this blog to track our build process. It’s going to be an interesting experience, for sure.