#11663



This unique Queensland home on Russell Island perfectly encapsulates island living – a tailor-made kit home with plenty of room to move around and a smart neutral colour scheme. Extra additions requested by the homeowners, like a luxury master suite, a modern designer kitchen and a sewing room, provide the perfect finishing touches.

#37267



Although Garth Chapman Queenslanders pride themselves on creating traditional Queenslander designs, they also offer a range of custom build options – and every home they create is uniquely tailored to minimise the effects of the summer sun, maximise exposure to the winter sun and also make use of any prevailing breezes to naturally heat and cool the home, ensuring your home is cool in summer and energy efficient.

#6988



This unique Queensland home came with its own individual requirements because of its location. Being built in the Eco Village in the Currumbin Valley, it was imperative that every material used in the build had to be both sustainable and non-toxic. Moulded on the style of a traditional Queensland cottage, the build incorporated recycled timber – including western red cedar, mixed hardwood and hoop pine, as well as Hardies cladding and eco-ply blend with a corrugated iron roof. To further add to the sustainability of the modified kit home, a range of natural heating and cooling features are used to balance out the temperature changes that accompany the location. To preserve heat, the living room features a seven-tonne blue metal rock, locally quarried, to attract the warmth of the sun through high fixed windows during the day and conserve it as the temperature drops. Add to this a range of other features tailored to create a natural home, and the build offers a true insight into the freedom that can be offered by an eco-friendly design.

#7078



Featured in Series 2 of Grand Designs Australia, the Trinity Beach Pole House is the perfect example of a completely unique Queensland home. Although originally living in Melbourne, homeowners Daniel and Andrew fell in love with the Daintree Rainforest after travelling there for a holiday at the end of 2007, deciding to build their dream home there – inspired by Balinese and Japanese styles. Using stilts to counteract the difficult sloping nature of the site, the design also allows for natural heating and cooling.



See more fantastic and inspiring unique Queensland Homes on our Queensland Homes page here

The post 4 gorgeously unique Queensland homes appeared first on Completehome.

Storybook Designer Homes loves knockdown-rebuild projects. With agencies Australia-wide, the company ensures every home is custom-designed and budget controlled to suit the unique needs of the clients. The selected example is to be built in Mount Eliza, Victoria, for a wonderful family with two young children. The couple has their own business — both are fashion designers working in the home environment — so it was imperative their workplace be full of character to encourage and inspire creativity.

Upstairs, above the hustle and bustle of family life and accessed by a single staircase, is a private office space featuring a cathedral ceiling and French doors, which open to a balcony. This design gives the owners the choice to work indoors or out and is just a few steps away from the coffee machine — a must when working. The home is zoned for the children to have their own playroom, bathrooms and spacious bedrooms. This area connects with the main house via a fabulous open staircase that appears as you open the front door. Downstairs, the master bedroom is equipped with a spacious ensuite and a Sex and the City-style walk-in robe. Guests are tucked away in a private corner at the front of the house, with a third bathroom/powder room close by.

Off the entry, a peek through the glass French doors of the library provides a glimpse of the relaxing water feature planned for the enclosed courtyard. Out back, the main split-level living area has an open fireplace and dramatic high cathedral ceiling. Here, the emphasis is on incorporating lots of glass to capture morning and northern light. Generous folding doors and an open servery from the kitchen create the perfect indoor-outdoor entertaining spot. Central to the kitchen is a huge breakfast and conversation island bench and hidden in the corner is a family-sized pantry.

Although Storybook Designer Homes places great importance on street appeal, this house looks terrific from every aspect. It captures the clients’ brief perfectly, delivering a Hamptons-style design, which caters to the family’s lifestyle.

To bring your wish list to life, visit the Storybook Designer Homes website to view hundreds of inspiring design solutions for your custom-designed home.

For more information

Storybook Designer Homes

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Getting away from it all – it’s something that many of us think or dream about. Ian Jones & Jacqui Christie are a couple who are making it happen and they’re going to share their building adventure with us. In this three part series we’ll learn about the steps they took and the decisions they’re making as they build their dream home and B&B.

Ian and Jacqui found themselves in an interesting situation. They had discovered the block of their dreams nestled in amongst the Hunter Valley vineyards and beautiful, natural bush.  But the site also presented a myriad of challenges. These included no power, being in a bush fire zone, reactive clay soil, an extremely long, scenic driveway (1.2km) and lots of termites.  “The termites wasted no time, they ate the surveyors pegs within six weeks”, Ian said.

Their site challenges forced Ian and Jacqui to source unique products and building solutions.  In addition they needed to generate their own electricity, capture and store their own water so they can still enjoy life’s luxuries. “As long as I have my hair dryer, coffee machine and hot shower I’m right” says Jacqui.

In terms of design, they decided that the house needed to be raised and lightweight.
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It had always been on Ian’s bucket list to build his own home as he had previously renovated four houses.  If they engaged a regular builder the cost would have been prohibitive so they needed to find a simpler solution – a kit solution. Early in the planning process, some three years earlier, they came across Spantec at a HIA show and were impressed with their Boxspan steel flooring and Ezipier systems. This enabled them to take on the build themselves and save on labour costs making it easier to get out of their highly reactive soil.

Spantec’s Boxspan steel flooring and Ezipier systems are non-combustible and addressed the problem of building in a bushfire prone area. Being steel, it also addressed the major termite issue. “You don’t see termites but they are there!” Ian said. Ian and Jacqui chose Spantec products for their simplicity. This included both the neat, ‘finished’ look and the simpler building process overall.

With the building platform decided the next step was to choose a kit home. They plan to share their piece of paradise with others by opening a Bed & Breakfast or retreat once their home is completed.

They wanted flexibility and a steel frame so they looked at PAAL Kit Homes and met Doug Young. Ian says “Doug was happy to work with us and customise what we wanted”. With their planned B&B they wanted to specify wider doors and hallways as well as bigger bathrooms to ensure accessibility for guests.  PAAL were happy to accommodate their requirements.

With all the decisions made, in early 2016 Ian got to work.

Keep an eye out for part 2, when you’ll find out how the floor came together followed by the wall and roof frames!

For more information

Spantec Systems

The post Building your ideal hideaway home: part 1 of 3 appeared first on Completehome.

Whether you’re seeking the perfect family home, space to entertain, or chasing an ideal sea or tree change, Straight Edge Steel Frame Homes will have something for you. By providing steel frame kit homes in various sizes and styles to suit a variety of requirements, Straight Edge prides itself on flexibility and illustrates this value perfectly with the Inspiration 3 home.

This residence has four generous bedrooms as well as a large functional games room that is fantastic for the kids, but perhaps the best feature of this home is the central open-plan living area. At 178m², this area allows the ample kitchen space to become a focal point of the home.

The removal of walls here invites natural light to travel through, connecting indoor and outdoor spaces. This spot is an excellent location for entertaining and prevents overcrowding in other parts of the home. Theopen space is hooded by a beautiful raked ceiling, adding to the natural light flow and unique aesthetic.

Big sliding doors, windows and great storage space add to the list of convenient bonuses within this beautiful home. For owner-builders who enjoy a hands-on approach, Straight Edge offers great flexibility as you are in control of the ultimate look and end result, indoors and out. Clients are able to make as many free changes to the plan as they like before settling on the finalised version.

Straight Edge maintains that poor-quality wall frames are the killer of any good design, and insists you won’t be disappointed when making the brilliant choice of a steel-framed home.

Optional extras
The addition of timber or steel verandahs wrapped around the home makes for stunning results. This design also works beautifully on a stumped floor system, and when raised high enough leaves room for an undercroft with parking. Unlimited cladding options are also available.

For more information

STRAIGHT EDGE STEEL FRAME HOMES
Suite 9, 40 Cedric Street, Stirling, Western Australia 6021
08 9440 0929
0416 167 553
straightedge@iinet.net.au
www.straightedge.net.au

Originally in Kit Home Yearbook 22

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Angelo and Alannah were searching for just the right house to put on their land by the Hawkesbury River near Windsor in NSW. In the end they concluded that nothing they had seen was quite what they wanted so they decided to design their own house with the help of Kitome. The end result is a stunning home that sits like a jewel in its tranquil rural setting among the orange groves.

Kitome’s Internal Design Service was able to work with the couple to help them bring their ideas to life. A key requirement was the federation style facade to ensure the building blended in well with the historic feel of Windsor. It was also important to have a verandah that completely surrounded the house to allow for the amazing 360-degree vistas available from every side of the house. The inside, however, needed to be thoroughly modern with an open-plan living style and practical and functional entertaining areas that are able to take full advantage of the house’s natural assets.

Knowing it would be a guest house, the couple took a Kitome design and made a lot of modifications, including adding an ensuite to each of the four bedrooms.

“We wanted something comfortable and attractive. Because of the views we wanted every room opening to a balcony or verandah. Kitome appealed to us because we were on a budget and they seemed the most flexible company,” says Alannah.

Once the design was finalised, everything turned up at the site on time and ready to go.

“The builder recommended by Kitome knew exactly what to do. Everything was on time and there were no hitches at all.”

Linda from Kitome was on hand to help the couple navigate the issues that invariably arise on a build project. She ensured that any issues were dealt with quickly and efficiently so that construction wasn’t held up. The new construction, called Cornwallis House, is now a working holiday home and Alannah says that they love the house’s flow and sense of space.

“It is absolutely great. All our guests love it and we are booked out every weekend. Most can’t believe it’s a kit home!”

For more information

KITOME

Phone 1300 794 737

Website kitome.com.au

Originally from Build Home Queensland magazine, Volume 20.3

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Brad and Ange Schafer had some very specific ideas in mind when they approached Kitome to help create their dream home. They needed enough living space for a young family, a separate residence for Brad’s mum Robyn, and they also needed to overcome a fairly uneven block, all within a very strict budget.

The couple was pleasantly surprised by Kitome’s approach of complete flexibility. “Kitome was able to help design a house that would meet the block’s gradient, allowing the home to better blend into its surroundings, and they were great when it came to drafting the plans and giving costings,” they say.

“Kitome were very welcoming, they took on our ideas and nothing seemed to be ‘too hard.’ They gave us a firm indication of costs which was very comforting to us.”

Brad and Ange decided to entrust the build to a qualified builder but they were very hands-on in selecting all of the fixtures and fittings. Brad was particularly pleased with Kitome’s flexibility when selecting the top of the range Bosch appliances for the kitchen areas.

“Even though our appliance selection wasn’t part of Kitome’s standard inclusions, they were only too happy for us to source our own appliances, and it was no problem for them to custom design the kitchen to accommodate our Bosch appliances,” he says.

The couple says that they are absolutely delighted with their new home.

“It suits our needs perfectly for the whole family. We love the indoor/outdoor living spaces and everyone now has their own unique space.

“We cannot give enough praise for the efforts Kitome put in to get the project to the final stages. There were a number of essential changes made to suit our needs but Kitome’s completely flexible approach made the project a lot easier.”

For more information

Kitome 

Phone 1300 794 737

Website kitome.com.au

“Made to Order” from Build Home magazine Vol.20 No.1

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