Friday, October 28, 2011

Selection - Ensute Shower Head

My partner chose the main ensuite showerhead. His one requirement was that when he takes a shower he wants to be wet rather than sprinkled on. Thankfully, he is not one for taking long showers (< 10 minutes), so having lower star showerhead is not going to make too big of a dent when the water bill comes in.

I must admit, my partner often, and rightly so, calls me a water scrooge. A running tap when shaving or brushing teeth drives me insane. What can I say; I do not like wasted water.

Anyway, the showerhead of choice is a WaterTile Rain Shower Panel by Kohler. Compared to other overhead showers it very reasonable for what it is. The WaterTile has a set of four 54-nozzle, fully adjustable spray heads. The internals are solid brass and the outside is polished chrome. What I like most is the low profile design and the fact that it is part of the ceiling, rather than it hanging down from a post, which is great for tall people!

Below is a promotional YouTube video showing the WaterTile in action.




As far as I can see, there is only one downfall to having a showerhead of this style. If you have long hair that you do not want to get wet every morning, you are going to need a shower hat. Alternatively, if you are like me, install a rail shower as well.



WaterTile Rain Shower Panel by Kohler
Close up of one of the 54 nozzle spray heads

Monday, October 24, 2011

Retail Outlets To Remember - POD Interiors

Replica Isamu Noguchi Coffee Table
I have no idea what this is
but I like it.
Fortunately/unfortunately there has not been a lot happening on the house front lately. I have decided to take a bit of a break and fanaticise about buying new furniture, light fittings and other accessories.

After making the final payment on our appliances, I decided to wander about the various stores in Osbourne Park. I will be sharing these over the next few weeks. If you have any recommendations on stores to visit, please let me know.


The first store I visited was POD Interiors, on Hutton Street. Despite looking, this is the only store where I have been able to find well priced replica designer furniture. They have all of the essentials, such as the "Le Corbusier Petit Confort" single and three seat sofas, "Isamu Noguchi" coffee tables, "John Brauer Illusion" side tables as well as some other pieces that I am not familiar with.

I must admit, whilst I love the “Le Corbusier Petit Confort" sofas and "Isamu Noguchi" coffee tables I cannot help but feel that they have become that item that everyone buys when they are looking to create a modern/contemporary space. These coffee tables and sofas have been done to death, which is a shame, because I really do like them, yet the part of me that loves to do something different screens NOOOO!


Besides coffee tables and sofas, POD Interiors has an excellent selection of bar stools. We will definitely be stopping by when it comes time to buy stools for our kitchen island bench. The only things missing, was replica designer light fittings and artwork. Does anyone know a good place for abstract/modern artwork?

Unfortunately, POD Interiors does not have a website. If you find yourself in Osbourne Park looking for something out of the ordinary, it is worth stopping in and taking a look.


P.S. Does anyone know where to buy the wall lights pictured below? I fell in love with these at the store, but unfortunately they were not for sale.


Stunning wall lights that were unfortunately not for sale.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Selection - Kitchen Appliances

Omega rangehood with blue
feature lighting
Electrolux EHGC97BS glass gas
cooktop
Electrolux ERCG9030AS glass
rangehood
I must have changed my mind three or four times trying to decide whether to keep the “European styled stainless steel hotplate, oven & canopy rangehood” supplied by the builder or purchase our own.

For those who are curious, the supplied oven and cook top were Blanco BOSE902X and BCG95X respectively. The rangehood was a Blanco BWCE9X.


One thing was clear - I did not like the supplied Blanco rangehood. There is something about triangular shaped range hoods that strike me as clunky. Perhaps this style of rangehood would look ok if it was sandwiched between two overhead cupboards, but our kitchen does not have any cabinetry on the rangehood wall. This means that the rangehood itself becomes a feature and this is why it is definitely going to be replaced.

There are some absolutely stunning rangehoods available, for example Omega has a model with blue LED feature lighting.


I was torn when it came to the question of whether or not to keep the supplied oven and gas cooktop. Whilst these items are not terrible they just do not grab me. Is it worth spending an extra couple of thousand to buy a better looking oven and gas cooktop?

Our apartment has a black glass electric cooktop, which despite the extra cleaning required, looks lovely (especially on a black granite bench top). I really do love the look of black glass cooktops. Not only are they modern, but timeless. I do not think black glass is going to be going out of fashion anytime soon!

One of the main factors I considered when making my decision was how much time, effort and money it would cost to replace it a few years down the track. Because we have stone bench tops, replacing a cooktop requires not only an electrician/plumber, but also a stone mason to cut a hole for the new cooktop. There would also be the problem of finding a cooktop that is larger than the existing one, so that there would be no visible gaps.

The above argument also rings true for replacing the oven. A friend of mine recently replaced her oven. In doing so, she also needed to replace some of her cabinetry, because her new oven was larger than her old one.

I spent a lot of time asking myself whether I was being too greedy. I weighed up the pros and cons of replacing the appliances versus keeping the ones supplied. In the end, it was a 25% off closing down sale that sealed the deal. We purchased an Omega oven (OO912XN) and an Electrolux rangehood (ERCG9030AS) and gas cooktop (EHGC97BS).
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