External Quote - Kitchen

We've reached out to an external kitchen manufacturer called Paradise Kitchens (Wetherill Park, Sydney) to quote on the 'remaining' kitchen requirements. It's such a shame to learn the standard kitchen with Eden Brae (even with the upgrades package) doesn't even come with overhead cupboards!


Here is what is included in our Eden Brae kitchen package: 

• Laminex 400mm Squareform benchtops to island and cooktop run
• Stainless steel 900mm canopy rangehood
• Stainless steel 900mm gas cooktop with wok burner
• Veninni 600mm oven
• Stainless steel 1.75 bowl Monaco kitchen sink
• Irwell Yukon mixer to kitchen sink
• Dishwasher provision
• Cupboards underneath island and cooktop run
• Standard ceramic tiles for the kitchen splashbask 
• Wire shelves to walk-in-pantry

Here is what we're looking to upgrade with Eden Brae / Kitchen Culture: 

• 900mm Baumatic oven
• 900mm Baumatic curved glass rangehood 
• 5 x pot draws either side of the oven
• Increase length and depth of stone kitchen island benchtop
• Inclusion of bin draw 
• Monaco double kitchen sink with left hand side drainer
• Mirrorsheild splashback (TBC)

Here are two quotes to fitout the walk-in-pantry and overhead cupboards: 

Paradise Kitchens walk-in-pantry quote:

• Laminated two tone finish
• Polar white overhead cabinets
• Lustrous Elm natural finish all other cabinets
• 1mm PVC edge
• 20mm Essastone bench top new crystal salt
• Delivery and installation of cabinets and stone bench tops
• Floor cabinets and overhead cabinets
• Standard Hardware
• Microwave pantry cabinet / double door pantry cabinet
• Bi fold Appliance cabinet
• Laminated end panels
• Brushed Aluminium kickboards
• Modern Square Handles cross bar handles
• Supply and install RAW MDF Bulkheads
• Overall Height 2250mm

Price quoted for above items $7,500.00
Supply and install glass splash back mirror shield based on 2.05sqm $1,400.00 
Soft close hardware $800.00
Silk Polyurethane overhead cabinet $ 950.00
Grand total $10,650.00 

Paradise Kitchens overhead cupboards to cooktop run quote: 

• Laminated Finish
• Polar white overhead cabinets
• 1mm PVC edge
• Polar white back panel behind canopy
• Delivery and installation of overhead cabinets
• Overhead cabinets only
• Standard hinges
• Modern square cross bar handles
• Supply and install RAW MDF Bulkheads 300mm
• Overall height 700mm

Price quoted for above items $2,200.00
Supply and install glass splash back based on $2.85sqm $2,000.00
Grand total $4,200.00


Kitchen Drawings:
Here are our sketches of the kitchen and the walk-in-pantry so you can visualise what we're after. We put these together so that when getting quotes we can compare apples to apples. We've also re-posted the kitchen photos from the Livingstone 23 Display Home for your reference.

Kitchen Cooktop Run.

Kitchen Island.

Kitchen Walk-In-Pantry.

Livingstone 23 Display Home Kitchen - view of island and cooktop run.

Livingstone 23 Display Home Kitchen - view of cooktop run, island and walk-in-pantry.

Livingstone 23 Display Home Kitchen - pictured is the Moncao 1.75 kitchen sink with right hand side drainer. We're planning to upgrade to a Monaco double bowl kitchen sink with a left hand side drainer so that we have more space on the kitchen island itself. In addition increase both the length and depth of the kitchen island. 

Livingstone 23 Display Home Kitchen - this area to be converted to a larger walk-in-pantry as per the sketch above. 

Here is a link to read more on our kitchen inspiration and research process; click here

Deposit & Offers

Building a home was never on the cards, and our families certainly didn’t encourage it. The assumption was that we’d buy an already established home, move in, and our worries of renting would be over.

Boy, were we wrong!

So what changed our minds? The reality is, this decision was an impulse decision. Decided in just one weekend! I’m sure it’s not the normal way to make such big decisions either. I’d see this as being a little more thought through, weighing up the options, taking the time to review all builders and what comes in each package, which floor plan is better suited to your needs, any structural changes you may like to make, if it's more cost effective to buy land independently or a house and land package etc.

In short, that didn’t happen for us. We knew building would take at least 12 months, allowing enough time to save up the rest of our deposit. We knew we could take advantage of the First Home Owners Grant of $15,000 and possibly avoid stamp duty. We knew western Sydney would be ideal from both a budget and public transport point of view. And finally, we knew one family who had built multiple homes through Eden Brae.

We had seen online that Eden Brae had house and land packages available out west in Sydney. So with that said, we decided to head to The Ponds to walk through the Eden Brae's Display Homes.

There are three homes on display out at The Ponds; Lincoln 35, Sheffield 25, Livingstone 22. Our preference was the Livingstone 22, which technically is the Livingstone 23 as it includes the alfresco area. We really fell in love with the open plan living at the back of the home - perfect for entertainment. The Livingstone 23 also fell within our budget and meant we could afford any upgrades, should we wish!

In case you weren't sure, the numbers after the house name represent the size of the house in squares (which is an American measurement), when converted to the metric system a square equates to 3.048m x 3.048m = 9.29m2.

In hindsight, at this point, we should have taken it away to digest all our options and start our research journey. But instead we put down our $2,000 holding deposit and the decision was made.

We spent eight hours over two days with our Eden Brae Sales Consultant, who patiently walked us through the home detailing what was standard and what was an upgrade, what promotional offers were available, the structural changes and upgrades we wanted to make, our preferred facade, as well as details around the land component.

From a cost point of view, we left knowing our base costs for the house and land package, our promotional offers, and the upgrades we had chosen from the upgrades list. However we would have to wait until our Tender Appointment to find out the costs regarding the structural change requests.

We were also provided with a detailed process document outlining each stage and the actions required by both parties, floor plans, and the promotional offers. All of which are posted below.

The original floor plan of the Livingstone 22 before any modifications

The Smart Start Bonus. This was automatically
deducted from the house package at the time
we put down our holding deposit
(separate from the First Home Owners Grant)

Process document for fixed price house and land package (split contracts)

Process document for fixed price home packages