This post is written in partnership with Stockland

As you may be aware, we are half way through building our Dream Home. It all began the back in 2011 when Stockland announced a new community which would be built, in our local area.

We were rapidly outgrowing our old house with it’s small bedrooms and only 1 bathroom. The kitchen was nice, but tiny and we had no backyard to speak of. The kids wanted a trampoline, but we had no space to put one. It was (and is) a fantastic first house for a young family, but we were approaching the next stage in our lives.

We wanted more space. A bigger house.  something bigger. A house where we could envisage our children growing up – with space to play in the backyard and have their friends around.

Standing on our block of land – July 2012

As we live on the edge of town, there is a lot of open land around us. It’s a huge growth area for the state and so there were a couple of new communities planned. We looked at them all. Considered the pro’s and con’s of each but finally decided to build our dream home in a Stockland community. The location was perfect, the blocks of land were large and the proposed new community layout was perfect.

Stockland has been helping Australians create quality housing and thriving communities for more than 60 years. Many people dream of building their own home but see it as being too hard to do. Stockland makes it easy by giving you a choice of communities, lot sizes and positions.

Stockland offer House and Land packages or you can just buy the block of land and then choose your own home design and builder.

Which is what we did.

View from the downstairs alfresco area

We chose to build with Sekisui House (previously known as AV Jennings). We’re building a 2 storey home with plenty of space. Downstairs we will have the study, living room (the posh one for visitors), large kitchen with walk-in butlers pantry, dining room, family room, laundry, powder room AND my all important sewing studio.

Family room with a wall of sliding doors. French doors would have been nicer, too expensive.

The house will have 3 garages. 2 for cars and the third will be walled off and will be the “Wood-Working Man Cave”.

The bedrooms upstairs are large which was important to us. We wanted to make sure that the kids would have space of their own. A space to make theirs.

Sewing Studio with a lot of natural light

Here a progress shot of the front of the house. Those poor builders must be sick and tired of seeing me drive past everyday - snapping photos.

If all goes well, we’re hoping to move into the new house by November. Still a way to go, but it’s getting closer and closer everyday. In the meantime, I have the fun job of choosing the interior flooring and furniture. We’ll be taking a lot of our old furniture with us, but will buy some new bits and pieces.

Our dream home is all about space to grow and create.

Which features are important to you, in your dream home?