HOW I CHOSE MY PERFECT POOL
BY BONNIE
When you want to build a coastal home, but don’t live anywhere near the coast, it can be a bit challenging. But that’s where a pool can be your saviour. Not only will it keep you cool and provide hours of fun for the family, but it can also give you your very own water views!
To create the coastal home of my dreams I started by putting a Concept Pool smack-bang in the middle of my property and then designed the home around the pool so that I could capture as many water glimpses as possible, from all different rooms and angles in the house.
Knowing that the pool was going to literally be the centrepiece of my home, the pressure was on to choose the perfect pool. I focused on three key elements:
The right LOOK
2. The right FEEL
3. The right PEOPLE
Getting the right LOOK
I had pinned hundreds of pictures on Pinterest of what my dream pool would look like and the common thread was always the colour – a gorgeous, light blue, similar to what you’d see in the Maldives #yesplease. Nailing this water colour was everything to me and Phil from Concept Pools understood this and was able to give me EXACTLY what I was after. He suggested we use glass beads on the interior, 50% clear and 50% white. To be honest, I didn’t really care which colour beads we used, I just wanted the end result to be like the pictures I had shown him – and it was! We also chatted about having shallow swim-outs and wide ledges – a pool feature I fell in love with while staying in a Bali villa with my family. I knew that if I incorporated these shallow sections into my design it would make the pool perfect for all ages – grown-ups could chill-out half-submerged (with maybe a drink in hand), my older boys could play classic catches off the ledges and my crazy little last-born could slowly build up his water confidence. This was probably the main reason I chose a concrete pool instead of a fibreglass one – to give me flexibility in design. With concrete pools you can make the pool any shape you want, any colour and it can be customised with ledges, alcoves and swim-outs wherever you want them.
GETTING THE RIGHT FEEL
Knowing that my family and friends would be in the pool ALL the time, it needed to feel nice when you were in the water – especially underfoot. Phil listened and reassured me that a glass bead interior would be smooth as silk, without being slippery. He was right. I also opted for mineral water, instead of saltwater or chlorine. Apparently, mineral pools provide a heap of health and well-being benefits because the water is filled with natural emollients that relax and rejuvenate you with every swim. And best of all, it eliminates the taste of salty water and the chemical smell of chlorine that lingers on your body long after you’ve left the pool.
GETTING THE RIGHT PEOPLE
I can’t bang on enough about how important it is to choose the right company to build your pool. It’s so important because not only do they need to construct your dream pool (at the right price), but you need to have confidence and peace-of-mind that they will look after you through the planning stages, building phase and long after your pool is finished – and this is where I really hit the jackpot! Concept Pools were an absolute joy to work with. In fact, I can honestly say my pool build was the easiest part of my home reno. Phil and his staff are such gorgeous people, it felt like they were family … and I guess that’s because they’re a family business. Phil and his dad do everything. They sell the pools, they build the pools.
P.S - if you’re thinking of getting a new pool and are located in Sydney, Central Coast, Hunter Region, Blue Mountains, Sutherland Shire …. you have to get Phil out to quote. Tell him I sent you.
