Our Oriental-Rajasthan Inspired Home

[meeko 5]

Finally, our first home reno blog! Didn't manage to do a blog for our first home 5 years ago but very happy and excited to document the process for our new home.

For our first home, we kind of wanted a more resort, Balinese spa feel. But this time round, we've decided to go with an Oriental- Rajasthan theme. This change in taste probably signals us finally growing up or something? Lol

Anyway, more to come later. At this point, our reno is nearing its completion, so we've got lots of pics and retrospective views to share. Stay tuned!

P.S we've engaged the very popular Alan from Alan Design as our contractor. We've always been very clear about our design concept and what we wanted so felt that an ID wasn't necessary. More about our contractor later!

[Makanology 29]

Welcome to renotalk! Hope you get the good tilers that we got - Ah Meng & team. Out of curiosity, are you in a rush to get the renovation done and move in?

[meeko 5]

Hi there Makanology! Thanks for the warm welcome

Not sure if the tilers were Ah Meng and team but the work looks pretty good. Alan assured us he'd line up his best guys for the job. So far so good.

Not really in a rush. Bunking at my mother's home for the time being and we wanted things done nicely. But hoping to move in soon lah.

Would post pics but trying to figure out how to do it using my iPhone.

[meeko 5]

Any idea if it's possible to post pics from an iPhone? Any help would be appreciated! TIA

Edited August 28, 2013 by meeko

[oldskool 2]

interesting theme oriental Rajasthan looking forward to the pics! I've not tried using iPhone to upload before maybe others can advise

[Makanology 29]

Any idea if it's possible to post pics from an iPhone? Any help would be appreciated! TIA

Suggest you get a Flickr account, upload your pictures and copy the BB code. Paste it on renotalk and viola! We can all see your pictures!

[Makanology 29]

Lucky you are bunking in with Mom's! Do try to keep a very close eye on the works. We didn't have a smooth renovation journey so would like to share advice/tips to fellow forumers using the same contractor.

BTW your theme sounds amazing! Do you have a lot of orientation Rajasthan rugs in your collection?

[meeko 5]

Hey there. Sorry for the late reply, Makanology. Was trying to sort out pics while running between the new place and mom's.

Sorry to hear that your reno journey wasn't as smooth as you wanted it to be. Mine's been overall ok so far. There were a few booboos, mostly due to minor mistakes made by the sub contractors, but our contractor, Alan, has been quite responsive to our feedback and 2 thumbs up to him for making the effort to make rectifications according to our standards

Paiseh, we don't really have any priceless collection of Rajasthan rugs (hmmm... ) but I've always been fascinated with fabrics, architecture and furnishings from India. It's hard not to fall in love with the rich, jewel colors, don't you think? On that note, I've also always appreciated certain oriental designs especially those with intricate carving. Gives a room tons of character. So I guess our home now combines my love and attraction for these 2 very distinct cultures. Cross fingers it turns out how I imagine it. lol

Anyway, to start off with a pic (still trying to figure the whole pic thing), here's my floor plan:

Not a huge apartment. Original marble flooring in the living/ dining area put in by the developer had cracked and sunk in 2 spots, so we definitely had to look into replacing the flooring. We didn't really dither over what to use- we've always loved the classy look and feel of marble flooring, so marble it is

We also felt that being a 9 year old apartment with the original fittings still intact, it was time for a major overhaul. We loved the existing layout as there's a separate store room and maid's room/ utility room (one of the main reasons we decided to buy a unit in this particular development). 3 bedrooms, 1 ensuite master bathroom, 1 common bathroom and a maid's toilet in the backyard- we felt it was perfect for our family. So there wasn't any thought given to knocking down any walls or changing the existing layout.

Our major overhaul includes:

- putting in new marble flooring for the living/ dining areas

- hacking and tiling for kitchen, all the bathrooms, store room and maid's room

- staining of timbre strip flooring in 3 bedrooms

- new doors throughout the house

- new wardrobes, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanity

- new aircon fancoils and compressors!!

Will be posting more pics in a bit.

[meeko 5]

The combination of quartz top, tiles and laminates we chose for our kitchen and bathrooms:

Kitchen-

Common bathroom-

Master bathroom-

As you can probably guess, we're very into neutrals I like to think of interior design as make up application. Heehee. So I tend to apply the general rule of thumb that if you want one thing to stand out, then you should downplay the other parts eg. hot red lips with simple eyemake up, or smoky dark eyes, with a nudey lip...something like that lah. We have alot of furniture that we love and want to admire so I guess it would make more sense to keep everything else soothing and neutral. Most of our friends and even the sub contractors were surprised (bordering on shock) that we didn't get Alan to design or built any built in feature wall, TV console, divider etc throughout the house. The only items that are fixed are our kitchen cabinets, bathroom fixtures (duh...imagine a movable toilet bowl), and wardrobes. We also take a lot of pleasure in going "treasure hunting" for great furniture/ decor finds and tend to reaarange our furniture every so one in a while. Gets energy flowing in the home too, I feel.

You'll see what I mean once our old and newly ordered furniture come in. Can't wait!

[meeko 5]

ID versus Contractor

Hot topic eh?

Actually, hubby and I decided from the get go that we weren't going to waste too much time and tears (?) on shopping for an ID or contractor. We were clear about what we wanted in our new home, and so with only 2 criteria in mind (1. good quality finishing and workmanship, 2. reasonable, competitive pricing), we set off to compare a grand total of 2 quotes.

We decided that the most effective way of selecting the right guy for our home was to pit the ID against the Contractor. Started trawling through the internet and forums for feedback and recommendations, and finally shortlisted 2 candidates: Summit Design and Alan Design.

Summit Design:

We specifically requested for a particular ID from this firm based on what we read online. Met up with him at their office. Overall impression was pretty good. The guy knew his stuff and seemed very capable and sincere. A quote was requested and delivered within a reasonable time frame. Pricing was so-so. Not cheap for sure but not jaw-droppingly expensive. Design ability didn't really factor into the equation because, as mentioned earlier, we didn't really require much in terms of fixtures etc.

Alan Design:

Responded promptly to my sms and visited my flat (which was being sold off at the time) for an initial discussion. He definitely knew his stuff and came across as quite a quiet, affable guy. Not the typical contractor type (no yellow boots in sight). He promised a quote and also delivered via email. Pricing was more reasonable than the ID's but there were items that were also more pricey.

Why we chose The Contractor:

It all boiled down to chemistry I guess. We felt comfortable dealing with someone who had so much experience and yet would not impose his design preferences on us. Yet, he does not hesistate to speak his mind when we made certain impractical suggestions (for eg, the choice of material...easy to clean etc). We also heard a lot about the quality of his work.

Our reno is at its final stages as of today, so it would only be fair to comment on my experience with Alan only after the handover. But while the reno has had its normal share of hiccups, I must commend him on his attitude towards rectifying any mistakes. More on this later....

[retchlow 7]

pictures!

[sleepybeauty 18]

Suggest you get a Flickr account, upload your pictures and copy the BB code. Paste it on renotalk and viola! We can all see your pictures!

Finally I found a solution! Thank you!

[meeko 5]

Busy, busy day...work at the new crib started at 9am on the dot, with the electricians then the carpenters coming in. Alan wasn't exaggerating when he called his carpentry team the best in Singapore (not sure about JB...hehe)...they were fast, efficient, hard working, tidy and very accommodating when it came to us kaypoh-ing their work. Very pleased with the results thus far (pics will be up in abit...promise). By the way, our contractor has his own carpentry production (think it's called Aian Furnitures), so I guess that would explain why quality is good.

Going to veer a little bit away from the actual reno process here...

Indian Embroidered table mats (intend to put them under my table lamps etc to protect my table tops- just love the rich colour and textures)

One of the many ethnic carvings that hubby and I have collected over the years. Still haven't really thought of where to hang this one in the new house

[meeko 5]

Oriental carved table lamp we got a couple of months ago while window shopping. The carving supposedly comes from part of an antique Chinese bed frame. Too bad there was only a single piece. Would have loved a matching piece for my living room...ah well, the search continues I suppose.

One of my favourite pieces of furniture..this is a new one. We left both our Peranakan/ Balinese style TV cabinets at our old house (part of the sale, at the buyer's request). I have this thing about not letting too much messy show (dvd player, tv, cable set up box etc) and always felt that the living room should be a place where family and friends should be able to have a cosy conversation without having to shout over the blaring TV, or get distracted by the latest shenanigans on the 9pm Chinese drama series while talking to each other. Hence, we decided to have a huge TV cabinet custom made to suit our hardware (on the inside), while still keeping in line with our theme (on the outside). The measurements, compartments, external and internal design were completely ours...and yes! both doors slide in to allow for better TV viewing. Can't wait to have this piece finally delivered! (It's been sitting in the warehouse for almost 3 months... I know, I know...tell you guys a secret: we started buying our furniture before we even bought our new place

Our dining table- it's a Rajasthan piece...actually an Indian door inlaid with brass plates. Long table that sits 6-8 people. Had to custom make a piece as the one we saw at the store was already sold and we were worried that it would've been too big anyway (bear in mind that we hadn't purchased our home yet- in fact, we had actually made an offer on another property at the time and were buying with that other house in mind... but that's another story for another blog). Anyhoo, now just waiting for our dining table to be shipped in. Cross fingers it'll be delivered before 20 sep.

Edited August 30, 2013 by meeko

[meeko 5]

Whoopsie, sorry about the weird pic. These are my new dining lights. They're actually solid brass, hand-crafted lamps from India. Came individually in 3 different sizes- large, medium and small. Bought 3 and hung them at different heights, kinda like how one would hang a collection of Moroccan lamps. Will post pics of them in action soon!

These are actually made in China stone (I think) tiles with print on them. Loved the whimsical bird art (niao hua...geddit? ) but had no idea how to display them. Bought these, along with some others that you will probably meet later on, a few years ago with the hubby and it's been gathering dust in our bomb shelter since. The new house has inspired us to actually try to put them to use. Went to a framing shop, and finally had them framed with a bamboo designed frame and transparent glass mount (instead of acrylic, which is easy to get scratched apparently)....and wala! I now have 3 very pretty art work to hang up (most likely in my master bedroom).

Ok. I guess by now you might have a better idea of what my version of Oriental- Rajasthan is like. What do you think so far? Just realised as well that it is becoming very pricey and difficult to find good Indian/ Rajasthan pieces in Singapore. Looks like a trip to North India is in order.

And oh yes, my next post will have more pics of the nearly completed reno, so do check in soon!

Edited August 30, 2013 by meeko