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Hi guys, It has been a long arduous renovation journey since I got the keys to my humble 2 room flat last September. When I first started my renovation research, I realized that there is just not that much reference material out for the the type 1 2-rm flats. There are much more on the slightly larger type 2 flats (47sqm) but not the type 1 (35sqm). I did come across an excellent blog by ryanyth on Renotalk also (thank you, ryanyth!) that has helped me tremendously in piecing the puzzles together for renovating my first home. So I thought I'll share my entire thought process in hopes of helping all you new 2-rm flat owners looking to see what you can do with your space. Planning One of the first things to do is to have a mental checklist of what you plan to do with the space. Are you going to work from home? Do you plan to have visitors over often? It's important to be honest with yourself and kinda visualize how you see you would interact with the space. 35sqm is not a big space but more than adequate if you curate your things and habits properly. One good place to look for inspiration is Pintrest - just tag those styles that you like and soon you will have an idea of how you want your dream home to look like. I have long planned my home to be my personal mancave - a place that I can not only relax and chill surrounded by my favorite things, but also a place where I can work if need be ( I work freelance so I can work from home). As you can see from my tile and flooring choices I gravitate towards the Muji feel with natural earthy colors. As you can see, I knocked down the partition wall with the sliding door, and it really opens up the space to a lot of possibilities. I am an avid gamer so I turned the bedroom into an entertainment space with an overhead projector and a pull down screen for movies and games. The main living room with a lounging/reading corner. Furniture is mostly Muji, some that I got from Carousell at an absolute deal. The sofa turns into a single bed by just removing the 2 back pillow. I have been advised against the open shelf system since dust tends to collect on your things, but it's a compromise that I have to live with to display my favorite things like my model plane collection and books. Also, I feel that too much built in storage cupboards will make such a small space feel even smaller. The wall will be my memory wall with pictures of family, friends and travels. There is a foldable table from IKEA that I can bring in and open up in front of the sofa bed in order to host large gatherings of people. Coffee table can be folded and stored away. I have managed to squeeze 15 people in my home - a tight squeeze but definitely doable. The bedroom is turned into an office/game room with my gaming computer and flight simulator, with a bar table along the window. I am lucky to have a pretty decent view so the bar table is a great space to have breakfast and enjoy the scenery. Both the table and bar table are suar wood, and are one of the few extravagances I allowed myself. The bathroom is a zen space with wood like tiles on the walls and stone like tiles (from Hafary) for the floor. Mirror and sink/cabinet are from IKEA. I bought most of the fixtures from AliExpress or Ezbuy, which can be a gamble but definitely saves a lot of money. The emphasis is on clean uncluttered design. The kitchen pantry is a customized IKEA IVAR system, with the frames painted black and the wood varnished to give a more industrial look.The fridge is small but definitely enough for one person. You do not want an oversized fridge to dominate your kitchen. Yes I even installed an improvised arcade machine in my kitchen =D That way, there is a reason for friends to hang out in the kitchen and not crowd the living room too much. The car plates are from my time in the US, and most of the other metal posters are bought from Aliexpress. The original kitchen walls are overlayed with white brick tiles from Hafary. The bomb shelter has been converted into a small walk in closet, very much inspired by ryanyth and his blog. The system is ELVARLI from IKEA, and works perfect. It is also a place to keep the tools for the many DIY projects I do around the house. I will keep this post short for now but plan to share many technical difficulties experienced during the renovation process later. It took almost 6 months to complete due to problems mainly with the flooring. All said and done, total costs for renovation alone came up for about $15k and furniture another about 6-7k. I got a lot of things used from Carousell. I also decided to forgo the ID since I already know roughly how I want the design of my home to be, and I can afford the time to be more hands on and involved in the renovation process. No doubt that saved me a bunch of money. Hope you guys enjoyed this post and don't hesitate to throw some questions my way. I'll be happy to help!

My woodworking experience is close to zero besides what I learnt in secondary school. I learnt most of what I know from YouTube All I got were some basic tools like a jigsaw, orbital sander and a power drill. Honestly most of my DIY stuff are simple mods and customizations to fit certain spaces in the flat. Like my kitchen pantry is basically an IKEA hack of the IVAR system. I combined the shallower 30cm IVAR shelves with the deeper 50cm shelves to make the pantry. I then painted the frame black and recolored the shelves with a waterproof almond varnish. 50cm is a little too deep for the upper shelves as you cannot reach deep inside, and I find 30cm is a too shallow and unstable. My customized pantry will also allow it to follow the shape of the kitchen windows as you can see. The arcade table is also customized, so that I can store the foldable dining table underneath. I have since also made a little planter ledge by the window frame for some greens Easy project, just have to cut a plank of pine and lay across the top of the kitchen counter and the pantry. It's also treated with the waterproof almond matte varnish since it's likely to get wet around there. A small fence along the length to finish the project. Another mod of the IKEA Elvarli system in the bomb shelter. Actually ryanyth, I wanted to get the vendor for your wardrobe setup - Smart Home I belive it was. But they response and communication is quite atrocious, to the point that I gave up and just found my own solution. I like the Elvarli system as you can adjust the shelves as needed. I found a way to install the corner shelves too, as the original Elvarli does not have the option for corner shelves (you can see from the photo). The left part of the system (the tools section) is customized with a length that fit that side of the room. The shelves are Ivar shelves cut to size. The right side where my clothes are are original Elvarli. The Elvarli bamboo shelves are expensive ($40 a shelf!), so I save quite a bit of money by using the pine shelves on the left side also. Some simple DIY allows you to accomplish little projects around the house without calling in the handyman. You also understand your home a little bit more, and most importantly it can be fun!

99% completion. 🤗

Hi 2roomers, Went to see the flat last weekend,here are the raw pics. its 38sqm. I accidently deleted my toilet pic. its screen grab from HDB but its still accurate except i dont have a sink cos i opt out OCS. As you can see,need screeding & flooring.

My flight sim console is the centerpiece of my gaming space 😆 The components are made up of bits and bobs I have collected over the years. The table space is pretty much taken up as you can see, so I have installed the mouse and game pad platform from Obutto to play regular first person shooters or strategy games. And yes the seat is installed on a custom made platform that I cobbled together from IKEA stuff, and it included a side console on the left for my throttle quadrant and such. Draped over the seat is a vibrating cushion for haptic feedback from some flight sims so you can actually feel vibrations from touch downs and such. And of course the VR headset for immersion - very important! The seat can be uncomfortable for long gaming sessions so I’m looking into how to improve it lol. yes I bought a ship on Star Citizen also but not sure if it will see the light of day. The optimization is pretty bad at this point too. I have other games to keep me occupied I’m not really familiar with your avatar so i suspect we play different genres of games haha.

Getting there baby 😝

Congrats!!!

congrats!

Huatttt ahhhhh... Just finish my flat selection... And manage to get what I wanted. So excited!!!!!

Hey everyone, if you're pregnant or know someone who is, take note of these 25 foods to avoid during pregnancy. Many of the foods listed there are so common that we wouldn't even think twice of eating it (things like fish, egg products, vegetables, etc.) but it can be a completely different for a pregnant person, which can lead to birth defects in newborn children. Have a look: 25 Foods to Avoid during Pregnancy.

hi, i'm new in this forum but actually i have been following for many month, just recently signed up to share my experience. i recently finished my home reno and i spent a long time looking for ID like you guys. i cam e across this ID by chance on instagram! there are too many IDs now so I was just randomly looking. then i immediately liked what they do (a bit modern raw+industrial but not too over). Actually its just 'she' and her husband, small company. they are very creative and really efficient in their work. i finished my reno (5-room bto) in less than 3 months (although its not alot of work la) i realise nowadys IDs in Singapore like to design alot of flashy and non-authentic things (especially those void deck ones) but i find my ID very original and very sincere in her ideas. for example my study corner sliding doors. most people will just go for aluminum, but its very thick and ugly and she refused to do it in alum, she found contacts to help me get it done in steel, i saw her drawings ver complicated for this part cus got alot of details but i really really loved how it turned out! super slim and sleek doesnt look like the usual HDB style! (picture below when it was just done) She does have a strong opinion in what she thinks is the best sometimes a bit stubborn but still willing to discuss and of course get my approval for everything before excecution. i have had very bad experienes before with ID so i just wanna share this very very positive experiecen with everyone. You can see my HDB on her instagram feed as well! the latest 2 pictures. (BELOW!) If anyone wish to know more I am happy to share her contact or pictures or whatever..

Hi guys, I have read quite abit about movers in Singapore on this forum. However, most of the posts are pretty outdated. My line of work really require a few good movers to recommend to my clients. I have had pleasant experiences as well as horrible experiences. I will do my due diligence. Thank you very very much in advance. For now can we start with Vimbox Movers? I have seen quite abit of this companys review here BUT they are pretty outdated and the most recent one was a pleasant experience. And they are listed as Top 5 Best Movers in Singapore, which is confusing. Also I have contacted the participants of the topic about "Vimbox Movers Review" that I have seen previously and i sincerely hope they participate in this forum. Please check your inboxes I look forward to all input. Thank you. Plus I need to shift a few furnitures too so I may as well use one of the recommendations.

Thank you 😁

Thnks ryanth!I read your reno journey as well.Really helpful tips to other 2roomers like myself. There were contractors roaming around the blocks,trying to fish for customers.Are they legal or not I dont know but i was approached by a few that day. Im gg to use ID company instead. I need all the luck.hopefully no hiccups & goes smoothly.

The Little Things Many times you will see showrooms or pictures of post renovation flats that are very beautiful, clean and minimalist. Initially, I aspired to have that kind of space too, but over time I find such spaces to be cold and lacking personality. So I began to fill the space with little things that spark joy haha - as Marie Kondo puts it. She advocates decluttering, but not to the point of throwing away your favorite things. Bear in mind that there is often a fine line between a place looking ‘lived in’ and cluttered. So everything must be curated and have a place in your home. It’s often the little things that makes a space your very own, so let me show you my little things A little helper to hang on to my bathroom hand towel. My flat came with an eco tap for the toilet. The idea is for you to wash your hands with the water that is used to fill your cistern after every flush. But I find that it’s a bit awkward to use and I normally wash my hands with soap at the sink anyways. So I turned the eco sink into a little diorama of the bus stop scene from Totoro. Every man cave needs a mini foosball and gumball machine 😄 My WW2 plane model collection. Photo wall of my favorite places and people. This is actually a headboard for the discontinued IKEA Mandal bed that I repurposed for a shelf. Tanks a lot! Metal plates from AliExpress. The car plates are from my time in the US. Shelf above kitchen sink. Kitchen sink area. Some plants have a resident spirit. This one will help me ’huat’ 😂 Tool rack in closet. DIY culture is sorely lacking in Singapore. You can save quite a bit of money by customizing your own little furniture. Mini garden corner and improvised bay window with seating. The shelf is from Muji and can help with seating people during larger gatherings. They have to be pretty slim though haha. That’s all for now. Hope you enjoyed the tour

Here are the quotes from my contractor I thought the contractor quote was very reasonable and work was generally quite satisfactory except when we hit a huge roadblock with the flooring, which dragged the renovation out to 6 months. I opted for vinyl flooring since I was reassured that it is a solid option with no hollow sound or feel common with wood laminate flooring. Furthermore, It's durability, cost and resistance to water beats out wood timber which I was also considering. I also went for the more expensive Evorich vinyl tiles but please be warned that your floor screeding has to be done well for a good result. My contractor could not lay a flat floor, and there were many places that felt uneven and had the horrible hollow sound. Because Evorich vinyl tiles basically just lays on top the existing flooring, preparation is key to get a flat floor. So I told the contractor to tear up all the flooring and to patch up the trouble spots. I was around to supervise the work and it was pretty obvious that the workmanship just was not up to par. They did not seem to know what they were doing. I consulted the Evorich guys but I get the impression that they are more interested in getting me to agree to the shoddy workmanship than solving my issue. In the end, I got so frustrated and disappointed in the workmanship that I personally had to mix the cement and patch up the floor flat, with the help of a 6 foot ruler that I got from a hardware store. Yes, the contractors did not even have a ruler to help them gauge whether the floor is flat. It was quite the effort but I managed to get the floor within specification and was thankfully happy with the final results upon installation. I have heard that other companies use vinyl that is installed over some kind of foam underlay, and that will mitigate the problems of an uneven floor. Needless to say, this episode brought friction between me and my main contractor, but to his credit he did waive the fees for the screeding and give me a discount for the flooring. Judging from the effort I put in, I must say it is a fair trade. I also had the time to go supervise the work pretty often. My main con was hardly around, which was disappointing. My advice is to stick by your guns and not to accept shoddy work. Some may entice you to accept by offering you a discount but you are the one who have to live in your home for many years to come.

Hi 2roomers!, I've collected my keys to Fernvale Woods.Its 38sqm & opt out the OCS so doing vinyl flooring instead. Will post reno updates here to share soon.See ya!

We used KNT movers when we moved last year (July 2018). We had about 20 boxes. As someone mentioned above, they came really early and shifted super fast. Upon arrival, we did find some of our furniture slightly damaged. For example, 2 of our fibre glass chairs were chipped. (For 6 years we owned them, they were in pristine condition and then this...). My camera dry cabinet had one corner slightly bent. The remote control for my standing fan lost its cover and it couldn't be found. We took the issue to our contact person with KNT and they did offer us some compensation. Some of the things, we decided to overlook as it was just comestic without impact to their functions. All in all, we were satisfied enough at the speed of their response and the amount of compensation. We really hope that KNT movers will train their guys to be more careful in the future.

I have worms in the aquarium. Saltwater worms that are fish friendly. I think they are very unusual since I didn't see them anywhere else in town. Bought them from an online store because couldn't find anything similar in pet stores. I like them as much as I like the fish. Very colorful little beasts. If someone's interested about aquarium worms, there's more on https://arcreef.com/bristle-worms/bristle-worms-fireworms/ .

Didn't see anything about pets here. Tell me about unusual pets that you have or you know. Maybe someone will get inspired

Morning, been "stalking" this post when found it last year. finally gotten keys to my 2-room flat (eastlink II, 38sqm) and have done a simple renovation. Thanks Mmoh for creating the post and keeping it alive. just to share what i have done.

I'm a mother of a 2-year-old girl. I find it much difficult to manage both home and job. Currently, I'm working as a dispensing optician. My working time is from 9 to 5. Still,my kid seems doesn't want to miss me. In the evening also I'm not getting enough time to be with her. How do you, young moms find time to be with your kids and at the same time managing your office? Can anyone give a good suggestion?

Try and make what ever time left you have with your kid meaningful and impactful, its the quality of time you spend with them that counts. Make sure they are giving you the attention and admiration for what ever youre trying to do , to make them happy.

Life is getting more more expensive and uncertain. Luckily children are all grown up. Used to struggle and slogs. Do keep the money tight, at least it will keep alot of problem rationing to the dollars and cents away. That many worries away and your life is not so fearful.

Lorry truck carrying all our items....

We share the same experience. We have recently engaged KNT Movers to assist in our house relocation in early Mar 2019. The KNT Team turned up really early in the morning and started the shift in an "amazing" speed. We are not sure if they were assigned a super tight schedule for the day, but they appeared to be rushing to complete the assignment Well, being fast may not be a bad thing, provided that all the items were handled with care. Our 50 boxes including the big electronic items were stuffed like pancake into their lorry truck. Somehow, the squeezing of the items caused our Samsung Curve TV to be damaged during the move. Yes, KNT followed their SOP and asked us to inspect our TV before they left our new house. Little did we know that any hair-line cracks on the TV are not visible when the TV is switched-off. We obligingly "inspected" the TV and it appeared to be fine. When we switched on the TV a few hours later, there was no image in the centre part of the TV, where the hair-line cracks were (please see pictures below which were taken when TV was turned on). We rang up KNT and highlighted this to them. KNT insisted that their movers have already asked us to inspect the TV prior to handing over and evaded liability. After making several calls on the consecutive days following the move, KNT finally agreed to send one of the movers (Steven) over to do an on-site inspection. Likewise, the mover spent a few minutes staring at our TV screen and he was unable to detect the hair-line cracks as the TV was switched-off. We have deliberately made him do so to prove that crack lines cannot be easily detected when the TV was turned-off. Steven then took a photo of the TV in switch-off mode and turn-on mode to capture what he has seen, but that was all! Following which, there was no further response from KNT. After a one week's wait, we rang up to demand for a reply and KNT's answer was to offer us a $100 compensation. This is the 3rd time we have shifted house, but our first time (and last time) with KNT. We have heard great reviews on KNT, which was why we went to them. However, it appears that their service was over-rated. A wrong decision made us lost our favourite TV! We were still watching it fine the night before... And to KNT, please do not treat us like beggars, we do not need your $100!!! Even if you are unable to compensate us for the value of our damaged item (> $3,000 in value), you should have owned up to your mistake and apologised for your mis-handling of our item. Instead, all you did was to evade responsibility. Our two-cents worth: If you are engaging movers to shift your TV, please remember to turn on your TV during inspection ,as hair-line cracks only showed up when the TV is switched on.

My washing machine is lg 9kg... Was intending to get 8kg but silent motor and auto filter linen had convince me to bought 9kg. It's Abit too big and becoz I'm short, sometimes I felt like I'll fall into the washer when I dive in to take out the laundry.

no one installs smoke detectors inside the kitchen. will just keep activating when doing heavy cooking. most common place will be living room or outside the kitchen.

To the end of this TPY project, owner request to have a shoe compartment to replace the store room door do not click “Request to get contractor” button, it doesn’t link to us. You may direct email to me at ronald@designerhouse.com.sg

I like to recommend one alum grill company too. My parent's hdb masionette house in Hougang recently installed Window grill. We got quotes for some contractor, because of the height issue, they also quote me higher charges for it. Through Facebook, I managed to find one sub-contractor company that does its own production and their price is lower. I saw that they had Expo Exhibition (goes to show they are quite legit) so I engaged them. They took only 10days to install for me and the powder coat window grilles looks really good. pm me if you need their contacts

Contractor vs ID The search for the One is a simple task for us. We wanted to have full control of how the home should look, feel and function, and therefore we went for a Contractor. Various Contractors were considered, but we filtered them down and shortlisted the below 3. N** from R******* One of the famous Contractors used by Renotalkers. Got his contact from one of the bros here. Sent him our requirements and asked for a quotation. Reply was fast but the quote was too expensive for our liking. Therefore, we decided not to engage his service. E***** from D* I******* Another well-known Contractor. Similarly, sent him our requirements and asked for a quotation. Reply was slow (and only thru Whatsapp instead of email), and needs chasing from me before he responded. He did not provide a quotation via email based on the requirements that we prepared. Instead, he suggested to meet him at his office. Went down to meet him and discuss the renovation requirements. E***** said that he will prepare the quotation and send it to us. To test him, I did not send any chasers and waited for his quotation. It has been more than 3 months and not a single email/whatsapp/call. He may be too busy with his other projects. As we think that it is important for our contractor to be pro-active instead of reactive, we decided not to engage his service. PTL from M*** S*** C*********** (ACCEPTED) Got to know of this Contractor via a close relative who also engaged his service. Not very famous on Renotalk but has a facebook page that allows me to view his projects. Similarly, decided to send our requirements and asked for a quotation. Reply was fast (no chasers required) and quote was lower than N**. Decided to arrange for a meeting to discuss the renovation details. PTL looks young but he has many years of experience. He is also the "boss" of the company which I feel secure and is able to clique well (maybe due to same age). A separate check from HDB (https://www20.hdb.gov.sg/bn25/isos118p.nsf/List by Company?OpenView&Start=1&Count=15&RestrictToCategory=M) revealed that M*** S*** C*********** is a Registered Renovation Contractor since 1981 and had no Infringement History in past 24 months. Finally decided that he is the One. PS: For those who are interested, I have moved in for several months now and I am not actively checking Renotalk anymore. Anyway, for those who are interested, my contractor is Phua Tiong Lee from Ming Sing Construction. Tel: 98357831. FB: Just search for Ming Sing Construction.

Well mezlina, there is nothing much to worry about. Whenever you are with your child, feel happy. And I think you have enough time after 5pm. Take some occasional leaves, be with her. That will do for her. And as your child grows, she will be manageable with al situations. Weel, she should be.

Hi Mezlina, i'm not a mother but i can share how my wife is doing it so far, we have a 5 yo and 9mo baby..she is purely breastfeeding also, she works in an IT firm so schedule is rather erratic.. during weekends, she makes sure to devote her time to our kids, take them to park, mall etc ,we have a nanny too so that's very helpful.. what time do you reach home? 6pm? having 1 girl is a lot easier to managed to 2 kids, trust me.. all the best to you!

On a side note, one of my client personally used Vimbox Movers and it went great. They really liked their service. I think to be fair to Vimbox Movers and everyone here, I feel that even though they have quite abit of bad reviews here, the reviews were all a long time ago and it is not fair to judge Vimbox based on an event that happened a long time ago. #giveVimboxachance I think that Vimbox Movers have made improvements to their company and their standards went up (I hope I dont recommend them to clients and it turns out that Vimbox hasnt improved) So, my client actually wrote a review on their Facebook page. Of course the fact that they gave them a "Facebook Discount" may have help but they really liked the service from Vimbox movers. You guys can check it out at https://www.facebook.com/vimboxmovers.sg/reviews (My clients identity will be kept a secret of course) Okay so besides Vimbox, I still need more information about the local movers. Vimbox alone isnt enough to handle everyone who uses this thread. So apart from them, are there any users here who would like to share their experience with the movers in Singapore? Thank you so much!

Thank you for the recommendation above. I will of course do my own research and see if its credibility. I will based it on most current events. Thank you once again for feeding my thread about movers.

Brother Movers & Transportation 98538909 (Ben) / 94491818 (Marcus) brothermover2014@gmail.com Can call and ask for quotation first. That time I have some items from store wanna move to my house, they actually wrapped up everything first, in order not to damage my stuffs, then move. Good and reasonable price. I think it is a newly startup company and wants to build up their reputation. Can say is "ah put" intro one, maybe can get some discount.

Hello all, I recently purchased a hansgrohe tap from amazon and had the same problem as some of you i.e. the piping from my wall is 1/2" while the tap came with the standard U.S. size of 3/8". After much searching, I found the required part which is a reducer that is 1/2" female going to a 3/8" male (U.S. spec). You can get this part from Teck Siong Huat Hardware located at Blk 28, Kelantan Road, #01-137, Singapore 200028, TEL 6848 4848 The chap there is quite friendly and knows exactly what is required. Hope this helps!

I hope this information will be useful to all homeowners who wish to save cost on home renovation works. Just as any other couples, we approached a few interior designers to build our dream home. To be frank, we were quite disappointed with their proposed ideas and design. Im proud to say we were the designers for our own home but of course with the help and advice from our contractor. Since we had to keep within our budget (arrival of our baby around the same time), we decided to do the renovation with a contractor after hearing from friends that it is possible to have a wow home makeover and save significant savings too. Information on renovation ideas are also readily available online. We were very much involved during the whole process. We invested our time on phone calls and checks to ensure evrything goes as plan such as the correct colours, design and layout as discussed with our contractors. Here are some of our house's photos in progress and the outcome. Im unable to upload all the completed photos due to size. All the best in planning your dream home!

Lynnyang is obviously trying to bash ETS. This is very unprofessional, most likely a competitor. The thread about Vimbox that they copied was so long ago, and it is almost logically impossible to experience the same thing after 2 long years. Its really funny how people can be so childish. Dear readers, please do not fall for such tricks. If a thread seems like its a personal vendetta against a certain company, it most likely is. A thread like the one about Vimbox Movers 2 years ago also seems like it is a personal vendetta but oh well it was 2 years ago so who cares. Vimbox provided me with good service and I enjoyed it. So either Vimbox improved or that thread is crap.