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Lessons I've learn buying lights Now, I'm no expert on LED lights but here's what I've learned on the journey of purchasing these lights, so do correct me where im wrong. There are a few types of downlights. Those tt made me interested were E27 and LED lights. 1) the prices we pay in Singapore for LED lights are CRAZY. The cheapest I saw so far is S$ 16 for a 12w led downlight, normal price is S$20. This is the CHEAPEST. 2) LED lights, should buy those thick ones (prefer 5 cm and above). AVOID the thin ones no matter what others say. A lighting expert told me that thin LED lights burn out faster. because there is no/ minimum heat sinks and the heat is trapped within the light, making it harder to diffuse. Whats a heat sink? A heat sink is something at the back of the LED lights whereby you see many folds. What do I mean? See pic: The grey spiky part you see is the heat sink. This helps to diffuse heat. How does it work? The multiple folds you see, creates a bigger surface area, which can carry the heat away faster. This helps to preserve the LED bulbs longer. 3. Glass or acrylic? My ID says glass is better, others say acrylic is better. so who is right? actually both are right. Glass is brighter which means a lower wattage is needed. cleaning for both is the same. EQUALLY TROUBLESOME. For some reason, acrylic may be less hot, which means a pro-longed LED life. 4. Please try to only buy led with EXTERNAL drivers. Why? Since now most lights are manufactured in china, it doesnt matter how awesome or lousy the light is. It will ultimately burn out. To save you the trouble of replacing the entire light and having a chance that the one light is different colour then the other, by getting an external driver, if the light "blows" change the driver first. It works like a fuse in our electrical plug. Usually is the fuse or the driver that blows first. How it blows is a different story that I dont want to get too technical. 5. Try to get a LED downlight that is detachable. Now.... i truely regret not waiting for my friend to get back to me about this. because, after i bought my LED lights, did i realize it really can be a real problem. What i mean by detachable? (photo courtesy of my fren's ID) This is VERY useful, because, whenever you need to change the driver, you need to pull down the LED light from the ceiling to access the driver BEHIND the Led. If the LED has served you for about 5 years, the false ceiling around the led light will weaken, and the possibility of pulling out the chunk of false ceiling is REAL. For this type of LED, you need to just detach the face from the body and the light will come out, yet the body is still there in the ceiling. no damage will be done. Damned. wished i know this sooner. 6) PLC or LED? To be honest, PLC would be a better choice if i never found taobao. LOL.. because, the price of the PLC would be the same as an LED from taobao. That being said, PLC bulbs are easier to change. If you are still keen on LED but feel its expensive, then go for the downlight that is/has E27. (not sure the right usage of the word, but i know the key word is e27) E27 has the capability of using PLC or LED bulbs. Most plate faces come with screws at the side of the face. This is for easy removal and changing of the bulbs. 7) LED strip lights vs T5 florescent T5 is brighter than LED strip lights. LED strip lights, once one bulb burn out, it is obvious that there is a "hole" there. changing it can also be a pain in the *** especially if its in the ceiling. you need to snip off the segment, use a connector, connect back the hole. Also LED strip light has the tendecy to burn out faster or dim faster. That luster when you first have it will diminish as you use it. There are some types whereby its 60bulb or 120 bulb. if you have the moolah.. and inisist on LED strip, get the 120 one, The more bulbs the better. if one burn out, the black hole wont be that obvious. When i first researched about this a year ago, 5050 was the best and brightest. now there are newer ones. *faint* the numbers keep changing. but on the advisement of my ID, T5 would be alot easier to change. If you are a circle person like me, make sure to stock up on over lay cables. Thats all my knowledge that i can remember for now! hope this helps!

Knowing myself being noob in this FS thing yet believing it, I have already engage a FSM to view the house and advise before I proceed. Anyway for FS, most important is not to clash stuff which maybe harmful. It also give you some peace of mind after it and most important is not wealth but health and harmony. (*Just my 2 cents worth)

Just a small update on my place. My dream has always been to build a home that is full of greenery and Im taking small steps towards that. So far, the plants seem to be doing well with minimal care. And the green looks really good against the colour tones in my place - black, white and wood. photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on FlickrLove the leftover wall laminate under the pot...wish I had more of this... photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on FlickrMy current favourite - mint plant! photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr

Hi peace JR, Thanks for visiting my blog! Now I've got no time to DIY. A lot of time is spent doing housework (which is a real killer) and cooking (which i absolutely enjoy).

Hi SuperMama, Mind to share your ID and contractor's contact? Will like to go for scandi concept with limited budget too! when I saw your budget, it's totally fit! I like the kitchen tiles!! how much is this cost? keep us update!

the husband and I went to take a look at Posh Home over the weekends and the dining tables there were amazing! Love at first sight. We talked to one of the younger guy there and was kinda skeptical initially but he wow-ed us with the layout he proposed for the masterbed room. If everything is good, we might engage them as well ^^

Love what you've done to your place! NICE!

Your kitchen wall tile is very nice. I love it!

i like the first! very scandi style

Probably not. I actually called the contractor first after I found there is citygas supply....he said to call citygas to stop supply... I asked the Citygas customer service lady over the phone again to confirm if it is really needed. Was trying to save the $60 - ngiao me. She checked with some person (put me on hold a while) and asked if I am hacking kitchen wall tiles and I said yes, hacking the whole kitchen....so she advised to stop supply for 'safety reasons'.

Forgot to mention. If there is already citygas piping in your unit, you need to call Citygas to temporarily stop the gas supply while you are renovating....$60 charges...will be reflected in bill. So if you don't already have piped gas, might be better to ask your ID/contractor on the timing to call Citygas for installation....rather than get it installed now then needing to pay for the temp stop. The citygas Customer Service told me vaguely should be after wall tiles/wet works, before cabinets are done. [i asked when I should call them back to install my piping since they took it off temporarily]

Are you going to HDB to complete the resale transaction? If yes, the SP services is just on the extreme left hand corner of the resale waiting area. HDB gives you a letter to proof that you are now the new owner of the flat, you can just use the letter to go the SP services counter ask to apply for an account. I did it on the same day around 5 pm. The lady at the counter just gave me a form to fill up. They can check on the computer, so I was informed that the previous owner had water, electricity and gas account in the unit, all meters were outside the unit....so basically that meant I could 'take over' the accounts at the unit..... The lady also informed me that their technician (or whatever that designation was) will go down to my unit the next day to take readings and cut over. So whatever used before that date was the prior owners, after that was mine. The meters were all outside my unit, so I didn't have to be present when they took the readings.

Somehow I really heart this color, really appeals to me ...

im also going for scandinavia

Yup. I stay in Tampines too... Have moved into my place for almost 6months hehe

hi jiawen, Was looking at your space planning bearing in mind the space considerations. I think you could consider moving the sofa closer to your feature wall, and then put the dining table behind, cos 5.3 m length for your living area is very wide. Ours is only 3.4m! As it stands I agree with Harriette - the dining area seems a bit small. For your MBR, I think it's about as wide as mine. Shouldn't have a problem with your proposed layout. Cheers.

Hi Domokun641, we prefer not to disclose the quotation as different people will ve different requirements and to be fair to our ID. roughly the Items we are doing will be: 1. Hacking of wall 2. Lay wood texture homogenous tiles 3. 20 ft Top and bottom Kitchen cabinets 4. 7 ft wardrobe for MBR 5. replace current MBR toilet door with swing door 6. 5 ft mirror door cabinet for MBR toilet 7. 8 ft book shelves 8. 9 ft suspended study table 9. 7 ft display cabinet 10. Painting and timber skirting works 11. Lay selected craft stone on feature wall 12. 3 ft Island 13. Customised MBR bed frame 14. 10 ft Bay window with cushion in MBR basically thats about what we will be doing, hope it helps

And so the requests continue... For the sake of your readers who have subscribed to your blog, you may wish to set up a new email account, have it listed in your signature so that the interested forumers can request for the quotation this way, preventing the blog to be filled with such posts. Just my two cents.

finally managed to take a photo of my floor plan. as below! what i like about it is that it is blockish enough with no odd angles. easier to plan for furnitures and no wasted space as well. but then again, i know most new BTOs are also 99% the same floor plan la. it's a 5 room apartment at 112m sq. Internal area is 110m sq. Sharing our quotation which I hope is reasonable enough (after all the homework done, i am at least 90% sure). Will not be providing the breakdown though, so if keen, i think it's better to share via PM instead. Living Room Est 6 ft - L shape full height cabinet with divider and 14" settee w cushion Est 6 ft - Feature wall w mirror & tic tac door for bomb shelter Est 8 ft - Suspended TV console with full height feature wall Change 4 laminate doors (Covering the circuit breaker) L box with false ceiling for living, dining & passageway area Kitchen Est 41.5 ft - Top & bottom kitchen cabinets including tall unit for oven Est 17 ft - Granite kitchen top Tempered glass backing on both sides (between top & bottom kitchen cabinets) Tempered glass swing door at entrance Kitchen cabinet, washing machine & fridge base Toilets Est 2 ft - Suspended vanity cabinet @ MBR Est 2 ft - Suspended vanity cabinet @ Common toilet Est 4 ft - Solid surface top for both toilets Est 2 ft - Top cabinet with mirror doors @ MBR Est 2 ft - Mirror with plywood backing @ Common toilet Shower kerbs for both toilets Tempered glass shower screen (1 fixed, 1 swing) for both toilets MBR Est 3 ft - Two bedside tables Est 3 ft - Full height make up table with light holder, mirror & drawer Bedroom beside MBR Est 13 ft - Full height wardrobe with casement doors, colour internal PVC & 1 panel of mirror Est 9 ft - Suspended study table with 2 sets of drawers Est 6 ft - 3 layers of shelving beside study table Electrical Works Est 13 lighting points Est 2 double sockets Est 2 single socket Est 20 installation of lights Est 1 installation of ceiling fan Air Con Mitsubishi Starmex Inverter Sys 4 1 x 18k btu 3 x 10k btu 1/2" thick piping G23 copper pipes 1 year warranty for indoor units 5 year warranty for compressor Others Paint whole house w Nippon matex paint (but can change to other Nippon series) Install piping inlet & outlet for kitchen sink & washing machine Stainless steel piping for 3 points (City gas hot & cold water points) Chemical wash & general cleaning upon completion Haulage & removal of debris Installation of toilet accessories Dismantling of existing toilet bowl & basin Installation of hood & hob Installation of kitchen sink & tap Laying of protection cardboard during renovation Whole house aluminium grills Aluminium sliding windows at service yard Total cost of quotation: $30,000 before bargaining & discount

hey june, the wires i found were in this hardware/pots/pans/oldschool toys/3m hooks/lightbulbs (cha pa lang) shop at fernvale point. along the stretch where NTUC is, its operated by a couple in their 50s, old school kinda shop. their price were cheaper than those i got from hock eng hin, and they had more variety as well. i got my diamond clock from him. his my wtb's ex colleagues husband. haha so i must say good la. i w think its worth to check his place out, pretty cool house.

Although the selection of the ID pose a huge headache to me, I managed to scan through the list thoroughly and make my selection quickly. However, the headache did not cease there, as the next bigger headache came hitting on my head - Electrical Appliances/Furniture/Lightings As much as I want to adhere my spending strictly to my budget plan, I realized that my immune system to visually appealing items is almost close to zero and this means that I have to pay an extra price for my exorbitant taste-bud. I start my search for electrical appliances, furniture and lighting as early as 5th April (remember Ikea?) and spend the next few weeks roaming around the streets of Geylang, Joo Chiat, Jalan Besar, Balestier etc for the right additions to my house. I will begin with lightings. LIGHTINGS Before I begin my hunt, I met up with my ID to discuss the number of lighting points he proposed to install in my house and the kind of lights I am require to buy. Frankly speaking, I know nuts about selecting the suitable lights for every part of my house and I have to seek help in this forum. Even after reading pages after pages of information about lights (okay I lied, I browse through them), I still find it difficult to transfer this wisdom into my 2MB human processing unit. However, I understand something --> LED lights can save lots of energy, so it's the best. Hahaha! Geylang Road -> Went there thrice to find lighting & bathroom wares shops (I stress it again, it's solely for lightings & sanitary wares, no other purposes). i) Vlux - Step into Vlux and was immediately greeted by a 'bodyguard' who follow me around but didn't really explain anything. They have a good range of products but their price are equally ATAS! ii) Lights Advance - Quite a decent selection of lightings, especially crystal chandeliers. Price range is average. iii) lightings.com.sg - This outlet is relatively smaller than its counterparts in Balestier, Jalan Besar but the services provided by the Filipino saleslady is definitely the best among its peers. Despite the fact that I reiterate my point that I'm just window-shopping for lights and might not purchase any, she still smile and explain all the difference between LED, PLC, PLL lightings to me. Kudos to her! iv) Pavilion Lighting (updated on 23rd May 13) - I have not read any reviews about them but happen to see it while window-shopping in Geylang for the remaining bedroom lights, T5 tubes and door bell. As soon as my right foot touched their floor, a salesman (his name is Wei Liang) came forward to attend to me. Although my original intention was just to see see look look, I was impressed by his services. Not only did he offer me abundance of knowledge on lightings, he also provided me with fantastic discounts on the T5 tubes, bedroom ceiling lights and door bell which I had purchased (Not sure if it's due to my super-bargaining skill ). On top of the lighting knowledge, he even taught me how to breakdown the renovation quote my ID offer me on kitchen cabinets, wardrobes etc and also introduced me to a couple shops in Geylang where I can get massive discounts on sanitary & kitchen wares. He highlighted that most shops or IDs earned a fair share of commission when introducing other shops but for him, he's basically offering help to his customers and not a single cent of commission is earned. Their lighting prices are probably the best along Geylang Road but his services are of the highest quality. I even gave him a call days after the lightings are delivered to my house to find out about LED strips, which he gladly impart the knowledge. One word: Fantastic! Joo Chiat -> Made a U-turn at Geylang Road & make my way to Joo Chiat just for this outlet on a hot Sunday i) Brilliant Source Lighting - Saw a few positive reviews about this shop and decided to do some exercise by walking a long distance to Joo Chiat Place from Geylang to find this tiny little shop. By the time I enter the shop, my shirt is already half-drenched in sweats. The price of their PLC downlights are really affordable at $25 per piece (if I didn't recall wrongly) but I wanted LED downlights. The selection is not a lot, so I made a move after a couple of minutes. Not really worth a trip unless you found something desirable on their website. Jalan Besar -> Can't recall much except that I stepped into lighting.com.sg (opposite Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant) and Rad Son Lighting (beside Royal Franco bathroom wares). Balestier -> This should be renamed as the Renovation Street of Singapore for its high number of renovation firms & lighting shops. LOL! i) Chan Huat - The Big Brother of lighting shops along Balestier. You can easily find at least 4 outlets along the same road. Offer a great variety of lightings which come in all shapes and sizes. The price is also reasonable. However, the services varied from outlet to outlet, so anyone who wish to purchase lightings from them shouldn't be deterred just because of bad services in a particular outlet. ii) Thomson Lighting (@ Shaw Plaza) - I was excited when I saw the big words "MASSIVE SALE" and immediately ran into the shop. After walking around and playing with the lighting switches, I took out my wallet and burnt a huge hole by ordering 5 units of LED lights for my bathrooms, kitchen and service yard. However I was satisfied with my purchase as the other outlets are selling the same type of LED lights at least 40% higher. The only downside is that I have to pick them up myself as my purchases are below the $500 free-delivery mark. Shall upload the pictures later. iii) LC Lighting Centre (@ Shaw Plaza) - I reckon they have the biggest display area in a single outlet along Balestier Road. However, I'm also confident that their high rental cost is also reflected in their lighting prices. I will advise shoppers to go there to get a 'feel' of the lightings you want to buy and go to other outlets for the same item, it will be cost-effective. iv) Extreme Lighings - This shop is recommended by my friend who has purchased all her lightings in this shop with huge discounts. The varieties are not exactly what I'm seeking, so didn't hang around for too long in the shop. v) Light + Form Concepts - Expensive Expensive Expensive vi) Palace of Lights - I have read quite a number of negative remarks on the forum about this lighting shop, so I entered it with caution. However, I was greeted by an enthusiastic uncle who makes effort educating me on LED downlights. The best part? Their LED downlights (squares design with glass) are on promotion, selling each unit for only $38/- (exclusive of GST) . I immediately placed an order of 11 units and told them to deliver during the 3rd week of May. I will upload the pictures later.

Thanks bro... have u buy anything from them?? Izzit really cheap??