Leaderboard

I am sharing my experience with purchasing dining table for my new house. We first started the search furniture search 2 month ago. Initially wanted to buy a glass table then considered wood table. A friend told us that dining tables are very important to a house as it reflects the stability of your career. He shared through an article that we should look at tables that are stable and sturdy. After a while, we chanced upon a marble table with thick base on top. We finally found something we both like that is classic looking. However price was of major concern as we had spent quite a bit with purchasing the house. Our final straw was to check out island marble works for a marble table. It was a pleasant surprise and we were very pleased. Not only was the price affordable, the marble was beautiful and custom made to our size and design. We were looking for a simple white marble table to match our furniture. Mr Barry Ho from island marble works was affable and friendly. He shared his designs with us, listened to what we like, and showed us numerous pictures of what he had done for his clients. He is very patient, and certainly knows a lot through his 40 yrs in this industry. I'm so glad to finally find the table that I really like, instead of settling for 2nd best due to budget. The service by Mr Ho is impeccable! We are so pleased. I wish to share that I am in no way related to Mr Ho, except I'm a pleased customer. I'm so happy that I am willing to share with people that if you are looking at good quality marble, at a reasonable price (it is definitely not cheap) but with the quality for the luxurious feel, you can consider looking for Mr Ho. I have not received the marble table as my house keys are not ready, will share that when we have officially moved in.

Hi everyone!! Finally decided to start a t-blog after reading so much from Renotalk for the past 2 months! We only started planning for our renovation after we got our key in June 2014. Didnt realise that it really takes a lot of time and effort to plan for a reno and I strongly advise anyone who have not started planning to start at least 2-3 months before the key collection. We started off by deciding on the theme for our house. We browsed through many home design pictures on the internet which are of modern minimalist, scandinavian, industrial theme etc. They all look nice but none of the pics made us feel like.. OK! This is it! .... Therefore, we spent quite some time deciding on our theme. There were many changes to our initial ideas, themes and concepts along the way before we finally settled on Greek(Santorini) inspired beach theme. WX (my fiance) and I both fell in love with Greece after we had our holiday there in Dec 2013. I have always love the beach, the sea, etc... and WX proposed to me on a beach in Green Island, Cairns... so we both feel that a Greek-inspired beach home has a special meaning for both of us. There are also other reasons for choosing this theme, such as WX likes blue and I like green, and since we will be living together, our place will comprise of blue-green (turquoise), which also fits in our Greek inspired beach theme. Also, I love to have wooden furniture in the house and so beach theme is a good choice for us! In short, when this idea of Greek inspired beach theme came to our mind, both of us got very excited and we knew that Ok! This is it! This is the theme that we are looking for.

Yup thanks. I bought the jigsaw blade to cut stainless steel. Fixing the hood should be my DIY project for the next weekend. BTW I only have a jigsaw, a masonary drill, and a cordless drill for screw driving. Thanks. Yup I saved quite a fair bit. Thanks. I thought so too. I added more after taking the shot. Haha, not the DIY king lah. It's just my passion. Thinking back, I think I should have posted this topic in the DIY forum instead of in the t blog forum. Haha.. I have completed the last row of mosaics, and the small 2.5" overhang ledge. The horizontal overhang was very tedious. I am always worried gravity will overcome the adhesive strength of the mortar, so I had to push and push and push and push... And it now results in sore shoulders, aching back, and worrisome thought of it coming down out of the blue.. I should have thought ahead and got ready some wood to prop it up while it dries.. sigh.. The last row also took a long time to prepare, as the height is not level, and cuts on the entire width on the mosaics were necessary. I have yet to do the grouting. What colour grout should I use, other than the usual white? I am afraid the cooking will discolour the white grouts too easily.. Red? Blue? Grey?

WOW! Awesome! Good luck! Looking good

Containers made from carpentry. Courtesy of Mr. Foo Good for storing umbrellas, brooms, mops etc

Thanks bro. Your post came in just on time. Started my tiling at 9 in the evening, and just completed 3 rows of mosaics. This truly is one of the most back breaking task I have encountered so far. See pic for a preview. Wall is only partially done. Will post final results when completed. Mixing of the mortar was a pain without the power tool. Preparing the mosaics.. Tomorrow will be round 2, I need sleep now.

A little Zakka Style

More Pictures My new piggy bank, gonna take me a while to fill it up.

Sigh.. I guess I really have been quite the defensive donkey with regards to the last few posts... Here I was, wishing that others will stop jumping to conclusions when I myself have been doing exactly the same.... I even went to view those peeps' profiles to stalk them for a while... Aiya. I am a terrible human being. I guess I have much to learn and improve on that aspect of my character.... Sorry my dear readers for the mess, and appreciate if the topic could be moved elsewhere... But here's wishing our fellow homeowner Yip all the best for the rest of his reno journey... Now let me move on with what this blog is intended to be; a learning/ sharing platform for new renotalkers & for myself to record my humble reno journey... So... I will close my eyes to all further comments relating to the debacle, and what else..? Blog on!! Hehe. 2ND DAY OF LEONJENNAWONG CARPENTRY! Second day of carpentry installation!! #CalvinTan & #Edgar were both coordinating on-site again (cause they were the ones who Whatsapp the photos to me.. Hehe.. CFO & I quite busy with work so couldn't take leave for it).. For easy reference, I will summarise the works done once again, as follows: - Shoe Cabinet @ living area (continued from 1st Day) - Kitchen Bottom Cabinet (continued from 1st Day) - 3-Metre Sideboard @ living area (continued from 1st Day) - Full Top & Bottom Kitchen Cabinet @ other side of kitchen - Vertical Beam installation @ dining area - Vanity Cabinet & Mirror Cabinet @ master bathroom - L-shape Wardrobe @ master bedroom 3-METRE LONG SIDEBOARD INSTALLATION (Cont'd from 1st Day) - The swing doors & drawers have been fixed up!! I think I mentioned before that this built-in carpentry piece is actually affixed to the wall... The 2x oak legs (WHICH I LOVE!) you see at the bottom left & right ends of the carpentry don't actually support much weight & they are just there for aesthetic purposes to lend some 'ooompf!' to the scandinavian theme!! Also seen in this picture is a sneak peek of the vertical beam with shelves! Hmm, just realised that from this camera angle, it looks like my ceiling fan blade is going to slice off the vertical beam... hahaha... CLOSE UP OF LONG SIDEBOARD OAK LEG - Picture taken of the same oak legs contrasting against my vinyl floor, before installation! I really really REALLY REALLYYYYY love the grain & the smooth wood finish... Superrrr nice. The edges, corners & surfaces of the oak legs are not at all sharp & the finish is extremely well done!! CLOSE-UP OF VERTICAL BEAM WITH SHELVES - Same pretty veneer wrap used for this vertical beam... Not sure if you guys can see the horizontal 'slit' line cut into the beam at the top & at the bottom.. I asked #CalvinTan why and he mentioned that it was because the veneer wrap comes in pre-determined sizes and doesn't come any bigger than that, so he included the 2 slits for me to hide the joining line!! With that, the ugly join-line (imagine the wooden grain not linking well together) became an instant design feature! This self-initiative really pleased both CFO & I and came as a pleasant surprise to us... though it's a bit scary because he didn't tell us about it before he actually did it.. hahaha... But all's good all's good... :) The next headache will be how to adorn and decorate the shelf while keeping to the minimalist-idea... Headache... KITCHEN BOTTOM CABINET INSTALLATION (Cont'd from 1st Day) - Also fixed up the respective gloriously green drawers for this carpentry piece! Woohoo.. My house is slowly but surely feeling more and more like a home! FYI, the long wire running down from the false ceiling is for the cooking hood... Don't know what to do with the white PVC pipe on the ceiling at the top-left-hand-corner of the photo lei... Paint maybe? Anyone got any good ideas? KITCHEN TOP & BOTTOM CABINET INSTALLATION (OTHER SIDE OF KITCHEN) - Close to completion with my ladder-unit & my built-in oven from Rinnai!! I don't think I have to explain just how EXCITED my dearest CFO got!! HEHEHEHE.. Die liao die liao... Have to make a mental note that I cannot let her read this blog in detail from now on.. lalalala. Actually my sis was joking with me the other day... You know the gardenia bread tag that is used to seal the plastic? Hahaha.. She told me that if CFO & I drop it on the kitchen floor, then really HO SEY LIAO. Wahahahaha because the kitchen floor is so colourful that we probably cannot see the tag at all. Wahahaha.... To Be Continued...

For me I feel that consulting a fengshui master is no right or wrong, is whether that master suit you. Is like consulting a doctor, he maybe good but yet he cannot cure my sickness, but others may not that famous yet he or she can do the job better. I did consulting a master before, he is famous and old enough, but I still went into a big problem. My friend recommended another to me. He is only 30+ during that time I engage him for my house fengshui. The problem solve. Until now I still engaging him as my fengshui consultant. As conclude, as long you feel that master's skill can work, just go for him right. He may not work well for me, but maybe he work well for others. Just for sharing.