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The first try on the Oven. Got to say, taste pretty good to me.

Hi fellow Renotalkers, I have actually been silently browsing through the renotalk forum for quite some time now, soaking in ideas and getting information and tips on what to do or not do during reno, and also what to buy and where! Having learnt alot through the t-blogs and posts here, I figure I should also share our renovation journey and perhaps some things experienced along the way. Perhaps 1 or 2 of you may also take something away, be it an inspiration or a practical lesson. Our story begins on the 14th of April 2013, when I successfully proposed to my then gf, now wife (who shall henceforth be affectionately referred to as "E"). Having successfully sealed that part of the deal, we set out looking for a place to call home, which as a lot of you know isn't the easiest thing in the world. Some of the factors we considered were as follows: - Near to either E's or my parent's home (easy for childcare needs in the future) - Within 0.5 km of an MRT station, especially on the North East Line (so that E can get to work easily) - Size of the apartment must be at least 1100 sgft (E grew up being used to lots of space at home) - Toilet must not be in the kitchen! - A yard area separate from the kitchen - Preferably North/South facing (so you don't get the evening sun) - Has to have sufficient natural light! We didn't want to ballot for a BTO because that would mean we would have to wait very long for our unit, but we were willing to do so for an EC. In particular, we tried balloting for some return units at The Topiary, but after umpteen failed attempts at balloting for 4-rms, 3 rm dual keys, we decided to look at resale flats instead. Plus, it's easier on the pocket. Our search was narrowed down to the following locations: - Upper Boon Keng opposite Kallang MRT (superb location for both private and public transport; flats which just finished MOP; but friggin expensive for a HDB) - Serangoon Central (great location but relatively old flats; expensive as well) - Potong Pasir (again, great location but the oldest flats out of our shortlist) - Sengkang (not as busy as Punggol, and valuations seem to be the cheapest here. Flats are also bigger) For those of you with more money and want to buy a HDB, you should really consider Upper Boon Keng and Jalan Membina in Tiong Bahru, but that's just my opinion haha. We viewed over 20 flats before we stepped into our current home. In fact, we put in an offer for 2 other units before this one. The first unit that we liked had a condo style layout on a high floor, relatively close to Sengkang MRT. BUT, the owner was then asking a COV of 100k (crazy!!). I think it was because he had marble floors through the living room and real parquet elsewhere. We put in an offer which was slightly in excess of half that amount, but was rejected. On hindsight, it was good that he didn't accept because that would be an insane amount just to pay for COV. The second unit was a fair bit away from the MRT, but the layout, space and facing was just superb. We put in a bid for less than their asking, but was quickly told that somebody offered them their asking. A bit of regret felt on not being able to get this unit. We were starting to get a bit tired and exasperated with the search when our agent suggested another area in Sengkang which we had not personally scouted in Prop*rtyG*ru, and we went down not expecting much. You know that feeling where you step in and feel so comfortable that you know it's home - that's the feeling that we got when we first stepped into our new home. It also helped that the former owners were very warm and nice people. We sealed the deal that evening when the owners accepted our COV offer which was a bit less than their asking. It isn't by any means the perfect home in terms of fitting all of our criteria, but it certainly comes close to it. Sorry for being long winded, so without further ado, here's presenting our floor plan: Uploaded with ImageShack.usTo be continued on my next post..

BEFORE I BEGIN, HERE'S WISHING ALL OUR RENOTALK MUSLIM BRUDDERS & SISTERS, A VERY BELATED SELAMAT HARI RAYA HAJI!! And that includes you too #Mr&MrsDFMuscle... While CFO is cooking her brains out with her Biosafety Coordinator Course notes, I will sit beside her and offer her my moral support & quietly blog on our baby Solid Oak Dining Table.. RENOVATION TOUCHING UP! Let's see, I am skimming through the WhatsApp group photos with #CalvinTan & #Edgar... There were some minor painting touch-ups, paint stain clean-ups, small little bit of silicon re-application around my sideboard & shoe cabinet... And that's all!! Hahahaha I didn't realise that categorising it would make it sound so trivial! But eh, I'm really not kidding... CFO & I combed through the house quite thoroughly and I'm actually very pleasantly surprised by the (lack-of) touching up to do! Maybe the pleasant surprise can be attributed to my initial expectation that there will be a lot of touching up to be done... *shrug* Heh heh.. THE MUCH HERALDED HANDING-OVER. The handing over of keys was a little bit un-ceremonious because #Edgar had to rush off to another site.. I had dreamt there would be fireworks and confetti, with tears flowing aplenty, followed by a 10 minute-long thank you speech from me to the entire #PoshHome team that helped out in our memorable Leon & Jenna Reno Experience as we all sipped expensive cocktails and... AHEM, News Flash; only #Edgar was there to pass us our house keys ok! Wahahaha... So much for this big hoo-ha on this 'handing-over' event... SHEESH! BUT HEY, I got my house keys back eh? *wink wink* MORE PHOTOS ON DINING AREA!! My dearest CFO & I finally pieced together our white-and-wheat-coloured Wish Bone chairs together with our baby Solid Oak Dining Table!! Yummy yummy colour combination!! Oh, do take note that I have painstakingly tuned the photo colour to be more representative of the actual colour tones albeit using a smaller photo format.. MORE PHOTOS ON LIVING AREA!! Our fabric sofa, coffee table(s), TV console & planter dish finally have a fixed place in the house!! (it goes without saying that I was super-ngiao about the way they were arranged hehehe) Here they are!! At the same time do help me to decide which curtain-orientation is more suitable lei.. because CFO & I can't make up our minds... Front profile: Notice that we also bought a white cordless telephone for our home phone line.. Angled profile: With the curtains pulled apart & bound by the cloth strips to allow more natural light in... Angled profile again: This time curtains are let down and allowed to be drifting freely... I'm a bit more inclined to this look actually... What do the rest of you think? Which one looks nicer?? PASTEL BLUE BIRCH WALL CLOCK IS FINALLY UP! @yuna82, as mentioned before we actually used the 3M (3.6kg loading type) metal plate & hook variant to put up our wall clock! We followed the instructions found behind the packaging which said to let the 3M hook adhere to the wall surface for 1 hour FREE FROM ANY LOAD first.. It has been quite a long time and nothing has fallen off! Haha.. Hmm upon seeing this photo, mental note to stop adding more pastel colours to the living/ dining area colour palette... Lest it looks too wacko. Wahahaha... EH, MY CFO SLEEP LIAO! BO JIO! Wahahaha... Aiya I better go and sleep now too... And here's hoping everyone had a refreshing long weekend & are ready to do battle at work tomorrow!RAWR!! Peace out..

It's a standing dresser, didn't wanna waste the space below to put a stool so we did shelvings. The entire unit is C-shaped and all in casement. Corners casement means you can't reach stuff at the corners easily.

Hi supermama, would you b able to share your English manual for the Samsung digital lock (SHS 1321). Didnt receive it with the package and am trying to get my electrician to help me on the installation. pm me pls.

Gald to hear from you again as I like to read your blog you speak nothing but the truth how is your main Door ditigal lock any review from you thank.

and finally... let there be light~~ romantic? kekeke