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Hi guys, We're starting our renovation soon and thought we'd like to share the process here, as we've gained many tips from reading the Renotalk forums and blogs the last few months. Here's the floorplan. It's a four-room resale flat in the North-east. Hacking works include all existing wall and floor tiles, and a doorway opening between the masterbedroom and bedroom 3. Carpentry is minimal- just a wardrobe and only bottom cabinets for the kitchen. For the kitchen counter top, we decided to go with quartz rather than solid surface as we will be doing quite a bit of heavy cooking. We also don't plan to have a TV feature wall. Overall, we're going for a simplicity meets Scandinavian look, and hope to do so within a modest budget! We'll be reviewing the IDs/contractors we met up with in our next post!

They have a local distributor here. Can Google them but rest assure, it wont be cheap.

Hi KimNaNa, Thanks for your comments. I must say that this model is one of the most, if not the most, spacious 3-roomer available in the market. Good luck on your search. Hope you get a good unit at excellent value too. BTW pls send my greetings to Mr City Hunter. I am a big fan of both of you.. Lol..

Hi leonjennawong! Very impressive choice of colors and theme. We were at posh home yesterday and indeed we were awed by their furnitures and accesories. Looking forward to reading more of your reno journey!

Nice 3D...especially the choice of colors.

Love the colour you chose for your laminates! The mint is really lovely!

Very nice!

Choices of taobao agents If you are poor like me.. or just want to save costs.. you would shop on taobao. So to help everyone and share my limited knowledge, here are the agents that I have found out of.. If you are experienced or can read chinese, you can use forwarders. Some of these agents I have used... some I havent but have researched on. I am going to touch only on SEA shipment and those tt require agent to help them buy. 1) China Agent (YF) YF is a shortform of his name. Was intro-ed by a friend who has used his services. Language spoken: Chinese only Communication mean: QQ Based in: China Shipping rates: 550rmb/cbm or 480/cbm depending on which the frequency of his ships GST: he will assist on GST. ( dont understand pm me) Commission: 4% or capped at S$40 Rates: 4.67 is to 10rmb Transporter: Forwarder's own (can make appt to deliver) Review: YF is someone who you cannot order too many items one shot. I ordered 60 items one shot, and he got a few items wrong and has given me some white hair in the process. Abit careless and calculated wrongly on the total cost. To be fair, its not all that bad also. YF is transparent in a way whereby, he took snapshots of everything he bought so that I can see the costs black and white instead of charging me one lump sum. He tried his best to rectify the mistake he made (not without some blaming of others tho) Pros: cheap, transparent. Cons: can be careless. ordering through email, no specific format. Does not work for the forwarder. Does not have a warehouse. not able to personally check goods for you Use: Use only when ordering a few big big expensive items, when ordering, choose items that does not require customization for a pleasant shopping experience. 2) Oops.sg I knew about him from Hardwarezone. Language spoken: English Based in: China/ Singapore. Shipping rates: 550rmb/cbm GST: you have to key in the value yourself Commission: S$50/cbm Rates: 4.79 Transporter: dragonlink (deliver own time own target) Review: nearly 24 hours online. Speaks in english, and always online (skype and chat in their website), so never need to be afraid that you cant find him. Very popular in HWZ. his order format is very clear and computerized. Never had the chance to use him as his past charges were S$250 flat/cbm. Now his rates change le, most likely will use him for next shipment. Pro: Speaks English, always available, owns the warehouse (i think or at least works there), have more control on ordering process and transparent on shipping process. Cons: his nonchalent attitude about checking of the item condition. They will only check the exterior. Use : For big expensive items or items that require customization 3) Trading one Language spoken: enlgish Based in: i dunno Shipping rates: about S$ 200-250/cbm (last check) GST: will not assist Commission: 5% or 4% (depending on value. higher the value, the cheaper the rates) Rates: not sure. Transporter: dragonlink (deliver own time own target) Review: used them once. nearly drove myself crazy. Only able to communicate with them through email although they are prompt in replying. Honest. Some items on the page was cheaper than shown, they were honest enough to let me know instead of charging me what was shown. Pros: speaks english, honest Cons: expensive. 4) Alvan Language spoken: English Based in: Singapore Shipping rates: S$150/cbm GST: may not assist Commission: nil Rates: 4.7 (if i rem correctly) Transporter: nil Review: I like alvan. They are a singapore based company that assist ppl to buy items. You can show him items you like, and he wil assist you in finding them. That means you no need to have the link. Their ordering system is also either by excel or web. Up to you. Because they are in singapore, any problems, just call them. He is responsive. If you are ordering an item that has bad reviews, he'll find an alternate seller for you. or inform you that the item has bad reviews. Pro: responsive. Mostly online. Fast reply. speaks english. will advise you on things. nearly same price as Opps.sg. Cons: no delivery. Use: for big and light items that easy to carry and transport from their office. 5) Peeka Language spoken: English / Chinese Based in: Singapore Shipping rates: depends on volume. the more volume the cheaper it is. GST: does not assist Commission: 5% Rates: 4.71 Transporter: depend on item Review: I ordered from them 2 weeks ago for my fragile and lighting items. They have a warehouse in China and singapore. Ordering is simple and very straightforward. Shipping process also very straight forward. There are phone lines to call if you need help. Staff will help you translate messages from China side if required. Everything is very transparent. Pros: expensive if you order alot of items Cons: they will open up the cartons to check for damages to the items Use: best used for lighting goods or fragile glass items. 6) Amcon (thankfully contributed by OceanEleven) Language spoken: English / Chinese Based in: Singapore with few warehouses in China (Guangzhou,Shanghai etc) Shipping rates: RMB550 per cubic meter plus documentation plus GST GST: does not assist Commission: Think is 10% per item or free if you order and pay yourself but deliver to their warehouse Rates: unknown Transporter: depend on item Review: I had ordered and paid myself but items still lying in their Guangzhou warehouse. Pros: Pretty ok freight if you are ordering bulky items. Cons: They DO NOT open up the cartons to check for damages to the items Use: Best use for bulky items or consolidating numerous items before shipping So there you go. review of the agents that I have researched on and at certain points used or wanted to use. Hope this helps!!

Hollow block wall for sink support by Makanology, on Flickr I think the hollow block wall will be a better support than just depending on the kitchen cabinet to hold the sink. Our sink is granite so it is pretty heavy. Coincidentally the wall now serves as a support for the baby gate for our dog. We didn't thought about this earlier as we only got our dog after we moved in.

MBR: