xmac2006

Hi rdnest The sofa was $1599 and it comes in a range of colours. I believe there was a dark chocolate colour among the options.

Hi va|er1e and yan I'll answer the easy question first: dining set came from Morris Lifestyle. Check out this thread for more details on them. Morris Lifestyle is a big warehouse in Admiralty (NOT within walking distance of Admiralty station, mind you). The showroom is split up across a couple of floors in the building, so what you see on the ground floor isn't all they have to offer. Be sure to get the salesperson to take you to see the other floors as well. You need the salesperson because the doors are code-locked, dunno why. The bamboo, we don't know where they came from. Part of the package from our ID so we didn't ask too many questions. You can get such things from landscapers who do water features.

applefreak: I'm feeling much better now, thanks! Just let nature take it's course this time and a day later, I'm fine. Just thought you'd like to see some detail of the furniture underneath their protective layering. Just so happened, today the rep from Vohringer (laminate flooring) came over to take some pix for his own records so we took the opportunity to take some for ourselves. The dining set: The living room sofa: And the wife's found a great spot to display her rock paintings -- in the bamboo planter:

pinkpetter: Those little chairs have a special significance for us. They were hand made especially for the wife by her dad when she was a little girl. We're so glad we were able to give them a useful function again after so long! skywolf: Thanks for your endorsement of our bedroom design! I notice you like platforms a lot, seeing as how you have them installed in a couple of rooms of yours. I was skeptical at first, but they do add some interest to an otherwise flat surface. applefreak: Our cat-proofing comes in multiple layers. Underneath the chair cover there is yet another cushion protecting the upholstery of the chair itself. Cat owners... what can we do, huh? And it looks like the major part of the unpacking is complete, at last! The wife really has a knack for optimizing storage space! Finally, our living room is fit to live in! We're still trying to define the bamboo divider to our liking, so it's still a little rough. And the dog belongs to M-i-L for whom we are doing a little return dog-sitting And why am I posting at such a late hour? Can't sleep -- something I ate is doing bad things to my stomach and is keeping me up... urgh!

The unpacking and reorganizing of our stuff seems to be taking longer than the renovations! Until we clear out everything cluttering up our floor space and stash it all away someplace, we really can't do justice to our ID. But slowly, bit by bit, we're seeing more and more of our floor, and as of today, we can see our dining room setup as it was meant to be: Pretend the mess just outside the shot does not exist... Oh, yeah. The seat covers are a defense against careless cat claws, in case you wanted to know.

Hi summervale Replying on behalf of junewongyy, I have a t-blog on our home reno undertaken by Linewerkz. It's an (almost) daily log of the progress of the renos from Day 1 to about yesterday when we actually moved in. You could say we're happy with our ID. Innovative, flexible, detailed, most importantly prompt and very able to follow through with his promises. Offers solutions when we encounter unforseen problems. Have a look at what he's done with our house: click here.

mwerkz: About the study table, I wouldn't trust the glass 'leg' to hold anyone's weight. That is, I'm not even going to test it! It's one reason, I guess, for me to ensure a clutter-free worlspace -- unlike the mess I kept in my previous place. pinkpetter: Uh, plants? They won't last a day against the cats. We just putting a small TV there for late night entertainment. mmycheng: It's amazing how much stuff people can accumulate over the years. Have spent most of the weekend clearing things, but the progress has been dismal. We have, however, cleared out the MBR so we have somewhere to sleep tonight, and our electrician has given us some light switches in the MBR and MBR toilet so... YES! We can now officially declare that we have moved in! and for skywolf: here's a sneak peek into the sleeping area of the MBR: And here's a more detailed shot of where we will be laying our heads tonight: zzzzz....

Finally got the desktop PC set up in the study: Yes, we've partially moved in already, though a bit prematurely. We've been busy with the cleaning and the unpacking of stuff. The hardest bit is the organization of where everything is supposed to go, and that's difficult because... Can't believe I have so much stuff! OMG, clearing this one room looks like it'll take forever! The one saving grace is that the living room feature wall is ready at last, awaiting the mounting of the TV:

Byr, pinkpetter and bubble-ling The divider is actually wallpaper on plywood, but as you can see from the pix below, there's a slight flaw in the joining of the wallpaper -- you can actually see the seam. Hope ID can fix it somehow. But the other elements makng up the divider are now also in place -- the glass door: ... and a glass pane on the bathroom side. Maybe by air-conditioning such a tiny sleeping area, we might save some money on our energy bills? The study design is all about parallel lines, I just realized. The desk 'floats' on a pane of frosted glass: A bit more detail of the low cabinet behind the study desk: And now that the contractors have done their final wash, this is our living and dining room now, with a small planter box to divide the spaces:

And turning our attention back to the design of the MBR, the divider gets its special touch: And from the other side: We are so close to moving in...!

Due to some quirk in the buying and selling of our place, today's essentially moving day even though our reno's not quite done. Final cleanup and wash by the ID is scheduled for Friday, but we're already moving the majority of our worldly possessions in already. Our current place will be taken over first thing Thursday morning, so we'll be sort of homeless for about 24 hours. Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find a comfortable park bench to settle on for the night and we'll do our very best to keep a lookout for the park rangers! Oh well, here's the progress so far: The study is looking quite like a formal office. If I'm not careful, the wife will kick me out of here and start a proper business of her own: At least I'll still have my books: The store room door's suddenly disappeared behind this wall: Suddenly, I have the inexplicable urge to watch "The Fast and The Furious": Or maybe I'll just settle for a sunset view out the window:

pinkpetter: A futon is a mattress that is placed directly on the floor without a bedframe. A Japanese mattress, basically. Although, we're not so fancy... we're just going to put our Seahorse mattress on the floor and be happy with that! My cats aren't afraid of thunder. Maybe because they can keep each other company. But yeah, dog gets a bit freaked out and will want to jump into bed with us. Hmmm... problem... mmycheng: Yup, been on enough vacations to appreciate a modern resort design. Um, curtains our ID introduced to us. An elderly gentleman called, Mr Tay. Curtains for living room, study and two bedrooms, and one Roman blind for MBR side window, he quoted below 1.4k. applefreak: it's going to be a tight squeeze for us too in the MBR. Everything fits... just barely! And a couple of pix before the long Diwali weekend focusing on the study, which is only now getting some attention: The bookshelf which I promise to keep neat: *crosses fingers and toes And a low cabinet by the window, just nice for a spot of casual reading, or to catch a pleasant sunset view: The kitchen workspace is also getting some skin over its skeleton: To all our Hindu friends and homeowners, happy Diwali!

Hi! I like your bay window area in your study. Looks like just the right place for a reading corner. Just curious: where did you get the triangular Thai mat from? And how much was it? I was thinking of getting one for myself.

pinkpetter: I think you'll be thrilled to see the divider already going up in the MBR. With it and the raised platform, we discovered the space could not accommodate our current queen bed. So we sold the bed and got ourselves a futon instead. Here's the divider under construction: Meanwhile, in the guest room, we have replaced the old wardrobe doors (left) with a new set of doors that are more flush against the wall: And a couple of views of the kitchen carpentry, with cabinets and work surface: Oh, and mmycheng: I never expected to live with so much brown either -- even the curtains we chose today were shades of brown -- but it is cosy and comfortable. Thanks!

applefreak: I always thought my cat had unique markings. It's nice to hear that she might have family out there as well! Will let her know... pinkpetter: we went warm with the kitchen colour scheme because with everything so modern-looking, we needed a natural tone to soften an otherwise cold, hard-edged design. The light chocolatey-hazelnut was a good complement to the dark laminate flooring just outside in the dining room. jessie and rdnest: we ourselves were very impressed with the preliminary 3D drawings! But because the design is so polished, we're a little afraid that we'll have to change our sloppy habits and pay more attention to housework so that we can continue to deserve living in a house like this! hehe! As for the progress of today, ladies and gentlemen... we have a floor! Previously in garish pink granite, now in a soothing wenge laminate: And even the raised platform in the MBR is finally covered. We're almost ready for naptime!

Wow. Lots of pix today. For everyone who's been waiting patiently for our 3D drawings, they're here at last! The dining and living room: The kitchen: The study: and the MBR: These are, of course, ideal concepts. No way we could ever be so tidy in real life! Meantime, we got our new front gate installed today: and the laminate flooring and backing foam have been delivered: [ Here's a bit of detail of the laminate flooring showing the colour and the grain pattern, though for the moment it's still wrapped in plastic:

It really helps when the dog looks like this: And the cat looks like this: And the other two have each other to play with: So peaceful coexistence is actually quite possible. Best thing about them is that they're all quite independent and don't require a lot of personal attention from us. In exchange for free room and board, we can pick them up anytime we like and use them as pet therapy to relieve stress.

Hi wei_ling999 and mmycheng We chose to laminate the floor as a cheaper option to hacking up the existing granite flooring, and that was our main concern. The cats do not cause us any soiling problems because they are easily disciplined to use their sandbox. They won't mess up any place else. Our dog prefers to go on her newspaper, as long as we keep replacing it with fresh sheets quickly enough. Most of it is about knowing our pets and just as we try to train them, they also train us in some things. We simply adapt to their habits. Having said that, we haven't moved them into their new home yet, so they may yet surprise us as they adapt to their new surroundings. We'll have to take it a day at a time.

Hi mwerkz Have you already committed to your silver grills? Our contact is very reasonable in his pricing ($3.2K for a 5-room flat, window and grill)!

Apparently, when we write our address on a delivery form, we have to write 'Blk' to indicate that the delivery address is a residence, otherwise the delivery guy will think it's an office or some other commercial establishment. Anyway, the guy delivering our bathroom fittings had a major problem finding our unit because someone didn't bother to write 'Blk' in front of the Block number. The wife has a funny story about that, so I'll leave it up to her to provide more details if she wants. (Wife was alone for most of today 'cos I was busy trying my hand at a spot of gardening at the Labrador Adventure Centre -- corporate Service Learning programme). The toilet stuff eventually arrived, including the two thrones from upon which we promise to rule wisely: And some detail of the new windows being installed today:

In the last couple of days, the carpentry work has started. We 're building an enclosed, raised platform for our bed in the MBR. This way, we'll ensure that one area in our house will be free of animal fur -- not easy living with a dog and three cats. Anyway, the platform: We're also replacing the existing windows with a new powder white set to work the contrasts better: Hope they install the windows soon. This is taking "open concept" a bit too far!

And lo, today Xmac discovered switches on the wall, and when he flipped them, they bade Light come forth, and from the darkness came there Light. Behold! In the meantime, the kitchen's ready to start cooking with gas: And this existing wardrobe door in the guest room seriously needs replacing:

Hi rdnest, koikoi and jessie You're right, of course! From the development we've seen so far, we do think that our budget has been quite well spent. Thanks so much for your encouragement and support!

This week we're looking at painting and we're in discussions to finalize the carpentry. The living room's got its first coat and the feature wall doesn't look so bare any longer: Don't think I've even posted a view of the bomb shelter before. The door will be covered by another feature wall so we'll have something like a 'secret door'. Heh, panic room. The kitchen walls have got this nice light-brownish shade of hazelnut: And we have water now! Basic plumbing work complete.

Hi Wifey, Good choice on the gate design. 8 special keys for 1 gate? Oh mine, can't wait to get my install soon.