aubrey

have u been to jalan besar? if not, have a look in Life! Section of sat's straits times, usually more ads for home furnishing and stuff posted on sat. hope this helps! fujinoh is from?? jap?

thanks thanks!post more pics of your house k! waiting to see the more done up flat.

ooo ok! i'll go mull over the design. as for the water heater, think the first clearance i need is from my mom!

ya the one i saw in the link looks so much nicer and all. why so odd, cannot place in bathroom? i dont have any other place to play with so i guess it goes into the kitchen. did the citygas folks come install it for you? if yours dont support, how did u manage to use it now? i don't know about the delay.. have been thinking about it. thinking to seal up the rooms air tight with uncle soon's advice and help for the day and only open windows at night when they finished hacking but still not sure how feasible it is. hope that it can coincide with our work timings such that they drill n hack when we are out of the house and stop when we are back. close the windows after hacking to prevent wind from coming in and blowing dust over. dunno how feasible yet.

okay shall check it out. still have qns for fondue anyway.

harlow! heheh. qns time for me. how much are your curtains and how do u intend to maintain them? read so much about the issues with roller blinds and draw-style curtains. hows yours holding up?

fondue_ 1) how much are these t5? some friends say not practical, have to keep changing it n solely for aesthetic purposes.. now im thinking about it. and i think we're going to have normal bottom cabi unlike yours cos i think i need all the storage i can get now. plus i dont know how uncle soon is going to design and make it work with my 2 LPG gas tanks. i dont think i can heave them up to the storage area. 2) woah so shiok? will it apply to me??? 3) i am so hopeless with these things. but i dont want to pay too much for elec bills.. and i dunno where to place it n uncle is not that free to discuss with me also. 4) he will revise according to installation charges? are u getting them direct? how abt wardrobe? mrspiglet how are your bills like? we only have experience with instant heaters. yes my place i think we have some gas pipes. but dunno if we can use that. if we opt for the citygas one, does it make sense to get citygas instead of LPG? i am quite tired of the ping pong match i have with my mom over these little things. she's been using LPG since she started to stay here. to be honest i dont like the huge water heater tank. is this the gas tank?

you know how some ppl just say ok without thinking? (sometimes i do that too...) she says that her daughter is flying but sometimes will come back to stay. but i guess these things have a schedule so maybe we can plan but i guess my neighbour is not keen on that. cant blame him too. i can imagine all the trouble it will pose for these things. hopefully by a stroke of luck we can just "rent" a place for 2 weeks min first. keeping my finger's crossed!

very pek chek now. neighbour now say cannot let us stay, not even for 2 weeks to get the kitchen and toilet settled. so have to postpone reno indefinitely cos we have no place to stay. mom is being stubborn. even if we can go to relative's house to stay, she keeps giving me the excuse that she does not know how to travel. my work timing and hers are different, dont know how to accommodate to it. am at a loss of what to do now. renting a place is quite hard since most wants a min. of 1 year stay. grrrr.

does any one have any comments about getting glossy white laminate for the kitchen? i think we will wipe it every other day and maintain but i am afraid that it will turn yellow over time. i want a white and black colour scheme for kitchen, everything is white except for the granite worktop which will be black.

urgh, so means i have to buy the huge heater? ooo okok. then uncle soon still say can!! it doesnt matter if i dont have hot/cold pipings for my place as long as i have the heater?

hi fondue, i posted some qns for u in my tblog but i think here its better so maybe u can reply faster.. here's a barrage.. 1) for the lightings u are doing for your kit. cabi, is there additional? if yes, how much additional? 2) the 11 drawers that you have done for your cabi, understand that the standard provided is 3 drawers, did he charge u extra also? esp for the longer ones that you have. 3) for your rainshower, i see that you have the joven heater there, its a must to use those big big type of heater is it? can't use those small 707 heater? when i asked uncle soon if can use my existing 707 heater to power the rainshower for hot water, he say can. but when i asked at the shops for rain shower, they say must buy big heater, 707 heaters cant do it.. dunno who to trust. was thinking if cannot, i will shift my existing 10 yrs old 707 heater which is going strong to my toilet so there's 2 showers, which can be used if we're in a rush. 4) so how much are your damages for blum track? after going to your place, i must say that it's great that uncle has taken initiative to give us anti slam for the drawers but scared that i need strength to pull out if the track is not that good. so maybe get blum too. but it's still a see-how item. wonder if his anti slam is good for heavy load or not. sorry to bombard you with so much questions.. oh yes! mom and i picked the same wall tiles as you for kitchen. now mixing and matching for the floor tiles. i cant really remember, is your kitchen wall tiles white as well? i want my entire kitchen to be white, only black is the granite worktop. thanks in advance to you and hubby for the help given, and for all to come!

cannotisit my mom is giving me quite a surprise! she is throwing out stuff! i thought she'd never. we definitely cannot move it, maybe only small items but uncle soon has said just place a cross on things we dont want, his men will take care of it. or we can get the town council's cleaners to clear 3 items FOC per day for us. pinkpetter i have the tiles!!! muahahahah! later i will upload after taking pics of it. ya i wanted laminates for a warm feeling but mom dont like, i think not advisable for me cos i tend to sleep like a log at night, when it rains i still sleep and if water gets in from the storm, laminates are in trouble. Smallboy replied in your thread! doesnt matter clean or not, just go have a look see will do! how's the blum system? did u get it in the end? and how much is it? thinking of getting the system and perfect the reno once and for all. preciousjam heh since it is irresistible, are u signing with him?? when i was in his pickup ytd, i saw the stacks of files that he places his quotation. he said thats not even half! maybe one of it is yours! fondue_ hi!! nice to see you and yr hubby (or htb) ytd! very nice place you have and thank you for all the tips for reno! pls help to thank your hubby too! now i must look at more interior pics so i can do a good job for mine! are you all gonna change the drawer system to blum? the mechanism uncle uses is good, just that its a little hard to pull out thats all. but of course it thats the case, its hard to use. does your cabinet have any handles for pullin out? prolin_g i think pinkpetter should have sent it to you already. let me know if there's anything else!

oh i just saw, its at 10am! then maybe only i can go not my mom cos its chu yi or shi wu, she needs to "bai bai". let me triple check with her then let you know about us. and poor uncle. he looked ok ytd, but i noticed he was walking with a slight limp. poor uncle.

hello wow still not aslp? yr floor plan looks so old school! any pics on your place to see see?

hello welcome to tblog! how come your reno so fast? little works or u have started earlier but only posting about it now? hoping to see some pictures soon.

hello small boy, in response to your post in my tblog, would love to see your place. what time are you guys meeting? earlier in the afternoon uncle brought us to see fondue's place. i was playing with her cabinets. did u replace yours with blum too??

lawry thank you lawry, but u are too kind. yours are like much better. precisely measured and with sketchup 3d! mine i didnt measure, just plonk the stuff in. so in actual fact, my house is smaller, the empty spaces seen here should be smaller too. ya the idea is nice, but its only a dream. no idea how much its gonna cost, have a feeling it will overshoot our budget which we cant afford too. all the same i shall just ask uncle to see how much it is. pinkpetter, smallboy my mom is so very adverse to black, she told me, if u want black, the black stays in your room only. kitchen is MINE! then i ok ok :bow: haha ya i like the idea too. both ideas are from this ID (DeFong, very good in my opinion) whom we would have engaged if we did not meet ah soon and of course, our budget doesnt really permit, only permit ah soon. actually in the picture i wrote a note that the positions are to b exchanged. i didnt in the picture cos the software just came with this preset so just use for illustrating the L but not the actual position. & we are using the common fire hobs. preciousjam regarding hob n sink position, can read the above, lazy to type. i used this web-based program call Floorplanner quite easy to use as u see i drew it up ytd on my first use. why did he give u are u sure a not look? u mean u requested for chinese official quote? i dont think u will be disappointed in this quote. share with us how its like! familyof4 eek! is it! when i called him at 830pm to ask if he was still coming, he said he was held up at tampines, someone was late. is it from renotalk?? but i spoke to him approx 1/2 hour thereabout then he rushed off saying he was meeting another. he came ytd at 10+ pm. what time was he supposed to meet you? so sorry!! Michele thanks! its not perfect tho. we've got not much of a choice as the bed is a double deck so definitely 1 side needs to be against the wall since guard rail is on 1 side only. heh i didnt draw to scale cos it was my first try. pls i wanted to hurry and finish it thats why. cannotisit oh tell it to my mom! she is the one refusing to budge. whatever the case it i will get ready all daily items and stuff to bring over to my neighbour's house as we are renting it for the time being, at least for the hacking. and even so, it will still be like what u said, moving things from room to room cos the rest we cannot bring it out.

okay done! i welcome all ideas for improvement and all suggestions for colours and stuff. thanks to all in advance! UPDATE Living Room the idea of hacking the wall to create a recess for the tv and the console actually comes from an ID whom i'd be very happy to recommend, just PM me. this helps to make the living room look bigger and it's refreshing instead of the typical create feature wall which will cut my living room into 2. gives me more room to play with and can add more seating into the living area. aligns with my minimalist idea too! only thing now is the colour scheme which i am honestly not a pro in so i shall stick to basics. i dont really like too fanciful laminates etc so i may just also stick to plain ones in this case. we're also re-using our sofa bought last year which is brown. i'm also considering getting curtains. will ask uncle soon if he has any recommendations or just buy from ikea etc for all windows to install. think that's about it for living. My Bedroom i crave storage space so i hope to have lots of drawers if possible. the pro of the living room tv area is the con of my room since it eats into my room, making it smaller. but instead, i thought it will be great to place a bookshelf there to make up for the "bulge" into my room. uncle soon did not follow my idea of having my desk area to be flush with my bookcase, he had the intention that table will start from room door to the wall but im not too sure if i want that.. the purpose of placing my bed against the wall is cos i like to sleep against the wall, it makes feel safe. (weird i know!) but also, i am planning for the future possibility of having a tv mounted on the wall where my table and laptop are, so it will be perfect to watch from there. kinda like day-bed style. i want a comfy room colour scheme, 1 that is relaxing. yet i like bold colors too so gotta try to piece it tgt. Mom's Bedroom Our double decker bed is here, and the bed in my room was supposed to be a guest bed but i decided that i will place the double decker here so that i can choose to sleep with my mom, which i must admit i have grown quite used to in the last couple of years. mom wants a full length wardrobe to stash all her things so there we are. also, our current oldie tv will be shifted from living room to her bedroom for her viewing pleasure! she's got an old skool sewing machine which she holds dear, that will go to her room then. pretty straightforward. Kitchen easily my favourite place cos it has the most carpentry compared to the entire house! i have a nice color scheme in mind: light grey tiles, white wall tiles, white glossy kitchen cabinets (gloss or matte better? will they turn yellow with time?) & black worktop with s/s backsplash. unless uncle soon suggests something new for us. as pointed out, the hob and sink positions will be switched around, just that in the program i used, it's prefixed so i cant change that. after the L shape where the sink is, we will move the WM over to have it next to the chute. so we have a bigger area for hanging clothes as compared to now, where our hob is right next to the window, chute under the hob. the breakfast table is just a little dream, i did not bring it up to uncle soon yet, so not sure how much that is. but will forego if ex cos $$ not enough. to save space we're trying to do a collapsible dining table, uncle soon say can be done. (aiya only thing is where to place the chairs when the table is folded..) the only "out of place" element here is the ancestral altar but i dont see where else it can go. the only plus point is u wont see it from the living room cos its embedded into a nook as per the floor plan. also, wanted a tempered glass door for the entrance to kitchen but out of budget. uncle quoted $750 for glass door plus he said he will do a thin partition wall so when i slide the door back, it "disappears" (actually its hidden by the partition board that is made to look the same with my wall and to ensure we dont hit the glass accidentally etc for the consideration from uncle there) just hope the kitchen turns out ok with our L shaped layout and dont look so cluttered or squeezy. Bathroom & Toilet Once again, straightforward. Dreaming of rainshower, uncle soon says very cheap, under $200 can source for me. I bet i'd be singing in the rain the entire time!!! still not sure where to put the basin, i know the norm is to put in where the shower is but when i used to play sims 2 i place it with the toilet cos to me, toilet = wash hand. oh no... how! /agonizes :dunno: Okay that pretty much sums it up! I think uncle quite vague.. he said want to do L-box for me to hide the water pipes, want to do ceiling cornice, but i don see it anywhere in the quote. i scared later i forget he forget too. and only rmb 6 mths later! p.s: it is very bare cos we're throwing away most of our stuff. what a headache, cleaning a room is bad enough. cleaning a house is worse. cleaning & clearing a house we stayed in for 23 years.. fantastic headache for weeks to come. some of the stuff my mom found in her stash: 1985 isetan fashion catalogue she's actually from china, hainan island but moved to malaysia and married my dad in sg. she was born around the time of second world war and has seen Mao govern. back then for some reason, food ration coupons were given out. she found a few that dates back to 1965. -_- i was like when she showed me.

UPDATE! just met with uncle soon, was supposed to meet at 7plus but he was held up so only met at 10+pm. poor uncle still haven't eaten. whipped out another revised quote for us in his curly chinese writing and talked about the details of the reno of my house. i am trying to draw up a simple floor plan/mock up of how i envision my house to be. let see if i can. now busy drawing..

well we have spoken to a neighbour who lives alone. he's okay with us renting a room frm him. but mom is still considering to stay in. im gonna talk her out of it at least during the hacking part cos its super dirty and dusty. even if we were to stay in, we cant shower nor use the toilet when they are working on it. so i have to tell her to move out first. however, it doesnt just end there. we stayed there for 23 years, we have a lot of stuff. esp her two altars which we can move it out so what happens is we have to shift all things into 1 room, have uncle soon plan how to hack and etc, then when 1 area is completed, move it out of the room to work on it. he has quite frankly told us that it will cost more than the avg reno simply for the fact that its more work having to shift things ard and it will take a longer time and he will need to pay his workers accordingly for that. which i can totally understand. he did say that we can stay in the house during reno but we still need to go elsewhere to shower. this will help us save on renting a room. 80% of IDs say move out better. i can understand too cos they dont wanna be held responsible for damages. they will have to replace so instead of earning, they lose. but the other 20% says can be done thru proper planning, just that cost will be higher. ah soon was the one who say, ya can stay, just stay la i do everything nice nice for u. so shuang kuai again. either way, its either u pay rent or u pay for the delay in production due to u staying there. so ya, u still pay lor!! hope this helps u to decide!

i spoke to zack from ideal design. his quote is fair to me. perhaps some items more ex, but some items are lower in price. so when u add it up, its still an acceptable figure. why not just call them and decide for yourself?

hey, if u are looking for IDs, i can recommend a few to u that i have met with in the coures of my own reno. if u like i can pm u. and yea, read more tblogs to get an idea or two and just find out by reading cos some quotes are posted there for u to have a look. just try to ask about materials used eg: wood for your door, hollow or solid? what kind of tiles they giving u, etc etc. hope it helps!

pinkpetter ya must see what uncle has to offer! im quite excited and happy actually, he is quite on the ball with me leh!! today as promised, he is coming down with completed english quote for me to have a look and to discuss the remainder items! so happy! I hope all smooth smooth. heh. will update later after the discussion with him to see whats to be done. mrspiglet do you mean drawings or drawers? a little confused.. i see. cos initially some ideas i got was to created a tv console with glass panels in front so i can put things like a dvd player in and i can still use my remote to control.if i want it just plain wood then i have to put the player on top of it, under the tv. just wanted to get some opinions of who has done what to see which is the best or just pros/cons. Michele ya that offer sounds so good. but not sure if the cuizino brand is lasting. was thinking of getting tecno or rinnai or something. the franke sink and tap sure sounds good tho! so are u keeping jeremy busy? heh. he didnt follow up with me but i need to let him know that i am signing with uncle..

yokine9a ya i think cornice looks horrid but ah soon said since we just rewired, shld not have any issues with the wiring so he suggested to do cornice to hide the wiring. but i still think its ugly!!! let me see his final quote then decide to do or not. i think plastering will look nice! smooth all the walls. prefer to have it and its the best time to do it since we are doing reno now. always admired ppl with houses that have nice smooth walls.