porcupine12trade

unfortunately i sold my place, so cant take pics anymore. i totally agree with ur saying of L-box terminating before touching the wall..so it creates a "concave" for the curtain (this was what I did, the curtain guy "laughed" at me when i asked if I needed to put pelmet..he said that the L box can cover liao, pelmet for what (and that was what my contractor said too) but i also agree with you to ask the experts! ours just "opinions"

sorry for my blurness, looking at ur floor plan there is a wet kitchen? or was the wet kitchen converted to dry kitchen when you bot it? sounds like great idea to go for SS worktop n stand alone sink.. so meaning you need no built in or carpentry work... good! where to find stand alone sink? my original idea was built a SS sink with cabinet below and slot my dish washer into the space beside the sink. i have a problem with laundry coz i am a family of 5, perpetually have loads of laundry :s anyways, looking fwd to read your reno journey n pics

hi patsy many qns from me paiseh... where are you gong to place ur fridge etc.. in the original kitchen or new wet kitchen, can you share the layout of your new wet kitchen in balcony? I was like you, liked the idea of back balcony for some reasons... but as time goes, i wonder if my "fantasies" are practical

Hi patsy What are you going to do with the original wet kitchen? moving ur wet kitchen to the back balcony means you have to move gas pipe etc? but at least its a great use of the balcony space that you have paid for . currently all i can think of is make it a washing area.. a small sink with dishwasher (dont know make sense or not) and convert the yard toilet beside it to laundry room. Also from your floor plan the balcony is beside the yard (same as mine), i assume you are going to hang ur laundry there, will the cooking smell go to the laundry? my new place is at holland

Hi patsy, I have a back balcony too and wondering what to do with it. Do you know if your back balcony will get the rain? Windows are not allowed right? My back balcony may get rain coz the place is very windy, so I dont know what to do with my back balcony.

hi umaisarah, btw we swap places ha... i used to stay in katong, now am at and going to move to very near where you "were"..so u are west to east , i m east to west

my hb and I like SPACE and AIR furniture too... but like what you said, eyes pop out on the price tag. But last couple weeks they were having sale, so a 2 seater sofa is about 2k+, not too bad (not leather though). My children are younger then yours and my son abuses furniture, so i suggest to my hb to get cheap ikea furniture ...he was grumbling all the time bout the suggestion. feeling excited about the start of your reno, cant wait to see the transformation

if i imagine right, seems like can leh. Leave a "drain" between the window n the L-box for the curtain?

ya i agree with ossify, you dont need a pelmet. This was what the curtain guy told me and i followed his advice, it went well

Hey the bed looks very simple (i like) and sturdy . Wah!! can bargain so much, omg..imagine how they try to chop us with their first quote!! now I learn something from you , I'll bargain bargain n bargain! Btw I want to check why you got Serta mattress instead of the usual Simmons, Sealy? We were deciding to get either Simmons or Sealy, then sort of decided Sealy coz the comfort pad is more comfortable, but then just saw friend using Serta, i m starting to sway again haa. Few of my friends who use Serta bot their bed frames as well. I find lokking for a mattress is quite "complicating"!!

I spoke to an ID, she assured that it wont be dusty or insects hiding in cove lighting area, of coz I wasn't convinced at all. Can you explain the giddy part? I once had a cove light shinning outwards and my fan is inward..not sure if you get wat i mean (cove light not facing fan), no giddy problem. I love warm light for the house. my previous house had a big living, about 5m by 4.5m.. i had a fan in the middle and 4 corners each a downlight and 1 each along the 4 sides (a rectangle with 8 lights) i never had to on all 8 lights, coz its very bright (my standard). Good enough if i on 4, usually i on 2. I have seen people mixing warm n white, i think its personal perference

hi umaisarah, I wrote a long reply and suddenly the computer switched off coz i forgot to on the power . Wah the bay window ledge is so ex!! my old place's bay window lay with laminate, my carpenter charge me $200 each bay window. Maybe the wood and laminate I used was not the top quality one so its cheap (i still tot it was so exp ) Just spoke to a friend, she used carpenter and not ID, she mentioned 30-40% savings.

i browsed the Series supplies panels, look nice. Do you know how much they charge (or how they charge, by psf?) thanks!

hi umaisarah, sorry i cant recall where i have seen a wooden bed w/o the headboard, because i hv been to quite many furniture shops! also wood is not what I am looking for, so did not pay particular attention but i rem they are pretty common. alot of furniture shops do customer make, removing or adding something should be easy for them. On your qn about going ala carte, I think its perfectly ok? esp you are talking about a 10k saving!! i have moved couple of times and both times, i have my reno done a la carte. Also you asked abt using ID brain but engage own carpentry, yes this can be done also. Some ID do sell their design for about $800 (depends on ID). the sis co of rest and relax (cant recall the name) do mainly design (n lesser of the reno work). if you ask me, i'll sure go for the way that saves money. But you have to be prepared to spend more time co-ordinating..so go with whichever you feel comfortable. Some people prefer to pay for service.

forgot to add. I love to make use of the bay window space... i tot its a waste to leave it as it is. so still thinking of building a bed on it.. this (designing of the gals room) is giving me headache

Hi Umaisarah, You drawings are nice and practical but you can consider "no legs" really nice . I have seen many local interior mags and pics that loft bed can be done suspended. looks good and make the room looks more spacious too coz no legs. Honestly loft beds are fun and space saving, but my hb insist on no loft bed. We are on the same side, I need ceiling fans on all rooms too I may not put a study in the room after all. like what you said, put 2 single bed already cramp, not much space for study. My hb's reason for not needing study in room is the gals are sharing the room for sleeping too, if 1 needs to rest (sleep), the other maybe disturbing if in the room, with the lights on etc. so unwillingly i agreed. My main concern is the computer, I prefer the computer to be in the living where i can see what sites my kids are surfing, so might as well make study in living...er, but not sure yet how to make it still look nice?? haha btw, $1400 to replicate the loft bed to me is reasonable, though i have not scout around, but its "feels" reasonable "p on ur bed without head, you are looking for wooden right? I did see before, just the bed frame without bedhead

i'm planning to rent out my 4rm flat at telok blangah (whole flat legally). I do not wish to engage an agent, where should I source for tenants? thanks!

Hi Umaisarah, its me porcupine ...i'll continue our chat here. Nice to hear you have 3 kids too . We were contemplating a 4 bedder too. Its size vs location, in the end, location won and we got a 3 bedder. Also I prefer to be maid free, cannot get a big unit n kill myself with the hsework . but of coz, now i see the benefits of getting a bigger unit lol. If all my kids are of the same gender, I'll put them in 1 bedroom n convert the other into a nice study. But i hv both gals and boy..so cant do that . I want to build bed on bay window too to save space! i'll be following your blog closely !

Your deck is very nice! but i heard its exp, can you share the cost (PM me if its not convenient). I'll be doing reno similar to yours, esp wall paper, I wont skip that! I read a few blogs that people go to Europa, I used to use Goodrich, but everyone told me Goodrich is exp.

Hi Umaisarah and HKChing I am too planning for bed like HKChing! Though i dont live in Casa but my development is not tt big either! My "problem" is a bit bigger, I have 3 kids! my 2 gals will share a room and my son will take the smaller room. Hence I dont have a spare room for study. Scratching my head now. I wont consider bunk bed for my gals even it will free up space for a study table/area...sigh, any suggestions? how i dislike the bay windows! but new developements will not have bay windows anymore, back to the 90s . My old place was built early 2000s, the bay windows are the high type, worst ha.