ne0mesis

hahaha.. once i start, i can't stop... so went through all the pics and digested the info; not sure if you posted up your 3d pics before? no right? perhaps it would paint a very different picture to what i have in mind looking at what you intend to do my pm to you is strictly my 2 cents worth and imveryho only ya... hope it helps!

tks for the trust! if in time, hope able to give you some 2 cents worth eh ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh........................ i opted against it lei cause seemingly round just didnt quite fit our space hence the post to say round is not an shape in our house. ha

hey fellow EA/panjangnian, a late one but welcome to RT ya! we seem to have similar layout but yrs have a balcony!!!! exciting times ahead and like i always put in rt, "from hail of destructions, a new flat shall rose!" enjoy the reno journey!

there should be some savings then if there is no hacking. make sure u ask your id to check on the existing floor tiles condition before laminating over ya if keeping the living room tiles and laminating over rooms tiles, there would be marginal difference when the living rm tiles meet the rm laminates. your id should inform you on that. usually, a thin strip of laminates or sort to cover the difference would do the trick but that would prolly mean the rm doors would need to be trimmed a little. check with your id k.

deja vu. i remember i said something bout the bali paintings. then i remembered that the forum was down, so there was some who reposted their entries. ha! yes, I would definitely opt for the zebra still, revered or not. hee i can really relate to how you feel. is just like the case of deciding to have shark fins in the end for my wedding dinner. i said no initially but u cannot imagine how tremendous the pressure was from the elder relatives (especially) and close mates to have them on the wedding table. some even threatened (although jokingly) with "ang pow" money since there isnt going to be shark fins. aaggghhh these days.. i'm a strong believer in the law of attraction. as opposed to against people eating shark fin, or how much the chinese swear by the medical benefits from tiger parts, bear bile gall bladder.. i find more sense to put our energy and focus on loving them, discovering them on nat geo and praise them and letting more people know how magnificent these creatures are. more anti-terrorism campaigns is only going to cause more wars, more anti-drug movement is only going to create more drugs. more anti-shark fishing is only going to cause sharks being obliterated. simply put - "what you resist, persists", "attention flows where energy goes" opps, heavy stuff for a monday morning but i read you loud and clear ely, you're a big big animal lover k.

Gnee Hong is d a r n value for money right. and their selections are quite healthy too. really hope i can find time to visit comfort designs though. seems like another promising one too. purple color? always envy peeps who are daring in their colors. for us, we're only daring to try to inject colors with the soft furnishings

yes, fate and lots of luck too well, gd things are meant to share. just spreading the "goodness" around. thank you for your kind words! btw, i can't tell you enough how unique yr balcony is. lots n lots of potential and definitely work charms if done correctly, trust me! hahaah. great mind thinks alike eh! but.. but u realised i didnt buy that right? is really d a r n nice and unique but just realise it jus did not fit in. hope yrs is otherwise and a good addition to the house! and pse, do not say tat. each place is unique in their own sense esp it is yr time and effort to reno up the place ya. shall look forward to the clock then.

welcome. tot they should duly inform on the announcement side rather than i have to ask for it why. oh well, i still love how this forum works anyway. wow.. totally! really gives a whole new meaning to the term unblocked view. plus is greeneries outside. it must be spectacular enjoying the view! suppose $2268 for all the windows in the house eh? the sliding mechanism better be smooth yet sturdy to slide those windows. oooo can't wait to see it in action

alas, it cant be restored. i pm the administrator and it seems like they could only do the latest backup i.e 18 apr. hope it helps!

hahah.. i understand how you feel. i had a long long entry about my id too. luckily, my earlier draft was in a notepad. i was in your position when we started off our reno hoping for 25k or 30k but realistically speaking, for a 5 roomer, 30k is easily breached. but if you are keeping the floor tiles, there might be hope but then a long kitchen with cabinets may b tricky too i second to having the fs audit before the id. fs introduces color and forms. your id needs to consider that and translate it to better color palette. you can send your request for quotation via words but perhaps in room to room basic e.g living room do what, kitchen do what, rooms do what etc.. meeting id straight at your place is ideal, but suggest heading to their showroom or office first cause that gives you hints to their professionalism or what they represent hope it helps!

i think this is prolly a too late reply to help you out. but just in case if anyone wants to know more about Home Guide, my place happens to be done up by them. they're mostly by word-of-mouth and i feel its a job well done so far for my place, so spreading the good words around. do check out my tblog to find out more

ID Selection - a better late than never entry well... this entry is technically 1 year plus late - retrieved, revisited and further edited this day from an old thumb drive juxtaposed with scribbles and sketches from a writing pad that had seen better days. but better late than never right, and people here are always researching an id to revamp and reno their place. my disclaimer though, this aint a technical discussion in dept discussion and i stick to my usual protocol of catch lines, one enlightening liners and the general rule of thumb. so this is the story of my id selection. the year - last year, the month - last month when we already exercise our OTP in feb and the hunt for our id / contractor began. all in all, 7 fated ones were met by either word of mouth, forum recommendation and home decor magazines contests IDs FuseConcept InnerRoom Blink23 Homeguide, Contractors Henry of I.D Note (made popular in RT) Ben son of Ben z design studio (previously from Summitdesign, made popular in RT too), Kelvin from Inform Design and Contracts on the ids; when decided to choose an id, the mission is to choose and challenge ids that will make sure he does the job of taking what you want and upped the ante. If he only translate what you want only, that's a contractor, not an id! it has to be the case right since by default and understanding, you already have to pay more for his or her "designer designs" on top of what you already want, so why settle for less? otherwise, yo may as well go for a reliable and experienced contractor that is able to translate directly what you want. at least, that was what my wife and i had in our mind when it comes to choosing our fated id. going by the book, the initial meet ups with all the ids above, fairly speaking all rendered us the usual protocols and wares and honestly, aint any complaints on service or follow up after that. for those out there who are meeting ids after ids, i suppose you agree with us that many initial presentations are templates and you prolly seen that, heard that. however, when the initial quote is up, price really matters and you do see differences comparing the few ids esp after zeroing on cost on per ft or m run. chemistry between owner and ids is vital too in terms of ideas synergy and getting the point across to each party. so that helps to eliminate some ids that deemed VERY expensive for your budget or "uncommunicatable" at the early stages. the millon dollar question? who then is a cut above the rest? is the design dialogues, the revised quotations that ensued and he or she that listens the most with the most earnest and endearing attitude to follow through that will soon differentiate The One and the rest - like i said, the one that really crafts out the design and feel you want YET not compromising on latest trend and style. having passed that stage, is almost a 100% sure that that would be the one to do your reno. Even if is slightly more expensive than you budgeted for, is still relatively secondary imho. go with the one that strikes a chord with you first. from there, expensive is definitely down playable i feel - materials, design, finishes etc can all be tailor made accordingly to budget and taste. if he or she the incumbent has wonderful chemistry with you, they go all out to make it uniquely yours within your budget. I mentioned i have nothing to complaint on the above, so more on my id, Homeguide. my id choice, Homeguide for a start, we seen it ourselves HG completing a few units of my wife's friends and what is notable is that those few units are completed in different time, one is even a year or two apart. that gives the impression that HG has track records, reputable and there to stay. not in the likes of the few bigwigs that are on heavy branding on tv or magazines, HG is VERY little on branding and marketing but mostly by word-of-mouth. Again, this resonates better with us because we know we wouldn't be paying marked-up prices to pay for their branding and marketing purposes. and that especially strikes with me and my wife cause we strictly live by not-the-norms, overrated and the commercialised ones. the id unpretentious, approachable, knowledgeable and with huge loads of patience (not many can tahan my wife seriously - there was once we recalled him back on a sunday even though he's in malaysia, can u imagine!!) are what i have to say about him. what is also appealing is the fact that he listens and is really evident when he manifested to us our kitchen cum dining island. is whatever my wife and i had been speaking off - she wants white and i want that tinge of industrial raw look! he did unpretentiously confessed that HG will not be the cheapest quote around because they pride themselves on the in-house workmanship. there were also few occasions he actually said no to some of our ideas which on the contrary, very welcome by us. alas, someone who is opinionated and can draw a unwavering vision of the design! by then we hit it off so well, we were already sold. my wife and i knew that we will sign with him. and by the time we were shown with our 3d pics, we knew we found The One. haha 3d impression of our kitchen the actual on the contractors my view on contractors i think the argument never cease when deciding on id or just a contractor to do up the unit. but say if you are really function over form, and budget is critical then perhaps contractor is the way for you. having said that, it doesnt mean that contractor has zero design sense at all. experience of the contractor counts and that makes finding the right contractor even more crucial. and if the contractor has that streak of designer in him or her, that would be a bonus! both Henry and Ben son are through RT recommendations while Kelvin from Inform Design and Contracts did up my my friend's flat. among the 3, we only managed to meet Ben son and Kelvin. Henry, during that time was almost sought after by every couple here in rt and had his book filled like the entire year (and the last i remember reading from RT, it did not go very well from him). While we wanted Ben son from Summit, we realised he came out and started on his own. frankly speaking, we were not too comfortable with his everything-also-can, everything-also-nice attitude. is almost too good to be true, too easy to do to believe. btw, i really wonder why the ben son cannot joined up as one word? he's black listed or what? nothing on kelvin though, just that the chemistry wasn't there and they werent that cheap either. imVERYho and please do not judge me here, sometimes i do i feel players like Henry and Ben, the created reno heroes in RT are tragic heroes in literature terms. they can be highly recommendable in the initial stage and delivers outstanding job and efficiency. but once orders filled or overwhelming, their standards compromised and suffers, workmanship become questionable, and slowly but surely, leads to their own demise. however, there are exceptions. considering my healthy stay in rt, there are contractors i know that are still around and doing fine for now. right jaskel? ha oh well, this is my giving back piece after reading and learning so much from rt during my reno phase. like i said, not technical and in dept but do hope it helps some couple for any general reading. if time permits, notes or what-to-do and what-not-to-do during reno is next on my list. i surmised that would be more technical and on-the-ground. stay tuned

haha.. if storage is a must, then go top and bottom then. like i said, my personal preference to have bottom only. yea, jus make sure you take care of the wiw. otherwise, the smell is really an irk! tks for dropping my blog! ha. na, not neo. jus that i'm a big big fan of the Matrix. ha

"lost some battles but i think i won the war" - that's all it matters. that's all it matters

hey hey! the one i call infinity island! and the island still looks infinite! haha yea, time flies eh. is like 5 mths since i moved in too! and i can really imagine how u feel going by without curtain in the mbr cause we bought our curtains very late too! 50 pax at a place? i can't imagine!!

hi there, chanced upon yr blog after reading demonyi's. seems like major components are done up huh so glad to know your reno is smooth and on schedule. but boy i must say we have few things in common! open concept, white tiles and white kitchen cabinets! and eubiq system, i so wanna have that actually! and all rooms into 1? that's absolutely daring! but really, cannot imagine how big it is going to be comparing to the individual rooms. ha hope to see more of your "THE RENO ADVENTURE OF HAFIIZH!" p.s: i gotta do call caps cause really like the comic style presentation!!!

hi there, just caught with your tblog. hiccups or not nevertheless, congrats on getting yr EA ya. stay positive and everything will happen smoothly my 2 cents view below ya; high floor? if yes, keep that balcony!!! is nicely tucked in a corner and i think it can really be therapeutic if done tastefully ya. i will definitely remove the drop and level it to living rm though. agree with hafiizh that current set up seems limiting and pushing everything to that corner. kitchen wise, the triangle work flow seems long but suppose is fine. if cooking is norm for you two, always cater for a bigger and deeper sink. size matters here! looking at the length, i will definitely have bottom cabinets only. i never really like top and bottom unless done superbly minimalistic. but that's my opinion of course. plus you save lots of carpentry looking at this 6m run of kitchen cabinets! how long do you intend to stay in this EA? planning for a kid during the stay in the EA. suppose gd to have that in mind so that a room can be readily transformed into a baby room jus a word of reminder, is ideal to have a toilet attached with the wiw but do check your intention of usage inside that toilet. if dry dry most of the time or jus use for getting ready to work or out, i suppose is fine. but say you are going to shower most of the time there and used towels draping inside, then you better have provisions to make sure your clothes inside wiw does not have moldy smell, esp your wiw is open with no doors. not that it happens to mine, but i hear stories of such. agree with hafiizh too on 1 study room but again it depends on your usage. if absolutely a necessary, then by all means. otherwise, i do feel a little waste though. yeap, tat's all for now. more 3d pics pse! last but not least, welcome to RT.

WHEN ROUND IS NOT A SHAPE in the house i think this goes out to anybody who are discerning folks in terms forms, shapes, lines in the house. so just wanna share; when in doubt over a purchase, visualise and then decide if you still gonna materialise it. we've been hunting for our wall clock for a long long while (a wholesome of procrastination inclusive) and recently at greatworld when molecule is conducting its pre-reno sale, we spotted a unique clock that seemingly at first sight is DA ONE - that YESH, got to be this, can't be wrong feeling. and when sales person throws you a discount, you know is almost a sure-buy. Karlsson Wall Clock Double Sided Aluminum - just seemingly perfect for our column alas, they mentioned the display was the last last piece in all of molecule shops, so my typical virgo wife put a stop to this purchase after thorough inspection, citing "i think there are some scratchs". "but, but.. " no buts. so over dinner talking over it, it suddenly occurred to me that round may not match our living / dining. is the same case when we bought round seat cushions from MUJI for our stainless steel bench. a total misfit. in the end, we had to make an exchange for square ones instead. so when in doubt, cast the doubt in photoshop. and we were almost convinced. living rm - round seems a bit out of place when our place is mostly straight, lines and corners dining - similarly, is strikingly odd but in case you wanna an irrefutable answer, leave it to the professional. we dropped an email to our id and he called us back in all urgency, "$300 for the clock? the shape very risky, very risky buy. nor worth the risk and money. dont' ah". ha

i can understand how you feel. for me, that heightened sense of excitement soon = a humbling achievement and experience when the id handed the key to me at my newly renovated place. it gets emotional. so PSE, will you pse grab that piece of tissue for me? OOO gggeeeee *blows nose* seems like just yesterday for awhile, i mistaken your Lisa Ekdahl and Erykah Badu. always confuse the two just looking at the Ekdahl and Erykah. i had Lisa Ekdahl "River of Love" playing in the background during my ROM ceremony! oo that lil greeneries outside the glass house, that soft splashing of the cascading water, that sun, my wife.. oooo then i had the entire album of Sofia from A Girl Meets Bossanova played inside the restaurant.. oooo so PSE, THERE, overthere... that box of tissue papers. for me? OOO gggeeeee *blows nose* seems like just yesterday i tried to catch hold of the Mr Chew a few times but to no avail. he's always busy! nt sure i'm "suay" or what. but i said this and i'm gonna say this again. there are examples of many RT created tragic heros here. from nobody to a who's who in this community but their success turns out to their surest demise too - poor follow up, complacent blah blah blah. but this is my imho strictly there's a much talked about place in RT to go for switches - CCM. much cheaper or so i heard. so head there. you never know. is also da place to get the much talked about eubiq. budget wise, i have little to start of too. but wife and i also shamelessly NOT admit that we are whores to designer chic, visually nice and performance not compromised products. so here we are, many things not settled not bought because we know very well is a good-to-have, not a must-have. so those can wait when the pockets recover. hope it helps

eh............. give me some credits can. haha is as home-made as possible in my context. and for good and cheap replicas, try ghee hong and comfortfurniture. oh yes, apart from hommage, try univonna too. although i think their designs are limited. OXO! XOXO! get it? get it? hahaha..

kitchen is outstanding! i spotted a rinnai there!! you are really raising the bar here jaskel!

hear a lot bout down under but well, that's another story totally eh. but boy am i glad i can be my normal self. almost had the whole liner typed out again but well, to placate and mollify ppl here, i shan't hahaha TGIF guys!

sh*t, damage done. no disrespect in anyways. but retracted and duly apologies done. and apologies if anyone out there is offended. my bad totally there are still a few plans in the making for the house and i doubt, the HTS will draw good votes to have priority. so yeap, in time to come ya! you should head to greatword if you're around the area then. molecule (the outlet goin to reno i think), iwannagohome and if you may like, lifestorey are all there! and is not that a crowded shopping centre i think OXO! XOXO!

so thurs is quite an official my-night-only cause wife is working shift. and that's the only day i get to mess up the kitchen more, experimental cooking (anything to do with oven is experimental to her cause she always think the oven will explode..................) and blasting lush frm the small vintage radio. the sound quality aint that promising but it does add an extra dose of class while listening to mooli's one design. anywayz, this definitely wouldnt appear on my fb for fearing of incurring some of my mates' wrath for being pansy. but i figured out not many will know i am in here, so hey, what's not to share right? my simple waldorf salad (or not) and scrambled egg for dinner! like i said in the previous post, this has nothing to do with reno. reason why i got so excited with this ad hoc meal was because i tried marinating the chicken fillet with ginger beer! with it, pressed garlic, lemon juice, black pepper and salt to taste and my mum's contstant reminder - a lil flour to make the meat smooth for some unknown coincidental reason, everything looked so picturesque that i decided to take a picture to show wife. and well, that's where i decided i can post it here too! i just love munching on japanese cucumber so decided to throw it in as well. goodness gracious, i forgot that crountons are some caesar salad rightfully! but who cares.. the chicken fillet grilling in the background after marinated for an hour (which i quickly rushed down to wash up the small car) and ely1, if you're reading this, the OXO mat which is such a darling in the kitchen! is a trivet, draining mat and also double up as my non-slip mat. nothing touches the island basically. even the spice rack and the knife block has an ikea clear plastic mat below it the almost complete product the chicken fillet came out nicely - tender and smooth! and for the perfect fluffy scrambled egg, gotta beat it like h e l l with a mixer machine and TA DA! although i must say is not the prettiest sight for salad. amateur at its best! afternote: scrambled was slightly too runny. maybe a tad too much milk. but a minute or two later, it seems better! plain lettuce really makes yr salad look ugly and you seriously need a good salad bowl to toss everything! and yes, i promised you the above has nothing to do with reno already. confirm? DOUBLE CONFIRM

gd job once again eh! looking forward to the rest of the pictures with your new toy then