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I needed someone to help me drill holes on my false ceiling to install brackets on the real ceiling. Found www.pinpin.com.sg. The guy Richard was honest and efficient. He even went an extra mile for me by helping me disguise the metal bracket with white PVC piping material for a $100 job. We were impressed that he did such a small job with pride. Would recommend him anytime.

Sky came to my place to take measurements but disappeared without a trace without giving me a quotation!

Hi Simon, Can I have henry's contact too? Thanks!

Real wood!!! I always find it a pity that a place given much thought to end up with laminates. I shudder to think that many resale flats-to-be would have laminate floors should I want to move next time. I would definitely tear away laminate flooring if it ever happen. I haven't witnessed the popping-up of laminates, but I don't fancy the feeling of laminates. It has a plasticky feeling to me. I prefer a sturdier feel when I step on floors.

I've read through your blog and am glad I did. I am sourcing for contractors or IDs to do up some minor carpentry work and one of them who reverted is your ID. Judging from what he has done to your reno, I definitely would not contact him. Your reno process must have been very stressful. Although my flat reno was a simple one, I also had a terrible contractor who has made me lose faith in these IDs and contractors, so I can empathize with your experience.

I don't have a dishwasher, big fridge, radio and floorlamps but I feel that the rest are quite essential to me. 1) Dryer I didn't use a dryer often for the first three years I bought it, but it came in handy when I was pregnant 2nd time round. And it's really useful during the monsoon season like now and when your kid tells you she needs her PE attire or school uniform the next morning when they are still in the laundry basket! 2) Curtains I used to put up a bamboo blind for my balcony which looks into my living area, but I realised I hate the loss of privacy. Sometimes I want to put up my legs, or pick my nose while watching TV also cannot (haha!). So I put up my curtains again. Wouldn't exchange it for anything again! 3) Desktop For some reason, I still feel that desktops are more robust than laptops. 4) Bookshelves I'm about to customise a 9 feet bookshelf with doors cos the books in my study is just too much to bear!

Haha ... and I'm just done cleaning up my kid's messy room. She's a true blue hoarder even though she's just 11. She even kept three raw eggs in her room! I also had to convince her to throw away an old coconut which she found by the roadside and kept for a year on a separate occasion. I don't know how I can teach her the concept of minimalism.

Hi euphony, I'm also a silent reader most of the time I like the way you write and I thought your definition of 'minimalism' is so neat - and true - it's a lifestyle, a behavior, all encompassing. That sets me thinking perhaps our choice of reno concepts have alot to do with how we are like really. Like how some people say that our house is a reflection of ourselves.

Hi, Can I have Jimmy's contact via pm too? Thanks!

Repeated post

Have you considered steel rack with plywood board? Yee Sin is really good and cheap. I got to customize my desired length at about $230, including delivery and installation. Totally hassle-free and quick! My bro-in-law went out to buy steel racks at the same price. No delivery and installation.

Hi, A common cheaper alternative is solid surface. It's good enough to last for years. I think you meant 'postform' when you said 'laminates'. The older generation used postform and it lasted them for ages as well but most of us don't use them anymore. Solid surface looks better and feels more solid.

I see. You sound like you are at the beginning stage so I thought you might want some input

Thanks so much!

Hi hi, I can't believe that someone out there actually is thinking of the same thing as me! I am thinking of doing up my study and am quite set on using Tiffany blue for the walls. However, the blue I'm looking at is lighter than what you have in your drawing. I saw a few pictures on Internet with beautiful blue walls and they call them 'Tiffany blue'. I have a white kitchen too, but after years of using it, I feel that having drawers rather than casement doors might be more convenient and better utilize the space eg. The plates and bowls - it's always easier to reach for them from the top rather than from out to in. I end up stacking most of them together. My sister uses a drawer to contain them and the plates and bowls are organized more neatly.

I want to do up my whole study. However, I find myself lacking in the interior designing department. Is there any good ID who is willing to take up a small project like mine?

Hi, Can you share with me where and how much you got this for? And where to place this huh - at the bottom of a wall like the conventional socket points or ...? Thanks!

Hi, Your house is my favourite on renotalk by far. It's very tastefully done up. Alot of great ideas too! I never liked white brick walls, walnut-colour furniture, Scandinavian or mid century look until I came across your blog! Your flat changes the way I look for many things, even wooden false ceiling and expensive furniture. Your flat brought out every piece of furniture very well. Very impressive!

Hi hi, Nice and serene house there! But this pic lingers on my mind. Can you share what lens you use? My walls are all blank so I thought what you said was right: kids' pic on entrance wall. Did you take it in black and white or did you convert it from colour?

Hi adidaem, Have been following your blog on your airy EM. If you are getting a green Christmas tree, red, among your colour choices, would be nice on the tree. The shopping malls usually mix and match it with hot pink so that there's a variety and the different colours also add layers to the tree. I was trying to decide between silver and gold, and eventually I went with gold. Gold looks luxurious and whimsical especially on pictures. Silver looks like grey on pictures. You can shop for a Christmas tree and decor at the annual Taka Christmas fair at the Square. I had bought ornaments from Concourse and Paragon but feel that the ornaments at Taka are more comprehensive, varied and prettier than these places. Comparatively cheaper than Paragon, and variety prettier than Concourse for the same price! Taka even sells these rotating stands for certain Christmas trees! But if you do get such a stand, you will need to make sure your Christmas tree has to be fully embellished with ornaments unlike those that stand in a corner which you can leave the part facing the wall boh-tak. You probably have realised, but just in case you haven't, you need to think about the height, and width of the Christmas tree you want. Usually they come in 5 or 7 feet. Most HDB dwellers get 5-feet trees, but stupid me was so swayed by the sales pitch of the saleslady that I bought a 7-feet tree with a circular 'skirt'. It ends up taking up quite a bit of space (width) because of the circular formation at the bottom. You will also need to think about the type of leaves you want, but you probably would already have it in mind. There is pine, needle-pine, kodiak and a few others I can't remember. But when I started choosing, I was more or less set on a particular type of leaves ie. I didn't want needle-pine or those that had different tones of green. It's fun buying a Christmas tree and its ornaments. In fact, I make it a tradition of my own to shop for ornaments at Taka every year. Even when my tree is quite "full" now, I shall head down to Taka still to see if there are any pretty ornaments to get. Some are simply too pretti-licious to let up! On the note on study, incidentally, I am thinking about how messy my study has become. We didn't do up the study - in fact, we didn't do much to our flat. If I even get a next flat, study storage is definitely THE priority. And for the suggestion that I offered on Christmas trees, I have the same question as Redarmy10: can you tell me if you have anything to mount your TV on? It looks like a real wall but your wires from the TV are minimum. Cos I am thinking of mounting a TV on a real wall without any feature done.

Hi, I'm no guru but had a wall hacked and re-erected. I think your ID is right. The hollow-block wall does need to be plastered so that they hold well together. Real bricks will be too heavy for a flat so HDB won't approve of it as well. The brick stones are called 'craftstones'.

Hi Simon, You have the master bathroom that I dream of, the colour combi especially. Almost died reading through your blog - I started from the last page since most people have their renovated pics on the last few pages. Hope you don't mind me asking a few questions: 1) What is the colour code of your Master bedroom wall behind your bed? 2) What did you mean when you said you would build a 'small step' in the common toilet? 3) Can I have Henry's contact as well as your quote? Thanks!

My sister got your dining lights as her bedroom lights, in a different arrangement. Very pretty! The swarovski crystals are really beautiful when light shines through! That's just about the only item they decided that it's not very practical but wanted to splurge on.

Use of singlish I'm sorry but I can't help but laugh at all the singlish and funny english esp. "eat full no **** do", "'father debt son pay' also correct de", "we paisey one time, they paisey forever". You all weave them so naturally into your posts. Evil contractor I had also suffered tremendously under an evil contractor whom my stupid husband went to pay 11k upfront before any work was done, but his mouth was not so clever. He just kept hanging up on us. My relationship with my husband suffered. It's just never the same again, for the worse. And the bad works stay with us for as long as we live in this unit. Smart mouth Now that I'm abit older, I've learnt that for people with a smart mouth, you must also scold them back. If not they'll think you don't know how to argue and take advantage of you. If you scold them back, even if it's one time, they'll think twice before they shoot anything again. I always ask myself what I would tell the other party if he or she is my elder sister because when I quarrel with my elder sister, I'll be very fierce and harsh. Although I won't be as harsh, but at least I let the other party know I also got temper. But like what my mother said, we should think about what we want to scold and the counter-lines. If not, will run out of things to say. Door Regarding doorframes, I remember a forummer said the contractor quoted him the cost of doors. On the day of installation, the contractor told him must add in the cost of doorframes. I think that's also very 'ke wu'. How would layman like us know they never add in the doorframe cost when they quote for the door? Karma I also heard from my husband that he once had a everybody-hate superior in the army during his NS. They always cursed that his son will have no anus. In the end, his newborn son really got no anus.

Hi all, I need a seamstress to make two sets of full-length day curtain in organza for the living room, but I need the seamstress to rush out the curtains in 2 - 3 days' time. Can anyone recommend one? I can't buy ready-made ones because mine run on tracks with metal hooks.