arnold

Mood Board Through the browsing of the articles and blogs in this forum for the past year or so, we have some idea of what we wanted. Along the way, we also saved some pictures here and there so that we can refer to it and shape our house accordingly. The following pictures are some inspirations we got, courtesy of the many friendly people here: Living Room Master Bedroom Kitchen

Principal Considerations (PC) Prior to the start of my renovation, my wife and myself decided to sit down and list down what we thought was important for our home. This will eventually be our guiding direction in all the decisions that we make. The PC that we have are as such: No Covelight. In our opinion, the covelight in the home is a pretty thing to have. It provides soft lighting to reduce glare, and at the same time, it provides a romantic feeling to the home. It is no wonder why the covelight is one of the most common features in modern homes today. However, we decided NOT to have covelights at home. While the covelights indeed adds ambience to the home, the last thing we want is to sweep off lizards and all kinds of creepy crawlies during cleaning. No Brick Walls. Like the covelight, the brick wall is a common features in many homes today, especially scandinavian and industrial inspired homes. It provides a different texture to the home so that the home remains interesting. However, we think that the brick wall is likely to be a cleaning hazard. We imagine ourselves cleaning the brick wall with a damp cloth, and we will probably have some loose thread stuck onto it due to the uneven surface. Being the lazy us, we will prefer to omit things that are difficult to clean. Furthermore, the brickwall might cost us additional money through the buying of cloths to clean it. Ceiling Fans. With the small space in HDBs today, we believe that the ceiling fan is the way to go to free up space for other small knick knacks that you will get for your home. At the same time, we want the fan to be sleek in design. The design of the fan is purely a personal choice and we decided that we will get the Haiku for the living room. Yes, it cost significantly more than the most other fans. After all, it's a designer fan. The sales people will try to sell you the idea that because it comes with a DC motor and therefore, uses much lesser electricity. I don't think this sales tag applies to us. We are working adults who probably spend half a day outside our homes. The fan will probably be in use at most 3 hours a day on weekdays and maybe a bit longer on the weekends. How many years will it be before the electricity savings can help us recover our capital cost? Regardless, we still got the fan, and like I said, it is purely a personal choice. Separation of Changing Area and Sleeping Area. Due to work requirements, there will be times that I work odd hours. Therefore, we decided to have a separation in the changing and sleeping area so that we do not affect each other when we get ready for work. There are many ways to do this, including using the wardrobe as a partition for the room, or to locate the wardrobe in a different room. Access to the room can be created through the knocking of walls. After discussing, we decided that we wanted the rooms to remain intact. The rooms that we require are: (1) children's room for the little ones [i have a 2 year-old daughter and another 1 coming up] and (2) study room cum play area for the children. With this in mind, we decided that we will partition the master bedroom with our wardrobe. No Build-In Furniture for the Children. Children grow up quickly. Too quickly sometimes. As they grow, their requirements for furniture change. These requirements include the need for a bigger wardrobe, the need for a bigger bed and of course, I am sure my daughter would not want a Mickey and Minnie bedroom when she is in her teens. Therefore, we decided that we will buy off the shelf furnitures for the children. This will allow us the flexibility to "upgrade" the furniture in size along the way, as well as to allow the children to have choices in future when they grow a bit older. No Hole in the Ceiling. What does this exactly mean? We have seen many examples of living room aircons housed in a hole within the false ceiling. This happens because of the use of downlights to brighten up the entire living room. To accommodate the aircon in the living room, a hole is cut out within the false ceiling so that the aircon can be fitted. Personally, it is something that I simply dislike. I think it looks weird, plus I trust that cleaning the top of the aircon will be of some inconvenience. Therefore, we decided not to have a false ceiling at the position where the aircon will be. Conclusion Our theme of the renovation will be "We want a home, not a showroom!" I believe that many IDs along the way will introduce you stuff that will enhance the looks and feel of the home. Things like covelights and brickwalls are some of them. With busy working lives plus 2 young children that will sap up most of our time, we will appreciate the ease of cleaning the home more than designs. The decision also came about due to observations of my parent's home. There is a feature wall with lights for aesthetics purpose. For the past 15 years, I remember vaguely that it was switched on only during the first couple of months. After the initial period of excitement, the lights were never switched on again. We didn't think that it was wise to spend money on something that we will use for only a couple of months. My PC might contradict some of us here. I hope that no one takes offence. All our PC were made based on a very personal choice. It is in no way saying who is right or who is wrong. Ultimately, we all make choices in order to ensure living in our homes is an enjoyable experience.

Hi everyone! After 3 years of waiting, I got my keys to my home! During the 3 year waiting period, I had been reading many of the blogs here and appreciated all contributions by the friendly people here. Through the forum, we learnt a lot on renovations and how to manage expectations. At the same time, the knowledge bank here contributed to how we planned our renovation journey. Now that our renovation is nearing to an end, we have decided repay the society by sharing some of my experience in the renovation of our new place. First up, here is the floor plan Phase 1 - Renovation Table of Contents Principal ConsiderationsMood BoardStar Search! Contractor or Interior Designer?The Meet Up!The Plan!Lights - Choices and PurchasesSinks, Basin, Taps and All Things That Get Wet!Artificial or Natural? The Kitchen Top Choice!Woodworks Considerations and Decisions (Part 1)Woodworks Considerations and Decisions (Part 2)And Let There Be Lights!Electrical AppliancesThe Silly Layout of the MBR Toilet and its SolutionsSnapshot Before Furnishings (Living Room)Snapshot Before Furnishing (Kitchen)Snapshot Before Furnishing (Master Bedroom Toilet)Snapshot Before Furnishing (Master Bedroom)Review of Renovation WorksReview of ContractorPhase 2 - Furnishing (Coming Soon)

hi, didnt receive your pm. pls send again

No requirements for UHD unless you are a bluray enthusiast. The topbox that Starhub and MIO provides supports only up to HD at the moment. The UHD resolution will not be fully utilised just based on these topbox.

hi pls advice price on haiku fan if you have it

Care to share the link to ur tom dixon lights?

lovescandi, i dropped u a message on ur facebook. probably in ur others folder.

It's nice to hear the honest view of a designer. While you had decipher the bits of knowing the professionals, perhaps we should also look at the other side and decipher the bits of knowing the clients: 1. Everyone wants to have a say in the design of their place. After all, they will be the ones living in the place and not the designers. I believe many of us are willing and delighted to hear alternative views of the professionals that we engage, but sometimes, the design solutions that were given just don't fit into the category of "what the home owner likes". This potentially causes the home owners distress in staying at the very place they call home. In this case, putting yourself in the shoes of the home owners, will you put yourself in this kind of risk? 2. Looking through your portfolios, past projects and understanding your charges is a critical part of engagement. By going through these points, we can make a more informed decision on whether to engage you early and to shortlist you. Imagine yourself sitting down with a client who doesn't agree to your design directions. The design process will not be enjoyable at all. It will be a situation of the designer giving proposals and the home owner rejecting it. Eventually, the deal will not fall through and everyone's time is wasted. We also understand that there is no way to make a fair comparison of the designers' work with cost. However, we must also understand that there are home owners who are indeed on a budget and that they are squeezing themselves just to get a professional. If in the first place, the budgetary terms are understood, we could potentially save time again. In short, home owners do not want to waste time, be it theirs or the designers. 3. We can understand that there are situations where delays are unavoidable or not within the control of the designer. But i would like to remind everyone that part of the services advertised by ID firms include project management. I am sure that the professionals, with their experience in project management, can and will include buffer time within the schedule to cater for some of these possible delays. However, there are many cases of delays because of mismanagement by the professional. This is not acceptable. Next, as part of project management, there is also a need for quality control. Likewise, there were many cases of designers who did not fulfil this part of the deal. In some cases, there were designers who compromised on quality in order to meet the timeline. This is also another issue that are faced by many home owners. I agree totally with you that we all want to have fun. But many times, because of the many reviews that were shared, it is difficult to do so. Of course, there are many designers who are extremely professional in the way that they mange every project. But that doesn't mean that there are no bad eggs within the industries. A home owner will want to make sure that the party they engage do not belong to the latter, which explains the amount of "homework" the home owner does. If every home owner is rich enough not to consider budget as a limiting factor, and every designer manges their project properly, I am sure that everyone would want to go through the renovation process like how you described: To have fun!