Valerie Low
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Posts posted by Valerie Low
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Week 6 25/05/2012
Finally we can turn on the lights!
This is how our kitchen looks like under warm light. Actually we forgot to inform the electrician to use cool white bulb for kitchen and warm light for dining area. But I kinda like our kitchen with warm light. Cool white looks too cold and unwelcoming. I accept his mistake. Anyway, it's no big deal we can change it anytime.
This is how last minute we are.. havn't even decided what kind of light shade to use..
The masterbedroom. May is right, this kind of fan - the wind is not strong. Have to turn on to the max.
Move-in Date
Grandmother called last night and inform me that she has gotten someone to check out when is the best move-in date for us. It's 30th May! Omg
too soon.. a lot of things not ready yet.. the main gate is not ready, solid surface not ready, bathroom no doors yet.. Initially we were targeting to move in on 2nd June, but my grandmother told us that day is OKAY too just that got some 桃花？ -
Hmm, I don't have a model number. But it's the only oak 3-strip model for the $3.50 psf (exclude GST) Parador range from Evorich. I think Evorich's service is pretty good in terms of follow ups. They faced a lot of problems with my installation due to the lousy cement screeding done by the HDB contractor, but they still tried their best to rectify whenever I pointed our areas where I wasn't satisfied. In all, they came about 3-4 times after the installation completed to do touch ups here and there.
I would seriously consider Quickstep though, as it is highly rated in the US. I like their Eligna range, but that starts at $4.00 psf (excl GST) locally at Expo fairs. The $3.50 psf (excl GST) Gold/Classic series is quite limited in design as compared to the Parador range.
But seriously, if budget was less of an issue, I'd go for Allure vinyl tiles anytime. The feel on the feet is sooooo much better!
I was quoted $4.80 psf for Quickstep Eligna range. The distributor told me they seldom have any fairs at Expo. When were you quoted that price? I think $4.00 is a good deal. Seems like i must bargain more.
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That's why we always use clothes steamer. It is a hassle to take out ironing board and waiting for iron to heat up, then use so much energy to press the clothes. Though we have ironing board and iron, but we hardly use it. Ironing duty is not under me
Haha, your hubby does the ironing?
yes, totally agree. i hate ironing too so i outsource it to my cleaning aunty. hahahaha...
Can I outsource ironing only?
How much do you pay for the cleaning fee?
Hi Valerie,
With regards to getting nice printed fabrics, perhaps you could look at fabric.com, but let me warn you first, they do stock a huge variety of fabrics coupled with a mind-boggling range of designs.
I might order some fabrics from them next year and get our local alteration aunty to sew them into cushions covers for me.
Wow, there are lots of really nice fabric there! Thanks, I will check them out. I like geometry
I have to say that you have chosen the right tiles as backsplash, and I think when friends/family visit your kitchen, the first thing spotted in their eyes is the backsplash. Simple but extra-ordinary
Thanks Hoo, in order not to choose the wrong tile, I created mood boards before the reno starts. We really don't have the luxury of time and money to make wrong decision.
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Only furniture that I bought was a TV console. Sofa, coffee table, dining table and chairs have not settled yet.
My ID is quite relaxed after I told him that I will be getting my dining light in Bangkok in July. Just let him know and will send the electrician to fix it for me.
We are not in a hurry to move in so it is better the renovation is done up slow but in a proper manner.
This is one of my consideration, hoping to get a good deal during GSS.
I'm getting lazy, can even see that I dint update the Day XX of renovation.
Oh i like this coffee table! Where to get this and how much is it ?
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Hi kirinshibori, May I know what is the exact laminate flooring that you using? I would like to do laminated flooring for my flat too.
Thanks!
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Good progress, Valerie! Your kitchen looks so bright with the white cabinet. I wanted to choose white, but I am afraid of maintaining the whiteness, but definitely white is the best choice. Your hubby is right, you won't want to iron in front of the rubbish chute. So smelly.
Hi Aya, your kitchen is bright enough.. no need to use white cabinet to make it brighter. You can use more interesting laminate like wood, which I can't.
Hahaha actually the main reason I won't iron my clothes there is because I have the habit of watching TV and doing the ironing at the same time. It is impossible for me to just do ironing without any entertainment. I hate ironing, it's a boring task.
john little also selling happycall now. only $65 leh.. which i find quite good price loh. from the pic, it seem like the deeper pan where gmarket selling ard $70. today last day of the sales.... too bad i got no time to go. haiz....
The sales will come again I believe. GSS is coming soon! More things to buy. That's the reason I havn't bought or shortlisted any furniture til now. I'm still waiting for good deals.
Very nice kitchen cabinet!
wah.. ur special tile backsplash is looking GOOD!
looks like your reno is coming along.
like your grey doors too.. very interesting and "ang moh" style.
Thank you kungfupanda and thedottyness. We are also happy with the end result.
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, the centre part is for the hood? mine one don't have laminate backing like yours..Yah, it's for the hood. Yours don't have laminate backing? I didn't ask for it, the carpenter just do what they think is right.
I think it will be easier to clean if there is laminate backing.
Luckily it happened during reno, if not donno whether the contractor will come so fast or not. It is common, we got leakage also inside the MBR sanitary cabinet which is made of wood
Yalor, luckily it happens during reno. So far my contractor has been a very responsive and responsible person. We like him. It's ok if there is mistake, as long as he fix it before handover, we are ok.
So is the leakage fixed already? If got wood, better make sure the water don't sip into the wood, will rot.
i know some ppl cook more once they started to use happycall. so maybe you can start using that and maybe will learn to cook from your mum too.
Yaya, I saw this happycall advertisement too. Very tempted to get it. I showed this to my mom too.. she is also very impressed! May want to get it after we settle down.
yah. i made lots of french toast. lol
Lol, so you eat french toast every morning with the happy call pan?
if that carpenter is ah hock, say hello to him for me!
I think one of the carpenters is Goh. He has a boss, but i don't know the boss' name. The boss is also a very nice person.
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The white oak were so beautiful I must say. Look at the grains...
I like that floor trap. I almost going to get it. But i am thinking about the cleaning issue. How are we going to get rid of the stuff like hair which always trap at that area after shower. We have the habit of making the toilet hair-free and clean after each shower.
And by the way, i really like that wood plank! Is it engineered wood? or laminated flooring? Gorgeous!
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What is the bi-fold **** area?
I personally prefer clear glass for all windows. Gives ample of light in to brighten the house. I am not comfortable with dark moody house.
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Week 6 22/05/2012
Took half day today to discuss the kitchen cabinet issue with the carpenter.
I wanted to have handles for our kitchen cabinet.
Carpenter told me it has been a year plus nobody requested for handles for kitchen cabinet except me.
Anyway, he gave me a catalogue and we started choosing handles. Now the problem arise, if we install handles for the cabinet doors,
two doors at the L-corner will have problem opening as the handle will block the other door from opening and vice versa.
Carpenter said the only solution is to trim the edge of the door.
This is the photo of the handle we have chosen.
Carpenter fixing the corner cabinet issue. Please ignore the ugly track light bulb. I think it is really ugly with the bulb sticking out like that. We need to change to a cone shape bulb.
The laundry area.
We will have this rack to cover the washer and it also serves as a place to iron the clothes. (Hubby doubts I will use that place to iron clothes.)
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on the coffee table is another aluminium clock that got from Taobao, very cheap also think less than RMB30, intend to use both clock interchangeably
I like your living room, very cozy!!!
After work, feel like just stay at home and don't want to go out.
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Wahh.. the look of bak kut teh makes me hungry
Bak kut teh with yau char kway
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Now can see your special tiles as backsplash, really looks do nice!! Makes me want to cook in yr kitchen. Haha
Hahaha.. thanks for the compliment. I think my mom will be very happy to do the cooking in the kitchen too.
Well, I don't know how to cook.. but now I have my own kitchen i think i will have the motivation to learn.
Woa..those nice tiles give kitchen character. Like it like it...
Thanks OnTheRoad. We are thinking whether to add nice sleek handles to the cabinet.
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Week 6 21/05/2012
After work, we hurried to the house to check out the progress as today the kitchen cabinet will be up.
The first thing i notice was the lights were also up. I was shocked as the MBR fan was the wrong fan!!
We ordered a white blade fan but was given a pine wood colour blade!!
I was furious but it was also part of our fault as we didn't check in detail when we receive the fan.
Tomorrow need to call up the lighting shop and inform them about this.
Okay, let's have a sneak preview of the kitchen cabinet.
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ask contractor to pay for the water. heee
We will wait and see how much is the utility bill for this month. Hopefully is not too shocking.
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Just got a sofa bed to put in the study room. Haha, just in case my wifey chase me out her room.
I wanted to get a sofa bed for the study room, but hubby wants a day bed instead. Cos he said can buy a better mattress for the day bed.. can have a better sleep.
Guess he's preparing himself in case I kick him out of the room.
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Hehe I help him answer u, cos he busy driving now.
We're getting 246cm x 62cm @ 39kg per pcs.
Scratch proof, stain proof! Just nice for our girls. Won't heartbreak when they playing play dough.
Hahaha
Oops, me planning to get that too! What kind of legs you use for that worktop?
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Looks like good progress!
But your photos all horizontal leh
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Has anyone purchased mattress from JB before? Any good place to recommend?
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I am surprise why your plumber never install cut off valve for that pipe so your husband no need to run downstair to OFF the main. If OFF main means whole house no water. From your incoming main from downstair, your plumber should run separate pipes for various group of water appliances, and a cut off valve must be install at every pipe leading the the group of appliances and another cut off valve at each appliances (washer, water heater, WC, bidet spray, basin, kitchen sink, filter system... etc).
I can show you the water piping at my place if you want to see so you know what to expect from your plumber. I have a feeling your plumber is shortchanging you.
I think there is a valve for the pipes, just that if this situation happens to me, I will also panic, and first thing comes into my mind is run downstair and off the main pipe to stop the water overflow. I won't have the time to think of which valve to turn off
There are valves at each joint. We tried to turn off the valve but it doesn't help!! The quickest way is to go downstairs and turn off the main pipe. I don't know what went wrong. Contractor has already scolded the careless plumber.
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I have yr living room fan in my guest room. My living room fan same as my mbr. Not wooden blade but somehow the wind speed not very fast or cannot generate enough wind. Makes me really hot!
Didn't see yr mbr fan. Show and let me see?
My electrician has not installed the MBR fan yet. Show you later when it's up ya. I also don't remember exactly how it looks like now.. hahaha
I like your pendant lamp and Legrand switch and socket.
Hi ahlipz, thanks for the like! Hehe the pendant lamp is from ikea. But heard that it is discontinued now.
Ya, we like the switch and socket too. Grateful that our contractor let us have these!
I renovated my kitchen and 2 bathrooms last year after staying here for 15 years. Will do the living room and bedrooms when my bank account recovers,
So every now and then I peek into this forum to look see what others are doing. Not adventurous enough to use the tiles on the entire living room or bedroom floor area, and there isn't a small corner (like a balcony or something) in my house. So when I saw you using them on your kitchen wall, Too bad, my kitchen done up already.Oh i see.. too bad then.. Nevermind, you can do it for your next house or when you are tired of your kitchen design!
There are many times when we see what other people have for their houses are very nice and want to incorporate those ideas in our house too.. but we really need to consider whether it matches the overall theme. In fact, we missed out a lot of good stuff that we wanted too. Have to let them go as they don't match and not suitable for our current house.
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I have the same fan and the winds are quite strong. Even better than the other one I have in my mbr that are bigger. So don't worry abt it being short.
You have this fan at which room? I saw your MBR fan, i think it's the same as my MBR fan, is it wooden blade? I was told that wooden blade fan the wind is not as strong as acrylic blade. I have not tested this fan yet.
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End of Week 5 19/05/2012
This morning when we made a trip up, I heard running water sound in the house. To my horror, the common toilet pipe was broken and the water leaking out from the pipe behind the sewage pipe!
:jawdrop: 
Hubby tried to connect back the pipe that has fallen down, but he was not able to, so he quickly turned off the main water pipe downstairs. We informed our contractor about the leakage. To our surprise, he immediately came to our house to investigate the issue.
I think the water has been running like that since yesterday. Heartache so much water was wasted.
Anyway, the electrician has put up some of the lights in the house.
The foyer pendant lamp
Living room fan - we can only install the shortest one due to low ceiling height
The common bedroom light - double T8 tubes with prismatic lens. I just love the lens as it shimmers with the reflection from the sunlight.
The study room light - same.. very low profile
And finally, this little thing that we love - Legrand switch and socket!
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pay the taobao seller. i thought they dont take orders and payment from outside china.
Oh, we can order through the agents and they help us to purchase. Or we can purchase RMB from them and they will top up our Alipay account then we can buy directly from the seller. This is a better method, no need to pay commission to the agents!
The Nest
in Reno t-Blog Chat - HDB Resale Renovation & Interior Design
Posted
We are the other way round! I do the laundry and ironing, my hubby cleans the bathroom and the whole house.
Looks unfair hor..
Can PM me the price that the aunty charged you for the ironing task?