theitsybits

Week 6 concluded Progress is slow this week. Chemical cleaning was done, 2 toilet doors and service yard windows were fixed. Carpenter (not K) finally came for measurements. Loving the big open space in the living/dining/kitchen area where guests will mingle. Service yard window is up. Main focus of this week is the toilet doors. I love them, and they ain't cheap since we chose solid wood over PD and bi-fold doors. I dislike the look and feel of PD and bi-fold door since they're usually quite flimsy and made of PVC which kind of spoils the look of the place.. Changed the MBR toilet door to a 2-panel one as toilet is too small..the original door opened up to hit the sink/vanity top, and you can't really brush your teeth without knocking your elbows if you do not close the doors. The 2-panel sliding door for the huge common bathroom. View of the huge common bathroom. We are still waiting for the louvre bi-fold door to be installed for this door. As we are getting a full-length vanity, the door has to open outwards, and we paid more for a louvre door because it looks better than normal bi-fold door. Not much choices of doors due to space constraints.. And here's the corridor of doors. All our doors are white now. I love how the doors match the grey walls and enhance the feel of the place. Now all we can do is wait for carpentry to be up to finish up renovation. It's been a really tiring journey and I'm really hoping that it can end soon.

chim ar..lights also got so many kind..it's only after reno den realized that there's so much to choose and decide on..sometimes, things we barely know much about.. K finished almost everything le..waiting for carpentry..which is..not going very well, just gotta wait and hope they get delivered..

thanks thanks..we will get there..only a matter of when..and how..

haha thanks thanks..haven't finish reno lei..have problems with carpentry..we won't be moving in till end of the year actually.. oh no, i will check..or perhaps go upstairs and peep if they have renovated..

looking good neighbor! congrats!

oh man, this sounds super chim.. anyway, looking even nicer than when i visited!

Day 41 the carpenter FINALLY came to take measurements today, more than 2 weeks after we informed them that measurements could be taken..first week was spent taking initial measurements (not by carpenter) and finalizing designs and choosing laminates.. it has been a very frustrating week, because the carpenter was scheduled to come 'early this week'..but after chasing the whole week by phone and email for a update, simply no response..till late last night, after a nasty email and threatening to change a carpenter, we were finally told that the carpenter is coming to measure today afternoon.. we have informed them of the schedule since June, telling them to come for measurement end of June, and we expect carpentry to be up by end of July..so far, no confirmation that carpentry can meet deadline, and none of our emails and queries were replied.. all i can say is, it's a pain working like this and has made the final part of our otherwise very smooth renovation very unpleasant. is this normal? working with K has been so smooth and he responds very quickly within the hour or two, and i'm really not used to not having any updates and not having any responds. and they still came and nit pick on my not-yet-completed-painting and comment that my contractor is 'lazy' as he did not come to install lights yet..we actually agreed that he can come after carpentry is up, since some switches were to be concealed into carpentry and our kitchen requires lights too..it's quite pointless to make K come down to do up half the light when there's nothing else we can do with our house without carpentry! that coming from someone who has not been responding and have been dragging things moreover, reviews of them has been bad..and we can only hope that they'll do a decent job and deliver by the end of July.. only time will tell.. a kind advice to all: do avoid using your relative as much as possible to avoid complications and problems..i have read so many people advising against that, yet we conceded since MIL was very insistent..we made that mistake and have been paying for it now..if we had gone ahead to let K do the whole job, we would have saved a lot of time, a lot of frustrations, a lot of unhappiness and would have had a completely renovated house by now.. and instead of doing self-reflection, they are trying to nit-pick on K now..

i like grafunkt stuff, but they are really really expensive...... and yes, i like those classic headboards, but seriously, nothing catches my eye here..we're totally not into the frames that come with bed.. *sigh! i guess we'll keep looking or sleep on the mattress for the time being..it's not so bad since it's 36cm high..if really no choice, may consider custom making it at Lorgans but it's not cheap either.. haha i'm braced for more negative comments to come..i haven't even have my housewarming! i guess it's true that white kitchen and brick walls are harder to maintain..but my motto is, all beautiful things require more maintenance than anything less beautiful..women included.. so if i want my place to look beautiful, i'm prepared to put in abit more work lo.. can't have the best of both worlds..

yes, they will dismantle to get it out of the window..i went to hong liang because i know that he has done quite a few casa units and knows how to do it..i'm okay with it, as long as it's not gain city people doing it as i've heard many horror stories about them..i prefer to go to smaller shops who has a team of experienced workers.. i guess it's up to you..some people are not comfortable about it and get other brands or the heavy industry one..HTHs!

Hello, We got the tiles from Soon Bee Huat. They were $2.60psf before gst.. i have no complaints about my tiler contractor, he has been very responsive, very responsible and everything has been very smooth..even when there's minor rectification needed he does it for us..neighbors who visited our place has commented that my grouts are very narrow and tiles are laid very nicely.. but one thing about such tiles my way, the floor will not be entirely even/flat as the tiles itself is not straight (abit warped)..it will be less obvious if you lay it staggered or aligned..i guess you can avoid this problem by buying more expensive tiles ($9psf kind) as those are not made in china and is generally straighter..

i kind of think the application is a shade darker.. maybe it's the reflection of the catalog..i like it though.. We haven't found a bed! We need a king-sized one with a straight headboard..i think the one we saw in white woods had a curved headboard or the something which we didn't like.. will pm u my contractor..he also did paloma and pinkwhale's place..the IDs i spoke to were quite abit more expensive than contractors..so maybe u can get a few quotes to compare..i guess contemporary is still more popular.. and sometimes it's hard to trust IDs to get the feel i want when the whole portfolio i see is contemporary and exactly what i did not want.. IDs who could achieve what I want, I cannot afford.. PM-ed I also can't wait.. but we're having issues with carpentry..looks like things will be delayed

Hello, it's called mosaic grey AL 20804: http://painthouse.com.sg/catalog.asp?group=all

it's at furniture mall's star living..very pretty and washable covers..and cheap! a lot cheaper than Air..there's this grey and brown to choose from..

the decking really looks pretty! and i like your dining table, especially the legs..where did u get it?

hello neighbor! totally agree with all the horrible things..we removed the partition and changed all the toilet doors too..

hmm seems like you're doing pretty basic renovation? if you know what you want already, contractors will be cheaper than IDs..and the expo IDs ain't the cheapest IDs around..do ask around and ask for a few more quotes..

wow we really have similar tastes! i'm quite crazy abt tiffany blue and anything in that shade attracts me.. haha we've not decided on the photo wall la.. not very sure that the heart shape goes with our theme.. haha! yea drilling the brick wall doesn't sound like a good idea..i'm drilling mine to mount the tv but well..maybe u can do it at the dining area instead? then again, it should be stunning on the brick wall.. i didn't ask k for a quote..he did mention that he can ask we're interested..at first we wanted installments and went to HN/BD but asked Hong Liang since we were on the way to Ikea..who knows, the price differed by so much and it's ridiculous to pay 1k more for installments..so we just got it from Hong Liang..

thanks! progress will be a tad slow till carpentry comes up.. hopefully by end of the month..

Photowall Design we love taking photos, and have accumulated ALOT of photos around the world over the past 8 years together. it's difficult to choose which picture to display and the husband has the task of designing our photo wall in the living room. he has resorted to using photoshop and here's the first draft. it made me laugh. ain't heart shapes a tad cheesy?

hee i like grey too! but i also like many other colors like turquoise..but settled on grey since it goes well with white.. i got my air-con from Hong Liang at Alexandra..mitsubishi inverter system 4..it was $3,950 with upgrades of pipes/insulation with 9,9,9,24bts configuration..pricing is pretty good as BD/HV quoted around $5k for the same..do not dare to go to gain city after all the horror stories, and it's more expensive ay.. No! Nothing to do with fengshui, in fact i think the other direction should be better because my main door faces the kitchen yard window and the energy dashes out..but instead of putting it the other direction to 'redirect' the energy into the house, i'm directing it right out of the window.. i suppose yours should be the better fengshui one..but i'm no expert hor! the only reason was that we decided it looks better aesthetically.. this is one of the many things which I didn't think that I need to actually decide.. thank you and to the same taste.. pm-ed you the contact. thank you! your place look really wonderful too.. i guess only people who enjoys baking/cooking and entertaining would really love the open kitchen.. my kitchen aid is in turquoise (ice) and i almost chose red.. i'm also getting a coffee machine that can fit illy's capsules.. i'm really looking forward to carpentry too as it'll finish the look..

hello! i do like my living area bright and spacious. pm-ed.

Week 2 concluded..cont I chose grey for the MBR as I like to sleep in absolute darkness. It looks a shade darker than what the catalog shows, but it's alright I suppose. Air-con trunking and the beams. The wardrobe will fit into that space. MBR toilet. View from sofa area. L-box with cove lights on top. The recessed wall will be covered by a feature wall. We have chosen doors for the toilets. A 2 panel door for MBR toilet as the space is absolutely too tiny, a sliding door and louvre bi-fold door for the common toilet. These should be installed next week. Windows should also come soon. The relative has also came to do a site visit and some measurements. We have decided on our laminates and carpentry design for all. Hopefully we can get them installed by the end of the month, but we are still waiting for finalized design (hopefully they didn't get anything wrong) and for the carpenter to do the actual measurements early next week. I was a little disappointed because they didn't have cement-screed like laminates which I wanted for the bathrooms. *sigh. Let's just hope that carpentry can be delivered by the end of the month, otherwise our renovation will drag for more than 8 weeks.

Week 5 concluded. Not that much was done this week since most of the works are completed. The glass/shower screen is installed, paint work is almost done and all debris cleared for chemical cleaning next week. View from entrance. Living/dining. Kitchen. Common toilet with glass panel to separate toilet bowl and shower area. Corridor.

i like the space along the corridor! it'll be nice to put some photo frames there..

hmm i haven't thought of that..i was thinking living room since it's the nicest place in the house and i can watch telly at the same time.. you should have enough space to open up a ironing board there! anyway it's foldable and you'll keep it after you're done..sounds like a good idea, maybe i'll do the ironing there..