theitsybits

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..

Layout It's only when someone asked to see my layout that I realized I did not post my floor plan at all! Here's our floor plan. It's a 100m2 4-room, and I pretty much like the layout as the rooms are all squarish and it was easy to plan the spaces. The only complaint I had is that the MBR is really small and we had to hack a wall to place our wardrobe opposite the toilet. And here's the hand-drawn final layout which we decided on. From the lightings plan, we highlighted the walls to be hacked. We hacked 6 walls in total. (1) Hack MBR walls to fit wardrobe into Bedroom 2 space. Wardrobe is opposite the toilet and opens up to MBR. It's a great idea for us as our air-con ledge window brings in ALOT of wind and that was the only space where we could fit our wardrobe if we didn't hack the walls. It's also a squeeze and I don't think it's comfortable to have a MBR where you have to avoid knocking into each other! (2) Hacked the walls between dining and kitchen as we wanted a open-concept kitchen to open up the space. I also like to be able to cook and chat with my friends at the same time. I can imagine my friends sitting around the counter and help with preparations while we chat away as I cook. I also like to bake, so the long counter will house my kitchenaid and oven. (3) Hacked the walls between kitchen and service yard. This was added after all our hacking work was done as we simply did not think of it. It was a sore point for me as I felt that the service yard space is 'wasted'. We initially did not do windows nor any works at the service yard and it did not feel like part of the house. But after hacking it down, we overlaid the same tiles, extended it to the yard. We also added windows . It integrates the service yard into the house and brightens up the kitchen. Visually, it looks alot more spacious and brighter. I also added a cement screed wall since the beam needs touching up after hacking and I didn't like the cream colored kitchen wall tiles. We also have a uniquely huge common toilet that has 2 doors. We kept both doors as I like the air to circulate in the house and like the idea that you can hand-wash your clothes and bring it out to the yard to dry in 2 steps. We've changed the bi-fold door to go outwards and a sliding door for the other door. We also changed the MBR door as it opens up to hit the vanity! We'll be getting a 2-panel door that opens inwards instead. We are also making a feature wall to flush the ugly recess wall in the living room. It'll be a wood-plank effect wall with a 'hole' to display stuff. Common questions I get: Q: I like open-concept kitchens too, aren't you worried about oil and smell? A: I will cook often and my kitchen is not for show only! I do not deep fry food at home (only eat it outside, since outside fried food tastes better) and likes to cook soups or use the oven. When I stir-fry, I only use a small teaspoon of olive oil. So it really depends on your needs and how you use your kitchen. Personally, I've been doing this during my student days at a rented apartment and had no issues with oil and smell. I'm not bothering about clothes as I do not intend to hang much clothes, prefer to save time by using the dryer. If it's an issue I suppose you can hang clothes outside instead? Or time your cooking and washing properly.. Q: How much does it cost to hack? A: It's not as expensive as most people might think! It would depend on which walls you are hacking and whether you need a PE for that. PE fees range from $300 (cheapest I've seen) to $1200 (ridiculously marked up by IDs). I suppose hacking can cost anything from $500 to $3000, mostly between $1k-$2k Q: Your main door opens up to your kitchen and yard's window. You are not worried about bad Fengshui? (My contractor double-checked this point and even a malay asked me this!) A: Yes, I did consider this, but visualizing the bright and open space that comes with hacking 4 kitchen walls was too strong a temptation for me. I love bright and open kitchen/dining/living areas as these are where your guests will mingle and hang around when they visit. Most doors open up to the living room windows or the kitchen/yard windows, both are equally bad for fengshui. Some people seal up the door or build a partition to counter this. However, fengshui is also about comfortable spaces which are bright and airy for energy circulation. This was the main principle I followed and thus, hacked the kitchen walls to let the light in and create the illusion of space, left my air-con window unblocked to let air in, refuse to seal one of the common toilet doors (also to let air in and circulate). And to counter the 'bad fengshui', i got a crystal light for the entrance (to slow down the flow of energy) and possibly some plants near the yard window. Personally, I really don't see how building a partition and blocking the flow would improve fengshui, and I guess different masters have different opinions about this too. And lastly, because I happen to be at one of the stacks with 'best fengshui' in the estate, I'm less inclined to be bothered too much. Q: Your kitchens are all white? Are you worried about maintenance? A: No. It really depends on how you maintain it! I love white kitchens, they take my breath away. When I flip through magazines, it's always the white kitchens which wow me. Although I like wood-colored kitchen too, but white is still my favorite. And to people who are worried - beautiful things always need more maintenance than anything less beautiful. This applies to almost everything in life, including woman. Q: You have 2 brick walls, are you worried that it'll be difficult to clean and dust will settle in between? A: I love my brick walls and it was THE most important thing for me. See previous answer.