ashleyspace

You are so diligent. Our ID usually will update us when he need some decisions, e.g. direction of tiles to be layed, dimension etc. Other than that, not so much. Maybe we are more urgent than him, so we will go to the house to check after work 2-3 times a week, just to make sure there is no "serious" mistake and if any still can be rectified. It's really important to get a experienced, responsible and pro-active person, regardless ID or contractors.

Yay to 3-roomers also.. It's great to see others renovation on the similar layout. Your 3-D is super nice. The wall behind the sofa is so different from the original, do you do a feature wall for that? Anyway congrats on your flat, share more picture as the reno progress!! :-)

I had gone through a tough time selecting IDs and contractors, because of the tight budget. To cut the story short, we have finally settle down with an ID firm from Jurong East. We are cost oriented when selecting the IDs, but I think this is a big mistake because not every ID can understand the style you want. I realized that we had spent few hours talking about the partitioning of kitchen and quotations but when it comes to the design themes probably like 5 minutes. He doesn't give much suggestions and meaningful discussion on the design theme. From this experience, I would suggest to go through the design concepts with the IDs first to see how he/she can get the idea before signing up. Better still can show some pictures to see if they can help you to design your dream house. Most IDs in Singapore are actually doing much of contemporary style. If you're looking for something like scandinavian, industrial or more *****, really need to look into the ID's profile. Otherwise, most of their design are quite standard and may disappoint you. It will be too late to realize this after signing up with the firm. I actually quite interested the Scandinavian design, industrial and the all-white minimalist design theme... However, due to inexperience, I didn't have guts to jump into any the themes. Also the ID we selected doesn't have much experience doing up any of these. So the actual design is more of a modern contemporary design. Here is our 3D: View to the kitchen - View to the living -

Common Washroom - condition also quite terrible and washroom door is flimsy After looking at the house condition, here are the thoughts: (1) Kitchen + 2 washroom - must re-do, condition is too old and dirty to accept. (2) Living room + 2 room flooring - not ideal, but still acceptable. Most likely will re-do because once the kitchen and washroom is done up, this will not match with the rest of the areas. (3) Open concept kitchen - we toy with this idea because the space wasn't big in the first place. Hacking the wall between the kitchen and living will open up the space and make it a more enjoyable space to live. Also we like the idea of having a "bar counter" to have few drinks with friends occasionally, can also served as a breakfast counter. Most importantly, it can serve as an divider to kitchen/living area without a wall, so visually the area become bigger without a concrete divider.

This is the floor plan for our humble 3-room HDB: Here is the house before the renovation begins: Living Room - still acceptable, although not the 60x60 homogeneous tiles: Kitchen - a bit dirty, and built-in cabinet is partially rotten ~ especially near the piping. Master bedroom (view to washroom) - washroom condition quite terrible Master bedroom, it has a built-in wardrobe, but doesn't stand the test of time. The wardrobe has become yellowish and laminate peeling, so time to replace with a new one.

We have gotten a lot of inspiration from the reno-talk blogs and decide to share our renovation experience as well. We had gotten an resale 3-room HDB recently and the house is in original condition. Since we are buying from a first hand owners, the unit has not been renovated since it's built in 1985. The condition is still acceptable (considered well kept) but it is old nonetheless with some wear and tear. Decided to go for a full renovation to give it a face lift and breath a new life to the flat. The house is 688 sqf, quite a standard size for a 3-room flat. We have bought up the unit mainly because of the location - near to Serangoon Interchange and NEX. Although the space is limited, but this unit is quite well partitioned. We like it comes with an attached master bedroom washroom. FYI, some older 3-room HDB doesn't have attached master bathroom. Maybe HDB might think it is not necessary to have attached bathroom at that period of time, just like TV is considered luxury not necessity in older times... Also some older 3-room HDB washroom is separated to "toilet" and "bathroom", which is not so convenience in my opinion. But this unit doesn't has those problems. Renovation is an both interesting and tiring process at the same time. We are first timer in renovation, so we are excited to explore different ideas and reading up renovation blogs. At the same time, we also consciously tell ourselves to guard budget so that it doesn't go overboard. Hopefully you will enjoy reading our posts and learn from our experience and mistakes. :-)

We don't cook on daily basis also. So the final decision is to go for open concept, as this is what we really wanted from the beginning. Renovation just started... :-) Saw you are you are using the 2 burner hob, is it a vitro-ceramic or induction hob? We are thinking to buy the 2 burner Ariston vitro-ceramic hobs also, but not sure will it have any problem e.g. trip the electric when both burner is used at the same time(2900W). Was told by the sales-person only 13 amps plug is needed for this hob, but not sure will have any headache later on the electrical loading. I think best to get advice from someone already using it before.

Hi Jery, do you end up engaging Inner View ID? We just gotten a quotation from them, sounds reasonable. Just want to know whether they are good? E.g. workmanship, after sales service, delivery on time. If you have work with them, appreciate if you can share your experience with us! Thanks...

Hi, can you pm me the cost for doing up the bartop. I ask the ID to quote a bar top which is L-shape and empty below just like yours. It seems the cost is quite steep even though it looks simple. :-)

I'm looking at vitroceramic hob now because we planning to do open kitchen and it seems to be a cleaner option, less smoke I assume. Do you cook often? We are probably cooking during the weekends. And might use it to boil soup/tong shui also, not sure using vitroceramic hob will increase the electric a lot? Do you find that the electric bill expensive when you cook? We visit Mayer recently and the sales person recommend the Ariston hob which is 13Amp. He said this is the only ones suitable for HDB and won't trip electric. However we find that the price is higher than brand like EF, it's $799. How much do you pay for the Ariston vitroceramic hob? Do you know where can find this kind of hob with reasonable price?

Can I know what is the cost for installing the full height glass panels separating the dining area from the kitchen also??

Your renovation is so cool. I'm also thinking of having a solid surface bar table extending from the kitchen. Can I know whether your design is a open concept kitchen that has no glass divider between living room/kitchen? We are all so into the open kitchen concept coz it will make our 3-room looks more spacious, but scare will regret later. E.g. smell and oil spread to living/sofa when cooking. What do you think of this?? Maybe you can share with us whether it's practical or not. Can you share more picture on the dining - kitchen?? So interested the see the look after you've move in, if you don't mind. :-)

I've been following your blog and your renovation turns out to be so nice. I've just bought a 3 room HDB in Serangoon too, now starting to look for ID/contractor. Can pm me your id/contractor's contact? And your quotation if you don't mind. By the way, do you plaster the whole house? The wall looks so neat and even. Do you recommend plastering?