June

Finally got rid of the seller's dining set today. it was one of two things from the sellers that I kept (the other was the huge white fridge). The rest of their furniture were donated to Good Samaritans before my Reno started. The dining table was useful when I hosted dinner in my new place in january this year before my Reno and it held all my barang barang during the Reno (eg. Sample tiles, laminate catalogue, tools, newspapers etc). I actually wanted to keep it in my study room but it was taking up too much space and so I decided to dispose of it. It's so huge that it had to be dismantled or else it cant pass through the door (what u see here is the underside of the table top) photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr I'm a little sad to see it go but happy that my study room is spacious again! The town council guys were very punctual and they helped dispose the table and chairs FOC. I have nothing but praise for my town council. I called them on three occasions about different issues and each time they sent someone to my place very quickly. The fastest response was on the same day- just hours after I called them. Anyway, here are two before and after shots of my dining chairs. These were taken long time ago but I was too busy to post. Now that I'm on Xmas leave, I will be posting more before and after shots, before signing off from this forum forever. photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr I stained the seat to a darker colour to match my dining table.

im on 'strike' today at work (*evil grin*).. my little reward to myself for having worked so hard for the past month. Just discovered several pix in my iphone of some new additions in the house.. photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on FlickrI bet even J.K Rowling doesn't have this antique looking version of her own book...: ) photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr An old manuscript looking even older after i stained it...photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr Statue of Liberty given an old look by me....photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr Gosh..looks like everything gets "distressed" by me... I hope my place won't look like some museum when the furnishing is done..

I thought my blog is slowly fading into renotalk history since there hasn't been any updates from me for close to a month. But got a shock when I received two requests for my ID's contact and my blog is near the top of the list again. So now I feel obliged to give an update on the home front. So what's been happening ? NOTHING ! Absolutely nothing ! In my update last month, i said preparation for Xmas had started but soon after, it stopped. Because I was totally consumed by worK! And Xmas is just round the corner! I haven't even planned the Xmas menu yet for my party... Major panic!.... But it's okay... I'm sure I will survive ... Amidst all the projects at work this past month, it's amazing how I managed to squeeze in a simple paint job on an afternoon. All thanks to my friend who cancelled our appointment at the last minute. With the afternoon free, I dropped by a second hand store and bought a valet stand. photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr Given that my flooring is wood tiles, I decided to spray paint the stand white. and this is the result photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr I think its now a ' rubbish stand'...for me to hang all my stuff..anything that I'm too lazy to put inside e wardrobe... It's useful for hanging jackets and sweaters too photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr And sometimes, wet towels.. photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr I have also started growing more plants...including herbs... But it feels weird eating the herbs that I grow...Haha! photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr Okay...enough of mundane updates...I really should be planning for Xmas.... merry Xmas everyone !

hi, pm-ed u!

wow... you dug out my blog from the bottom ! its full of cobweb now... pm-ed u

Preparations for Xmas starts now! ...What a year it has been! With just about one month to go before Xmas and new job responsibilities, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything will go as planned. Invitation is out, schedules booked and good friends overseas are flying back. So I must really pull off this one - all on my own! Wish me luck! photo.png by BachelorettePad, on Flickr

I went down to the lighting shop today, hoping to bang table and get a replacement casing but as expected, my plan didnt work out. They were polite and helpful. but not helpful enough to give me a replacement. The guy in charge used a screw driver to poke the inside of the casing. The bulb didn't lit the first few times he tried but eventually it did. The guy told me its very strange and he couldnt explain why. I told him i cant be fiddling with it at home bcos i didnt know how to and I asked him for a replacement but he said he couldnt since its not spoilt. He told me tracklights are like that... .. Anyway, he was sympathetic enough to offer to come over to my place if I cant get it lit up.... Sigh!!..... This will be the first and last time im having track lights in my house.... nice to look at but temperamental photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickrphoto.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr

Thanks! Hope you find a suitable ID soon..

Thanks but Im quite determined not to do it, unless the problem gets worse and the wall starts to rot...! hahaha... the windows are so new bcos the sellers installed them 5 years ago but they live in the flat for only one year. its such a waste to tear them down..and i also dont want to spend my money on this.

Good to know that! Bet you will be very busy getting your place ready for Xmas and cny! Have fun! The seepage was another major headache. After getting gain city to do some patching and doing some sealing on my own based on my research, suggestions from frens and colleagues and my close scrutiny of the rain falling on my windows (I know this sounds crazy !), the problem is about 50% solved. I suspect the other 50% can only be rectified by changing my windows. But it's too expensive a solution

There are so many things to learn as a homeowner and I'm really pulling out my hair! For me, the Reno was a breeze but the nightmare started after moving in. Living alone means I got to fix all the problems myself and given that my flat is a 29 yr old resale, I have been warned that problems will crop up one after another. Recently, I dreamt that the nails and screws in my flat started falling out one by one! That's really a nightmare!

That's what I thought too! So Im really unlucky..I guess..

Thanks! I will check later..but I think it's unlikely that the locking system is loose. I hardly clean the lights and when I do, I dont unlock them to clean.. I only touch the surface very lightly with the cloth bcos I have this phobia that the lights will drop on my head. For the same reason, I never adjust the angle of the lights too. I basically leave my lights alone bcos I know I'm lousy with all things electrical. But the first one which was faulty actually came apart and the wire was exposed, which I think was unbelievable bcos i had never unlocked it from the track.

Yup, can ask for replacement from the shop. My concern is that the rest of the track light holders will be faulty one after another and when the warranty period is up, I will have to pay for them. And I'm not sure how long the replacement holders will last. Thanks for still reading the blog .... So lazy to take pix of my place and post them. I realised I have only posted one proper set of pix of my place and that was such a long time ago..now they are lost among the 17 pages... When are you moving into your new place?

Hi Makan.. Shouldn't LED bulbs be more superior? Sigh... Some of my bulbs are from ikea too...but it's too early to tell if they will last longer than the LED ones. my main complaint is the track light holder ! A second faulty one within a few months is really too much... but the tracklights in my room are ok. They are of a different design though

I think I'm one unlucky homeowner when it comes to lights. tonight, I discovered that another of my track light holder is faulty. This is the SECOND faulty one so far!! And the LED bulbs are burning out one by one. I am just speechless l do not know of any homeowner who has to change light bulbs and track light holder so soon and so often. I won't be so upset if track lights are cheap but they are not cheap. I am really going to blacklist this shop which is doing so well that it has so many outlets along balestier road :(

small update on the home front.. the kitchen blinds are in....helps to block off most of the morning sun but still allows some light in. my washing machine finally gets some reprieve... photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr

haha... i dont dare to ask him to sponsor.. now is payback time... got to focus 100% on work!

pm-ed

hi, have pm-ed u

This lamp gets the nod of approval from my boss...who is now looking at what's on my computer screen... photo.JPG by BachelorettePad, on Flickr He is the BEST BOSS in this world and I wouldn't wish for another boss. ! I promise to work very hard in office, as hard as im furnishing my place. ..hahaha!

The living room is turning out to be vintage industrial.... can't wait to put all the furnishings on the pipe shelves and finish the DIY wall feature i'm struggling with. And not forgetting the study room ... photo.png by BachelorettePad, on Flickr Slowly but surely...i'm moving closer to housewarming in dec...

Hello! Its been a long time since I updated this blog and I almost couldn't find it. Thought it expired! It's been a lull period in the furnishing of my place bcos the stuff I shortlisted all have a waiting time of at least three weeks. So it's a quiet October for me but the next round of furnishing will come in nov...just in time for my targeted housewarming and Xmas party in dec. Here's a summary of what's been happening 1. Bamboo blinds - a lot of time was spent looking for indoor bamboo blinds. Not the outdoor type (eg. Black and white blinds ) but indoor type. Outdoor blinds are painted with normal paint (eg.Nippon paint) and the bamboo sticks are sewn wide apart. They look ok when placed outdoor and look at from a distance but when you look at them closed up, the workmanship is too rough for indoor use. Indoor bamboo blinds are more refined looking and the bamboo sticks are closely sewn together and some are varnished in dark stain, not painted over with normal black paint. They also come in the form of roman blinds, not just rolled up. So workmanship is much better but price is higher. Unfortunately indoor bamboo blinds are not popular in spore and i had a hard time tracking down a vendor. Finally found one with the colour I wanted but the waiting time is one month! The blinds is held up in Hong Kong where it's being customized. I think the shop has rather bad service and I'm glad I only ordered one set of black blinds for my kitchen, which gets the full blast from the sun every morning. 2. Dining chairs - finally ordered my industrial chairs from comfort. I decided that it's impossible to find chairs that are a perfect match for my grand dame dining table with those vintage, 'chicken feet' legs. So when I saw those chairs that were on sale at comfort furniture, I placed an order immediately. Out of curiosity, i did a check on TB and found that similar looking chairs from TB sellers with good ratings cost just slightly less after including shipping costs. For peace of mind, I order from comfort furniture. The waiting time is two weeks.! I have also been sourcing, and still searching, for decorative stuff from all over the place - from ikea, online retailers, brick and motar stores, and even neighborhood shops! On top of that, there is the housework - alternate day magic cleaning/vacuuming, once a week mopping, twice a week laundry and ironing and almost daily cooking. Contrary to popular belief that I don't cook bcos I have an open kitchen and I have pictures near my stove, I do cook and i cook almost every meal. After cooking, there is a lot to wash up and dish washing is something I really dislike. So really no time to blog.. Sorry for the long post! Here are some pix of my new quilt cover. photo.png by BachelorettePad, on Flickr photo.png by BachelorettePad, on Flickr photo.png by BachelorettePad, on Flickr photo.png by BachelorettePad, on Flickr ] As you can see, the current decor in the bedroom is a bit vintage and a tiny bit industrial (the bicycle lamp and white metal bedside table). The look changes depending on what quilt cover I use. And i love how my wood tiles look in this last pix...!

A rare beauty!

Hi, pm-ed.