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The solid surfaces we are choosing from for the bathrooms, paired with their respective tiles: The second set is for the master bathroom. It's going to have a very modern spa look and feel to the room, which is going to be a little tricky because the space is really not very big, and we're still going to cram a bathtub in there >.> Here's a picture of the bathroom as it currently looks. I guess it may be a little dark, but there's nothing good lighting can't fix. Little note for all toilet shoppers out there who read this. Being a first time home owner I never knew about this, but Clifford told us to measure how far the toilet drain pipe is from the wall. It can range anywhere between 3 inches and 10-12 inches, and you have to buy a toilet that's available in your type! Fortunately ours is 6 inches from the wall, which seems to be pretty standard But back to the topic of solid surfaces! We decided to go for a simple black countertop for the bar counter, to make it have a really sleek, modern and cozy feel. Our initial thought was something like this: During our last meeting, Clifford showed us a sample of a gorgeous granite from India, which could be an awesome alternative. If the extra cost is low enough, we're probably gonna go ahead and change it to that So now that all the tiles and countertop materials have been selected, time for the next item on our checklist: Laminates!

So we didn't sit still over the past period. As mentioned, we went to hafary to select a.. ehem... "few" samples... I've gotten enormous respect for interior designers now, seeing how much goes into a renovation. I probably underestimated the amount of choice available because this is almost overwhelming. In a good way! First confirmed choice is the living/kitchen/laundry room floor and the TV feature wall tiles. We chose a gorgeous glossy tile for the floor with just a tiny bit of red veins in it, combined with a feature tile that's more friendly to bumping into it than our original craftstone idea. We then used the lid of an old box to create a sort of mock-up room for the bathrooms. Everyone had different opinions about the colour scheme for the floor, wall and feature tiles, so this was actually a really neat trick to get a good feel for how it's going to look. Ignore the purple background, haha The common bathroom was going to be a warm Mediterranean colour tone, with a so-called "running tone" tile. I think it's gonna look gorgeous. The wife isn't too convinced yet, but let's hope she can appreciate the design when it's in there Next step was to select our solid surface materials for.... everything..... Next matching exercise coming up!

Thanks! That actually helps a lot

Some more pictures since I wasn't allowed to post all in one post Macro MA-10FE Gas Heater Rinnai RD 600 CG Dryer The last two are new additions to the family since today! Bought for $990 as a package from City Gas at TripleOne Somerset, Clifford actually recommended us to get a gas dryer. Energy saving as well as faster While we're at it, he also told us to check out the gas heater. There's actually 3 models that we had our eye on, Ferolli, Macro and Rinnai, with Macro being the cheapest. Apparently they receive more complaints about the other two models so we went for this.

Thanks Jus! It really is so much fun shopping for our house together Here's a bunch of pictures snatched from online of all our purchases to date! Brandt WFK 1248A washing machine Brandt VH1205J built-in dishwasher Bosch HBN331E2J built-in oven Panasonic System 4 Inverter aircon LG GRM702GSH fridge

I did a quick search in this forum but nothing turned up. Bought a Panasonic Inverter 4 aircon over the weekend from Gain City, and the receipt says that we're supposed to provide a 15A power point for it. Now I have no problem with this, but when I went to get the details of the compressor and FCUs, I saw this: Running Current: 9.4A I have no electrical experience, but doesn't that mean that a regular 13A power point would be sufficient? I'm not sure whether there's already a 15A point there, in which case this is a moot point, but if not it would be nice to save a few bucks on this. Might also be useful for others in the future with this question. Some advice would be great

Been a while, so a little update We made full use of the Harvey Norman and Gain City expos to purchase our first appliances. Decided to go with: Brandt WFK 1248A washing machine (8kg, tilted drum, made in Spain) Brandt VH1205J built-in dishwasher (fits our kitchen beautifully and is fully integrated, so no ugly front at all! Also rather big: 12 place settings) Bosch HBN331E2J built-in oven (Looks are quite nice and it was between this and the low-end model of Brandt, but the temperature knob for the Bosch was better) Panasonic System 4 Inverter aircon (3x 9k BTU and 1x 18k BTU for living room) from Gain City expo (generally good reviews, and a wider FCU for the living room, meaning faster cooling of the space) LG GRM702GSH fridge (stainless steel, 490 liters nett, door cooling, anti-bacteria/fungus strip, special health guard filter, digital temperature display on front, 10 year warranty on compressor (made in Korea), rest made in Indonesia) Of course they're all still sitting in the warehouses, we're probably only going to be having them delivered around the end of September, but we'll follow up with reviews of each. There's still soooo much more to buy, but it's very exciting finally using our savings to buy things rather than just... save. Haha We've also picked the floor tiles for the living/dining/kitchen/laundry room, as well as the floor & wall tiles for both bathrooms. I'll upload some pictures tomorrow!

Some of the "silly" mistakes we made that others could learn from: 1. Shifting of toilets. Not possible, so don't bother trying to make this work. If you do find a contractor willing to do this he risks a fine, demerit points, and you have to pay to get it fixed to the original state again. Not worth it. 2. Concealed electrical wiring Not allowed, with the exception of the concealed wiring done by HDB themselves in newer flats. We still need to figure out how to make our house look as nice as possible without concealing wiring in the wall. We can of course run it through a fake ceiling, behind feature walls, etc, so hiding most should be doable. I'd like to hide a lot of cabling behind skirting as well, but let's see what Clifford has to say about that tomorrow. 3. Expecting all these items from the ID/Contractor The ID/Contractor you engage will not do: electrical work, aircon, lighting. He/she will be able to advise on someone they have worked with in the past, but these are very specific trades that require specialist work. Keep in mind that when you get your quotation, this is definitely not the final amount!