janyen
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Posts posted by janyen
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Didn't update for some time (even though quite a bit was going on) as the house was in a mess with all the work going on and nothing much (in terms of nice pictures) to update except to say that work is ongoing anyway.
Our lights (10 parcels and 26kg in weight) via peeka have arrived. As a beginner to the TB buying experience, I would say we are 50-50 in terms of the experience. Why?
Well – we unfortunately had some breakages in our order. It seemed to have all come from one particular shop – Jianya – hence we're still undecided if it's due to the shop's quality of glass/light bulbs or the handling during the shipping process. Granted, I realized we might have been a little too ambitious (on hindsight) in ordering this dining light that has 2 glass domes:
Unfortunately, one of the domes totally shattered when our electrician/ID opened the box up to install the lights. Even though they were individually packed in Styrofoam and in a box marked as fragile.. We could see that the material of the glass was not the thick and hardy type.
Also, 2 of the E27 tungsten bulbs that came with the light (that caused our whole peeka order to be delayed btw, cos only one bulb came only to the peeka receiving centre and they had to get the shop to resend the other) – one was totally shattered, and the other was intact but totally not working.
Another thing is that the estimation of the size of the lights can be a little difficult. If you're buying from TB, probably best to check and double check on the size of the stuff you're buying. We got an LED ceiling light, those square paneled ones that I'd thought would be like the size of a normal ceiling light.. when we opened the box.. it was er kinda LARGE. Luckily, when our electrician installed it in our kitchen, it's actually not that bad. It's really bright with a strong white light in the kitchen now though! Haha.
Kinda regret getting the white light, but I guess it's functional.. I usually much prefer the warm lights effect.
If anybody is looking for 12W LED track lights, I have 2 with a 1 metre long white track available. Just PM me. This was another case where we'd wanted those smaller LED track lights and silly me didn't realize that 12W lights literally means 12 little bulbs in one LED light.. which is too big for us! I think these lights would be good for those with larger houses or staircases that need larger lights to illuminate it?
However, our other LED lights from other TB shops and the total cost of the Philips stainless steel LED downlights (which we couldn't find in the light shops over here – when we went hunting for a replacement dining light on Saturday) made the whole purchase quite worthwhile still. Even after paying for 7 days express delivery, which came up to 800+, cos we couldn't afford to wait any longer due to the delays L
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Good luck with your reno, applaud your discipline in waiting till there's enough savings then commence Reno, prudence!
Your HDB layout looks quite a bit like my old flat's, kitchen is really big and long. Miss having a bigger kitchen.
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@Alpc - Yup, we do like the Bose and B&W's of this world. But I think given that we're not sound connoisseurs, thought the Sonos range was cool as well.
Yes, to each his own
@Old Skool - High five! Great to know you're loving the Sonos, the play3's are the surround speakers? I got confused with what the Play 1,2 and 3's are - just noted that they are speakers of all different sizes. Are you putting the Play 3s to the same room as the playbar or another room?
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we unwrapped our vintage kai kristiansen danish chest as well. the picture doesnt do it justice will get a better shot of it again.
and with comex over the weekend the splurge was on the sonos playbar which was a target 2 months back, when pre order was 200 bucks cheaper. sigh. oh well. we forget abt that fact once the music starts flowing thru that soundbar. it was awesome!
Hi Oldskool,
Really nice place.. where in FB are your house pics? Your ID's page is it? Hmm.. *curious*
We got the Sonos sound bar as well
How much was yours and did you get the sub woofer too? 
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Thanks desatans! Although when we were at the Sonos shop, overheard some other customer saying 'Should I go all out for a Bose or settle for a Sonos? Whoa..
Your LG sound bar sounds like a good buy also. We bought an LG TV, so we were also looking at LG sound bars as they can connect wirelessly I heard.
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5 bedroom 1600 sq feet? Wow, wonder how did they fit so many rooms into that sq feet area?
I think it's possible but must see the layout carefully. When I was searching for my unit, a lot of condos these days don't even have a separate area for a proper kitchen or clothes hanging yard.
I have a new condo as well. Parking is 1 lot per unit initially.. asked mgment what happens if we have a 2nd car (which we don't as yet), they just said it's just 1 per unit for now. I guess.. park in the visitors lot then?
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Thank you!
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Bought our speakers yesterday! I know the right term is wireless sound bar hi-fi system, but I like to go back to old skool or noob (i.e. not hi fi geek) terms and just call them speakers or TV speakers.
After checking out JBL's sound bar at Courts over the weekend, I'd heard and read about the Sonos play Bar quite a fair bit from friends and the papers – so we decided to head down to the distributor's shop yesterday evening. Glad that we did, even though I was quite keen on the JBL deal (came with a sub woofer) – the Sonos design was sleeker and I think the main selling point is that it allows the user to play wirelessly from different sources, not just the TV. Like from your iphone/android, you can use their dedicated app and play songs directly to the sound bar.
I wanted to just get the Bar but the sales guy made us hear the sound differences with the sub woofer (sold out for now and we're on waiting list apparently) and surround speakers, and ****.. this always happen to us.. cos suddenly without the sub woofer, the sounds just sound..kinda flat. Wanted to save money and see if we could live with the sound bar first, which the sales guy said yes it's good enough on it's own, but a lot of customers come back and tell us they want the sub woofer cos.. it's just.. better with it.
…And that's how we walked out of the place ordering the Sound bar and the sub woofer. To be delivered at a later date when house fixtures are ready.
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Our ID/Contractor selection process started a few months back – it was quite a hassle as honestly, sad to say this but we found that most of the firms we contacted couldn't really come up with anything more creative than the standard 'looks' that are 'in' at the moment. We do like the Industrial look that's all the rage now, but due to my fault.. I wanted ideas on how to blend HTB's fave (Industrial) with my fave (more modern/classic/luxe). And they seemed to just have a standard portfolio of feature walls, walk in wardrobes, false ceilings, cove lightings and the like.
I think Walk in Wardrobes are nice to have but expensive to make, HTB was kinda excited at this idea to blend in a walk in wardrobe with the wardrobe given already but quotation was too high for us to hang a bit more clothes in an additional cupboard.
Best part was, honestly – once most saw that it's a condo, the prices seemed to magically go up and suddenly cos they know a new place like ours doesn't need tiling, parquet flooring, kitchen cabinets, full toilet works – during the meetings we can actually hear their brains ticking with the dollar signs.. then suddenly quite a lot of carpentry work and WIW suggestions start popping up all over the place!
Through this forum, first ID we met up with was from T.R.G. (initials only) – the two guys that met us seemed sincere and had some good suggestions (like the WIW concept whilst using the existing given wardrobe), but the quote came up to more than 20k for shoe cabinets, lots of false ceilings, feature walls. Ok I admit, since back when I renovated my previous HDB flat, I still like the idea of mounting my TV on a feature wall. I guess it just makes the TV console area look more like a feature of the living room and neater for all the cables to be run behind the wall.
Anyway, after paying a deposit (silly me!) to get the 3D drawings (we were told that the deposit was required and that it could be netted off the contract cost), we were told by the ID that due to some management issues at their previous firm, they'd moved to another firm. We considered following them to the new firm, but kinda lost confidence in them by then and we couldn't agree on the quotation.. so decided to ditch them *poor pocket*
Eventually, after emailing a few contractors from friend's referrals and online searching, we decided to go with K.I. (initials only) as the consultant I contacted, the quotes were reasonable, she could understand pictures of what we wanted (or seemed to at least) and we'd already lowered our expectations by then. Alas, she quit the firm to go back to studying after we confirmed. So, we have a replacement ID. Quote isn't as cheap as a contractor for sure, but it's nice I guess to not have to co-ordinate everything ourselves, like we haven't had the time to go down during weekdays and I think most things are moving along. But we basically gave them pictures of things we liked and most of the look/designing is still done by ourselves.
After defects rectification, electrical works finally started on Tuesday and latest update by the ID is that the false ceiling is up! Excited to see what's been done this weekend.
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Nice Brick wall! I wanted to do something like that but got quoted a price that was too high by my ID.
What were you quoted out of curiousity?
Like the store room shelves too, do you mind letting me know the contact via PM? Thanks!
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Must be interlace.
Congrats on starting a blog!
Thanks Greg! Your place is starting to shape up and looks great. Just waiting for some more TB stuff to come in right? By the way, anybody used 65daigou.com to ship their stuff over before?
We got an sms note from Maybank that there's some discount/tie up with 65daigou.. and we used Peeka for the first batch of stuff (lights) we bought.. So just wanted to see if there's any major differences between the 2.
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Welome to Reno, is your house at Telok Blangah.
Can see the special building shape from your photo.
Haha, yes it is - I guess can't really hide the building's shape cos it's jutting out all over the place .
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Hi Everyone
After checking out all your wonderful Reno Blogs (and helpful tips on TaoBao purchases etc), I'd like to share a bit of our reno progress as well
In September last year, after lots and lots of searching for the right unit, we decided to plonk some of our hard earned money down on a 2 bedroom condominium. Well.. as they say these days, condos aren't getting any bigger or cheaper – so I shall theme our reno blog as 'renovating a condo on a budget but hopefully it doesn't look cheap' haha. I think the HTB and I are two people who feel that a nice home is important, but we shouldn't go overboard to pay overboard for fancy fixtures where possible. That's why when I discovered how to 'Tao Bao' shop, I was quite excited! (But more on the TB stuff later)
I am seriously quite a shy person (to outsiders, the HTB will beg to differ ;p), so I'm not too used to sharing stuff online, this would be one of the first times actually!
So, we got our keys (finally) after T.O.P on the first week of October, here are some pictures of the bare unit (after we excitedly went up to check it out!):
Master bedroom
The unit has a large balcony.. which is quite a headache to furnish and landscape actually! Cos there's very little coverage/ceiling, and a VERY big planter box. But I love the view and despite the noise from the traffic below, I think we can still bear being out in the Balcony next time for a bit..
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The plant pots curved stand looks familiar, I saw a similar one at a shop in Chatuchak - in case you're headed to BKK instead next time.
How much did the shipping for your TB 2nd bounty cost you? I was tempted by the big TV console and dresser table items on TB as well.. but decided against it. Bought lights first to try.. worried about the shipping time now! At first chose economy delivery but after seeing how Peeka needs to first order all the stuff from the various shops, THEN wait for the shops to deliver to their warehouse.. Figured the time span won't take 3 weeks as they estimate for economy delivery, more like 6 weeks at least from order point to delivery in SG.
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You're right, the term 'Zakka' sure comes up with a lot of nice/cool vintage-y, even parisian-themed stuff.
Greg, not sure if you or anybody else on the forum bought LED L-Box downlights from Taobao, just a quick question (noob at taobao and my chinese sucks):
1) What's the standard size of a LED downlight. Would something like this, 300mm x 300mm be a std size?
2) Would something like this (link below), come with everything? i.e. LED bulb, casing, driver, wires (?!) etc? So I just need to buy the light right?
Am thinking of using Peeka's express air mail 7 days service, cos I will likely can't wait for 3 weeks for my lights to arrive.. everything's happening quite quickly all of a sudden. If I'm getting just a bunch of lights and maybe 2 side tables, does anybody have experience on whether Peeka's air shipping costs are super expensive or manageable (for the faster time frame)?
Also, I remember that you mentioned that you found some nice bed side tables on TB.. Can you share the links if possible? Thanks!
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Hi - Nice progress to your place! I'm also looking to buy stuff from Tao Bao, what did you guys get and any pics or tips on how to do it via Peeka! (?) How much did your shipping cost?
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Hi Deviansyh, please PM me the link for the Philips LED downlights too? Thanks! Do we need to buy the switches from Tao Bao as well? How do you search for these?
PM u
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Your posts on tao bao are really inspiring! I'm just about starting to renovate my place and didn't know that we could even order from Taobao (cos of the shipping and thought they only do bulk sales)..
But just a question, do you think it's safe or worthwhile to buy big items like sofas or dressing tables from sellers there? via that Peeka! site
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Hi All
PM Liaozzzzz
Hi Ivy,
Sorry, could you PM me the list too? Thanks!
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Hi everyone, need some help on your expert views to see if this quote is reasonable. It's for a condo - no doubt i know IDs/contractors like to jack up prices for condos, but is this reasonable? It's a new condo, so don't need to do any tiling.
The main things i'm looking at are space and design consultation, feature wall for TV in the living room and master bedroom, walk in wardrobe (using the existing ones given by the condo) was suggested by the ID.
NO DESCRIPITION Unit Rate AMOUNT($)
1 Professional services Inclusive
1.1 Design Consultation Inclusive
1.2 Space Planning Inclusive
1.3 3D Perspective Drawing Inclusive
1.4 Material & Colour Proposal Inclusive
1.5 Project Management Inclusive
1.6 Site Supervision & Co-ordination Inclusive
2 PAINTING WORKS
To supply labour, tools and materials to :-
2.1 Painting of internal wall and ceiling for whole unit using Nippon Emulsion Paint (5 optional colous) $1,500.00
Total: $1,500.00
3 OTHER WORKS
3.1 To supply labour, tools and materials to provide general cleaning to whole house $350.00
3.2 Floor protection with corrugated hard cover sheet for whole house $400.00
Total: $750.00
CUSTOM MADE FURNITURE
External: Selected timber veneer or laminates with internal: Blum system hinges with soft closing
4 Living/Dining
4.1 Low suspended TV console in selected laminate finishing (2layer )
Size: 4200(L) x 550(D) x 550(HT) $2,000.00
4.2 Featured wall above TV console in selected laminate finishing
Size: 3000(L) x 150(D) x full(HT) $3,000.00
4.3 To supply labour and design mirror feature at dining area
size:2400x (FH) $1,600.00
4.4 To Supply labour and design shoe cabinet and cushion in selected laminate finishing
Size: 1500(L) x 550(D) x 1050(HT) $1,950.00
4.5 To supply labour and design bench come with cushion in selected laminate finishing
size:1200(L)x450(D)x1500(H) $1,000.00
Total: $9,550.00
5 Master Bedroom
5.1 To redesign existing wardrobe to walk-in wordrobe c/w sliding door in internal polygom finishing
Size: 1500(L) x 600(D) x full(HT) $2,800.00
5.2 To fabricate and design bedhead feature wall c/w cushion and side table in selected laminate finishing
Size: 2000(L) x 150(D) x 1500(HT) $1,750.00
5.3 To supply and design dressing table c/w mirror in selected laminate finishing
Size: 900(L) x 450(D) x 1800(HT) $960.00
5.4 To supply and design suspended TV console in selected laminate finishing
Size: 1200(L) x 450(D) x 550(HT) $750.00
5.5 To supply and design TV feature wall in selected laminate finishing
Size: 1200(L) x 150(D) x full(HT) $900.00
Total: $7,160.00
6 Ceiling Works
6.1 To supply labour and install L-box to living/dining area and false ceiling to passage way $2,600.00
Total: $2,600.00
Sub Total $21,560.00 -
Yo Bro, hear u are starting ur reno all the best to you too.
Don worry once brought don look back anymore. There are alway cheaper everywhere jus wheather u got time to search bo.
Can call me is you need any shoplist but no guarantee the cheapest.
Thanks Cantona, ya that's what we thought too. And we needed our IDs help in buying the right sized sink etc, so we decided to just buy from IMM.
We're both pretty tired today, whole weekend sleep only 5 hours a night cos need to run around to buy stuff.
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Is SSC considered expensive? Cos actually amongst all the shops at IMM we found the cheapest range of stuff there..
I think it could be because we had to buy a lot of stuff for the toilets. Including the 2 toilet bowls, 2 basins, 1 kitchen sink, 2 wash basic stoppers, 2 mixer taps, 1 kitchen sink tap, 2 bidet sprays, 2 mirrors and a doorbell.
Sigh everything looked cheap on its own but everything adds up I guess..
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I guess because the estate is so quiet that's why it's easy for the person to do such a thing.
I only hope there wasn't anything serious done inside, otherwise will have to report it to the police.
I think buying a security camera is a good suggestion. Is it ex? Difficult to install?
Sigh
The Grey Haunt
in Reno t-Blog Chat
Posted
Nice mood pics Astarz, agree that grey is the new beige. I think as a neutral colour, it's just easier to work with grey with the current style of furniture (modern/industrial). I think probably if it's too dark a grey then it might not be too good in a small space.