tristesse

Wow! I really dig your concrete block walls - really cool. I was considering between that and brick wall tiles and decided on the latter eventually. Can't wait to see your finished product.

Hi hongss, I had my windows and grills installed by Vincent of A Grade Aluminium. Am pretty happy with the workmanship and quality... prices are quite OK too. Paid about $3.5k for white powder coating sliding windows for entire unit (some of which are wall to wall) and grills for kitchen, utility, dining and 2 bedrooms. You can try giving him a call... if you'd like his contact, just PM me.

RENO DAY 9 - TILING Our efficient tilers have made good progress on the tiling. The wall tiles are almost all complete, and hopefully in another day or so, our brick feature wall in the living room will be up. Freshly plastered kitchen walls - another look at our window opening. A touch of retro: our white kitchen walls tiles, to be contrasted with grey grout. Vintage boudoir style guest washroom - it will be completed with a mini chandelier in time to come. Black beauty - we'll bathe in style in our all-black master bathroom. Love the glossy mock-croc tiles! Our mediterranean-themed turquoise, white and black common bathroom.

RENO DAY 5 - DESTRUCTION COMPLETE Freshly hacked walls. This will be window opening at the kitchen (with much neatening of the opening needed) A huge pile of sand is the newest occupant of the living room - screeding to commence on Monday! Our tiles waiting to be laid (pun intended!) !! People say the eyes are the windows to one's soul. Here, our windows offer a glimpse of the soul of our home. We chose white powder coated sliding windows with clear glass (instead of tinted ones) for an airy, spacious look. Hi christinetan, Wow! The printed tiles are lovely - pity they are not available locally! They look very much the style of designer firm 5.5 designers. Thanks for sharing... do hope a tile merchant brings them in (eventually). !!

Gosh! I'm really busting the bank with all my little trinklets! I think I must've spent about $6k on them - including lots of shabby chic accessories from US. My reno works will cost around $42k in total.

Thanks! Always good to hear from another EM owner!

Yeah! We actually did see that stool in a mag - but considering it's retailing for $500+ at Lifestorey, is too much an extravagance (for the time being at least). Anyway, if you think that's crazy, wait till you see the witty Guitou the Cat wall vinyls I purchased. Heh And these vinyl stickers from Blik will adorn the wall of my balcony to complete the al fresco feel! If you really dig chairs, you should check out Comfort Furniture (Blk 1 Rochor Rd #01-534 near Bugis Junction) - they've got a website (you can try googling it). Gnee Hong's along Bencoolen Street, quite similar stuff to Comfort.

Nice! I like Tulip chairs. I'm thinking of getting some el cheapo classic Eames dining chairs though to pair with my customised teak dining table (wanted the really RAW teak sort but unfortunately the prices for those are way out of my zip code). Back to the chairs - I've seen them at Comfort and Gnee Hong, but after having tried sitting on them, I'm doubtful that I will be able to convince M to accept them (he's quite big on comfort). Perhaps we may just get a couple of acid green Urban chairs from IKEA eventually. I do want to have two classic baroque inspired chairs placed at each end of the 2m table - hopefully I'd be able to unearth some second hand treasures that fit the bill! The dining table will be placed at the existing balcony (which will be finished with pebble wash flooring). We're intending to line the perimeter of the balcony with grass carpet and hopefully hunt down a quirky garden gnome statue for a charming garden feel. Congrats on your upcoming wedding! I'm sure with your passion for DIY and creativity, it will be a special one. And of course, you've have loads more pix after that to line your walls!

FLOOR PLAN & PERSPECTIVE DRAWINGS The skeletal outline of M&E's new home - we're counting down eagerly to zero hour, where the 146 sqm space will be wrecked beyond recognition for the metamorphosis to begin! M and I have decided to opt for black and white as our basic palette for the lower level. Amongst the carpentry works to be done include: KITCHEN 35ft kitchen cabinets (18 ft solid surface kitchen worktop) with a breakfast counter - EDL laminate in Nice Monceau (black woodgrain) and LG Solid Surface top in Artic White LIVING 1 x full height book shelf and 1 x half height book shelf (built at recess area under stairs) - EDL laminate in White Wash Wood MASTER BEDROOM 1 x 7.5 ft sliding wardrobe (for M) and 1 x 9 ft sliding wardrobe (for E) - EDL laminate in Floral Evolution (White for M, Black for E) Unfortunately, much as my heart was set on a spacious walk-in wardrobe, we decided to opt for two sliding wardrobes to maximise the space as we would definitely not have been able to achieve a run of 16.5 ft with a WIW. COMMON BATHROOM 1 x 2.5 ft vanity cabinet We're still yet undecided on the cabinet and solid surface colour - possibly a black surface and white cabinet to contrast with the glossy turquoise blue wall tiles. Hmmmmm...

Thanks for the encouragement! I look forward to more comments as my home undergoes its metamorphosis over the next 6 weeks (hopefully no longer than that!). I've just posted pix of the before shots - reno's to start officially tomorrow. I'm a big fan of DIY and customisation. Am planning to buy several 2nd hand furniture pieces and have them refurbished, as well as making cushion covers out of vintage fabrics purchased off eBay. I'll cross my fingers for a smooth and pain-free reno process in the meanwhile!

THE BEFORE SHOTS - Part I Where our new life together will begin: Quaint walk-up HDB apartment block - a rare sight considering today's pigeon-holes in the sky. ****************************** The Balcony will soon be our "alfresco" dining area, complete with pebble wash flooring, a customised 2m long teak dining table, bench contrasted with acid coloured plastic chairs. The rickety grills will make way for glass windows and shelter from the natural elements will be by way of a tiled roof. ****************************** The Living Room - our chillout area will feature a shabby chic gold leaf chandelier, our leather lounge sofa, a customised teak coffee table painted in a rustic white, and a black tempered glass tv console accented with cherry laminate. White brick tiles will form our feature wall and be the perfect backdrop for our tufted sofa. Partition walls will be added to enclose the space under the staircase for a storeroom. The retro floor tiles will be replaced with matte warm grey 600 x 600 homogeneous tiles. ****************************** THE BEFORE SHOTS - Part II The Stairs or railings rather will be one of the few original features that will be kept. They will be painted black to suit the monochromatic colour palette for the lower level. The creaky carpet tiles will be replaced with laminated flooring (Power Dekor - Black Hickory). ****************************** The Boudoir (i.e. Master Bedroom) Blik's Iron Vine wall vinyls in Cocoa will be applied to this wall, which will be painted cream (ICI Dulux Barely Grey). Luxe thai-silk style full length curtains will provide a touch of glamour. Once again, the retro floor tiles will be replaced by laminate flooring for a cosy feel. The creepy attached bathroom will soon be a stylish one, done up entirely in black, save for a purple ceiling for a romantic feel. The glossy mock-croc black wall tiles from Hafary that we selected: ****************************** The Study Turquoise will rule in our incubator for creative ideas. We have chosen ICI's Capri Blue to pair with White. ****************************** THE BEFORE SHOTS - Part III The Upper Gallery will soon be home to the quirky Ineke Hans Golden Birds wall decal, a perfect complement to our golden bird cage chandelier. ****************************** The Kitchen will be a warm and inviting space. We will be hacking the existing wall to create a wider entrance. The 20 plus year old cabinets will make way for a stylish black and white ones. Black wood grain laminate doors will be paired with a sleek white solid-surface top. ****************************** The Guest Washroom will be a charming toilette that features black and white damask print tiles. A petite chandelier will complete the picture. The damask print tiles from Hafary that we selected: ****************************** TILES SHOPPING At this point I should add that the tiles we've selected for the entire house were selected only after numerous trips paid to various merchants - Hafary, Hup Kiong, LSH, SBH and even White Horse! Suffice to say it was an arduous process, but we're hoping that the end result would render these recces worthwhile. Apart from the living and open concept kitchen which would be laid with the same warm grey toned 600 x 600 homogeneous tiles, each of our bathrooms will boast of its own theme: Kitchen toilet (for Guests and doggie dearest) - neo-victorian white and black damask print wall tiles and black floor tiles Common bathroom - modern mediterranean style with turquoise and white glossy wall tiles, against black floor tiles Master bathroom - luxe black glossy mock-croc wall tiles with black floor tiles A total of seven different tiles from four different merchants were eventually selected. A note of thanks to our long-suffering contractor for putting up with our complicated tile selection list!

Your home is waay cool - really dig your quirky vintage furnishings and accessories, esp your retro fabric wall hangings. Lovely! My place is likely gonna be a bit off that tangent though, possibly veering more towards victoriana, but eclectic nevertheless (I hope!).

Yeah - but they're really cool! Greener Grass Design has a small selection and it's slightly cheaper in terms of shipping

Your girl's a sweetie. I wish my cats looked as good tempered! You can purchase the Guitou the Cat wall vinyls from Greener Grass Design They don't ship internationally, so what I did was to have them sent to my vPOST USA address to be redirected back. If you're looking for wall vinyls, Domestic has a very good range - unfortunately, shipping is way too costly. I just spotted another wall vinyl (the coat and hat rack) at Greener Grass - looks like I've got something else to buy! Hehe. Happy shopping! Hi bekind, The gold birdcage chandelier was purchased from a vendor in Australia, but I do believe it's no longer in stock. The gold leaf one was purchased from a US seller, A1 Lighting (can't remember the rest of the name). But if you run a search for shabby crystal chandelier, you should be able to find it. The US vendor doesn't ship to Singapore though - you may need to use a redirect service such as vPOST. Happy shopping! Hihi! Ooh... it's nice to know someone shares the same taste! I love the black mock-croc look - very dramatic. I'm trying to see if I can pain my pipes in a metallic gold for contrast.

Hi applefreak, Thanks for the warm welcome! ;-) I like your avatar - is that a pix of your cat? The chandeliers were quite affordable actually - they were purchased off ebay an average around S$200 each (with shipping). But yes, the wall decals are slightly pricey at abt S$200. I got another set of quirky black cat silhouettes (the cats are in different positions - lying down, sitting, batting an imaginary toy, stretching etc) by 5.5 designers and plan to stick them around the place. Btw I decided to start a blog - feel free to check out the pre-reno pix that are up now.

After months of amicable discussions - and heated disagreements - over layout, design concept, furnishings and fittings, M and I are (FINALLY) going to embark on Project Home Makeoever. Watch this space! THE DESIGN BRIEF - SHABBY CHIC MEETS MODERN VINTAGE...? Eclectic's the word here. Representing the contrast of our personalities and individual preferences, our EM will be a unique blend of modernism and simplicity (M) and vintage chic (E). Using the timeless monochromatic hues of black and white as our basic palette, we envision a chic living space made cosy with dramatic accents of gold fixtures, jewel tone soft furnishings and witty vinyl wall stickers. THE EXTRAS These definitive pieces were purchased months before: Shabby Chic Gold Bird Cage Chandelier - this will be suspended from the ceiling of the upper level down to the staircase *********************** Shabby Crystal Antique Gold Leaf Chandelier - the pride and joy of our living lounge *********************** Golden Birds vinyl wall sticker by Ineke Hans - a welcoming touch on walkway of the upper floor *********************** LATTE leather lounge - the centrepiece for our living area against a white brick wall ***********************

Hi M&M, I'm starting my reno with Mr Low of Boon Siew next week - will attempt to post pix on progress then.

Hi fishpond, An experienced main contractor would definitely be able to advise on electrical power points and the what nots. Contractors I feel are typically more attuned to functionality than anything else - and because they're usually a lot more "hands on" than IDs, would probably be able to anticipate problems that may arise that IDs may not forsee. To cite a personal e.g., my husband and I are intending to install a bathtub in our master bathroom. We made appointments for 2 contractors and one ID to visit our place so as to provide a quote for the scope of works we required. When we initially mentioned the built-in bathtub that we intended to have, it was the contractor who pointed out that drainage would be a challenge as the location we wanted the bathtub was over the drainage trap for the bathroom. The contractor was also able to offer us solutions to resolve this - while the ID did not even realise that this would prove to be a problem further down the road. Based on the contractor's assessment of the potential problem, we eventually decided to opt for a stand alone bathtub instead - the drainage for the entire bathroom will not be affected with that. Just check out contractor recommendations around the forum - there are several that have received very good feedback. My advice (based on personal experience) would be to seek out 3-4 for a quote and decide thereafter based on your assessment of their workmanship, attitude - and of course their ability to understand your needs. Approaching too many will only give you a headache in the end. (p.s. I approached 5 for just quotes, and felt that was already one too many). Typically I find that contractors charge, on average, 10-30% less than larger ID/contractors firms.

It really depends on the size and style - if you order direct from US, I reckon savings could be abt 30%? I like the range at www.domestic.fr as well, but shipping is prohibitive! Overall, wall decals are much cheaper than wallpaper and you can easily remove them when you want a new look.

If you're on a budget and know exactly what you want in terms of design and decor, you can save loads by hiring a contractor instead of going to an ID firm. I'm embarking on my reno in the next 2 weeks and will be shelling out abt $40k for the total overhaul, including roofing works, by going to a contractor. If you hire a main contractor, you can leave it to the project manager to supervise the works - you'll only need to undertake the supervision yourself should you decide to approach individual sub-contractors for the respective works (this might save you a bit but it will definitely be a stressful experience co-ordinating!). Appointing a main contractor is similar to appointing an ID really - the only diff is your expectations of the design and concept. Having said that, not all IDs may be able to deliver fantastic concepts, and sometimes fantastic concepts sacrifice aesthetics for functionality. Oh well - just my two cents. At the end of the day, it's about what you're comfortable with (and what your pocket is comfortable with). My husband and I initially were thinking of going to an ID firm, but we decided by saving on that, we could get more items on our wish list done. It was also an exciting process for us (despite the numerous disagreement s), deciding together exactly what to do with our place. Good luck!

I purchased some wall decals from Blik (www.whatisblik.com) - it's available at Molecule here, but the range online is much better. 5.5 Designers (from France) has some really witty designs like cats, clothes stand and fire places etc (triomph l'oeil indeed!) Modishop at Sunshine Plaza has some interesting ones as well - I had a long chat on vinyl decals with the owner previously and he mentioned that decals will typically last for 1-2 years. I'll be pasting them on after my reno's complete in another month or so! Happy shopping!

wow! you must've been looking around for units in the vicinity? actually the former owner of the em my husband and i purchased is an elderly uncle (the father of the guy who's into music, but he's not a music producer. he's in web design i think) who has moved to a condo with his wife. their son and his wife (the young couple) were merely living there in the interim. the block's 142 though... and yes, another unit on the 3rd floor has been sold - it's being renovated now.

hi WelcomeHome, My husband and I purchased our home in March/April this year (before the market started heating up). We're only starting reno end this month tho - had to save up $! We're planning to stay for good till we're old and can no longer manage the stairs or till HDB evicts us (hopefully our area will never get earmarked for SERS), hence would like to get everything done together. The full works includes - wetworks, hacking (gonna hack a window opening into the kitchen as well as the wall separating the kitchen and the living), electrical re-wiring, painting, roofing, windows, carpentry (kitchen cabinets, 2 wardrobes, 2 bookshelves). Our reno will prolly cost $40k! We decided to skip the ID cos we have a very clear idea about what we want and managed to save a bit on that. When're you planning to embark on your reno? Hi bigbird, Lovely house you've got there. Lucky you - having the luck to purchase a unit with a roof! I'm planning to have one done at my balcony and it's gonna cost abt $1.8k. Not really a bomb, but still! ;-)

Hey hey WelcomeHome, Was just reading up on what I missed on this thread and realised that we'll be neighbours! I'm at block 142, the block of walk-up EMs just beside yours! My place looks as retro as yours but am gonna change all that soon. ;-)

Hi Clare, Is the ID firm you're referring to located at Balestier? If so, two of my colleagues have had their homes done up by them.