Catt

You're always welcome to hijack..not like I have a lot of postings these days So when will your quotes be ready? I noticed one thing about the shaker cabinets...some carpenters just build a frame to put on the door so that it produces that rectangle (so actually it's 2 pieces of wood, the frame+ the door). Ikea's one is the type I like where the inner rectangle looks 'embossed' or pressed into one piece of wood.

Haha yeah omg I'm going to grow a fatter butt!! All throws are from Ikea. To be honest even if we buy something made of real wool from Taobao or those knitted throws from fancier stores, we are just going to die of heat and itchiness in this weather, even with the AC on. Go Ikea...I bought myself the Gurli throws ($15.90...the cheapest) and they do have polar fleece, wool, knits, tartan choices as well. Won't bust a hole in your pocket! If you want something cooler made of cotton, go buy a sarong and ask those alteration aunties to sew the edges for ya at a cheap rate!

Yup this round I want to do it right and yes unit numbers on the gate!

Shopping is my way of procrastinating...I still haven't started packing nor called up Steeldios!

@trcd done up your blinds/ curtains already?

@stray not yet but I think I will go with Steeldios...I just want to see a sample of their retro gates in real life first. It will be so stupid if I paid for the same design with shoddy work again

@stray cuz I thought the caeserstone + cement lookalike floortiles and subway tiles would look too busy on top of shaker cabinets. One of the IDs we consulted thought so too. But now I think it's fine as my floor just looks plain grey and the patterns on the counter are pretty subtle. Regret ok...

@stray..really??No this? More classic and timeless leh!

@stray I just remembered...someone on this forum had built-in cabinets made and they installed in the Ikea cabinet doors so they could switch out the doors in future if they wanted to. Maybe you could explore that? After all it's the doors that make it Shaker.

@stray I know right? First it was 4 cushions and now it's 8. 1 throw and now it's 3 because I wanted to matchy matchy my cushions. Then I was looking at rugs to tie the look together. Then now I'm thinking of replacing my old bedside table. IT NEVER ENDS. I need to lock my $$ away in some deep dark vault and throw the key away!

Yeah that's why broke already I'd better be using them for 10-20 years!!

@stray really cannot? Oh i thought those rest on the ground and back glued to the walls...or can build a thin hollow wall and mount the cabinets on that wall? I know it's eating up maybe a couple of inches but we sacrifice for beauty eh... They have liliac, grey, black and beige left (may have another Fuschia one). I only don't recommend the black as dirt shows up on it easily. Yeah Pomelo is really nice...I just went a little spastic when I saw the astronomical prices.

Continued after dinner and a friend's birthday drinks... So I broke my boycott (because I'm practical like that) of Ikea today and headed there and bought a couple of items the equivalent price of a $350 cushion in Tan Boon Liat: Actually this is quite useless in the kitchen as I do not have upper cabinets and I can't use it to reach the wall sconces for polishing. But I must say it makes a great seat for smoking while watching Darkling Half (in a creepy watching manner) cooking. So cute right?! Seriously anyone who is a nail polish aficionado who missed out on the release of Chanel's Jade polish would snap anything jade-coloured up. Our future bedside lamps. I really want to do a Ruffian manicure with this green colour and some gold. Then I had to get something for Darkling Half because she thinks I'm feeling guilty about taking over the L-shaped part of the couch. Which is also why she thinks I bought the poufs for her to prop up her legs when I can just recline on 'my side'. Movie and TV show-buffs will totally understand why a laptop stand like this is absolutely crucial and essential. Then of course I was feeling bu gan yuan （not happy to let go) about Tan Boon Liat and wanted to thumb my nose at it...so I went and bought 4 cushions (the bigger grey one which has a nice velvety feel and the elongated pillow)...all for 60 something bucks. So go stuff your $350 cushions up your $@#$ TBL Building shops. I also bought another 2 throws (I have 3 in total now) so the sofa is no longer meant for anyone to sit in. I also bought more glass bottles for cold water (coz I'm going to have more fridge space) and other nonsensical stuff that I thought I might need. I must say though, Ikea is really following trends and I am ENVIOUS of the Shaker kitchen cabinets on display and those antique-looking handles that they are now selling..totally understand why you want those cabinets @stray OMG those grey shaker cabinets!!!

Went out yesterday and bought poufs from Make Room. While we were at Tan Boon Liat Building we decided to trawl the other popular stores like Journey East and Pomelo for accessories like cushions or throws. I don't know man... asking me to pay $99 to $350 for a simple cushion is kinda ridiculous... We bought the poufs below for $69 bucks since Make Room was getting rid of stock. I believe it was originally $129?? Maybe I wasn't satisfied with expensive Tan Boon Liat so we went Ikea and bought a bunch of stuff...to be continued...Darkling Half chasing me off for dinner.. PS: She chose the liliac pouf... not me!!

Haha I did the electrical outlets with the intention of being able to switch around the position of the console and sofa. Only thing is that silly beam..cannot centralise the console! Omg yes I want a 60" now. I'm so used to a 42" and watching it in a small living room I think I will struggle watching it further away

@trcd no I wasn't present but the installers were not the neatest people. I went in to check after work and it was wet around the counter and bits of glue(?? some whitish stuff) on the counter edges as mine is black and could be seen. It's good I wasn't present because I would probably have a fit watching what they were doing. Let me just say I'm not impressed by Caeserstone's cleaning demo and kit. They sent me a mandarin-speaking guy with a strong provincial dialect accent (what if I didn't speak Mandarin?) who just unceremoniously handed me the cleaning kit in a ziploc bag containing a 3M sponge and a bottle of 'special' cleaning liquid by Caeserstone. He promptly told me just use CIF as it's the same as the Caeserstone cleaning liquid. Didn't explain what else was in the kit (some booklet and the steel stickers). Dripped water all over the floor when he sloppily applied the Cif to show me how to clean...and left his sponge behind in the sink's drainage hole when he went off. Haiz. Did you register your counter with Caeserstone online? If you did they will send you an email with phone number...you just SMS and arrange for the kit to be delivered and tech to come provide a cleaning demo. The Caeserstone steel tags are in the kit.

I was bored waiting around the house for Citigas and Caeserstone to show up, so I decided to unpack the goodies I bought from Tangs with the vouchers I accumulated from completing work projects. I must say, the irony and snobbishness of it struck me when I realised I now own a sponge-holder and dish rack holder that have 5 years warranty (seriously?? My last dish rack was from HuaHua provision store and it was with me for 7 years). My dustbin (Brabantia or something like that) has a 10 year guarantee sticker on it... OMG. I think I wouldn't have bought these if not for the company vouchers. I realise that Caeserstone provides a 10 year warranty and you can call them up to arrange for a free cleaning demo by one of their techs and receive a free cleaning kit. Oookkaaayyy.. so atas!! Edit: Can I just say CHEYYYYY! I was wondering how come my Caeserstone countertops didn't come with a Caeserstone steel tag embedded into the edge of the counter to show that this is the real-deal. So I asked the technician about it and he took out these steel tags with adhesive stickers behind it (the cleaning kit came with the tag in it). He gave us 3 tags and we stuck it on ourselves. CHEY! The cleaning kit also very chey. Essentially you use a 3M sponge (not too rough) and some Cif (white bottle) and just do a wash. Ok la, low-maintenance.

Thanks Ricepapergirl! The sofa is real leather, it's the Hendrix sofa from OM. Bought it when the price dropped during the GSS! I originally wanted a fabric sofa as leather can stick to one's skin during humid days, but some people just insisted on leather, so I'm going to drape it with a throw on my end (I'm the sweaty one).

You need to plan your own space with a contractor. Depending on character he may or may not give you opinions on space etc. The contractor I worked with was basically just taking orders unless I prompted him for technical practicalities. I learnt not to assume as what I think is normal may not be to the contractor. My colleague who is 1.75m tall assumed they would adjust the basin height. Her ID didn't guide the carpenter and she has to live with a standard 80cm high basin that is too low for her. I think if you can, ask to see the contractor or IDs past projects in real life, then you can gauge the finishing yourself. Also you gotta have chemistry with your ID/ contractor because you guys will be communicating a lot.

Welcome @bambeeboom! So happy to see another 3-roomer. I really envy the size of your bathrooms! I did everything not in order either, seriously anyhow "BOM"! And I didn't have a theme in mind or colours. I could only come up with a set of criteria like easy to clean floors...no white lights... no plastic chairs etc. But I think what helps is printing out a nice big floorplan of your place ( I used my company's A2 printer tee-hee) and Blue-tack a few somewhere you always walk by. Sometimes while I'm putting on my make-up an idea will strike me and I will quickly reach over and mark it out on the floorplan. Once you settled on what you want appearing in your house (be it to knock down a wall or put up a built-in, or even a moveable table/ sofa/ cabinet), you can start making a list of must-haves. That will be your groundwork for your ID/contractor. Other things that helped me were pictures of homes or parts of houses that inspired me (E.g. my subway walls from Pinterest). I'm sure you will have things that you die-die must have. trcd is right in that ID charges for designing fees, and contractors usually don't. Both have their pros and cons. I'd expect the ID to be the project manager and for contractors, I ended up pm-ing them 50% of the time as the main contractor was running between worksites. So far what I've seen from people on Renotalk is that if you know what you want already, a contractor is enough. But if you do not and you really need input on the design element, then go with an ID. With a contractor you are really relying on yourself, so you must have the confidence to know that the cabinet laminate colour you are choosing is something that will look good to you as a whole in the end. Having said that (sorry I am really long-winded), we are more forgiving with our own choices vs. those made by others for us.

7 Sep'16 Update: Squeeeee the sofa and console are here! I was all ready to wait it out till 6pm with my laptop, but everything was delivered before 3.30pm. Let me indulge you (mostly myself ) with some pictures! I waited for you for sooo looonnngg (2 years? 3 years??) It's smaller than I thought or maybe the wall turned out to be quite big in the end. Inside view for those who are curious what it holds... Darkling Half's couch (please note she may be the one that loves it, but that entire spot with the cushions is MY SPOT). Oh yes, I ordered those cushions from Taobao via Ezibuy. Way cheaper than getting them from Spotlight and I really like the designs. The packaging was good too, covers came rolled up in brown card/paper, ala Muji. All together now. I feel the 90X90 coffee table is going to look tiny... and so is our 42" TV.

Gosh that's really bad luck! I don't know if you would try to take it back to them to change since Ikea has a pretty good return policy..or you know what..screw it, you will buy better ones in future!

Laundry hanging rack installed!

6 Sep'16 Update: Busy week ahead: - Today- Going to the house later to wait for the clothes rack installation from Ez Living. - Wednesday- staking out the house the entire afternoon to wait for delivery of the sofa and TV console. - Friday- Staking out the house to wait for Citigas to come connect the gas. Will post up some pics of the clothes rack after it is installed. Yesterday was Monday Blues Drinks day (I promise I don't really drink that much despite having Happy Hour on Fridays, Hump Day Drinks, Monday Blues Drinks..Sunday afternoon pre-Monday Blues drinks... I just turn up to 'blow water' ). So I went out to Tiong Bahru to visit my long -time friend who just moved there. See what I found at her house!! When I asked her about it and where she got them, I was really surprised that she's finally looking to sell them off as she just moved into a smaller apartment and needs to downsize her stash. So I decided to share them here as I thought it these typewriters are really nice pieces that the crowd here would love. I don't get comms out of these! It's not my job! And of course I am helping my friend to make more space in her home so that I can have a nook I CAN ACTUALLY SIT IN. Right now I am fighting with her cats for a surface to recline on whenever I go hang out at her place. These are Royal (Blue) and Adler (Pink) typewriters. Both are serviced and in working condition with ribbons installed (in case you wish to go all Alfred Hitchcock and start clicketty-clacketting away). Darkling Half loves the blue one but I'm not sure I'm letting her get it off my friend after the amount she spent on the fridge and washer. The Traveller Deluxe is a pretty famous typewriter I'm told, but this one is not serviced. Most people just place it in their homes as a beautiful ornament to give a mid-century/ industrial vibe. If anyone is interested in any of these typewriters, do PM me. These babies do not go cheap outside if they are done-up prettily in some store. She also has other interesting vintage items if you're looking for stuff like that (I saw this finger-dialling phone with numerals printed in each hole and also Chinese characters for the numbers... wth...)..

Yesterday I mentioned that Arthur Z didn't have pieces of suar wood in stock that we could use, right? Today the designer wrote back to say that her boss was fine with cutting up pieces of long suar wood into the size that we wanted! So I am excited and I think this means it may arrive earlier than anticipated! We were given a choice of 2 pieces of wood that had the swirly bits we wanted. We ended up choosing the piece below ( it was the piece that Darkling Half first saw and liked at the showroom too- she said it has 'long-lasting beauty', not too 'flowery' haha whatever that means). The masking tape is to show the length of 1.6m. It should seat 6 people (4 at the length and 2 at each width). And we unanimously chose #1 for the bench because it has thick white edges to contrast with the simpler table top. Aiyoo so excited about this table!