amirahpaul

Hi everyone, very sorry for not updating our blog for several months -- once work started piling up, it's tough to keep up with many commitments. Our sincere apologies to those who sent us queries -- I guess it won't be very useful for us to reply now as the time lag is several months. However, we're back with a final update because of recent reno matter. We've had trouble sleeping well because of the noisy road next to our bedroom. We didn't change the windows when we renovated because the previous owner's sliding windows were still ok. But two weeks back, we decided to change the bedroom windows to double-glazed, panel windows, which keep out noise more effectively. It worked really well -- noise is down by around 60%. To get the windows changed, we went back to our ID, Daniel from Ideal House. Readers of our blog would recall we had a very good experience with him. He exceeded our expectations this time as well. Firstly, the quote was very reasonable. Secondly, he arranged for the wall around the window frame to be repainted for free, along with some other parts of our wall which needed repainting due to wall seepage (HDB/town council issue -- we've fixed that). Lastly, he remained very helpful in checking our place for other things that needed rectification. We really really appreciate his fantastic service. We've also gotten his permission to post his mobile number here in case you would like to consider him. Daniel's mobile number is 96616034. You can see our detailed review of Daniel here: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/63649-pastels-wood-cats-a-soothing-3-room-flat/?p=834433 Here's a pic of our new windows -- more 'messy' than our original, but much better sound-proofing.

Hi Paull & Troublemaker, I've just PM-ed you =)

@Trish, Thanks for the encouraging words. We hope you find your dream flat in the west! Grilles can be customised although for window grilles the ones with patterns are usually more precast moulds. It is very nice to design and live in your own pad. Let us know if there are any ways we can help with info. @jameoz, the dining table is a marble and wood one. Trying to get a bit of old fashioned coffee shop feel. We customised it from Summit House at International Furniture Centre at $800. There was a round version with beautiful legs which we loved. But went for the rectangular as it fit our home design and better use of space. The chairs are extremely solid heavy wood, for $120 per chair ( package) and they are a steal, as we saw several other marble/wood tables like the kind at Ya Kun style, and the chairs were of lesser quality at $200 per chair. These are seriously good chairs. The marble is beautiful too. If you do shop there -- be sure to get the handphone number of the shop owner/sales guy. The shop allows you to select the marble piece of your choice before they mount it onto the table, but setting up the appointment to select the marble is not easy and best to have a way to call the shop owner directly. @Domokun541 and Danmify, PM-ed both of you our ID's contact! @weezersg, soothing and comfy -- yes yes yes... a home is a place of relaxation and it's very quiet here also.

Hi Mellenur, The colour of the study room wall was Seaweed from Dulux. Hi ptqbe, PM-ed you. Hi Nataliecheo -- thanks much -- i checked out castlery, looks cool.

Blackiwi: no problem, it's our pleasure. We have PMed you Daniel's contact. peacejr: Ok all the best with the grilles. For us we chose the thinnest available aluminium grill choice. We thot it looked nicest. The thicker options may be good for security -- if choosing those, the contractor may wish to adjust the grille spacing to take the extra width of the grill into account.

tarzanboy and AnnieOoi, have PMed you. Thanks and all the best for your grilles, peacejr!

Hi Xiaop, PMed you! Tarzanboy, I could not PM you -- not sure if your mailbox is full?

hi jnashville, san20sg & AnW, PM sent =)

Lesson learnt: Whenever there's a middleman involved, see if it's possible and worthwhile to liaise directly with the source company.

4. Hau Hau Parquet Our first stop in selecting our flooring was Hafary. We were interested in their water-resistant, wood-like laminate, i.e. the Berry Alloc range. We love wood for how it feels, and looks. But we’ve heard how it’s very costly – we saw the genuine wood range at Hafary and the prices were off the charts for us. Thus, it was about hunting for the best alternative. We also looked at Vinyl planks – they do have a wood-like feel! We still recall our visit to Floorrich. When we reached the entrance, we weren’t sure if the flooring was genuine wood, or Vinyl. It turned out to be Vinyl. That’s how real their planks seem to laypersons like us. After speaking to be very good Floorrich salesperson, we thought our search has ended. He quoted us $6.90 for their click-on vinyl range, which compares very well to the Hafary Berry Alloc selections. They look and feel nicer, in our view. But we were jubilant but didn’t decide on the spot as we wanted to check out another Vinyl range which cost half the price – apparently it’s from a wholesaler. There’s a funny twist to the story. We met with the wholesaler at his run-down industrial warehouse (good sign, since it probably means you aren’t paying for post showroom rentals). Sadly, his vinyl range felt and looked rather plasticky. Interestingly, vinyl was just a side business for his company – they are really in the wood business. We spied lots of wood flooring and planks in his warehouse/office and thought: if his vinyl cost half the market price, might his wood be likewise? It turned out to be true. He quoted us $6.50 for Indonesian parquet, inclusive of laying. The size is similar to what you find in HDB BTO parquet flooring. We found ourselves in a dilemma: the parquet which we love costs less than the vinyl we were all set to buy?! This opened up a totally new option for us: parquet wholesalers. We did some research and decided to visit Hau Hau parquet. We got a similar quote for the same plank size, and decided to pay a bit more for a larger plank. Here’s the breakdown: Our Indonesian teak strips are 12mm (depth) x 95mm (width) x 500-650mm (varied length). Cost psf: $4.50. Glue: $40 x 2 Delivery: $40 Optional skirting: $1.40 per foot Parquet laying: $800 for 2 bedrooms. (HDB 3 rm flat bedrooms) Hau Hau supplies the wood, and helps you engage an external party to lay the parquet. In our case, they helped us engage Mr Lee, who did a fabulous job. Even our ID was impressed. He said the planks were laid very tightly together, especially at the corners. The floor feels very even, and the finishing was gorgeous in our view. Mr Lee is a real pro. We were so happy with his work that we repeatedly offered him a tip. But he flatly refused. My mum joined in to persuade him, and they eventually had some ridiculous shoving match, i.e. she tried shoving him the money and he kept pushing off. It was hilarious, but pretty memorable. We’re very happy with Hau Hau and would recommend them. Their parquet is good, reasonably priced and their salesperson struck us as honest and knowledgeable (she wouldn’t make it as a high-performing salesperson as she’s very matter-of-factly). http://www.hauhauparquet.com/aboutus.asp We enjoy the parquet everyday… really love the feel of it and the warm and natural look. We must add that we take some care in cleaning it and avoiding serious scratches. In case you’re wondering, cats usually don’t scratch parquet. But if they run around lots, they will dig in to stop and leave scratches. Thus, it may not be a good idea to have parquet flooring in their main playing area, i.e. living room in our case.

One of the most draining aspects of renovation is running all over the island to search for suitable items. We were wonderfully helped in this by many recommendations from renotalkers. Here's our chance to add to the collective store of wisdom. We've compiled a list of shops we would heartily recommend, and those we wish to caution others against. Like several others, we were disturbed to encounter companies that treat customers awfully, knowing they are very likely to get away with it. There's just too little ordinary folks like us can do to hold them accountable. On our own, that is. But when we join with many others, the critical mass might get rogue companies to be more responsible. Likewise, excellent service deserves to be better known. Our list is quite long, so we'll post in parts... *Recommended* (1) Second Charm We started our furniture hunt in this shop. The place is like a treasure trove, helmed by the magisterial Sharifah and her excellent assistants. We chanced upon a newly brought-in, but pre-restored sofa set. The curves were very charming, although the wood tone was dull and the age clearly showed. Apparently this was a mid-century piece by Scandinavian company Diethelm. And after some intense discussion and a bit of negotiation, we had purchased our very first furniture items. A 3-seater and an armchair from that set. But we had to wait several weeks while they were restored. The result pleased us – here they are. Some weeks later, we also bought a custom-made school bench. We foresee visiting Second Charm many times in the future. We would strongly recommend Second Charm to others. Sharifah is a straightforward and fair person (although super busy). We also interacted much with Hasli who is knowledgeable about wood furniture and an incredibly nice person. Incidentally, our sofa was ready before we could move in – we found ourselves in a bit of a fix. But Sharifah kindly allowed us to collect the furniture only when we’re ready some weeks later, although the sofa took up precious space in her crowded store. This is solid customer service. www.secondcharm.net (2) Kia Meng Trading We were looking to custom make cushions for our sofa, and revarnish our many-decades-old rattan 2-seater (from orange-brown to dark brown). This company is a family business and we liaised with JJ, who seems to be the owner’s son. He was very easy to talk to, and genuinely helpful – happy to put up with our prolonged search for the right colour and fabric at his shop. In the end, he delivered exactly as agreed and we’re happy with the outcome. http://www.kmtrading.com.sg (3) Fotohi Carpet Gallery Massive range of carpets at their shop in Tanjong Katong Complex #03-38. From ultra costly hand-sewn Persians, to more affordable/ modern Belgian machine-made ones. We spent more than an hour poring through dozens upon dozens of carpets, with a very patient salesperson guiding us through the many options. He was passionate and knowledgeable and happily provided an in depth tutorial on carpets (the handmade ones are passed down generations and each are unique), even though he knew we were picking one of the cheaper machine made ones. Our choice is in the photo above.

Study Room Some pictures of our study room. Chose a more vibrant wall colour. The right side of the pictures are bookshelves which are outside the frame. Got a 2m table and a 1.8m table to create a L-shaped table. Restored old rattan 2-seater and lacquered it a dark brown. Posters from society6.com. Before: After: Parquet floor from Hau Hau Parquet:

She is beautiful and that is a super farnie photo... so cute and huggable!

Thanks man.

Hi retchlow, you have a gorgeous cat! Is he/she a Siamese? Wonderful that she can live in harmony with your dogs =) Does your cat often scratch your sofa?

Hi Dreamlove, PMed you! If you adopt a kitten, they are soo cute and from young you can teach it many things. They have their own personalities.

most welcome, mellenur =) it can be pretty stressful worrying about the sofa getting scratched! We've tried leather and faux leather -- to no avail. But micro-fiber works great so far... I guess it helps that our cat really likes our 2 official scratching items, i.e. both mats. as for the windows, we'd be happy to send you the grille measurements if needed... just let us know =)

Specially for all the cat lovers out there -- this post will be on cat-friendly features we tried to build into our home. 1. Cat flapNuri loves going in and out, indecisive as she is. We got a cat flap from All Breed Pets (44 Jalan Merah Saga), which seems to have the widest range of cat flaps in Singapore. It has at least 5-6 models of different sizes, compared to about 1-2 in other shops. Ours cost $50 and allows 4 way access, meaning you can configure so it allows the cat to go both in and out, or only in or only out. Our ID had no problem installing it into the standard door, just a matter of cutting a hole. 2. Window grilles, main gateID came up with a design we were super happy with and has been working great. As all cat lovers out there know, cats are curious and enjoy gazing out of windows. Some cats live in homes without grilles but it is dangerous as they can get distracted by birds or scared by sounds and jump out the window. I have 2 friends with cats who passed away this way. So to keep Nuri safe, we opted for grilles. We decided to go for normal type of aluminium grilles. There are also invisible grilles which you can get from Legate but they are much pricier, and we can't have them anyway because ours is corridor unit and invisible grilles are not suitable for corridor use as they can be cut through. Some homes use wire mesh to supplement their wide grilles. However, these are terrifically hard to maintain, and block out much of the nice views. The grilles issue gave us a headache. The starting point is our grilles needed to be only 5cm apart as most average cats can go through holes which are larger than 5cm (depends on the size of the cat). We wanted as much natural light as possible, thus very dense grilles and wire meshes are out. Eventually, our ID Daniel figured out a plan which all of us immediately liked. There are 2 parts to how it works:1. We use sliding windows. Each window set consists of 4 window panels and grilles, with 2 tracks for the windows to slide on. Thus at any point in time, only there is at most 2 panels’ worth of open windows. Since the other 2 windows will be shut, there’s no need for grilles there. 2. We have 4 panels’ worth of grilles, but only two window panels that need to be grilled. Thus, one panel of grilles can be put in front of another, to form 2 pairs of overlapping grilles. Daniel helped us customize the grille spacing to 10cm such that when the grilles overlap, the maximum space between them is 5cm which is too small for a full-grown cat to squeeze through. Pictures explain this better. Window grilles before overlapping (position if windows are closed): Window grilles after overlapping (overlapping grilles cover the open window pane): We opted for horizontal grilles as they look best to us, but it can also be done vertically, diagonally, or in little squares. We chose 5cm because Nuri's head is around 5cm -- and once a cat can squeeze it's head through a hole it can wriggle such that it's body can go through. If you're estimating for your own cat, it is better to err toward caution because a cat’s fur makes it look larger than it really is.Also, if your windows are along the corridor, it’s not safe to have sliding grilles. They have to be fixed as they can be slid from outside and compromise security. So for our corridor window, we didn’t use the overlapping grille method. We had two middle panel grilles of 5cm spacing and the two side panels of 10cm spacing. 3. Main gate Same as windows, the max spacing had to be 5cm apart. We loved this retro design grille so our ID helped to custom make it at an affordable rate. Each of the bars had to be bent by hand because it couldn't be machine cut. Gives it a slightly uneven look but we don't mind. A mistake we made was that we didn't cut a hole near the lock area so we can stick our hand in to lock the gate. We thought Nuri might leap out but she has never attempted to climb the gate even though she loves climbing stuff so next time we would cut a hole, easier to use the lock. 4.Hiding places We made sure she has some hiding spots like behind a big chest and above the fridge because when the delivery men and plumbers and electricians come in, she needs somewhere to feel safe. 5. Cat moving day We moved Nuri after all the main furniture had been moved in, so she would not have to meet so many movers and risk getting hurt. When Nuri went to the new home it was unfamiliar and strange. We transported her in the evening. To help her feel safe we let her out of the cage in the study room with the lights turned off. When it is dark, cats will come out because they think they have cover of the night. We set up some hiding spots by draping a large cloth over the small sofa so she could hide underneath till she was used to it. At first she stayed in that room for many hours. Within about 1-2 days she was perfectly fine. 6. Cats chillout spots Cats like having high places to perch on to watch the world go by. We tried to include several such spots, particular by the windows. The idea is to have a surface that is the same height as the base of the window so the cat can lie down and rest on its belly and still be able to look out the window. Most cats can jump high, but we figured Nuri might prefer the option to use ‘steps’ on lazy days. Thus our living window perch, an Ikea wall-mounted cabinet, is placed immediately next to a bench. When Nuri isn’t using that as a step to her favourite lounging spot, we use the bench to wear our shoes. 7. Cat & sofas Nuri destroyed the faux leather sofa in my old home so we had to choose another option for sofa. We did some research and found micro-fiber / micro-suede to be a material pretty resistant to cat scratching. It is very smooth and in general, cats seem to prefer sharpening their claws on coarse surfaces. Micro-suede is smooth, yet comfortable. We have also found it easy to maintain – a simple vacuum rids it of fur. We chose a wooden sofa frame from Second Charm because the wood is very smooth and cats won't scratch very smooth wood. The choices paid off -- Nuri hasn't scratched the sofa once. Cat-proof materials work effectively when cats are given attractive alternatives for scratching. Do ensure there is at least one cat-scratching mat/post in an accessible area. 8. Cats & carpets It’s tough to never have your cat scratch the carpet. It’s however possible to make such occasions very rare. We don’t have a perfect solution. The best we’ve found so far is to place a great alternative very near the carpet like a scratching mat. And of course to patiently train Nuri not to scratch the carpet by scolding her and carrying her to the scratching mat if she does scratch the carpet.

Our invaluable ID Daniel from I-deal House Daniel was recommended by a friend, but we were initially more interested in his colleague Peter. Peter had several very strong reviews from folks at Renotalk, while Daniel is relatively new – very few detailed reviews on his work. I-deal House is also home to the famous Mr K, but we didn’t consider him as he sounded so very busy. We were afraid he might have too much on his plate. In the end, we decided to meet with Daniel before Peter. The plan to was meet Peter if we weren’t impressed with Daniel. We eventually picked Daniel because he displayed excellent aesthetic sense (he graduated from NAFA), was very patient during the meeting, and was more than willing to check on matters he wasn’t sure about (i.e. aspects of HDB reno regulations). Funnily, we came close to not picking him as he asked for an extension in the deadline we set submitting the initial quotation. We thought: “Why even consider his quotation if he can’t meet the deadline unlike the rest?” Thankfully, we gave him an extra day and found the quotation to be more detailed than the others. Compared to the other quotations we got, his was very transparent, honest and good-willed. For example, there were some complimentary items which we didn’t need, e.g. laminate flooring for bedrooms (we had sourced for our own parquet from a wholesaler). Daniel meticulously took out the free items we didn't want and showed which items we would get for free, in its place. He was the only ID to do this. Details like these might be why he took a longer time, and in any case, we felt an extension was fine given the detailed quotation he gave. The price was mid-range, and we negotiated till a satisfactory agreement was reached. Now that the renovation is over, we are honestly very happy to recommend him in view of the following qualities: 1. Excellent attitude - He was very honest in terms of costs -- what he could and could not absorb, if he overlooked something he was sincere in rectifying it. Just an overall honest chap. He's not the very calculative kind where every small change you make, they take the chance to ask for additional funds. - He enjoys his work, is patient and accommodating. That came through from the many hours we spent together and also observing how he interacts with his sub-cons and other strangers we met. - He also was understanding and very happy to design around Nuri's cat needs. Daniel took it as a challenge and heard out what we required. He ultimately came up with great ideas for our cat and really did a great job blending them into the flat's overall design. We'll go into those details in a later post. - One example of his patience was how we chose all our paint colours and the painters did their jobs, and only then we realised we really didn't like the colour we chose for the living room walls and the kitchen! He was slightly taken aback but took it in his stride and asked the painters back and delivered a nice outcome. Another example of his patience was the experience of tile choosing. He walked with us for possibly 8 hours looking at tile after tile at hafary and soon bee huat. He kept a positive attitude throughout even though we were so tired and difficult to satisfy. He never hard sold his ideas but simply suggested design elements for us to consider. Choosing tiles is one of those mind-numbing experiences where it really helps to have a great ID. - We joked that he is an "aunty killer" and he is just the kind of guy you would want to handle issues with neighbours. In our case there was an issue with the pipings in the flat below us and he got it handled with ease. Having a patient ID is important because some decision can take hours and hours, and you really want someone who gives ideas but doesn't push too hard to a decision if you are not ready yet. 2. Strong aesthetic sense & creativity - Our soothing pastel theme may not have been the most exciting one to work with (he likes industrial looks and richer, warmer tones) but he did a great job understanding what we liked and designing for our simple taste. - He is one of those gifted artists who take an idea and suddenly improve on it in a moment of inspiration. For example he came up with a cat-proof window-grille design through chatting with us, even though this was the first cat-friendly window grille he had ever done. He works through brainstorming with you and also gets ideas from magazines, restaurants, homes he sees elsewhere, hotels, etc. At the end you get a product that is very customised to your taste, only better. He really value adds. Later we'll post on the small details in our flat we especially like, many of which were improved by Daniel's presence. 3. Detail oriented, pro-active & competent - His eye of detail and sense of initiative translates to higher standards for quality work than if we had a more sui bian ID, who only rectifies issues which clients point out. Daniel really pays a lot of attention to detail and he has strong values on good design. By the latter I mean that if something doesn't look good or he thinks it can be better, he won't be able to rest till he gets it fixed. One example is the aircon piping in the MBR. They were run against the ceiling and we were quite happy with it, yes they are large but they were above eye level. However they didn't sit well with Daniel and he decided to conceal them by boxing them up and adding down lights! He didn't charge us. He just could not live with the pipings. Another example is the door stop for the main door. We built a shoe cabinet right next to the main door, and we insisted on having a ‘door closer’ device so the main door would close on its own. This device sticks out so we needed a lagi big door stopper and Daniel had his subcon search high and low to find one. In the end we got this huge 14.5cm long one. A lesser ID would have mounted a normal door stop on a piece of wood and drilled it in but this wouldn't have looked neat and Daniel was very reluctant to do that. This is what we mean by strong values on design. - Any completed works that we had issues with, he resolved. Simple and fuss free. He would call his sub cons back and have the problems fixed, even the small things. We had matt black beat lights in the living room. After they were installed, we wanted them to be staggered unevenly. We also realised the off-the-shelf bookcases we bought were wider than expected and the power point near it had to be moved. The electricians returned. We found a small bloated area on our storeroom door. The carpenter returned. It's in the small details that we were really thankful for Daniel's competent and patient team. 4. The recommendation wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t also state an area for improvement: There were times he wasn't punctual, sometimes because he was listening to other clients who overrun their timeslots. We found that things were better if we checked with him via sms around an hour before our meetup if he would be on time. Daniel would respond very frankly and we made adjustments. On the whole, this is a small thing considering the fantastic working experience we had with him. Overall, a great ID at good value. Happy to have found him.

Review of IDs / Contractors we considered 1. Jimmy (3D Innovative Design) We would have hired Jimmy if we didn’t have Daniel. Firstly, he was very earnest and had a pleasant attitude – seemed very competent without sounding boastful. Secondly, he has done carpentry and tile-laying with own hands so he has very good knowledge of operational matters. Jimmy understood his strengths, highlighting his workmanship and value-for-money offer while recognising his not being professionally trained in interior design. His offer was the best in terms of value and we think he probably would have done a great job if hired. Others on this forum have reviewed him positively, and we’d add he left us a very positive impression. 2. Jake (ZL Construction) He was a good communicator and seemed like a trustworthy person to work with. He was one of those who made our final shortlist of 3. However he seemed to be less keen to try certain layout ideas, possibly due to lack of experience. His quote was slightly on the high side. He was gracious about us not choosing him and was the only ID/contractor to ask how he could have done better, which reflected very well on him we felt. His company is also the chief contractor for CraftStone craft brick walls, in case anyone is interested. Decent fellow. 3. Chloe (Fuse Concept) She was one of the most sincere and responsible IDs we met, despite us asking her for a quote at last minute due to a trip we planned. She was very sweet and patient, and put in a lot of effort into the design she proposed. She had some ideas for cats and she took initiative to design for Nuri. Unfortunately the design didn't really resonate with us, so we thought we would look around more while keeping her in mind. 4. David Lam (Lourve) Two words. Stay away. David didn't seem to have very good ideas. He seemed honest and had decent knowledge of reno matters, materials, etc, but wasn’t particularly creative nor similar in aesthetic tastes. Later we heard from our friend who signed with David (mainly because she was rushed for time) who proved to be ok until the time for hacking. At that point, he claimed he was going abroad for a personal holiday and that his colleague would replace him for that period. Guess what? From that point onwards, it was almost impossible to contact him. His colleague even said David is extremely busy thus all her reno matters would be handled by that person she didn’t sign with. Alas, his colleague was sincere but incompetent. Yet the most crucial renovation period was managed by him, with David staying well out of reach. Apparently, David is a high-flying senior member of Lourve with many sales. Thus we think it’s important to make known his unprofessional conduct so fewer people would be caught unaware. We understand this is a serious claim about him, so we are prepared to connect you with our friend if you’re presenting thinking of signing with him and need evidence of what happened. 5. Mark (IR Design) & Raymond (forgot the co.) Both of them submitted quotations, but they were very average and the prices were not fantastic. Perhaps they had enough work at that time so weren’t all that motivated. We considered Raymond (forgot his company name) as he did a very basic renovation for our friend and the price was quite reasonable. As for Mark, he was sent by Roy from IR Design – one of the well-regarded IDs in Renotalk. 6. Jacky (Baroque) Very standard ID. His quote was the lowest of all the IDs we contacted. We met him at his office but we could not tell what quality of work he would provide. His quotation seemed very standard, seemed like a nice guy, but ultimately not the one for us. The next post will be on Daniel, the ID we finally selected.

One of the most important decisions we made was in selecting our ID. It was also perhaps our best decision for the reno. We shall now share our experience. We started by doing 2 things: Thinking through the must-haves for our flat. Then the nice-to-haves. We then made a list for easy reference. It’s also useful for sending to potential IDs/contractors. Our planned reno is fairly simple, i.e. no fancy structural stuff or expensive/complicated design themes. Thus, we considered saving costs by hiring a contractor instead of an ID. We spent many many hours looking through renotalk blogs (and other places) for IDs/contractors. A shortlist was made and we eventually met with 7 of them.Before we delve into each, let us quickly share a mistake we made. To save time, we had arranged for 3 of IDs to come for a joint briefing at our empty flat. Doesn’t it seem like a good idea? Since you’re going to say similar stuff to each, why not just get them all to come so you needn’t repeat? Moreover, they would see there is competition and thus be more motivated. It was a disaster! One was very late, but 2 of them did come on time -- and looked rather surprised to see each other. As we walked them around the flat and explained what we wanted, none of them offered substantial ideas. They seemed very reluctant to share what they could do, in case their rivals leeched off them. Thus, instead of a vibrant discussion about the possibilities of each area, it turned out to be simply a matter of taking measurements. In the end, both of them submitted unimaginative proposals, and the quotations weren’t attractive. We have heard good things about them, so this was puzzling. Were they offended? Or can’t be bothered, thinking we looked non-commital? Anyway, we didn’t think this approach was worth continuing. For the other 5 IDs/contractors, we went the painful route of individual meetings (and giving same briefing repeatedly), each lasting for 40-60 mins. It was far more useful though as we got to hear out many ideas, push them on some details and check our rapport with each individual. Our evaluation of each one is coming up next… please stay tuned =)

Hi everyone, thanks for the warm reception. Didn't really realise that the ceiling is that high. How high is the typical ceiling? The ID did mention he had to build a bit more cabinetry and MBR wardrobe. He was cool about it and absorbed the cost though. To the other cat lovers here, it's good to hear from you guys! Somehow before our reno there didn't seem to be many renotalk bloggers who had cats so hopefully our experience will help everyone who has more than humans to plan for. #Just4fun, I wanted to PM you about the location of our flat but the system said this user can't receive messages. Is there another way for me to PM you?#Mellenur, the fan isn't a Haiku thou we did love the look of the Haiku, we thought it was overpriced as they seem to cost around $1.1 to $1.2K. We got a fan from Amasco at 135 Joo Seng Rd. The model is "Hugger" methinks. Cost $700 which isn't the cheapest but it had the least depth which allows it to stick as closer to the ceiling than normal ceiling fans, which is good for HDBs. The fan looks quite nice up there but it's a bit of a white elephant right now because Nuri hates it because we didn't have a ceiling fan before. She thinks it's a predator bird and she just hides away or crawls around when it is turned on. We are still trying to train her to get used to it. If anyone knows how to train a cat to get used to a scary black ceiling fan please do let us know! Common Toilet We asked for the door to be shifted so as to be able to create a glass door shower box, and a dry area for the toilet bowl and sink. A few IDs we spoke to claimed it could not be done, but our ID was diligent in checking HDB guidlines and getting the necessary approval, so it worked! Also we decided to box up the unsightly pipes which are common in older HDB flats. Some people paint it and they can be cool and industrial but our look was not so raw. It enabled us to do some recessed shelving for the shower gels and bath items. We found awesome Peranakan like tiles we both loved, and our ID designed how they were interspersed horizontally with the normal tiles so that it was soothing and not overwhelming. Honestly, with some other less design focused ID, we would probably have just put all the peranakan tiles on one single wall and it would not have been very balanced. Kudos to Daniel, we loved the effect. Before: After Before - large visible pipes: After - box up area with recessed shelf: Closeup of wall tiles: Closeup of created glass shower stall. Previously the toilet entrance was directly opposite where the exposed pipes.

Thanks. It's 74sqm. Seems a little more spacious than the average 3 roomer. However, there is no aircon ledge and there isn't really service yard like the new BTOs. Service yard Before: After:

Thanks, yeah the cafe curtains let light in while giving privacy from the common corridor. Kitchen For the kitchen,it was a 100% overhaul. Before: After (night): After (day): Porch steps We redid the steps at the porch. Before: After:

Living Room - We asked the ID to move the storeroom from the living room to the kitchen, to free up space. -Took down the cornings and smoothened the walls because they had a bumpy texture. - Installed a cat flap for the study, for Nuri's ease of access Before: After: Another angle, looking toward the main door. The retro gate was custom designed. (Shoutout to renotalk user Vacanthost whose grille was our inspiration. Check out his renotalk blog here:http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/57966-clementi-central-3ng/) Our ID worked very hard on this gate because we asked him to adjust the spacing between the grilles to make it cat-proofed. None of the gaps could exceed 5cm as cats can climb very high. We'll post more on the cat-friendly features of our home nearer the end of the blog for those interested. Before: After: A closer view of the living room corner. Before: After: