Dwinsplace

My second round of carpentry is also in! So kudos to my ID for rushing the laminates and their work. Apparently the wardrobe couldn't fit into the lift so they had to literally build it in my room. I guess that's payment for all the drinks that I've been buying them. haha. The house is currently a mess with cabinet doors and drawers all over the place so it's a bit hard for pics but I can't wait to see it all slowly fit together. Even the contractors looked around and said, this project is nice. Unique. And yes uncle, I have to agree with you.

A lot has been happening. Today all the toilet accessories got installed. So the toilets are pretty much complete! I didn't take any pics cos they were still installing when i left. Did anyone else have any problems finding a spot for the toilet roll holder?? On the wall next to the WC makes you have to reach ard awkwardly. On the wall in front is just silly. If you have a wall to the side of your toilet bowl then that would be ideal but it's rarely the case. haha. Small issues that I found amusing that we don't really consider. My petite relite fans are also in! Turned them on and the fan power is pretty good! But you do hear a bit of noise from it. Acceptable though. Realised that I made a mistake in the placement of my switches. My walk in wardrobe has 2 entrances. One from the living area and another from the service yard. Because of this, I originally decided to place the switch for the main light near the service yard entrance cos thats where the lights were closer to. Just seemed logical. Then I had a switch for a small accent light at the doorway to the living room so that whichever way you came in from, you could turn on lights. Made sense at the time. But now that I think again, most of the time we would be coming in from the living area. And it seems silly to just turn on a tiny light before having to walk over and turning on the main light for the room. Its tedious to have to turn so many things on and off and also not energy efficient. Sigh. I'm asking the electrician if things can be rerouted to have all the switches at the door way to the living area. Wonder if he will charge me extra for being an idiot? Also spent a lot of time figuring out how to place my rear surround speakers. Ideally, it should be behind you and just a little above your ear level. But since my sofa is against a wall, I couldn't put it behind me. So in the end I settled for a ceiling mount and pointing it to the edges of the seating area. The speaker mount doesn't really allow it to swivel that much but I hope it will suffice. The angle is currently too straight down for my liking. *fingers crossed*

We can't wait to see the finished product either. They are currently manufacturing the door and then they will be adding the windows and a few touchups here and there. Now that I see them do it, I must say, it's really quite a complicated process! They have to fabricate each panel, weld it, come to my place, screw it in place and then weld it together. Doesn't help that the design has a few odd angles to accommodate a particular column in the house. So each angle had to be done on site itself. And then replicated with each spar. Its definitely unique, but you either like it or you don't. And that's fine. I understand when we embarked on this that some people would look at it and go "eeee". But i personally love it! And when it comes to stamping a personal touch, I don't believe in half measures. All or nothing. Actually no, just all. haha

Hahaha! I think someone is addicted to home reno.... so fast thinking of the next house? Lol. Do what my friend did! During housewarmings, ask everyone who says your house is beautiful if they want to buy it off you. And your photos didn't load.

Very nice! The sofa really matches the look. A daring colour choice but I must say it works beautifully

Received a call today from the principle designer of the firm with some bad news. Apparently Kompacplus has released our shipment of material to another client! He went on to elaborate that it seems that their sales team doesn't check with their supply team so they just sell regardless of their stocks. So someone else went first and they got it despite us having ordered much earlier. Currently, they have ZERO stock for the top that I wanted. Can I just say that that is a RUBBISH way to do business. They didn't even have any compensations or guarantees for us! Thankfully, they have a shipment coming in next week (which day we don't know). But that's for it to arrive at PSA, after which it needs to go to their factory and then get manufactured and then sent to my place. At this point in time, if things happen as they should, the timeline of the house is still ok, but Kompacplus has refused to give a specific date. If they don't have the shipment by the end of next week, I will march down personally to Kompacplus's headquarters and raise ****... To all of you out there using this material, better get your contractors/designers to book the material. Preferably to physically HOLD on to the material so that they can't give it away to someone else. Unless you're using the black top. In which case, HANDS OFF MY STUFF!

Dum Dum DUUUUUUUUM!! Ladies and Gents, may I present.... THE DUNGEON! *cue wild applause and merry making* I'm super chuffed with it! It's not completed yet. They still have the door to add. Not to mention they will be welding on flat bars of steel over the border areas to make it pop more, and then adding on rivets on top of that to complete the piece. After that will be the touches of paint to add a bit of age and roughen the look up a bit. Currently the edges all have gaps, generously contributed by the famous irregular surfaces of a HDB flat. Of course I can't just blame the flat. Even the panels lines between the panels have gaps but these will all be sealed up so that my aircon won't leak out. The edges to the walls will be with Cornice plaster, and the bits between the metal will be with silicon. So so SO happy!! Have i mentioned that I'm totally in love with it? I'm totally in love with it!

Pmed you

Great idea greg! Thanks! I'll request for it from my ID. Or just get her to give me paint and I'll spend a day doing it. haha.

Haha sometimes the mood comes on and you just type and type. More because stuff is happening faster now. Feels good! Hmm brown silicon eh? They told me that they don't have other colours... The study lights does come down quite far but that also ensures that I won't get flicker from the ceiling fan. Also, its placed over the study desk and I won't be walking under that area.

I think your kitchen glass is my favourite bit. Love the frames. Also the breakfast counter with the stools inside the kitchen. for your fruit fly issue. I found this online PreventionFruit flies can be a real nuisance to remove once they have already infested your refrigerator and kitchen. It is important to do what you can to prevent the fruit flies from entering your home in the first place. Check the insulating stripping on your refrigerator. Wear and gaps in this stripping can be an easy entrance point for these pests, so repair or replace as needed. Store all fresh or cooked food in sealed containers to keep fruit flies from getting into the food. Check for water leaks from the fridge that could be attracting more flies. RemovalIf you already have fruit flies, llocate the food source for the fruit flies and remove it immediately. For example, if you find a rotten banana in the back of the crisper drawer, this is likely drawing them inside. Dispose of the banana, then clean the crisper drawer and surrounding area with hot water and disinfectant soap. Dry out any areas where excess moisture collects, as this can attract more fruit flies. Keep checking your fridge for more signs of fruit flies. If no more bugs appear within two weeks, it's likely you removed all of them. Sponsored Links Pest Control ServicesSolutions to your Pest Problems! Call us at 6841 2023 www.asiawhiteant.com.sg TipsTo keep fruit flies out of your fridge, keep some things in mind. For example, never let fresh produce rot on the counter or even in your refrigerator. Use produce as quickly as possible and dispose of any overripe fruit or vegetables in an outdoor receptacle such as a trash can or compost heap. Keep these outdoor receptacles as far away from your home as possible to deter bugs from entering your home in search of more food. Before storing food in your fridge, cover in foil or plastic wrap to create a barrier against fruit flies and other insects. WarningFruit flies can lay hundreds of eggs at a time, according to the University of Kentucky, making treating them a difficult task. After the egg is laid, it only takes about a week for the new fly to hatch. If you have a fruit fly infestation, continue to treat the affected and surrounding areas regularly until there are no signs of the insects for at least two weeks. Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8275531_fruit-flies-fridge.html

Master toilet light which will be hung in a pair at different heights. Bedside light Track lights Think i bought like 18 of these. Kiasu. lol Service yard light

Unearthing some of the TB loot! Again, I didn't get to be the one to open it but it's ok. Didn't manage to get a crowbar anyway. The electricians did it since they were installing the lights. It was pretty funny actually. One guy was using a screw driver in an effort to pry open the crate. He was trying for a while when the other electrician went to the other end of the box and just ripped off the wood with his bare hands! I was properly impressed and made a mental note not to piss him off. I am very happy to report that the electrician says that all lights have all the appropriate wires and parts. In fact, it was a t5 light that I got from singapore that was missing a wire attachment. lol! Props to TB! I still don't know if they all work yet but once that's all tested I'll post the links of where I got each light from. In the meantime, photos! Dining lights: Common toilet light: Small problem with this. The base of the white shade was not flat. Either it got twisted in transportation or the original construction was flawed. Either way, a bit of squeezing here and there and we managed to make it look ok. Love how it contrasts with the dark tiles! Kitchen deco light: These will be edison bulbed and hanging in 3s just behind my sofa. Can't wait! I forgot to take pics of the worklight that I intend to use for the other side of the kitchen counter though. Balcony light (also edisoned) Study light

Steel dungeon update: Went down to the site a few days ago and saw a panel of the steel wall. Now this steel wall is the highlight of her designs so you can imagine that I had rather high hopes for it. Imagine my disappointment when I saw this. I was quite speechless. a muddy purple colour??! REALLY??! And he insists that he based the colour on the 3D rendering that the ID gave him (which to be fair was not an accurate colour since the 3D had yellow lighting). Didn't know whether to kill him or the ID but it was unacceptable!! Also, when i asked the ID a long time ago how the wall would be constructed, she mentioned that it would be a solid steel panel. I was worried about noise insulation but she said no worries, cos the plate will be very thick. At which point she indicated with her fingers a thickness similar to the steel plates you drive over when they have road construction. So I thought, that for a wall? Suuuuure! No problems. The actual product? (sorry for the bad photo but my phone doesn't have good macro) This thickness is 1.5mm according to the contractor. A far FAR cry from the road construction plates. You could barely drive a hot wheels car over this. He says that once it's mounted, you won't be able to tell the thickness. True! But you can FEEL it! It rattles and sounds like a milo can. A MILO CAN! My steel dungeon was becoming a zinc attap house.... Messaged the ID with photos and to her credit, she arranged to come down with the senior designer in her firm straight away. The 3 of us talked to the contractor for about 45 mins and finally managed to come up with revisions in how it was constructed so that it would feel more solid. The contractor insists that increasing it to 3mm thickness would be too heavy to carry so in the end we settled on sandwiching compressed foam between 2 x 1.5mm sheets to deaden the noise. (of course if you did the math, that would still result in 3mm worth of steel. But he agreed so I kept quiet esp since now I had more steel, AND noise insulation. ) The resulting panel after reconstruction and a new paint coat looks like this. MUUUUUCH better! The colour made all the difference! We will be sanding it very lightly to create a brushed texture and adding very small smears of bronze at the edges to give it a slightly aged feel. In the end might opt out of the bronze though.

Balcony doors are also up! Originally, we wanted the black framed cafe look that is so popular right now. But after viewing the 3D renderings, we felt that the black lines were excessive and made the house look too busy. Especially with the textured walls and black track lights etc. So we simplified the design of the balcony doors and reduced the lines for a cleaner more chic look. Also, we opted for casement doors instead of sliding doors. Felt more french cafe and nicer to be able to open up into the balcony. At first we were concerned that the airflow would be less this way, but after thinking about it, sliding doors will also result in 2 solid panels blocking the wind at all times. Same as this. Also, it seems that casement doors are cheaper! My only grouse is that I wished that the borders were thinner. The dividing line is nice and thin, but i feel that the borders are too thick. But it was necessary for the weight of the glass as well as the lock set in the door.

Flooring is finally completed. Vinyl was one of the last things to go on because the ID was concerned that the workers would scratch it and so delayed it. Now the disgusting pink tiles are finally hidden from view! Tadaaaa! That's actually the only picture i have of the floor cos I wasn't there and straight after it was laid, it was covered by the cardboard protection. 10 points to the ID for looking after the floors! It also means that I can't test the quality of the floors to make sure no bumps etc. But I reminded my ID several times to warn the workmen that I'm super anal and that I had better not feel any bumps under the floors. Fingers crossed! I opted to go without skirting though. The skirting colours weren't nice and i thought it would look more industrial without. Unfortunately, i wasn't expecting this to happen. The silicon that they use to seal the edges of the vinyl is a bright white! No other colour options available it seems. Firstly, it looks very obvious, and secondly, I'm afraid that it will yellow over time. Also, the thickness of the silicon is very uneven and because the colour is so vivid, you can see it right away. I understand that its near impossible to squeeze out silicon evenly, and the gaps between floor and wall aren't even in the first place. But still.... ID says that the painters will come in to touch up the bottom of the walls that were smeared w silicon and then we will see how the effect is. If needed, will bring in layers again and touch up the silicon. Worst case scenario, go with skirting?

The gate we ordered from Dr Doors. PMed you the price.

Thanks for the kind words! We really love the brick wall too. Its my favourite part of the house at the moment. It seems that its a special variety imported from korea. So it has more texture than the ones you find in singapore. Not sure if you can get similar from TB though. TB has EVERYTHING! And again I need to give credit to my ID. We couldn't have afforded such a large brick wall too. But due to design issues that we discovered on site, she enlarged the brick wall for us at no extra cost.

haha this reminds me a little of the shock i received recently. The contractor came with a panel of my steel wall and it was a god awful muddy purple colour! He said he matched it to the 3D image that the ID sent him, but thats because the 3D rendering has yellow lights. So black/grey steel walls became muddy purple. *dies* Needless to say, they are redoing it.

your deco items really complement the look! Well done on matching colours and textures!

black w a bit of grey would be perfect for my colour scheme actually. But sadly the decision to powder coat has already been made. We're also a little fearful of flaking/ scratches due to frequent use but I'll just chalk that up to experience if it does happen... And then I'll go and buy yours lor. haha.

Did anyone else get this flooring? Its supposed to be High end Resilient Vinyl but I've never seen this brand before. Is it good? And apparently the flooring guys will be laying this silver stuff below the vinyl tiles? Never heard of that too. I'm not really complaining cos it looks kinda cool. But i just dont know what it is.

Our laundry system is done! We got it from Ezzi Living and we are quite pleased with the service/ workmanship. We got the tiered system so that we could hang a pole at a time. Easier to maneouvre around a single pole than to have the whole thing come down and take up all the space. We also thought it would allow us to hang the clothes at different heights and enhance airflow and drying. This was of course run past the wifey and she had final say on what to pick. She's happy with this, so I'm happy with this.

Previously I complained about HDB beams and stuff taking up space and this is what i mean. In this photo you can see in the left compartment, there is a box up to make room for the beam. This area is for me to display/keep my motorcycle helmets and so we had to deepen the entire compartment for it. Also, on the top right hand corner you can see a compartment there? Close up it looks like this: It was supposed to have been extra storage space but now with how close the beam is, they simply cannot fit a closet door. So in the end that will be closed up as dead space. Same thing for the compartment on the other side of this beam. Also, the carpenter says that cabinetry is rarely right up against the wall due to trunking and what not. So they will generally leave an inch or so gap. So for all of you who are doing exact measurements and count your cabinetry right from the wall? It probably won't be the case.

Argh i've been looking for black handles for my bathroom doors! How do they feel? What are they made of? ID says that she couldn't find black handles in singapore. Maybe aluminium doors have different handle types but the stainless steel ones she showed us were all silver. In the end, we're getting the handles powder coated so that it can match nicely. A bit of extra cost but I was unwilling to live with silver handles on black alum doors.