MsBunny

Taobao is like a black hole just waiting for me to fall into lol. (I'm a big online shopper) The only thing stopping me is the hassle of going thru a middleman forwarder and all that Chinese. As for Amazon, I shop in there for brands that would go for much higher prices locally. But it's only worth it if you manage to get free shipping. Incidentally, I actually managed to get my kitchen sink in from US for about US$35 after shipping. Cheap low grade stainless steel one but heck, it's cheap! I did have to wait quite a while for them to locate stock tho.

Certain things are cheaper than others in comparison... I've been shopping for 1-seater armchairs and wardrobes and the ones that have caught my eye in Ikea are cheaper by like 300 each at least. Of course, the trade-off is the quality as everyone always says. But all the Ikea stuff I've bought previously have lasted me long enough to make it worth the price. So I'm still a 'fan' haha.

I agree on the not cheap part... I've spent around 12k on furnishings/appliances so far and I've yet to buy a couple of big ticket items like my wardrobe and TV, so I'm expecting to spend about 15k in total for that. For reno, I think the best way to cut cost is to minimize on built-in carpentry? A friend of mine did the painting for her bto 4-room herself (with the help of friends), got most of her stuff from IKEA (including her customised kitchen cabinets which actually looks quite nice) and managed to keep within 10k excluding furniture/appliances that they've already bought before they got their keys. So 20k all in is not impossible but just need to work very hard at it!

And provided it's not on 20/30 year lease!

Does that mean singles can buy studio apartments too? Dya think it may have an impact on resale prices...?

Lol yesh, L-shape sounds like mine. But actually, the house is L-shaped! Both my living room and bedroom are rectangles, heh heh. Hello Tsunade! Thanks for the cool Pinterest link!

Cool. Can't wait to see it!

A friend of mine had it done for his resale flat and I heard that's where the bulk of his reno budget went. (Didn't ask how much tho) It's space saving for sure but the thought of having to take it down when you're deadbeat tired at the end of the day... Purely speaking from a lazy woman's perspective! While we're on the lazy topic, I rented a studio apartment in Tokyo once while on holiday and that's what they had - I left it permanently down throughout my time there lol.

Hacking and dismantling = 2k+ Electrical = 2k+ I hit a tiling issue midways which took another 2k+ to fix. Carpentry also had additional cost cuz apparently, I designed and customised it totally out of the ID's quote. Plus my Blum drawers and hinges were another 2k. So yeah. That's just the reno bit. Not including appliances and furnishings! I'm now an extremely broke bunny with a cat to feed and only my house for weekend getaways.

LOL! I had similar thoughts about the terrible angle! Good thing she's slim - that kinda angle flatters absolutely no one haha. Personally tho, I think she's very well-maintained for her age... She's already in her 40s with 2 kids, so she has actually aged pretty gracefully. I certainly wouldn't mind looking like that when I'm her age.

Hi 2Roomer & coolbunny! Welcome to the club~! Our little 2-room Renotalk community is growing nicely haha. @kyooko Never heard of anyone putting a storage heater in the aircon ledge. Would it be safe to expose it to the elements like that? @coolbunny My budget for my resale reno initially was 15k. After the initial round of quotes, I adjusted it to 20k... Come to final quote, it was 25k. And with VO and electrical, it has now gone over the 30k mark. I've gone into serious deficit! But everyone says reno for bto is cheaper, so you guys are so lucky! (I couldn't handle the wait) @2Roomer Cool apartment in that link you showed us! I like the pop of colour for the dining area - gives it more space definition between that and the living and TV area. Not a big fan of the dark kitchen though. Very man cave-like hahaha.

Seeing varying's floor tempts me to do vinyl or laminate for mine, instead of just revarnishing the parquet (I don't like the colour)...

kyooko, they'll connect to the main electricity point outside your unit if I'm not wrong. The experts have their ways lol.

$300 just to remove the door!? But I was at my place during my bifold door installation and they only use glue to put it in. Need so much money to take it out??? The bifold door itself only 200+... (=_=) He must take you for a carrot! Strongly suggest you seek a 2nd quote!

Cool, same here! (Woody feel, not the fengshui master haha) I'll be using KompacPlus. Going out of town? Better have someone monitor your reno progress for you while you're away... My wallet and I have learnt the painful way that many things can go wrong in just a few days.

The light color laminate looks great! What will you be using for your counter top? Based on my own reno, it went something like this: 1) hacking / dismantling 2) wet works 3) plumbing (pipes) 4) electrical (trunking, points) 5) painting 6) partition / glass works 7) plumbing (sanitary ware installation) 8) electrical (lights installation) 7) carpentry 8) painting (touch up) 9) acid wash HTH!

Were you referring to my injured toe!? LOL I have some photos up in my blog (toe, reno and all hahaha). I'm a bit of a n00b cuz I've mostly just been lurking and asking reno-related questions on this forum, so I've yet to figure out how to post pictures.

Hi varying! How exciting! Seems like your renovation is progressing well (and so much faster than mine haha). Will your contractor/ID be cleaning it for you before handover? If so, then perhaps there's no need to clean too much/hard. (So says the OCD who cannot stand the amount of dust in her own place and goes up to clean every weekend lol) Can't wait to see your updates!

Thanks for the advice, benetay! I honestly doubt it's the general water pressure cuz everywhere else in the house is fine (taps, bidet spray etc)... My unit is on the top floor so perhaps that's another factor too. After reading your post, I went to Google and found this thread: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/40736-707-instant-water-heater-princeton/ Looks like it's not an uncommon problem. ****. Not a happy bunny. Just seems like such a waste to change a brand new shower head, so I guess I need to live with it until it's more worn out... Should have just bought the Compact that my parents are using! Oh well.

Hi ladies! Thanks for the warm welcome. Rabbits = cat food (which speaks of the hierarchy at home lol) According to my seller's agent, mine and my neighbour's unit used to be a single 4/5-room that got split into 2. So my neighbour ended up with the shelter and I ended up with the foyer (balcony) haha. I don't enjoy the fact that I haven't got a place to store my barang barang (I had to create my own storage space) but I do love my foyer cuz it has floor to ceiling windows and would make the perfect chillax spot for my cat. The previous owner used it as a storage area which I thought was an absolute waste of the lovely space. Yes, renovations are complicated but also cuz I'm a perfectionist. I'm not a difficult client - if things are done the way I want them haha. But there was a slight delay cuz I did all the cabinets design on my own (complete with measurements) so it took me a while to finish and get them to my contractor/ID. My toe is much better now, thank you! The nail came off a few weeks ago so it's feeling a lil naked at the moment.

Hi hi, noticed that you bought the 707 Princeton as well. Have you tried using it? The water pressure from my 707 Princeton shower head is kinda weak and I wonder if it's gotta do with the design of the shower head itself, the fact that the water pipe is coming from ceiling down (instead of floor up) or something else altogether...

Howdy! Fellow 2-roomer here! There weren't a lot of references for 2-room flats on Renotalk when I started my reno back in March, so I've been kinda stumbling along on my own... I was too shy to start a t-blog so I started a blog somewhere else instead lol. Just to relieve some of the stress and vent some of the frustrations a first-time home owner has, you know? My floor plan is on this post: http://keepcalmandmeow.blogspot.sg/2015/03/blog-post.html My reno is still ongoing lol. Almost 3 months now... (You would think I'm doing up a big house or something) Anyways! Glad I've found some comrades!

I actually came upon this recently when I was sourcing for my bathroom bifold door. http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/08/ab/7d/08ab7d3faca6f2391fa2beb8dc83d0f3.jpg Was quoted $680 for a 4ft main door gate grille with just the cat (no birds) haha. From Doctor Doors... http://www.doctordoors.com.sg/ Hope that helps!

Hi hi! Can I find out the cost of your cement floors too?

They're awesome! Lol. Where did you get them? (These + your switch decal as well)