CountryGlow

Hihi Syafia! Thanks for your PM and for sharing! Your carpentry and overall renovation so far are looking REAL good! Your theme has turned out so successful! WOW 20ishK on your kitchen is really a bomb Definitely because of the solid nyatoh wood...much more costly due to the wood grade, quality and lifespan. If I'm not wrong, only solid nyatoh wood allows such carvings, normal solid plywood and laminate is not possible to achieve such design and effect. We wanted to do some sort similar and realised the cost As much as we swear by the good quality of nyatoh wood (my parents' kitchen cabinets lasted them 15 years and still in good condition), it's too hefty for our pockets. Additionally, for us who seldom stay in the kitchen, we decided to do away with throwing so much $ on this part of the house. Hence, my contractor came up with an alternative for our kitchen cabinets. Don't mind I share a few of my photos here These are my kitchen cabinets - alternative method to achieve the country theme I want. Our cabinet material are solid plywood which are laminated and/or hand painted. Those with the wood trim borders are painted MDF boards nailed onto the laminated wooden doors. While the rest that are long panel-like are grooves cut into the wood and later hand-painted to make the grooves in between the panels more obvious and outstanding. Our cabinets are not entirely MDF board material, only the wooden trims are. The base wood is still solid plywood - which are more lasting than MDF board and cost a fraction of yours @leafyyue - For your info too. Hope my sharing helps you see the difference in the different wood type and costing involved

The previous PM must have bounced. Have resend to you.

Hi zen_zen! PM-ed you

mangadoctor and feifei, have also PM-ed you both.

Hi kimi09 and asquare - Thanks for your kind compliments! Have PM-ed you the info requested. Cheers!

Hi bigmeman, Good to find someone of the same adoration for such country themes! We bought our sofa set from JS Manhattan Interiors. You can check out their furniture, designs and service via their website - http://jsmanhattan.com/ Hope you have a smooth reno

Hello! Your house is looking great! Looking forward to see the final pictures of your renovations - I adore such themes! Can share with me briefly how much is your over all reno costs (PM me also can)? The carpentry alone seems to cost a hefty sum already!

Hi sotongfen, I have no video to show how we removed the existing checkered panels. We have tried by tilting the original pieces backwards at an angle of about 45 degrees to get them out of the long rectangular 'casing'. Not sure if your new flat will have this problem but for ours, there is a long metal strip about 5cm above the panels which blocks them from being pushed upwards (think is HDB's safety measure). The checkered panels are not as hard and can be bent slightly to remove them. And yes, the edges are very sharp so be careful!

HeLLO All, Have PM-ed you with the info you have requested!

I like your choice of a black Kompacplus top! Good alternative to black granite and brings freshness to most Kompacplus top I've seen! Way to go!

Thanks for dropping by again my dear! And to remember CountryGlow's furnishing style! Hahahaha...I call this post-reno-syndrome! Hahaha! I'm guilty of that too...when I see triangles and honeycomb design tiles and immediately thought of you! Yep the furniture are purchased locally and not cheap. Taobao has some of such pieces....if only I knew about it before we paid for our furniture *Boooo.... * Anw! Glad that they all fit perfectly in our nest now I'm also waiting to see more of your updates! No more DIYs in the pipeline?? Hehehe!

Have PM-ed you guys

Our Maison De Style Champêtre ~ From Inspirations to the Nooks and Spaces in our HoMe. A quick update on what we have done to create our own special nOOk(s) in our Maison. This is one area which got us scratching our heads on whether to place our dining table in that space or not. Scrapped the idea at the end as it is too cramped and will block the entrance into our kitchen. The space was eventually dedicated to a rare piece in most (Singaporean) houses - our fireplace mantel! Did a Google search on how to decorate a fake fireplace and found this piece of inspiration on Pin Interest! And we made that happen........somewhat Our nook for the fireplace Mirror mirror on the wall - For us to check our hairdo. makeup etc before heading (rushing) out everytime! So appropriately placed. And as the inspiration above illustrates on creating a romantic setting, I have displayed 2 vases of handmade roses by the HUbby to replace the 'fire' in the mantel. Love the sight of our fireplace nook.... Close-up shot on what are on display... (PSST: Thought it is a good idea to place the HUbby's bottle of wonder shrimps (see far right) on the fireplace mantel. Something interesting to admire at whenever we walk past into our kitchen ) The next nook we have created; I referred to it as - Our Gallery of Memories... This is along the passageway into our Master bedroom. Once again, Googled for inspirations and I really love how this home owner had framed her entire wall with photos.... And we made that happen. Again. Somewhat........ Gonna be re-creating memories in our new Maison soon! _____________________________________________________________________ What we have created so far really brought satisfaction and smiles to our faces! We will continue to DIY and create new nooks in our lovenest after shifting in! YES, FINALLY! ! ! In conjuction with SG50 to celebrate our country's birthday, we will be moving in to our Maison during the long National Day weekend! HOORAY! LOL okay okay, I'm just drama-ing here! But YES! The BIG move is finally here and we will be shifting in to our maison VERY sOOn! Till the next post, I will check in with more updates after our shift-in

Sweet beginnings for your last weekend So loving of your hubbz! Wld like to ask you 2 things! The greenhouse look-alike box on your PC desk - is it from IKEA? Your Daiso 5-hook hanger, is it hung on the tiles by suction or adhesive tape? If it's suction, will it hold? There is always this thing going on about suction holders that doesn't last... TIA for sharing!

Hi doubleEM, YES it's really useful! You can play back and view whoever has passed by your corridor (eg courier or sales man etc) when you are not home. The door bell function comes with 15 different music as well Here's the link ~ http://world.tmall.com/item/41863309790.htm?id=41863309790

Our Maison De Style Champêtre ~ Featuring our Home-Fix Adventure at our FRONT PORCH! Throw back to post #18 - Where we decided to use a different set of pebble-like tiles at the main door entrance to create a distinction between the doorway area and the rest of the living hall. Our idea of creating a front porch (our style of a mudroom) turned successful after we threw in some simple furnishings to complete the small area. Here's a glimpse of our front porch which we hope to create a pleasant sight to all who first stepped into our cosy country nest (Picture taken under warm lighting) On the right of our front porch sits our shoes cabinet with my favourite pumpkin door knobs! We have gotten the almost alike duck-egg colour to match our wall colour, mixed with an alternate shade of pastel pink. Both coloured knobs are a different batch from those in our kitchen as we ordered the wrong "green" colour the last time and had to install these knobs ourselves when they arrived few weeks ago. I simply adore these pumpkin knobs! Bought a similar colour little stool for us to sit while wearing our shoes. The size and shape fits just nicely at the corner next to the shoes cabinet. It's so comfy too! And there we have a little key box holder and letter carrier on the other side of our porch. They will host our keys and mails/letters so we don't throw them around the house Lastly, this is another one of our favourite buys - Digital Peephole Viewer & Camera (improved model with motion sensor function)! Since we have forgotten to ask our contractor to install a door bell and we are thinking of installing a CCTV camera outside our house (for security reason since we stay at the low floors), we thought this 2-in-1 device fits the bill perfectly! It serves as a door bell, which also video records or captures the photo of any person within its detection angle. To our surprise, the view projected on the screen is so clear and the wide angle detection captures up to 170 degrees wide. One down side however, is that it drains battery fairly quickly. A fully charged battery can last up to a week 2-3 weeks, depending on how often the motion sensor and recording are triggered. Good thing that it runs on rechargeable battery, which we bought extra one as spare. Another one of our good buys! Yeah! (Digital peephole viewer/screen at the back of the main door) How it looks when installed at the front of our main door. The blue light will turn on once any motion is being sensed and the video will start recording. A good alternative to a CCTV camera which is very easy to install

You got a very cool and interesting concept! Camping in to see the final outcome of your place!

Our Maison De Style Champêtre ~ Featuring our Home-Fix Adventure with MORE DIYs! D. We Got A Twin! More updates on our Home-Fix ADVENTURE and now to the OTHer end of our walk-in wardrobe The "Home-Fixers" are getting bolder and have ventured into fixing up my writing desk! (I'm exaggerating here...installation is actually very simple! LOL ) 3-Step Installation Guide Step One: Unbox the parcel Step Two: Install the legs to the table Step Three: Clean up the table and Prettify it! *Presenting the Twins in our room!* Don't they look perfect together? Dresser & Stool - Local store (JS Manhattan Interiors) Writing Desk - Taobao Accessories - Seoul, (SG) Made With Love, (SG) Daiso & Taobao My personal space is finally completed! I'm so so SOoooo satisfied with what we have put together! Our WIW that is full of beauty, charm and (personal) flavour! E. Coincidentally Twin. Next to the entrance of our WIW and Master bedroom, we have installed a matching double-faced clock which we can check out the time from both rooms! One clock that serves 2 purposes! No, it's three because you can view the time right from the tunnel passageway and living room Be captivated in time....

Hi happening & looprevil! It's amusing how both your IDs/contractors had advised differently on the spray-paint vs laminate on the cabinets. For a clearer picture - my kitchen cabinets & wardrobe are solid plywood + laminated + added-on MDF boards and wood trims respectively. For our kitchen cabinets, the doors with borders are hand-painted MDF boards nailed onto the laminated wood. This goes the same for our wardrobe where the base is laminated and the wooden trims are hand-painted white and drilled in. happening - It's true that spray painted cabinets are very costly as the type of wood used is better (eg. ashwood) and spray paint can last ages! looprevil - My contractor runs his own carpentry company. He can do solid wood/spray paint cabinets as well. Have PM-ed you his contact details

Hey folks! Have PM-ed you all the info! All the best in your house reno! Cheers

Our Maison De Style Champêtre ~ Featuring our Home-Fix Adventure for our FURNITURE! (Cont') B. It's A Curtain-Screen! Others may have a shower screen but we got a curtain-screen! LOL. My version of our newly hung curtain at the entrance of my walk-in wardrobe aka my personal space. As good as any tailored curtains, I ordered this quality piece from Qoo10, which is meant to provide some privacy in the room, as well as to keep out the air con from our master bedroom. The curtain rod was purchased from IKEA and it took the "Home-Fixers" some time to hang up our curtain-screen! We did it nevertheless! The next thing I will be doing is to alter the curtain length as it is now sweeping the floor whenever we draw the curtain. Nice matching colour for the room aye? C. Mirror Mirror Rotating Mirror! And there is more ADVENTURE fixing up another piece of furniture for this room! This piece is another essential item as it provides a full reflection of what and how we look when dressing up! Most interestingly, there are 5 short poles at the back of the mirror, located at the sides, for us to hang our things (e.g. our PJs, bags, scarves, belts etc)! And to allow easy access to those items hung behind, the mirror has a rotating base which can be rotated 360 degrees! This piece is an absolutely good purchase! The "Home-Fixers" were drained by the time we finished fixing this end of the room. We are no professionals and had taken a longer time to complete. But. We are very much motivated because there is so much fun to try out and learn! We are enjoying every bit of our Home-Fix ADVENTURE! Try it out yourself if you may!

Our Maison De Style Champêtre ~ Featuring our Home-Fix Adventure for our FURNITURE! The "Home-Fixers" are enjoying our ADVENTURE and next up! GLASS TOPS for our TV sideboard and coffee table! Again, we found another wholesaler along UBI Road which supplies a whole range of glass for commercial and residential use! UBI is like a hidden gem filled with treasures! We had approached the boss to cut 2 pieces of tempered glass for our TV sideboard and coffee table as these furniture are spray-painted and very prone to water marks, scratches, discoloration and dirt. It is critically essential for our coffee table as we often place food and drinks on it and hence a glass covering will do some good to protect it. As always, being your own "Home-Fixer" is never easy. As the top of our TV sideboard and coffee table are not of standard shapes (irregular corners), we had to use mahjong paper and 2B pencil (as specified by the Hubby) to trace the outline of the surface before providing the glass company the mahjong papers as 'moulds' for cutting. It was not as cumbersome as our bathrooms' acrylic panels but still, we had to make 2 trips down to confirm the glass measurements and delivery details. The 3rd ADVENTURE for us the "Home-Fixers" are to fix up the furniture which we purchased from Taobao! Yeah, we had brought in some small pieces of furniture to further complement our Maison A. Don't Belittle That Stool! The Hubby had fixed up our pastel-coloured stools with his new toy from *Bosch* I thought the "100-piece Bosch set" was redundant until the electrical screw-driver impressed me with its speed of fixing up all our stools! We LOVE how much these colourful stools added Summer to our home The "Home-Fixers" had done a great job!

Our Maison De Style Champêtre ~ Featuring our Home-Fix Adventure in our BATHROOMS! In the next few posts, I shall talk about our ADVENTURE being our own contractor aka "Home-Fixers"! Which. We have managed to source, purchase and fix / install several new things in our Maison ourselves! The first region to conquer - Our bathrooms! I bet most of us dislike the HDB panels which are installed at the top of our bathrooms meant to cover the huge water pipes. I always refer to them as 'checkered panels' because of the checks and gaps in the whole piece. Other than aesthetics, I can't imagine having insects (e.g. spiders) or mold growing underneath those checkered panels due to good shelter to the former, and condensation for the latter. It is therefore one of my must-do things for our house and it is to replace them...... Seeing what some forumers had done to transform their HDB bathrooms, one of the key things removed in the transformation are these panels. And because I have two very valid reasons, the Hubby was convinced to go through much trouble to replace these checkered panels. We have asked around on the costings involved (including from my own Contractor J) and have eventually decided to Do-It-Yourself/Ourselves (DIY) to save costs! Thanks to the very kind people around, we managed to go directly to a company located at UBI Road to order and cut our own white acrylic panels to replace the checkered ones. Here is the process of how our First ADVENTURE as "Home-Fixers" went..... Original checkered panels in our bathrooms They gotta go ~ Initially, we had some difficulties removing these panels. Thanks to the neighbours in our estate's closed group in FB, who provided us solutions after we did a shout-out on How To Remove These Panels. No more check-check-check-checkers! Presenting the NEW & white acrylic panels in our bathrooms now! Warm T5 lights which make all the difference to our bathrooms Our First ADVENTURE as "Home-Fixers" was exciting although it took us a whole lot of trouble to get the panels replaced. One pointer to note, For You who are keen to order and fix up such acrylic panels yourself - Do remember to bring along HDB original checkered panels for the store to do accurate measurements and cut accordingly. We had initially done our own measurements and provided them to the store to cut our acrylic panels. Ended up, the panels could not fit as it requires slightly smaller measurements than the original ones. We had to make 2 trips to get the acrylics settled and paid 2 times of cutting costs (they charged by per session). Not to mention that the acrylic panels are long and we had a hard time fitting them into our car. Boo~ Oh well, the acrylic panels have finally settled down and we have definitely gained some knowledge along the way! Minor hiccups will not discourage the "Home-Fixers"! Hehehe....More adventures to come! The "Home-Fixers" would also like to share with you a useful tip related to the bathroom! Especially to the ladies, the packet of Drain Hair Catching Sheet below may be very useful for its self-explanatory purpose! I realised that the drainage trap provided by HDB seems to have smaller holes and it only takes 2 showers for my hair to clog up all the trap holes and water cannot flow through (not that I'm dropping a lot of hair). It can get rather frustrating having to clear those strands of hair so frequently I was shopping one day when I found these hair catching sheets! You only have to paste the sheet over the drainage trap (one side is adhesive) and hair and/or dirt will collect on the sheet itself. Next thing you do, remove the sheet and throw everything away with great ease! I simply love such 'technology' to save me much effort and each packet of the catching sheet costs only $1.50 *Parfait ~ *

Thanks chiffon and clownprince's wife! All these took me awhile to put together. Phew...hard work but SO SO worth it! Guess my inspirations got rubbed off from both your houses' decor/ accessories as well!

Our Maison De Style Champêtre ~ Featuring those of a "T" and a "B" in our KITCHEN! (Cont') For the last few "T" & "B" items which I'm featuring in our kitchen.... *TA-DA* We bought the all-time famous Elephant Drainer for its very sole purpose - contain our wet utensils after washing and drain extra water out into the sink! I had initially smirked at the idea of the Elephant Drainer as I find it rather cheesy. LOL. Geez and I changed my mind after having one as the Elephant added some element of fun and quirk amongst the country ambiance! *Happy* If you think those below that are hanging to dry are baby dresses, think again. They are NOT what you think they are. Gave these dresses a good thorough wash before (wearing) using them as we need them to DRY OUR WET HANDS! YES, they are hand towels to be hung in our kitchen and bathrooms! Hehe! Super duper absorbent and soft to the touch...Aren't they interesting decor pieces and towels for use? I hope my guests know how to use them to dry clean their hands instead of puzzling over them.