Peachydurians

Hihi, yeah looking forward to seeing your bookshelf on your t-blog! Actually.... we might be going a super u-turn and using craftstone for our backsplash... HAHA Yeah I said that from the start, but apparently the best, LG, is 1k, which scares me! So ex!

Hi Munger, From PH Bathroom Gallery! 648 Geylang Road. DoubleEM! I read through your t-blog and realised that you also used peranakan backsplash for your kitchen! How cool is that haha. Ya have, but it's too bold for my better half haha. He says we can stick to the cream tiles and he will vacuum once a week hahahaha

So - for our last trip, we went to the Helping Hand near Kovan MRT, to check out their furniture. Their tables are beautiful! It's very similar to this: Incredibly gorgeous right??? They make it themselves! This was going for $1 350, if I remember correctly. With a 25% discount? About 1k in the end? Can compete with any branded shop, I should think. They also have bookcases, consoles and other stuff. Oh, and airplants! Airplants rock. We'll probably be making a second trip for lights tomorrow, and I'll take photos then. I have a couple of what-ifs in my head - what if we had insisted on light gray tiles, what if we had taobaoed/amazoned/walked around a lot more. We might have saved hundreds of dollars, we would probably have a home closer to the ones in our head. And had a lot of tired fun along the way? I don't regret any of our purchases though, so I guess I just want to drag this reno journey because I like it so much, haha. Oh, and I just want to thank Prosterroster K, our contractor, who has been more like our interior designer so far, giving us valuable tips and advice. A lot of our questions are very duh after he explains why our this idea cannot work, why that suggestion is not feasible, etc. (A lot of my ideas are outlandish.) Can't imagine if we had gone around on our own; a lot of our purchases would have been oversized and wasted. He has been really patient and supportive! Hacking begins next Thursday, pending HDB approval! Yay Love, the Bookworm

Yeah ikr! Sometimes I wonder what if we were a little more insistent with our plans..

Lights, Basins, Tiles! Busy busy day. We bought all our tiles, toilet and kitchen hardware, took a look at lights and tables (I really like wood tables). 1. Tiles From today, I realised that so much can hinge on so little. For example, the Brilliance had wanted concrete looking tiles in a light gray, but today, when we went, they were sold out and wouldn't come for a few more months. So, in the end, we went for an off-white/cream one. With one switch, the entire home is reframed. We will now have a light coloured floor, and I'm dreading all the fallen hair showing up on it haiz. Enough whining. Suck thumb and sweep. Next - our bathroom combi! The front tile is our accent shower wall, the dark tiles will take up the entire right wall, and the light cream will take up the rest of the walls. The Brilliance thinks we're going to have a hotel bathroom. haha. We also got a matte black rainshower! Lemme try to find a stock photo online. Okies that's not exactly it, but approximate enough. We're going to have a matte black tap to match the rainshower, an oval standalone white ceramic sink place atop a (most prob) matte black cabinet. Yup! That's our master bathroom. Common bathroom will be same tiles sans accent and placed differently, with HDB sink and shower remaining. The kitchen stuff was tougher because I'd initially been looking for a 2x2 hob, then settling for a 1 by 2 (total 3) hob set. But the only one available and in a good size was made of enamel, compared to the Fujioh cast iron parts which felt much, much sturdier! Cut the long story short, I settled for a 2 hob Fujioh set in black with slim hood (also black). Guess my stews will have to be, well, stewed in a slow cooker somewhere else. Or the Brilliance and his future children will be eating a lot of one pot meals haha! Photo of hob: And ohoh, lemme show you my sink tap! Looks ungainly and weird right?! But it's so expensive! And I had no idea until the Brilliance informed me afterward! I felt really really bad but he assured me that he'd taken the price into account when he agreed to it. I guess I'm blessed my man is a generous guy. I better use that tap until the metal itself got holes man. Our last tiles purchased (planned): peranakan backsplash. Example: We didn't get any today because the shop had run out. We'll be going to a different shop another day. I wonder which tiles I'll end up with. This is likely to be my kitchen combination: Off-white/cream homogenous tile (photo 1) as floor, cream cabinet (lower), peranakan backsplash, wood cabinet (upper). Any opinions? I must say I've never seen any kitchen like the one I've just described! Oh and renotalk says I've posted more photos than I'm allowed to so I'll end off my post in a part 2 below. Love, the Bookworm

Hey, thanks Titan501! Are you on yours too?

What I Learnt From Renotalk Seniors The following is what I've picked up from many happy hours of reading Renotalkers home journeys. Credit especially goes to those who have shared these specific points. This post is a consolidation of what I found most helpful! In order: 1) ID vs Contractor 2) Contract stuff 3) Lobangs 1) ID vs Contractor We were initially looking at IDs, cuz that was the standard thing to do. Only after surfing t-blogs did I realise contractor-only was a definite option! I think some homeowners considering between the two may be concerned about two things: 3D drawings and difference in amount of time invested. For the first, I believe even the most basic contractor will provide sketches, so as long as you have a fairly good eye for colours, you can fill in the black-and-white to coloured drawings in your own mind. What helped us significantly was our own research. After a lot of (read: A LOT of) browsing, we realised there was a pattern of styles we find attractive. Also, around the same time we realised what kind of home we want. We know we want a homey place, we're not concerned about sticking to a theme (hence the tag of Chapalang on this t-blog), and we want as much space with smart storage as we can in a 4-room BTO. So these were some parameters we started fitting our ideas/mood board around! And anyway it's nice to see pretty homes/renovations, so research was not stressful at all haha. For the second point, a number of people have said that ID is much easier on your time because they will settle everything for you, whereas for contractors you have to do a lot more stuff. Regarding this, I don't have enough experience to comment, but I reckon it's true enough, and more importantly, some people enjoy and have the capacity to be involved in each step of the reno journey, while others may max out at all the details/are simply too busy. For the latter, maybe an ID will aid your home journey? 2) Contract stuff: The following quotes are taken directly from t-blogs, but I'm terribly sorry to say that I didn't include the names of the people who wrote them and now I can't remember! ( So sorry, if you know whose these quotes are, please let me know and I will rectify itt. Prosterroster K's contract was simple and straightforward, so the second quote doesn't really apply to us, but maybe IDs are complicated? I dunno haha. But I did benefit from the advice of a week by week schedule; it's a simple addition that will help both sides be clear about the progress, and that's good, I should think. So yup, I'd add my recommendation to that advice! We're also going to sign our contract after lunch today If all goes according to plan! 3) Lobangs Taobao is Renotalkers' favourite! But my Mandarin is chui/laoyapok max, so I cannot help anyone in this regard BUT, here is an address of a place in JB which apparently gives half-price lighting! And fans! If I go I will review the place okay. Meanwhile, TAMPOI LIGHTING CENTRE Location: 2, 4 & 6, Jalan Titiwangsa 3/1, Taman Tampoi Indah, Johor Bahru, 81200 Johor Bahru, Johor, 81200, Malaysia +60 7-241 8999 Business hours: Mon Sat: 10:00 am 9:00 pm Sun: 11:00 am 9:00 pm ________ Okies, that's all from me! Many thanks once again to senior Renotalkers who have been so generous with their knowledge! I'm excited to think that mine will be starting soon too Love, The Bookworm P.S The Brilliance is currently facing his computer screen, playing ShiGGa Shay's Lion City Kia and Lim Peh, and all I'm hearing is wa si lim peh...on repeat. So distracting.

Just popping by to say hi, after your well-wish at mine! I really like the bottom half of your shortlisted bedframe, the wood bit, as well as the gray(?)wood table. All the best!

Thanks for the links to your home renos, guys! I look forward to reading them Also, regarding contacts - I'll share my Prosterroster contacts when he's started doing some work! Need some personal validation before I feel comfortable recommending him Doubledew, let me know if you still want Mr Y's contacts though, will buzz you if so. Will write a longer post about other things tomorrow! Goodnight everybodeh

Oh really only planning stages? It looked really good, all your furniture scouting and everything! One of these days I will read through your t-blog in full

Hi nextstep and Zzzmonster, thanks for the friendliness and encouragement! how do I see your t-blogs if you guys have one? haha sorry I'm still super newbie. And iSoh, going to PM you now!

Question of the day: can posts be deleted? In other news, HAPPY NATIONAL DAY SINGAPOREEEEEE I love you very much Lemme share with you guys my amahzing fireworks shot HAHAHA Life of a short person =Pp End of unRenotalk stuff. One of these days I will do a What I Have Learnt From Renotalk post. Love, The Bookworm

Hi DoubleEM, thanks for the welcome and well-wish! Sorry it's a little bare, not much will happen until we get the revised quote next week. I see yours is going really well! Congrats!

Our Prosteroster Contractor I made the above word up. The Brilliance likes to wordplay, and in his dictionary, 'proster' just means someone who is pro. That's who I hope our contractor will be! We chose him out of the 4 we shortlisted and met. In alphabetical order: 1) Contractor A: famous Renotalk contractor. Got his contact after some online stalking (hurhur) and arranged for a site visit. He's very very big and tall! He made my 1.82m husband look like tau gaey/beanstalk. He has very good work and reviews online, but ultimately he'll not be our contractor. Can say lack of chemistry. But his work is really very good. If you and him are pei/compatible, it'll be a match made in heaven! 2) J&E: another famous pair. Met for a site visit at our place and they showed us an ongoing project they have on another unit on our estate. Good workmanship and good vibes. We really really liked them, but their quote was +15k above the next two quotes, which was just too much for our little piggybank so sad. 3) Prosterroster K: recommended by one of our friends! He (our friend) is the fashionable kind, and we all know fashionable people are fussypots. So, since Prosterroster K passed our friend's test, means he must be good. That was my reasoning la. Anyhow, we decided to arrange for a site visit with him. My better half likes him- says he has an honest feel and he was able to tell us when our ideas are impractical or suggest improvements. And I trust the Brilliance's intuition for these kind of things; so far his hunches in life all quite steady one. 4) Mr Y: contractor for my in-laws' bathrooms. He did a good job, so we asked for his contact. He asked us to go to his showroom, and we met his daughter who did all the designing based on our floorplan. Their quote was reasonable, their workmanship based on my in-laws' place good, but the Brilliance prefered #3. There we go! It's quite obvious who we decided on. I guess personally I find it interesting to engage a relatively unknown contractor; feels a bit like picking up an unpolished gemstone - in time we'll know what lies underneath! #anyhowmakemetaphor Love, the Bookworm ______ Update: I have since lost J&E's contact, and for Mr Y, recently a few things at my in-laws' common bathroom have fallen apart. So I will not be sharing their contacts anymore!

Our background and inspirations As I mentioned previously, I'm an avid reader. A book captures my concentration far longer than a TV show, although I quite enjoy a couple of Korean programmes which I catch on YouTube. The Brilliance also spends little time watching TV; he is almost always found in front of the computer screen. After a lot of online browsing and casual chitchat between ourselves, we have decided to have a large bookshelf where the TV usually is, and convert our third bedroom into a study room with a projector screen for movies and stuff. I'll call the bookshelf wall the Bookshelfsofadiningtable Wall, since these are what we want to incorporate into a single wall! No choice, Singapore BTO so small Ohwell. Here are a couple of pictures which caught my eye! Our actual Bookshelfsofadiningtable Wall will look quite different, but these are beautiful bookshelves in their own right! I hope mine will look as nice haha. Given that we hope to have friends over (at least I do anyway), the other big factor on our minds was convertible and perceived space. We'd like to make our hall look larger, and be able to host our cell group of 10-15 people when they come. Given that our place looks like this: We've decided to hack the wall between the living room and bedroom 3, and replace them with accordion doors! At least that's what I think they're called la. Here's an example I found online: These are the major changes. The final significant area is the kitchen, I suppose. Here are two kitchens I liked: I know a lot of my pictures are taken from local inspirations. If anyone recognises their own photos, please take this as a humble compliment to your beautiful home which were preferred over all else! Love, the bookworm

Hullo Renotalkers, I'm starting this t-blog because I gained so much from senior t-bloggers, and hopefully this space will be as memorable for others in future! I've named myself the Bookworm because reading books is pretty much the only thing I know how to do, while my better half is, well, brilliant. Kind of like Gandalf- “Though one Wizard that I know took up the art long ago, and became as skilful in it as in all other things that he put his mind to.” The Hobbit, Chapter 2 So, hmmm. We collected our SOB BTO keys in Feb via the FIL because we were overseas (you know you're Singaporean when you understand all the acronyms!), and now that we're back for awhile, we decided to set our home affairs in order! This is what we've done so far (will do a separate post on each): 1) Mood board 2) Contractor (no ID) We're currently awaiting our revised quote! Then the stone will start to roll, hopefully. I'll wrap this introductory post up with our very ordinary and standard floorplan: Love, the Bookworm