Granite vs Quartz vs Solid Surface Ok firstly what is it? Granite is 100% natural stone quarried from within the earth, quartz though comes in various nicer colours is man-made (85%-95% crushed quartz with a resin binder and lastly solid surface is man-made acrylic or polyester plastics. Our reno package includes solid surface top but we decided to take granite due to the various reasons: not affected by heat, bacterial and highly scratch-resistant which means two things; IT CAN LAST LONGER with LESS MAINTENANCE. We are also heavy users of the kitchen so solid surface is out. Quartz (iQuartz/Caesarstone) is also a top quality counter which is also heat and scratch resistant that will last for years and a definite winner in terms of aesthetics since it is available in a variety of colours, patterns and textures. Wifey is in love with the iquartz i-series in ice crystal and paddy rice (the white look). Granite is somehow limited. For most people it's going to come down to the looks but when we had to compare between quartz and granite, we chose the latter cos of one main factor: COST. Enuf said. hahaha It's not a hard decision to make really cos we both know our budget very well, even when we did burst a little bit. *insert monkey see no evil emoji* Another choice is kompacplus which is currently the rave for scandi theme kitchen. Price doesn't differ much from granite but we feel that it's still new in the market so we are afraid of any complications in the future. Of course they claim it's heat and scratch resistant but nah, sometimes old school is still the best. Eventually you choose what's best for your kitchen considering all the important factors. Wifey loves the look too and how it's thin and sleek compared to granite. So finally our black galaxy granite top was installed last evening. I am totally digging it! Love how the white top cabinet makes the space airy and from far you'll think it's just a plain glossy wall. Haha Tempered backing glass will be fixed to cover the ugly wall tiles. Basically we do whatever we can so our house won't appear like the 1st time we got it. Hence, that explains the tiles overlay and the skirting at the living room and bedrooms will be painted white too. (Not enough budget to replace it with the living room tiles) Lol Master toilet vanity cabinet is up too. We bought the $90 Roz rectangular (not into weird looking ones. hehehe) wash basin ourselves from Hoe Kee (contractor recommended a $250 sink which is like errr nvm) and requested the carpenter to make the cabinet according to the exact measurements of the sink to avoid adding solid surface / granite top. That's one thing we like about Mr R. He won't push us to purchase anything that is not within our budget. If we can find something cheaper and what we like, by all means get it. He will install it for us. We had a bad experience from Hoe Kee Tanjong Katong though. We came one day to get the Joven storage heater only to find out it's not available. The staff didn't inform us the day before when we were actually there to ask her about the heater and sink. She (****, forgot her name) only mentioned it's cash and carry so we happily came again the next day and it's out of stock. Imagine the frustration. So that's another story all together and why we purchased the Joven heater from Summer Trading Hardware, the same place we got the kitchen sink, hob, hood & oven. Hmmm somehow the mirror looks small when it's fixed but seems bigger when we decided to buy. Haha always grab, never measure. tsk tsk Featuring the wife's favourite hobby, makeup. She's elated to have her dream dressing table came true. But not every dream is sweet. The vanity lights are supposed to be daylight which is important when you are applying makeup to avoid looking like a clown when you leave your room. Oops! But the ones we bought from IKEA is warm white! This made her totally speechless. It's obvious to our eyes that the display lights at showroom is white so we grabbed 2 boxes. In fact, we actually rushed from Tampines to Alexandra cos the ones at Tamp were sold out. I suggested switching it to the white T5 lights but she decided that it's fine. Somehow that is still the look she's going for. Well, it's not as if she puts on heavy makeup every day. Hhehehe Sadly, the bulbs can't be changed too. But at least she has the white ceiling light to depend on. That's my wife, positive as ever. I still wonder how she is going to spend her time applying makeup when we have babies in the future. hahaha
hi peachpokka, i dnt really remember the code for the laminates as we were too overwhelmed by the choices of laminates to choose. sorry bout that.
