doubleEM

Haha we sorted knew we wanted her to take on our job but the quotation needs a little work before we can say yes. She duly delivered thankfully for us . Sure thing bro this can be a combined Tblog for both of us since we have the same ID keke

I think we met up the initial and then another to share her concept with us then another 3-4 times to work and iron out the quotation before we signed . Well i'll say she cares and tries to fit her ideas into clients budgets and she's even willing to go with ikea hacks suggestions on some ways to beautify the design just to help us save $$ haha

Yes thought long n hard before I started but felt I benefitted a lot from reading other Tblogs so I share mine as well. Mind sharing some of your 3D?

Yes the points you raised are very much experienced by us as well. Like how we would mention the new MBR study will have no space for any cabinet or book shelf once the table goes in but she carved something out of nowhere without affecting the overall space itself. In ID the one thing special at times separating one from another is flair and I guess since you mentioned you met 16 ID before deciding on her makes me feel I've indeed arrived at the right decision She give the opportunity her all I guess that would be something you could agree even when she knows she not confirm on getting the job you can see her playing 100%. Which is a plus to see. Any 3D designs yet for your work? Our final ones after revisions are not out yet.

Up to you. I'm ok if you are open to sharing haha since we have the same designer else I'm ok to do it via PM too

Cool. I guess mine will begin when yours go into completion phase. Mind sharing some of your ideas she has given for your job?

Thank you ZzzMonster, that's what we thought and how we felt too thru our conversations with her. Very personable and always ready with ideas if one doesn't work. That's what you wish to see in an ID. Has she completed your project yet or still work in progress:)?

Common Toilet 2nd Level This is the layout after hacking 2 into 1. The black patch behind WC is actually a wall and not a void as seen. Not much changes to this layout here.

3D Designs Posting up some 3D mock up of the designs for our new place. Not accurate as there are adjustments still to be made to what you see here. Of course color variations issues are there too as when scanned the computer picks up a different shade. Our Small Petite Living Room for the Family We decided to go with this as we felt dedicating a big space for living room or TV watching is a waste of space as we spend less than 30 mins a day on the TV with our kids. More time are spent in the play room with them instead so this is good enough for us. Considering we only have guest over on parties which are counted with a few fingers a year well this will do. There are still changes to the door to the new MBR as we intend to go with a "Barn door" concept instead of the standard nyatoh wood door. Error in the ceiling as its a void space rather than the fully covered look you see in the 3D. Dining Area Because it would be difficult to get approval from HDB in terms of permits by trying to covert the current common bedroom into an extended kitchen which means a really big kitchen, we decided to go with a safe bed to keep this room a non kitchen area and convert it into our dining area. To save space and maximize space in the Kitchen area we will locate our fridge in this dining area as well. Changes will be done to the frame separating the dining and kitchen as this look is too heavy on the otherwise clean design feel. Changes to also the cabinet in this 3D & missing Dining set in the 3D Walk in Wardrobe / MBR Toilet & Study Plus "Wet Area" This is perhaps the area we love the most from the 3D we got. We love how our ID managed to make the whole are flow as 1 and achieve a very clean overall look to it. Some minor changes but nothing major from the 3D. The brick walls in "wet area" is suppose to be a simple cement screed wall (save cost) plus its an outdoor area for the kids to play so its ok to keep it simple and let them mess around. We carve out the "wet area" in the original service balcony now MBR study because the rubbish chute is there and instead of sealing it up we option to segregate the space so the MBR toilet dampness can escape from the window into this wet area as well where our new roofing will not cover. Well this is us and what we are aiming to have in our new humble residence...

Fully agree. Designing a home ain't cheap so you need and want to know the least you get is what you paid for so this is definately not acceptable.

Thehappykowple: Fully understand what you mean by the cool breeze by the haiku. We are ok and happy with that since a cool breeze in the dining to cool the area while having meals seem right and a low noise fan while asleep in MBR seems the right environment to be having as well So I guess we have considered the angles before arriving at this decision

Thanks dht

New Furnishings Required We are moving most of our heavy equipments like our current fridge, washer, dryer, Smart TV so that leaves very little left for us to purchase. 1. Sofa 2. TV Console 3. Dining Table & Chairs 4. Ceiling Fans 5. 1 Wall Mount Fan 6. Air Con Units 7. Kitchen Sink & Mixer 8. 2 x Bath Wash Basin + Mixer 9. 2 x Shower sets 10. 2 x Instant Heater units 11. Master Bed Frame 12. Work Desk + Work Chair Will come up with a list of purchases and short listed items soon in my next update together with some 3D drawings.

well its a tough industry but I would saying passing on a job as theirs is definitely not acceptable and very misleading.

NEW FLOOR PLAN LAYOUT AFTER CHANGES A very pathetic shower plus WC space in the new MBR toilet but we will make do with that to achieve the space planning changes we wanted out designer to help us achieve. Its a compromise and you win some you lose some. Just have to decide which are more important to you in the end I guess.

Interest bar counter concept by the balcony and for a minimalistic design you have paid attention to alot of details. Nice... Soon high 5 for another TB addict haha

Hi cleong, Thanks and of course finding an ID that connects well is not the complete deal but at least its the good start and the rest will depend on when the job begins and that we would not be able to know until it all begins. We have communicated our tight timeline and our designer is aware of our situation so for the rest we can really only keep our fingers crossed. Hoping a bigger firm means teams of workers to deploy to different projects and pray all submissions to HDB for approval gets approve without hassles too as we will be hacking and reforming walls and the roofing in the service balcony which is now converted to the home office. We are currently in a 1st Gen EM so yes it is definitely a layout shift for us but we decided to take on this challenge and go ahead with the purchase. Thanks for the tips For ceiling fans we are probably going with Haiku since we are only looking at 2 units so we turn them on for long hours so the cost savings is a small part in electricity terms and next of course is the design and the wind reach as we have tested them already together with the other brands as well. As for some parts we plan to get them from TB so I think over in JB prices will be hard to match compared to TB and we personally find it a little too cumbersome having to drive in and out of JB for these purchases. So I guess at the end its a matter of choice. As long as it gets done

ID Selection Process We began our quest early because we know that we have no luxury with time line towards the reno for our new place. We negotiated for a 2 months extension which was then cut down to 1 1/2 months to facilitate our buyers who were also selling to purchase our current home. So yes to play our part we began our hunt early and this has led us to a simple shortlist of 4 companies to speak with based on what we see, heard and observe or know. The 1st ID we met didn't give us the right feel as the designer was nice and took notes to all our requirements but company policy states that there would be a design fee of $2K for any suggestions or drawing to be done. (So basically to see their ideas for my place I need to fork out 2K first) Well its a big risk so we decline to move forward with this. The 2nd ID was great and we are impressed and keen with the suggestions given to us but we did not move forward because we were looking for a different theme to our new place. The suggested plan and layout was great but it was still down the Modern look and route so we didn't want the 2nd home to look much similar to our 1st. The 3rd was simply a initial meeting with a second meeting to be scheduled but it never occurred as designer told us they have to change the date of meeting to discuss layout plans a few days before the scheduled meeting. We were pretty put off by the way it was communicated and decided if this was how they handle things at the start it would be a risk to go any further forward. Our 4th appointment was so happened to be our last scheduled one before we buckled down to hunting for batch 2 of ID firms. Well but 4th is a GEM. It took a long time to get our appt with this firm as the ID is not chosen by us but instead assigned by the company instead. So we were a little puzzled initially on how the arrangement was done but I guess its save to say we were impressed with the designer that was assigned to us. Initial meeting was great and our designer took notes and asked questions about why we wanted things to be the way we suggested so as to know our habits and routines to go about the space planning process. She had her ideas but pretty much held it all back in the 1st meeting since it was more about us and what we wanted out of the space we were acquiring. But we both felt she seems to have a lot of ideas up her sleeves as shes always ready for another idea should her first suggestion to us does not hit our minds. We left the meeting feeling good but still undecided because we didn't know or might not be prepared to know what the costing will come too knowing their works are great and an impressive portfolio in recent years under their belt. But safe to say we left with an open mind with come what may. Each time we arranged and had a meeting with her she continues to impress us with her suggestions or counter proposals when we rejected her initial ideas so this made us feel really good and safe knowing we have a designer who is able to work with us and what we want for our home and is flexible versus a rigid mantra where we have seen some other designers adopt. We can see and appreciate her effort and work into each proposals and being a bigger firm with many past projects they are thus familiar with the ever changing requirements of HDB and knowing which ideas may work and which are definitely thrown out the drain if ever submitted to HDB. This will safe a lot of precious time when it comes to permit applications which often is the main downer in project delays. I think we had in the end like 4-5 meetings with her before we decided to hand the project over to her as we are finally convinced she's the right person for our job and she is the one we want to be working with as well. We managed to work out a figure that works for them (her and her boss) as well as for us (still high considering re-wiring and plumbing is not in the quotation-ouch). but we value people who shows they care about and for their work and want them to be happy working on our new home as we would want to be when we move into it. So there you go, not much to go with but we are happy to have appointed one of the dream firm of our choice for our ID work and a splendid designer with great service and personality to be working with over the next couple of months with us and our new humble abode. Thank you S...from Three D Conceptwerkez We went into this search with an open mind and wanted someone with the right ideas to wow us within our requirements and budget and you have indeed surpass our expectations. Thank you.

Thanks and yes will probably get it from Phylux or Big *** Fans depending on availability of stock which seems to be the main reason now for who gets the deal. Tried the SPIN and felt the wind was not constant flow but in spurts so was left very disappointed though design was great.

adidaem:I guess we are lucky that we have all the known members already accounted for in this reno:) But yes we get what you mean because we are actually moving from an EM into another EM:)merely a change in location and environment and EM layout actually. So we are changing out design route from current modern to the new scandi plue eclectic mix. Shopping for stuff is a headache for us because lounging kids to these activities ain't making it easy and enjoyable as in the past when we were a couple. But still happy overall.

Thanks for the great tip Freb I think it will help alot of us with our purchase from TB

Congrats Greenboi can't wait for your completion pics updates.

Hi Adidaem senior Thank you for your ideas and suggestions. 1. No choice we will have to sacrifice by squeezing the shower and wc into 1 partition so actually toilet size keeps the same and as the shower & WC area but the kitchen area beside it will be part of the walk in with the vanity top as well. 2. both girls so they will have to work it out in future as the washing machine and dryer goes into the bathroom as well so we decided to create the bigger space but with only 1 access door with the other sealed up. 3. No real space for store but there will be a wall to wall wardrobe in kids playroom (original MBR) upstairs which will function as a storage area plus the "pathetic" area under the steps 4. Yes we created a separate area in the service balcony for this purpose. Will attach a 3D later which might look clearer. 5. haha our living room is even smaller the space between the steps before the wall to our new MBR entrance. only a 2 seater sofa with tv console against the wall of the sloping staircase rails We intend to leave the original dining area empty so that if we host then that area can become a open area for sitting. Will post later about our ID selection decision and our intended design direction. Thank you again for visiting feel honored.

Congrats on the work looks great. waiting to start on my own now and headaches galore. May I ask which forwarder you used for TB purchases and cost for shipping cos it seems you went on a spree on TB:)

Slowly taking up shape and getting closer to completion