thehappykowple

Thank you! Yay, high five! Both sell great quality at a reasonable price. (:

Drilled some stuff ourselves over the weekend. We've got an awesome front door number sign! Installed our artwork from Bali. I highly recommend this store in Seminyak called Hobo. They sell rustic home decor. Also installed our TV and laid out our carpet. That is a coffee table I bought from Taobao. Perfect quality! That's where we stand now. I'll take more pictures of the lighting in the house next!

We decided to take the plunge and customise pipes for the wardrobe as we didn't like the finish on those at Ikea. This was a rather economical option and the whole set-up cost less than 1k. Rationale for the wardrobe was that there will be one section for long dresses, shorter ones for our tops/pants/skirts. The wardrobe on the right is the Malm dresser from IKEA.

Appliances are all fitted in but apart from the fridge, we've yet to use them. Our ID fashioned a simple hanging light with a T5 bulb for us for the dining table.

Been a while since I've updated as I've been very busy with setting up the house. Renovation is almost over (sad and happy at the same time). We have completed touch-up works and have been busy moving our furniture and shopping for last-minute items from IKEA and Taobao. The thread has been rather quiet but being OCD, I just want to complete this process and not leave things hanging. Just some photos of the deck which is now covered with wooden decking. We overlaid them over the old tiles from the previous owner. Bar stools were purchased from Taobao. Our couch and Ottoman also came in. We got it from Commune at 10% off. We made a mistake with our measurements and don't have space for the ottoman but I guess it can go up in the study room or something. Enjoying my first drink on the balcony. I love that the playground is nice and quiet but you get the occasional visitor walking their dog or exercising.

Yes, the steel frame extends to about 3/4 or 4/5 of the counter. The simple answer is our ID experimented! I wasn't there but what I heard was he started with shaking the counter then got more daring and put his whole weight on it and jumped. The counter cracked and it's getting replaced today hahaha. Now that the experimentation is over, at least we know the limits of the counter. Unlikely we'll be doing any jumping or putting anything so heavy so close to the edge. And the counter didn't snap after all that stress put on it so I guess it should be alright. Good pre-empt from an engineer though! Thanks!

Granite tops, hood and hob came in yesterday!!! Love our minimalist hood from Turbo. We opted for a square instead of round one to go with our island. Can't wait to move in!!!!!

Ahh I see. To be fair about the Haiku fan though, I must say the gust isn't very strong but it's silent, maintains a constant flow of wind and cools a general area. Our Relite fans in the house are very noisy at full blast but do a good job of cooling the direct area under the fan. So just to manage expectations coz I must admit we were abit too idealistic with our expectations for our Haiku hahaha... (:

Thank you so much! We had a clear general idea of what we wanted but all credit goes to our ID who filled in the blanks!

Everything is really coming together with the installation of the bar counter at our balcony and timber decking, carpentry in the kitchen. We brought our island high chairs over for the carpenter to install. Here's how it looks against the island counter. Perfect height! Granite top, hood and hob installation going on this week. We're getting there! Whoop whoop. Kitchen cabinets varnished awaiting appliances. The island counter will be varnished to the same shade. A granite counter will go on top with the hood and hob. The aim is for it to look like it's floating on one side when it's complete. Timber decking using my husband's work contact. Bar counter using some spare wood my husband found at his carpenter's workshop. It's not a perfect piece of wood ie. it's slightly warped and chipped but I think it adds character! It's a long solid piece of wood, which I think is quite rare to find. Appliances and furniture will be in this weekend. I expect we'll be spending most of Saturday at our new home overseeing the deliveries and installation. EXCITES!!!!

Taobao Haul #2 Saw this selling in Taka or Robinson's for $20-30 so I jumped at it when I saw it going for less than $10 on Taobao. Pretty solid material. I've yet to try it though. Daiso sells this but it's much cheaper on Taobao so I bought 6 and gave one to my MIL. This is basically a reusable cling wrap. I've yet to try it although it theory it sound genius. Practicle auntie in me. Will be using this for our washing machine.

Taobao Haul #2 Colander - in big size and small size. Great for washing rice especially! The most auntie buy of my haul. This is a two pieces of felt cleaners held together by a super strong magnet. It helps you clean both sides of your window at one go. It looks like one of those things gimmicky people sell at the department store using loud microphones but hey, it was only $5. Anti-slip liners. I bought mine in grey. It looks quite drabby tbh but it'll be in the drawers so it's ok. On hindsight, I wish I got the clear one.

Taobao haul #2 Simple placemats. These were cheap for about $5 a piece until I save up to buy some felt ones from Etsy! Wooden clock with white backlight. You can choose from all kinds of wood and many different backlight colours. Approx $15 including shipping. I heard it's about $20 elsewhere? Pot cover stand so there are no pesky water condensation marks on your countertop.

Taobao Haul #2 Posting pictures of all the stuff I bought from Taobao recently. Everything cost me about S$100 including shipping. I'm really thankful that everything arrived in perfect condition as per the photos on the seller's page. Mosquito coil box for balcony because I'm so prone to mosquito bites it's not funny. Laundry powder tin. Half the price of what was selling on Carousell! Gorgeous wooden wastepaper bin. Really good quality and large enough for a home office.

Hello fellow EM owner! The price of Haiku fans are unfortunately controlled. You shld buy it from an authorised dealer though so that they install it for you. I bought mine from Verde lights. You can also buy it from Phylux.

Taobao Haul 1 I'm a 110% Taobao advocate now after seeing the quality of their products. Can't stop surfing the site and their mobile app for fun. Thank you Peeka (peeka.sg) for making the experience so hassle-free. I used Buy4u, Peeka's concierge service for this order and had a very pleasant experience. The user interface for their website is very easy to navigate. You get immediate updates every step of the ordering process. Their staff are also very responsive and they always confirm your order requirements before proceeding. For example, I keyed in one of the prices for my item wrongly and they clarified it with me before ordering. I ordered 3 bar stools for the balcony counter, 3 high chairs for the island, 4 dining table stools and a coffee table. This came up to $1270 including shipping to Singapore. Pretty reasonable! Here is what I ordered. Please let me know if you'd like the links to buy the items. Dining Stools (approx S$66.50/chair including shipping) Customised the chairs with a vintage finish (做旧色) to complement the industrial theme of the house and added a wooden seat. I actually have a major pet peeve with sitting on these same metal chairs in cafes because you have to gingerly sit your butt on the seat, tahan the cold seat and slowly wait for it to warm up. LOL. Anyway, the wooden seat was a solid wood grain with very nice grain details. Not sure if it's really a solid piece of wood but it looks like great quality. Stackable as well so it can be stored easily in the store room and brought out when we have guests. Balcony High Chairs (approx. S$73.60/chair including shipping) Simple matte black (亚黑) high chairs with a low backing. We chose a basic metal design for the balcony chairs as it will be exposed to the elements. The merchant did a great job with the finishing. The chairs came stacked without the backing. We will have to screw in the backing ourselves which is simple enough. Island High Chairs (approx. S$82.34/chair including shipping) These chairs were the reason is used Peeka's Buy4u service. As our island counter isn't bar counter height, we couldn't use a bar stool nor dining stool. So we had to customise it to 60cm. I used simple mandarin to confirm that the merchant could do it to my required height then passed it on to Peeka to make the final order. The metal structure of the stools came separate from the wooden seat. We'll be getting our carpenter to help us screw them on. All in all, superb buying experience at Taobao! Just follow the general rule of thumb to buy from merchants with a good rating (http://taobaoassistant.blogspot.sg/2012/06/taobao-seller-ratings-reviews-etc.html). I personally don't see any difference between TMall and Taobao - both are just a reliable. Coffee Table (approx. S$537 including shipping. It is on sale now at almost 50% off on Taobao!!) Like a particular furniture design in a shop but dislike the colour? That is not a problem on Taobao! I chose this shade of wood from a selection of nine. I admit, we were slightly anxious as we opened the box to see what the final turnout was but if your seller has a good rating, I think it shouldn't be a problem. That's the risk of buying online. (: Solid piece of wood with solid grain! I have since progressed to buying small home appliances myself using Peeka's Ship4u service and will post photos of my hauls soon. Yes, I've made more than one order myself. Achievement unlocked (after three attempts to try and understand how taobao works)! Please do not hesitate to let me know if you'd like the links to these items.

Lights Our lights were from Verde lights and through my husband's electrician, whom he got to know during the course of his work. Our electrician helped us procure our lights from HK and they are apparently of better quality. The colour temperature of our track lights are exactly the same as a commercial conservation project my husband project managed haha! Talk about stickler for detail. Anyway, Verde lights has a great selection of interesting industrial/vintage style lights. We bought our balcony wall lights, bedside lights and stairway plumen bulb from them. Everything else such as the LED strips for our walls, LED T5s and LED track lights were supplied by my husband's electrician. Wall lights from Verde. The angle of the light shining from the top and bottom are adjustable. Does anyone know if there is any HDB regulation on painting the outside of your balcony? Can't stand the colour difference! Our bedside filament bulbs, which have a dimmer knob each. Our bed is a low platform bed so the height has been catered for already. Many of our friends were worried about us knocking over the bulbs in our sleep. Our minimalist plumen bulb to light up the stairway. Our ID provisioned for a switch at the bottom and top of the stairs. Perfect for late night runs down to the fridge for a midnight snack!!

Lights and electrical works have been going on at our house these past month and it was then that I realised, we are almost coming to the end of our renovation journey. The house is starting to look warm and cosy now, even without furnishings. It'll be on to furnishing and home appliances very soon. How time flies! We've bought all our appliances and furniture but I want to wait until they are nicely installed before I post some reviews about them. Same goes for my Taobao buys. Very excited for those to arrive. (: Fans The husband perspires super easily and I will say sheepishly that we have six fans in the house. One for each bedroom upstairs, one each for the balcony, living room and dining area. Possibility of one more standing fan to keep cool when we cook in the kitchen. >_< We decided to splurge one two Haiku fans - a black composite (60", low mount) for our bedroom and a cocoa bamboo (60", low mount) one for our living room. Prices for Haiku fans are all fixed and cost north of S$1,000 including installation. Believe us, we tried. Anyway, we bought them from Verde Lights, which was where we got some of our lights as well. The other fans were just simple black Relite fans, which we were told is what PS Cafe uses. Those were about S$130 including installation. Haiku fans are like a work of art in itself, which was mainly what drew us to them (yes, we are very superficial!) as well as the low energy rating. Is it worth it? We've yet to fully try it out but based on us walking around in the house, I would say yes... mainly for the low energy rating and how silent it is. Our Relite fans at full speed sound like propellers beside our Haiku haha! At maximum, a Haiku fan consumes 10% the amount of energy a normal fan would. That said, I must say that the Haiku fan produces a gentle breeze and circulates air better than a Relite fan. It cools a general area whereas a Relite fan produces a strong breeze and you can feel it if you stand directly under the fan but you won't feel much wind once you step away from it. My conclusion is that a Haiku fan is a great buy if you appreciate the design or have the budget but it is NOT a MUST-BUY. That said, I don't think we would have chosen anything else because we really didn't see anything else in the market that we liked that had the same design and energy saving qualities. Relite fan in the dining room. Our cocoa Haiku fan. So arty I had to Instagram it. Our PS-Cafe balcony! One of my favourite parts of the house!

Updates on our grilles and front door. We couldn't get enough of that Chevron theme and decided to have it on the exterior of our house too! Our ID decided to give it a rusted finish for that industrial/worn look. Frankly, I'm not a super big fan of the front gate as I realised the worn look doesn't agree with me but it'll have to do for now. We will save up for round two of reno and perhaps change it. Ironically, we saw our dream gate one day after this rusted one was fitted in our house. Oh well! The husband likes the rusted gate so at least one of us is pleased! The handle has since been spray-painted black. Looks much better. What do you think of the gate?