RyanYTH

Blog Entry Date: 3rd December 2018 MondayClick Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of ContentsOne Year Retrospective 2/5 - Kitchen My Kitchen is one of the sections that I'm MOST PROUD of in my apartment. To see it transform from its original dull HDB look to its current form was really amazing. Sorry abit messy yah It may be very small compared to most other HDB kitchens, but being an avid cook myself, I find it very well equipped enough to deal with most cooking tasks that I throw at it. Below are just some of the dishes I've made using this small kitchen. (Shameless Plug) OMG I love my kitchen so much!! My Thoughts after 1 year: - After extensively cooking for 1 year, I still feel that a Cooking Exhaust Hood is not necessary. Unless you have very specific or special needs, I don't recommend installing one in my opinion. - The integrated Dining Table not only works as a Dining Table, it is also very useful when I need to put down my groceries to lock the Main Door when I return from the Supermarket. If you are designing for your own home, I would recommend to install something similar near your Main Door if you do grocery shopping. - One thing I wished I done was to somehow design my Kitchen so that my cooking area is right next to my Kitchen Sink. Anyone who cooks will know it is very important to have the sink at an easy reach to wash while cooking. My current design needs me to turn around instead. Its not that bad, just a mild inconvenience for me. - Having an Induction Cooktop is a very good idea. Its safe, easy to clean, and looks very nice. The only drawback is that I cannot cook Claypot Dishes or dishes that need open flame. Also, unless you are cooking for alot of people and need to juggle multiple dishes at once, 2 Cooktop Rings are good enough. - For anyone who has an interest in cooking, an Oven is a very good investment if you have the space. You can do so many interesting dishes with it. If you do buy one though, try to plan your oven positioning so that you can open it while standing up instead of having the Oven on the ground like how I did where I have to squat down just to take my dish. - Don't buy an Oven however if you don't see yourself using it often. One disadvantage of installing an Oven for a small kitchen like mine is that you have to sacrifice storage space. Luckily I work around this issue by having a Kitchen Trolley which can both act as extra storage and extra workspace. In fact, a Kitchen Trolley is so useful, I feel every Kitchen should have one! - Some people may feel that the area I have in the Kitchen for storing my Bicycle is a waste of space that I can utilize for more storage, but I feel otherwise. I like how it adds an additional design element to my Kitchen and give it a more interesting look. Plus, its really convenient to just park it there whenever I come back from riding as its so near the Main Door. Of course its up to your preference whether this suits you or not. - Having a Top-Loading Washing Machine was very good for me. While it may use more water than a Front-Loading one, I don't have to squat down to get my laundry. Still, this is a personal preference. - The default HDB Laundry Rack is very functional, you don't have to spend extra money to get any other fancy laundry racks. Indoor Drying works perfectly fine, at least for me. - Instead of permanent shelves, look online for alternate ways and methods for storage. You will be amazed at how many varieties there are and how much cheaper they can be. - Don't rush off and buy shelves to install just because they look nice. Buy only what you need. If you cook, you yourself will know where are the best placements for shelves. If you don't cook but is just buying shelves for decoration, feel free to splurge. - If your kitchen cabinets do not reach all the way to the ceiling, you will need to take the time to wipe clean to prevent dust from settling. On the plus side, this area can be used for some decoration. This concludes my thoughts and views for my Kitchen after using it for 1 year. I hope this information helps you in planning for yours. Click Here for the Next Blog Entry: One Year Retrospective 3/5 - Bathroom Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents

Blog Entry Date: 26th November 2018 MondayClick Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of ContentsOne Year Retrospective 1/5 - Walk-In Wardrobe If you have been following this blog, you would have known that I have converted my existing HDB Bomb Shelter into a Walk-In Wardrobe. One year later, it is still working beautifully and I personally do not regret my decision converting it. My Thoughts after 1 year: - If you are a little open-minded and don't mind a little stuffiness, I would still highly recommend anyone (Especially 35sqm owners) who need extra space to do this. Do keep the door open for better ventilation. - Converting a Storeroom to a Walk-In Wardrobe will of course mean you will have less space to store larger items. Do take note of this if item storage is a higher priority for you. Although personally, I feel this allows me to declutter better. - I have mentioned it in my earlier blog entry already but if your Bomb Shelter is near your Main Door like mine is, simply opening the door will block 80% of the view giving you more privacy if you decide to open your Main Door for better ventilation. You wont need to build any additional partition. - In addition to the Walk-In Wardrobe, I also installed the Slidearm Door Holder for my Main Entrance Door and I'm happy to report that it still works very well after 1 year. No issues encountered whatsoever, and I also highly recommend installing this if you don't mind spending abit of money for a more elegant door stopper. One Life Hack I've noted for the HDB Main Door: If your Main Door is using this model, you can get your Pizza from the delivery man without opening your Main Gate thru this slot. LOL! Someone at HDB must like Pizza enough to include such a feature This concludes my thoughts and views for my Walk-In Wardrobe after using it for 1 year. I hope this information helps you in planning for yours. Click Here for the Next Blog Entry: One Year Retrospective 2/5 - Kitchen Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents

Blog Entry Date: 20th November 2018 Tuesday Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents A little Curtain Experiment - Part 3 / 3 Hahahaha SURPRISE!!! Guess what everyone, I finally located the lost photos I took for Part 3 of the Ikea Curtain guide! Fancy finally located them on exactly the day I first moved in 1 year ago!! Talk about coincidence huh? I really don't know what to say....but hey at least its better to be late than never right? LOL!! So without further delay, I present to you the final part of the IKEA Curtain Experiment! Please forgive me if I missed out some details. Before even measuring the Curtain Rods, you will need to set up this L-Bracket which consists of 1 x BETYDLIG Box and 1 x BETYDLIG Non-Box Packet Here is how they look like when removed from their package. Left are the contents of the BETYDLIG BOX Right side are the contents of the BETYDLIG NON-BOX Packet Here is how 1 L-Bracket will look like when assembled. I used 4 assembled L-Brackets per Window, and because I have 2 windows, one in the Living Room and one in the Bedroom, a total of 8 Brackets were assembled: Below pictures were taken when the plumbers helped installed my Curtain Rods. They were especially careful when doing the measurements to ensure it was aligned nicely. Curtain Rod Assembly installed and aligned nicely at the Living Room Area: Curtain Rod Assembly installed and aligned nicely at the Bedroom Area: So now that the curtain rods are installed, the next part is easy because we only need to install both the MAJGULL Blackout Curtain and the TERESIA thin mesh curtain. Step 1: Loop the TERESIA Light Mesh curtain thru the Thin RACKA Rod Step 2: Hang the Thin RACKA Rod in the Inner Loop of the L-Bracket as shown: Step 3: This is what it should look like when the TERESIA Mesh Curtain is completed. And now that the TERESIA mesh curtain is completed, we will continue with the MAJGULL Blackout Curtain. Loop the MAJGULL Curtain through the Thick HUGAD Rod as Shown. Once done, hang the HUGAD Rod on the Outer Loop of the L-Bracket. Once completed, this was how they looked like: Curtains Completed at the Living Room: Curtains Completed at Bedroom: And so we have finally come to the conclusion of the IKEA Curtain Guide. I'm so sorry this took so long!! I would like to provide my observations and comments for the IKEA Curtains now that I've used them for 1 year: - The IKEA Curtains still hold up pretty well after 1 year. Hanging them up by myself wasn't very difficult at all. - Due to how I installed the curtain poles, and how heavy the MAJGULL Blackout curtains are, it would not be easy to draw them open. If you are the sort that like to draw curtains frequently, I would recommend installing Curtain Tracks instead of Curtain Poles like me. That said, if you were to choose a lightweight curtain instead of MAJGULL, you may still be able to draw curtains easily even if you used Curtain Poles. The disadvantage of Curtain Tracks however is that they would be more prone to trapping dust and not as easy to clean as a Curtain Pole. And because they are movable, I suspect they might not be as durable as hanging on a static Curtain Pole. If you are interested in Curtain Tracks, IKEA sells them under the name VIDGA and it looks something like the below image. So you will need to decide whether which one you would prefer. In conclusion, having IKEA Curtains installed were a BIG SAVINGS on my renovation budget and they proved durable. The blackout curtains were also very good and worked well in blocking out light. However, there were factors I faced originally such as difficulty in transporting the long poles, and needing to know what parts to buy. Not only that, you will also need to engage someone to help you install the poles. If you prefer a hassle free experience, I would recommend to spend the extra money to get an external vendor do it for you. Again, this would be up to your preference. And with that, the IKEA Curtain Guide is finally concluded! Yay!! —————————————————————————————— Time really flies huh? It has already been 1 year since I moved in to my new home. I believe by this time most of you would have gotten your keys and some may even have already completed your renovation. I hope everything goes well for you. I thought I'd make an updated post to discuss on my reflected thoughts, comments and experiences for this 1 year. Starting from the next Blog Entry, there will be a 5 Part Series and each series will be dedicated to a specific section of my apartment where I will also provide my updated pictures for them. The Sections I will cover are: - Walk-In Wardrobe - Kitchen - Bathroom - Living Room - Bedroom Each week, I will post 1 New Blog Entry for each of the section. Don't worry, I will not take too long to post them this time. (I Hope!) These will probably be the Final Blog Entries as I finally draw a close for this Blog. Do keep a lookout for them coming soon! Click Here for the Next Blog Entry: One Year Retrospective 1/5 - Walk-In Wardrobe Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents

Thank you Actually I do still use the bomb shelter partly as storage for some non clothing stuffs. If i need more storage, I put some stuffs at the topmost cabinets in my kitchen cabinets. My platform bed itself has a couple of deep drawers too to keep stuffs Most importantly, i try to develop a minimalist mindset, not to buy too much unnecessary stuffs so as not to create clutter. From time to time, I actually go thru the list of stuffs that I have, and see if I can donate, give them away, or throw away. I enjoy coming home to a very de-cluttered home, feeling is like very relaxed lol.

Double Post

Oh hey, yea its still holding up fine. tbh I'm proud of my bomb shelter having such a unique feature. As i mentioned previously, if you are open minded and don't mind just a little bit of stuffiness, a walk-in wardrobe in the bomb shelter can really free up alot of space for you. Your bomb shelter will than become a well utilized part of your home instead of just being another typical storeroom to gather junk. However, If you are the type that die die need a traditional wardrobe to keep your clothes than it will not be suitable for you. Honestly I feel a bomb shelter wardrobe is a very good idea for folks who got a 37sqm unit. Hope this helps!

Nope, no holes drilled. Cannot drill also.

Mmmm now that you mentioned about it, i vaguely remembered him saying "Lucky my door was just nice can install slidearm." As for curtain experiment part 3, i'm not sure if i'll be able to finish it as i lost a couple of photos already. I'll try my best to see if i can still do the post tho.

Only one word to describe: Shiok!

Nice guide. Would be a great reference when I went to select my Air-Con. Love my 18k BTU aircon at the living room can cool down my whole house lol. House may be smaller, but it means easier to cool

My Air-Con is Daikin 5 Ticks Smile Series System 2The one in the Bedroom is 9000BTU, The one in the Living Room is 18000BTU. This link should show you where I positioned the aircons https://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/78056-my-modern-zen-2-room-35sqm-type-1-hdb-bto-apartment-renovation-journey/?page=17&tab=comments#comment-964617

Thank you for your support Hacking away that living room wall didn't seem to have any impact so far. If i need aircon in bedroom, i just turn on the bedroom aircon. If i need Living Room or whole house coolness, I just need to turn on my Living Room Aircon.

Thanks. Ya i also like my kitchen trolley. Its expensive, but the marble top adds that little bit of classiness. And its very functional too, been using it to do my food photography, utensils storage. 55" TV for me is just nice. Not too big, not too small. Which ever tv size you choose, try to ensure there is still a wall border spacing of at least 15cm all around it. This will make it look like a picture frame without it looking too unwieldy.

Oh hey, its the Leo Marble Trolley from V-Hive. Price was $199 https://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/78056-my-modern-zen-2-room-35sqm-type-1-hdb-bto-apartment-renovation-journey/?page=13

Depends on the BSC. Just let them know got defect and need to remove. Do note, the wait might be very long as the BSC need to tend to every residents in your project. If not, you will need to get your contractor to remove. Actually i've been in my new place for half a year already. Time pass so fast. So far so good ba, nothing broken or spoil thank god. I'm interested in seeing how Rufus58's reno is coming along. I think by now should be done already i guess.

Wow i'm sorry to see that. The raw cement really looks like a rush job. I'd expect them to at least screed properly. The way I see it, you have 2 choices to rectify this: 1) Get BSC to do a proper patch up. 2) Get BSC to remove the false ceiling, and pay contractor to do a nicer looking ceiling.

Well, i guess its HDB way of covering up the bathroom sanitary pipes I guess. Another good point I realized when living highest floor is that there are no such pipes in my bathroom.

Interesting new design nowadays. I agree over time, it may rot or have pests living inside.

Hahahah no worries, just sharing what I eat only. Old already, cannot yolo and anyhow eat liao. Mmmm...false ceiling in toilet. I'm guessing this is used to conceal the sanitary pipes that usually run in the toilet. If i'm not wrong, you should also be seeing a plastic mesh sort of thing so you can sorta see the pipes right? My friend's newer styled 2-room flat has this too. I suppose you can remove them, but the tradeoff is that those sanitary pipes would be exposed like how 80s styled hdb toilet is. Please do correct me if i'm wrong.

Ya. For my case, there was already a copper piping already. If you want to use gas, I guess they will add more things to that pipe. If you dun use gas, you can just ignore it lor. Same as that "U-Shaped" Storage Heater pipe in the bathroom. If you dun use storage heater, the pipe will also just stick there.

Hanor hanor, me also used to eat so much instant noodles. Now that i'm older its very unhealthy lol. Interesting point on using steamer for veggies. Noted. Hihi. If you don't intend to use City Gas, it is not compulsory to remove that gas piping, you can just leave it as it is. I removed it because it looked ugly to see a gas pipe popping out of nowhere. (Very expensive though, cost $70 just to remove that stupid pipe *faints*)

Your contractor need some drawings? Isn't the contractor supposed to be the one producing drawings? Actually the grant is also not really grant lah, just to offset the extra amount that singles need to pay. I must thank the 3D drawing program I used for the ideas. Initially I also had no idea especially the bedroom. The more i fiddled with it, the more ideas it came to me. It definitely helps to browse thru Renotalk and other renovation forums to get more ideas. Oh for my weekday lunch preps, I tend to try to eat healthier. I don't use any sugar or salt. The only oil i use is Olive Oil and even that i use it quite sparingly. Here's my daily meal prep recipe. Feel free to copy lol. 1) Cook enough brown rice / red rice for 5 days. 2) Boil Veggies in plain water (mostly use broccoli / cauliflower) 3) Marinate chicken using Lemon Juice and Black Pepper and than pan fry them in olive oil. 4) Sometimes if supermarket got a good deal, or if price is cheap enough, i'll add salmon / fish. 5) Once everything is done, i'll portion and pack them in microwavable containers and freeze them. One day before I eat them, i'll transfer the container from freezer to refridgerator and when I'm in the office, its just a matter of microwaving them. This brings each meal to about $2.50+ which is definitely alot cheaper (and healthier) than buying from outside. I never used to do this in my old place, but somehow having my own home makes me want to cook more lol

Hahhaha thanks for your support Yea same as me, i was camping around for ideas too. Do feel free to ask anything you need. We will try our best to help.

Hello and welcome Good to see another fellow 2 roomer!