skweerel

hi FC -- we bought quite some stuff from fairprice antique, the lady was real helpful, another place where you might find competitively priced furnitures is dragon export at chinatown, its right opp the indian temple and some of the chinatown shops have ornaments which are not expensive ... like we bought chinese boy-girl book-ends which was selling 150 each at some places but only 80 a pair at chinatown ... exactly same design lolz some of the stuff in pix below

hi sanji -- yep serta, not sure whats the model name only that its the pocketed spring model ... got it from bedding saloon. one thing abt the bed, tho i m 6 ft tall, i still find the bed high ... lolz but its real good n comfy, reallie cannot feel movement at all hi redknapp -- thanks, got more books actually but the rest are in bought bookshelves in my mahjong/guest room .. hehe, yar roy suggested doors coz of dust but we like the open feel, just muz clean more lor for the sofa its from furniture club (furniture mall), doubles as storage too; advice if u do get from them, bargain and bargain hard coz the price range they quote varies greatly from salesperson to salesperson; we found this out coz we also went to their sg kadut and imm showrooms and at an expo fair ... for the dining table its from living instinct, we got the display set as they were then moving out of otani, very good price and solid table babytan -- Thanks!! Agree that its not about freebies but what can be absorbed ... in my case, the little lighted alcove with the tang lady statue behind the dining table was done by roy coz he tot it'll look good but he din charge .... also he boxed up an ugly pipe also din charge, coz its like a normal extension of what he planned for kitchen ceiling, then at finish stage, the little things like mounting posters, ornaments etc was all provided no cost by his assistant ... eventually i think he appreciates building a relationship with his clients so mutually cut each other some slack if encounter problems

hi kitty, thanks, i actually have two sink areas, the bathroom sink which is tiles inside (but laminate wood doors) and the kitchen sink which is laminated wood inside, coz its part of the kitchen cabinetry. So far no leakage either side but maybe coz all my water piping is new. i can see the point ur in-laws are making .... but hor if water pipe leak, the solution is not whether tiles or wood, its changing the pipes. Cannot be that if tiles mean ok dun solve problem rite?? And unless it is a major pipe burst and not solved quickly, the laminate wood should not spoil so easily. And boxing it gives additional storage for pails, detergent etc etc without compromising aesthetic feel of the place. my humble opinion is sometimes advice must take wif a pinch of salt, like my kitchen, everyone say WAT? WHITE? sure die etc etc ... but 7 months on, its still as in the pix coz we wipe clean regularly etc. Eventually the home is yours, and you must come home and feel good and hence, your opinion matters most. And during my id hunting days, only roy actually listened and any advice he gave was really practical and hence, helped rather than altered our vision. Which is why i give him much kudos.

yar Roy is good but if you are on a really tight schedule like up to a specific day, better confirm with him whether can make it coz inadvertently there will surely be unforeseen issues which can cause delay ... for example, the tile company deliver wrong tiles in my case but thankfully Roy checked early and lost maybe 3 days, lol? But for my place, was not in hurry, believe in the old chinese saying, "slower work for fine product" For those worried about carpentry, he did a wall to ceiling solid wood book shelving, fantastic, everyone loves that room hehe pics in link http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc65/skweerel/

haha must be your plat membership then .... totally agree what u say, we had one recommended from my brother who oni do condo n was quoting in a manner that made me feel like a cabbage head ... another from this forum who is like a Nazi, another who is meditating abt the philosophy of design ........ in the end, all we wanted was really a place we feel comfy in ... i guess in this whole home reno/decor process, it is the "ren yuan", if you find a ID/contractor who can click with you, on the same wavelength, than it should be ok. Tx for the compliment, i gtg play mahjong already lolz

yar me and wife actually read thru tons of posts here while choosing id and we were hugely relieved to see positive reviews lor, urs got some weight coz moderator grp lolz anyway my humble place, completed in Nov 07, 4 rm resale, mega overhaul : http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc65/skweerel/

hi phantom, Was actually recommended to him by my wife's fren; subsequently saw the fren's place, read ur review and cornetto review here, saw one of his sites, check thru the quotation than ok confirm with him lolz ... considering the fact that i went thru close to 10 IDs it was a huge relief ... yea he honest and reliable i guess its his police coast guard b/g .. anyway his office is still at Jurong Town Hall, just met him last week coz i had lunch at the steamed fish place at JTH.

swee

My place renovated by Inzen, specifically, Roy. Worth a call if you are shopping for ID. He is honest, reliable and pricing is reasonable. All in a responsible person ... fairly important trait if you are looking for someone to oversee the tedious work of home renovation ...

hi, Your budget of 40k should be quite comfortable, mine was a 4-rm resale total overhaul in Toa Payoh and it came up to 34k w/o furnishings. Suggest though that you do not communicate this budget to ur ID/contractor, better to let them come up with the quote first. As shared by some forummers, some of the sales people in expo are fairly unscrupulous so do take care. cheers n good luckz

yar my ID/contractor office in JW. If interested can PM you.

Chinatown, Shing Gallery, has some nice Chinese pop art stuff ... but pricey around 300 to 500 range. There is another art gallery at market street, multi-level carpark building, also has nice stuff not as expensive. Chattuchak market in BKK is cheapest so far I have seen. But from the source, ie. China, should be cheapest.

as other commenters, supplying labour to fix up bathroom accessories should be free and if not, also not this expensive. The carpentry is also very expensive, constitutes almost 2/3 of reno price. And yes hard pressed for time = higher probability of dissatisfaction. Good luckz!

hi, anybody got ideas? Other than the very normal foldable mj table, anyone here knows where to get any other type or version of mj table which is nice and yet still foldable enuff to be stored away? Thanks

hi apple, Sorry for late reply, the bookcase was actually from macau, bought it about 7 years ago .... if i remember correctly it cost 1.2k plus delivery. nice thing about it is the middle row has drawers. BTW I was at Lim's Holland V last weekend, the place having a big sale ... but still dam ex, not worth it.

yep in Toa Payoh ... art gallery run by them in Tanjong Pagar and factory in Woodlands

yep rosewood is very good wood, i have a bookcase made of rosewood ... r e a l l y h e a v y but seriously dunno what is market price for such stuff .. in another thread leen did mention that some of these artwork from PRC is quite cheap there but price inflated when reach Sg ... if you're interested can check out Dragon Export at Chinatown opp the Indian Temple, having gone to quite a few of such shops, found this one the most reasonably priced. good luckz

hi all, For those interested, saw two of the Buddha Face paintings (one in gold shades and the other in silver/grey shades) at Sin Yip Seng Frame and Glass when i went to collect my poster. Measurements are 100cm by 76cm ... going at $380 (i think can negotiate) ... karen77 this one i check for you lolz Was looking at another really nice but sold painting and talking to the lady boss, found out they run an art gallery at Market Street, Tanjong Pagar near the multi-storey carpark (? never been there). Their painters are locals and from PRC. They also have that Rose close-up painting which I notice is another fave home deco piece. For those who want to frame stuff, i did a movie poster, 27 inch by 40 inch for $81 ... dunno whether cheap or ex but juz for sharing. Anyway address is Blk 94, Toa Payoh Lor 4, row of shophouses beside the Lee Fun Nam Kee chicken rice ... btw if you go during dinner time can try the kway chap at the hawker center, quite yummy but long Q ..

can try the whole row of plant nurseries along thomson/marymount roads ... alternatively for a/c comfort iwannagohome at tanglin mall and great world city also has nice stuff.

my quote for the hacking portion, but then my haulage more exp so even out??? Apparently my ID considers the kitchen entrance wall and adjoining toilet walls as "hollow" so maybe cheaper? also dunno lolz 1) To hack off existing flooring and skirting @ living dining and 3 bedrooms $600.00 2) To hack off hollow block wall @ kitchen entrance $80.00 3) To hack off exisitng sink and stove support $50.00 4) To hack off existing flooring at kitchen $180.00 5) To hack off exisitng wall tiles at yard only $120.00 6) To hack off existing 1 toilets WC and wash basin $40.00 7) To hack off existing floor tiles for 2 toilets $100.00 8) To hack off existing wall tiles at 2 toilets $300.00 9) To dismantle existing doors @ 3 bedrooms $45.00 10) To dismantle existing kitchen cabinet $200.00 11) To hack off hollow wall in between 2 toilets $120.00 12) Haulage/Loading and unloading of material. $600.00 13) Clearing of debris under renovation. $300.00

hi leen -- yar, totally agree that the pricing of some stuff in Sg is truly ridiculous. Would love to take a month and pack across China just to scour for some good buys but unfortunately can only contemplate this kind of activity as a post retirement ideal job to be honest its not only China, there are some fabulous wood-carving stuff, furniture and paintings in Indonesia and Thailand which are reallie very cheap compared to Sg. Like this sofa stool which we lug all the way back from Chattuchak, grand total of $40 hi MaCe -- got this from Chinatown at this shop called Dragon Export, opp the Indian temple. Prefer the unvarnished and slightly rustier look .. some of the varnished rosewood a bit too gleaming or shiny for our liking

other than the flooring which is quite expensive, i think the hacking of the kitchen entrance wall also abit on the high side. and the kitchen cabinet is how long?

ranval, mamapea, apple, binzz -- thanks! but our kitchen v small dats why ID/contractor suggested white n stainless steel to make it more sleek. Small coz we wanted to create more space in bath, toilet, vanity area, let the sunlight come in. lol, open concept, to the horror of parents, ID etc etc. But still came out not too bad with an angled trellis. If not, the old arrangement with separate toilet and bath was veri dark : angled trellis to vanity bath area i think in the end, thru reno process, some risk-taking inevitable. Quite sure ur white kitchens will come out nice!

this one is art ... happy!

okz test test yay succeed