hellofromanotherside
-
Content Count
70 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by hellofromanotherside
-
Thanks so much! Happy reading
-
Haha! My husband only waters them once a week, as we're careful not to overwater. Must pick plants that aren't high maintenance and are hardy, so it's not that bad!
-
Thank you! But I'm not able to see what you quoted so I'm not sure what you're referring to lol.
-
Heh actually didn't do much for the bathrooms and bedrooms. And thank you!
-
Yeap, they filled it up with cement (I think?) to be able to withstand the weight of the hood etc. I personally don't like right angle counter space, as it's very easy to forget to clean those corners lol. The way the kitchen now actually is perfect, cos we'll have space for stuff on both sides, as opposed to just flushing the hob area to the extreme right or left.
-
Hallo hallo! Updated liao Happy reading!
-
Soooo hiiii. I really do apologise for the radio silence (we moved in SIX MONTHS AGO!) but my only excuse is that I've gotten really good at procrastinating. The only thing I CAN say is that 6 months ago we moved in with cement flooring that eventually made the home feel cold and not warm or earthy and after going back and forth (and worrying about future kids developing rheumatism at an early age due to the cold flooring lol) we decided to just say heck it, let's go all the way, and install wood floors for the whole house. The apartment is still and will always be a work in progress, but I finally feel brave enough to share pictures with you guys. Warning: Many large photos ahead. First thing you see when you come in. There are plants in every corner, so get ready! Our string shelf is filled with books and weird things we've collected over the years. More plants Curtains and blinds are coming in next week (thank goodness we live on the highest floor and the next block is far away!) The whole view from the dining area. What you see if you were our curtains. This counter has made baking and cooking more enjoyable <3 I realllyyyy love how the colour blocking turned out. That annoying white line between the floor + counter has since been patched up. Because of the way our stove is positioned, we have ample space on the left and right for prepping. The shared office space when we have to bring work home + more plants ______ Well that's it! Hope this thread has inspired you guys when visualising your own homes. It's been fun sharing a piece of our lives here Will try and respond to messages as best as I can, if you have any. Thank you for sticking around!
-
Haha don't worry, will share more once everything is in. Stay tuned!
-
PM-ed you!
-
Yeah was quite unlucky with the handles - we really thought wrapping them up individually was a good idea lol. But it all turned out well =)
-
Another week has passed, and how naive of us to think the last few days will go on smoothly. We faced two pretty major hiccups, but because I'm not the sort to agonise over these problems (especially when we have straightforward solutions), I'm just gonna mention them briefly. 1. Our cement screed turned out AWFUL. And it wasn't anyone's fault really. As you know, HDB has these new rules about only using their prepacked cement for screeding. My contractor applied an ultratop as the final overlay, and because the mixture didn't mix well, the floor turned out extremely patchy - some looked glossy, some parts look matte. There was also a strange bronze-y sheen. The solution is to hack the living + dining area and reapply the screed. No extra costs for us, because my contractor has graciously decided to absorb the expenses. Downside is, instead of moving in last weekend, we'll have to wait another week. 2. Remember how in love I was with our brass handles? Well, to transport them safely to the new home, my husband and I lovingly wrapped each handle with a paper towel. Unfortunately, when we unwrapped them...the patterns on the paper towels were engraved on our handles! Actually, some bits of tissue also stuck! Homg. All those hours of hard work. We decided to contact a guy to brass plate the handles instead - costlier, but also least a more permanent solution. On the bright side, the kitchen is almost ready! Lights are in, so are the aircon units. Funny how these things can really make a house feel home. If you've been following me from the start, you'll know our kopitiam chairs were a different colour before. We bought this awesome Annie Sloan chalk paint from Flower Girl at Dempsey, which doesn't require you to sandpaper off older coats of paint before adding a new layer. They adhere beautifully to the chairs, giving a matte look. They're about $80 for a one litre can though. But the paint goes a long way. Our bedframe from Commune is here! The Commune guys are awesome. We had three items delivered and installed the same day. I have very strong feelings for the tv console. Behind it is our built-in wardrobe for the MBR. Doesn't get more plain than beige heheh. Allow me to obsess over our kitchen for a while. The marble-esque countertop is in! I wish I had better pictures of this, but after installing they smartly covered the top to protect it while renovation is on going. Our entryway is painted a matching blue. We bought this really cute bench from Grafunkt and will place it there, plus a large colour-block mirror from Westelm. We decided to cube up the kitchen and use the beams to our advantage (in the next picture). If you can't hack 'em, show 'em off! What you see from the shoe cabinet. I love the outcome! The corridor leading to our bedrooms. As much as possible, we got doors that would allow some light in. And you can get a glimpse of our cmi flooring. Trust me, it's worse irl.
-
So so loving your home! My eyes got heart-heart, I also go hnnnnggg I want!
-
Yes! They're as efficient as they seem on IG! Thank you for reading =D
-
Ahh so much for wanting to remain anonymous! I think I know who you are =D And thank you for not outing me hahaha.
-
Thanks, guys! It's all slowly but surely coming together. I'm a bit nervous about sharing pics of the completed house lol. Like so much pressure!
-
Ah yes, you're the person I have to thank! And great tip about the sponges =D
-
ONE WEEK LEFT. Hi guys, I know it's been a while since I've said ANYTHING. But truthfully, nothing interesting was happening the past few weeks. Lots of receiving things, waiting around, shifting light points over and over again. I no longer care about organising my blog content in any theme or topic each time. I just care about finishing this renovation and sharing it with you guys because I am a person of my word! Lemme just share with you some pictures in various terrible qualities, taken by different people lolol. I have met some amazing vendors and small business owners when looking for good deals, and will share it with you in another post. Bottom line: it's true when they say things will only pick up when carpentry comes in. And that began two days ago. We'll be done by this Saturday. Oh ma gaaaa. Doors are here! Brought to you by the sweetest family-run company called Home Doors Enterprise. They are by far the cheapest we've found, had excellent service and the quality is decent too. Basically whatever you've been looking at in those typical door catalogues, they will have. Look for them on Facebook or Carousell! (This door is for our mbr bathroom =D) Floors are in, with the slightly moody paint colour for the master bedroom. So feeling! My husband and I spent one night after work crouching tiger-ing outside our house, spray painting our IKEA handles and knobs with Rustoleum. Got a tip from a fellow renotalker (thank you so much!) and these babies look great. They were still sticky when we transported them to the new place, but all in all I think it wasn't too bad a job. WIP cabinets. But not bad hor? Exciting like mad, and these are just kitchen cabinets. -_- pardon the poor quality image. My husband says our ID was probably in the middle of a riot, being gassed. We had a stroke of genius one night on Pinterest. There are these huge beams above our kitchen entrance that we can't hack away. We decided to embrace them (helps that our ceilings are high) and paint them a bold blue to match the cabinets. Like a boxed up kitchen. Can't wait for the outcome! There was a flurry of activities yesterday and we saw it all unfold on our carpenter's IG. They are so crazy efficient, I'm so so glad we got them. So yeah, furniture is coming this weekend too. Lights will come last, just next week. I can't wait to share the finished look, and to move in!
-
Hellooo! Yes, we're still going ahead with the dark blue cabinets, but our ID has suggested to keep the top cabinets in a lighter colour, like light grey, to give the illusion of higher ceilings. Let's hope that works out, cos the kitchen is soo small! Good choice on the copper light! They make such beautiful statement pieces for any part of the house, don't you think? =D
-
HAHAHA I personally don't mind it, but I'm sure it'll drive me crazy eventually when I'm on the toilet and staring at that wall. Why would they DO that to us?? Those tiles were completely unnecessary.
-
Reno Progress: 2 May Hi all! It's been just less than a month since reno commenced, and things are slowly picking up. We started with a completely blank slate - we opted for no floors or even doors, which gives us complete control over the final outcome...but also means extra kaching. My husband and I have been coming down to see the progress every weekend and we're happy with it so far. M has been very good with updating us on the next steps. I couldn't be more pleased with her service. Anyway, here's our WIP. It doesn't seem like much, but I'm really excited about every single tile that's found its way into our home. Cement screed for the whole house all up and ready. Due to costing we decided to keep the screed for the living + dining area then warm it up with rugs, and will use parquet for the bedrooms. You can see in the background that our kitchen tiles have been laid, and the wall's been hacked! What we were quite displeased about is that the kitchen has not one, but TWO load-bearing beams at the top. So much for a truly open kitchen -_- Markings all ready for carpentry. Love that we're making full use of the space by shifting the hob and hood to the corner, so there's more elbow room for prep and sink. Previously there were pretty ugly brown tiles sporadically placed on the left wall. My husband couldn't stand it so he told the contractor to just cover it with plain white tiles haha. Next week they're installing the aircon pipes, setting up the water heater and finishing the floors. Gahh the wait is killing me!
-
It IS a beautiful home, thank you for sharing with me! Though I think I know the owner haha. You and I have similar taste it seems!
-
Thank you I really thought no one would notice those lame titles LOL. I'm sorry that the photos can't seem to appear again - will see if I can upload the other sketches on another image hosting site. Good idea on framing it up! Maybe in our next home, to remind us where we started =D
-
Domo Arigato, Mr Contractor Over the past few weeks we’ve been in discussion with a few contractors and nervously waiting for their quotes. We have a strict budget in mind (having spent that much on beautiful furniture *gulps* there isn’t much room for negotiation). I spoke to three: A is my ID’s regular contractor with whom she’s been working for most projects. I knew they were gonna be pricey but their carpentry is second to none. They also have company tshirts which is so cute but of cos no one cares about this but me. B is someone my brother engaged when he moved into his new home. I can attest to B’s workmanship because my brother’s house was featured on the front cover of Home & Décor! (Of cos, cannot say which issue heh) His forte is flooring and being very reasonably priced. C is a contractor my friend recommended. She is almost done with her renovation and loves how old-school this uncle is. The pattern I’m sensing is the good, reliable ones with years of experience are usually not very happening on social media haha. So they returned with quotes, and my migraine also came back. A: Came back to us in 3 days. But a good 12K over budget!!??!! I wanted to just curl up in a dusty corner and forget about this whole renovation. They broke down each and every item we were charged for, which can be a good and bad thing. Very transparent and professional, therefore also very expensive. B: Took the longest to reply. But 6K under budget. Hooray! Then you realise he missed out a few items, so all in all it would’ve been 2K OVER budget. Wth man. Talk about false hope. But there were a few items that were definitely priced well, like flooring, hacking, general work. C: Good with follow-ups. 3K under budget. Also left out many items and we knew it would bust the max we have again. The quotation felt a little slipshod =( My ID came to the rescue and came up with an idea I didn’t even know was possible – we’ll use A for carpentry, and B for everything else. After simplifying our list and keeping only what’s really important, we’ve kept it within budget with some allowance. B has applied for the reno permit with HDB last week, and we’re told it should take around 3 – 5 working days. Woohoo! Next up: I Am A Material Girl
-
Little London
hellofromanotherside replied to bykaraanne's topic in Reno t-Blog Chat - HDB BTO Interior Design and Renovation
Hello! Been meaning to ask you this, since we seem to have the same vision for our kitchen. Did you spray paint the IKEA handles yourself, or did you get your contractor to do it? I'm wondering if it's easy enough to become a small project for me =) xx Warm, Earthy, and a Little Bohemian xx -
We're using Gloria from Evershine! I read an article about maintaining marble countertops and got a bit nervous after reading. See: http://www.thekitchn.com/living-with-marble-countertops-one-year-later-203189 Pls tell me I have nothing to worry about, people who have had them in their homes already! @bykaraanne
