steffie

Most of my renovation went well. But as with any renovations, there were hiccups. I had originally wanted to cement screed my kitchen wall so as to match the bathroom door. However, after the plumber and electrician were done and they patched up the walls, the walls had these wet, patchy marks that didn't seem to dry. The walls looks very messy. In the end, I reluctantly agreed to let Ronald paint over the walls with white weather bond paint. Admittedly, I was a little disappointed but I must say it did make the kitchen look brighter.

The MBR and common bathroom are almost identical so I only took one set of photos. Replaced the shower screen with a shower curtain as it felt a little claustrophobic previously, sitting on the toilet bowl and flanked by the sink and shower screen. I think it is a good choice as it was quite a challenge keeping the shower screen free of water mark and soap scum.

What was my son's bedroom is now the study room. A good area to store all his toys and gadgets so that his bedroom is less cluttered. Another place for my son and his friends to hang out!

To give my son a little more privacy, I moved his bedroom to the inner room. Created a cozy corner with the low cabinet with cushion so that his friends can have a place to hang out when they come over.

Removed my walk-in wardrobe and changed my bed from a king to queen. Was really amazed at how much more walking space I had in my bedroom. I can even put a console at the foot of my bed so that I can now comfortably work on my laptop in my room. Plus I no longer need to crab walk… hahaha….

The kitchen had an almost major overhaul. Finally got rid of the pink wall tiles that I hated. Hahahah.... Have both top and bottom kitchen cabinets really greatly increases my storage. At last, I can finally walk around in my storeroom without bumping into stuff. The formica fo the bottom cabinet was specially chosen to match my beloved doors.

Maybe not the best space utilization but I love having a walkway. It does make my living/dining area smaller but I simply love opening my main door to a clear space.

Finally found the time to put together my before and after photos. The placement of my furniture in the living/dining room remained largely the same, except for the removal of the platform for my dining area. Surprisingly, the new yellow furniture made the my original dark wood furniture brighter than the cream ones I used to have. Without the platform, I now have greater flexibility when arranging the furniture and the dining area is now seem more spacious. The newly installed ceiling fan is a true lifesaver. I also love the hanging dining table lamps. It added warmth to the dining area.

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Hi there, I have pm'ed you the details.

Hi there, I've pm'ed you the numbers. The plastering guy was Ronald's subcon. To be honest, I think the plaster guy was probably better at plastering regular walls than new walls. He did a really god job plastering the walls around my new bedroom door frames, holes from my old aircon trunking, etc. However, I built back a new wall between MBR and the next room and the plaster on the new walls started to flake when the painter started painting it. I learnt from the painter later that new walls should be plastered differently from regular walls. But the good thing was Ronald was quick (as usual) to get the guy to rectify it. So between the 3 of them, they resolved the problem and now the new wall looks fine.

Another reason that many people are afraid to buy furniture from Taobao is because they are worried about assembling it. And I think it's a fair concern because I was concerned too. That was until I found out that I could engage professional handymen to do it for a marginal fee. After my 2-hour episode assembling the study room TV console, I decided to engage Mr Tan to assemble the rest of my wooden furniture, regardless of how easy it looked. I had gotten his contact from Renotalk, as usual. And like all the wonderful recommendations that I had gotten off Renotalk, this was a good one as well too. Mr Tan hung my Calla lilies dining room painting, drilled the clothes hanger stub behind the doors of all 3 bedrooms and assembled 2 bedside tables in the MBR, the dining table, my son’s single bed as well as the TV console in the living room. He came with 3 others so the job was completed in no time, except for the dining table. He was very nice and very experienced too. There were problems with the dining table. There was a long crack on the leg and the seller forgot to include the screws to hold the legs to the table top (roll eyes). Mr Tan sealed up the crack (such that now you can barely see it), drove out to get the screws and then came back after his dinner to assemble it. Such professionalism.

I have been buying stuff online so I know that with online shopping, you win some, you lose some. I was prepared for some of the items to either not meet my expectations or arrive damaged. Surprisingly the clay, porcelain and glass items arrived unscathed. My 2 big boxes of plates, bowls and cutlery had so many pieces of foam in it, it felt like Christmas. The seller of the tall glass vases had stuffed so much foam inside them that I spent a good 20 minutes trying to remove them. The wooden items however had quite a number of scratches on the edges although they came wrapped in bubblewrap and cardboard. My recommendation is, if you are a perfectionist, then skip the wooden furniture. Interestingly, some of the items came with their own tools such as screw driver, Allen key, spanner and even gloves. Most came with instructions, some without. Thankfully, I got a handyman to assemble them… Hahaha… Below are some of the misses.

I feel that the beauty of ordering directly from Taobao is customisation. Some sellers will allow you to customize your items, if you bother to ask. The process is of course more cumbersome and to be honest, with my limited Mandarin, rather painful too. But after months of liaising with them, my Mandarin have improved by leaps and bounds. My Mandarin teacher would have been so proud. These are the stuff that I had specifically customized to match my yellow themed home. Of all the items that I had customized, I love the Calla lilies painting best. I love sitting on my rattan swing chair and just admiring it.

After months of preparation and 1.5 months of renovation, I have finally moved in the day before 7th month began. However, there were some delays in my Taobao shipment so they were shipped in 2 batches. 1 before I moved in and the last batch about 2 weeks later. Not ideal but no choice. I was asked a number of times what was the theme of my house. To be honest, I don't have one. I only know what I wanted to do, scoured Taobao for stuff that caught my fancy, measured my house to make sure the item would fit, and then bought them. It was that simple. And if there really is a need to have a theme, well, then my theme is Yellow. I'll start with all my Taobao buys and will post photos of my house probably this weekend or early next week. Get your sunglasses ready because it's going to be one bright ride. I think Taobao is a lifesaver. Looking at how much items I bought, I would need to walk enough to hatch 5 10-km Pokémon eggs to get them.

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Agree. Better to get from the same shop. The price difference would be marginal. I bought the tracklights from this shop and the track came free. I thought it was a pretty good deal. Hahaha...

Hi Noddy, I've pm'ed you the contacts. I'm not sure about all the sellers but I think our voltage/wattage and China's are almost the same, if not the same. I got my tracklight from this seller and it's working fine. https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.5-b.w4011-9052801320.77.vWqQaw&id=42978258671&rn=4d57f69b1541efc86bd0c7b770f55fde&abbucket=17&skuId=3102729147326

I know how it feels needing to live with the imperfection. I guess if it's not too obvious, then just live with it. It can be quite cumbersome to replace door frames. HDB's bolted the door frames so well into the walls and floor, removing it will definitely cause quite a bit of damage. I was rather surprised how much need to be patched up after Ronald replaced the door frames to my bedroom. I learnt later that our HDB door frames are made of iron. I can only imagine how much more work needs to be done if you were to remove the door frame to the main door. Don't worry. You will get used to it after a while.

Hi Tamt, I've pm'ed you the contacts. I'll post my Taobao loot soon. There was some delays in the shipment due to typhoon so they only arrived about 2 weeks ago. Just managed to snap photos of it over the weekend. Some misses but mostly good. Will put something together and post it up soon.

Hi Catt, I've just PM'ed you the door and gate contacts. My main door is fire rated so I was advised to keep the door frame so I only got it a new quote of paint. I got new door frames for my bedrooms and yes, Ronald changed the tile that was damaged as well as patched up the walls. However, you need to know that should you change the damaged tiles, it will look different from your current ones. Maybe you can check why your contractor is unwilling to make those changes. Is it because it will impact some other structures or carpentry? I noticed some chip in my old tiles after the floor buffing (before carpentry) and got Ronald to change the tiles. He saw to it immediately. Didn't seem too cumbersome, was done in less than a day.

Hi Ray, I've just PM'ed you.

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Hi Snowkitten, I've emailed you. Thanks.

My butterfly cave is starting to take shape with my first butterfly themed item - the MBR bathroom bifold door from Ministry of Doors. I had selected the Bifold One series, which was very affordable. You can choose between top hung or top and bottom track. I had originally wanted the top hung version but decided against it after advice from Rachel and reading many reviews on top hung bifold doors. The door is very stable and the track is smooth. There were also many designs to choose from.