meeko

More kitchen pics: This is the view from the main entrance of our kitchen. Our large, industrial sized stainless steel sink will be right where the window is. Installation for the hob etc should happen this Monday The other side of the kitchen. Just love the clean lines and open feel A closer look at the cabinets. Must say (again) that Alan's carpenters did a really great job. Everything was neatly done (they even cleaned up after themselves), and the main carpenter was very courteous and made every effort to make sure that his design really fit our needs. Great job! A closer look at our kitchen tiles. We chose a cream with greyish undertones, wood grain long tile. Feels good under the feet and I think it really looks nice. Very happy with the tile selection. Alan went tile shopping with us and gave us lots of really practical advice on what we should go for...so thanks again Mr. Alan!

More pics of the bathrooms, backyard, maid's room, and bedrooms coming up! Stay tuned folks!

Kitchen & backyard: Our very clean-looking and bright kitchen. Hubby and I went nuts at the lighting shop and got 6 big LED downlights- 15w per light mind you!- we chose a white tone for the kitchen since it's a food preparation area and one would probably need to have better light to see with. haha. In any case, our T5 lights will be warm to add some glow to the kitchen cabinets. This is the view taken standing at my backyard entrance. Somehow forgot to take one from the main kitchen entrance Took this standing at the main kitchen entrance at the dining area. You're looking at the cabinets next to the fridge area, which will probably house my microwave oven. Can see our backyard entrance in the background. Alan was nice enough to have my rubbish chute cover changed to a brand new one as well. Another view, this time taken standing in the middle of the kitchen.

View taken from the living area towards the dining, kitchen and entrance foyer. Our entrance foyer and bomb shelter door, which we painted normal white. Lights throughout the house were kept simple- LED downlights and tracklights in black (to match our matt PVC black fans). Not a fan of white lights as I feel it gives the room a very clinical feel, so we intentionally chose warm lights for the main areas, except the kitchen and bathrooms (which combines a mix of both). We also liked the high ceilings and chose not to add any false ceilings or cornices. Instead, we had Alan create a very small L-shaped cove light that runs from the bomb shelter to the living area. T5 tubes not installed yet. Hopefully, it'll be brighter once it's been put in. View of our living room and the windows (which overlook the swimming pool- we're pretty lucky in a sense as all our bedrooms have swimming pool views as well)

Hot, lazy Saturday afternoon... made an early trip to the new place to take delivery for some pillows, my new ironing board etc, that I bought from the recent John Little Expo sale. Things are starting to pick up, with Alan agreeing that we can have our belongings (which have been stuck in storage since June) moved over to the house in about a week's time. Hubby and I both want to slowly start unpacking and cleaning up before actually physically moving in to stay. Can't wait. In the meantime, here are finally some pics of our place, taken last night. Carpentry is more than halfway done, electrical works almost there (just need some tweaking here and there, plus awaiting the installation of my T5 lights for my cove lighting in the living dining area, above my kitchen counter top, and my wardrobes) and backyard and kitchen doors need to be installed. After that it should be the final marble polishing, varnishing of my timbre floors and bedroom doors, plus some other miscellaneous stuff. Here we go, presenting our humble abode...ta-dah! Living room/ dining area: (in the day) Just love how my brass lamps look at night in my dining area. The lights are dimmable for a more romantic glow if we so desire (not that chances are that high with a 5 year old boy ruling the roost). We chose a sage-y green for our dining room feature walls to distinguish it from the living area, which, as you will next see, is a soft, muted creamy white. Our door frames were painted black and we got Alan to change the bedroom and bathroom doors to more modern looking ones that are almost black to match.

Hi El Loco! Thanks! We've been collecting our furniture and pieces of decor over many years. So quite hard to list where the majority of the pieces are from. I usually like to window shop at places that sell these types of furniture like Lim's arts and crafts (but they're kind of over priced in my opinion). Once I see a piece that I love, I usually grab-especially if it's on sale and even when I don't intend to use it yet. I also have a habit of keeping small decor items like candle holders, exotic carvings etc and just swop them around once in a while.

Thanks ProjectH!

Hi Makanology! Great vintage pieces you have there in your home. Hope the stress of the reno has melted away and you and Mr E are happily enjoying your married life and your new home. Love the quirky, vintage feel!

Whoopsie, sorry about the weird pic. These are my new dining lights. They're actually solid brass, hand-crafted lamps from India. Came individually in 3 different sizes- large, medium and small. Bought 3 and hung them at different heights, kinda like how one would hang a collection of Moroccan lamps. Will post pics of them in action soon! These are actually made in China stone (I think) tiles with print on them. Loved the whimsical bird art (niao hua...geddit? ) but had no idea how to display them. Bought these, along with some others that you will probably meet later on, a few years ago with the hubby and it's been gathering dust in our bomb shelter since. The new house has inspired us to actually try to put them to use. Went to a framing shop, and finally had them framed with a bamboo designed frame and transparent glass mount (instead of acrylic, which is easy to get scratched apparently)....and wala! I now have 3 very pretty art work to hang up (most likely in my master bedroom). Ok. I guess by now you might have a better idea of what my version of Oriental- Rajasthan is like. What do you think so far? Just realised as well that it is becoming very pricey and difficult to find good Indian/ Rajasthan pieces in Singapore. Looks like a trip to North India is in order. And oh yes, my next post will have more pics of the nearly completed reno, so do check in soon!

Oriental carved table lamp we got a couple of months ago while window shopping. The carving supposedly comes from part of an antique Chinese bed frame. Too bad there was only a single piece. Would have loved a matching piece for my living room...ah well, the search continues I suppose. One of my favourite pieces of furniture..this is a new one. We left both our Peranakan/ Balinese style TV cabinets at our old house (part of the sale, at the buyer's request). I have this thing about not letting too much messy show (dvd player, tv, cable set up box etc) and always felt that the living room should be a place where family and friends should be able to have a cosy conversation without having to shout over the blaring TV, or get distracted by the latest shenanigans on the 9pm Chinese drama series while talking to each other. Hence, we decided to have a huge TV cabinet custom made to suit our hardware (on the inside), while still keeping in line with our theme (on the outside). The measurements, compartments, external and internal design were completely ours...and yes! both doors slide in to allow for better TV viewing. Can't wait to have this piece finally delivered! (It's been sitting in the warehouse for almost 3 months... I know, I know...tell you guys a secret: we started buying our furniture before we even bought our new place Our dining table- it's a Rajasthan piece...actually an Indian door inlaid with brass plates. Long table that sits 6-8 people. Had to custom make a piece as the one we saw at the store was already sold and we were worried that it would've been too big anyway (bear in mind that we hadn't purchased our home yet- in fact, we had actually made an offer on another property at the time and were buying with that other house in mind... but that's another story for another blog). Anyhoo, now just waiting for our dining table to be shipped in. Cross fingers it'll be delivered before 20 sep.

Busy, busy day...work at the new crib started at 9am on the dot, with the electricians then the carpenters coming in. Alan wasn't exaggerating when he called his carpentry team the best in Singapore (not sure about JB...hehe)...they were fast, efficient, hard working, tidy and very accommodating when it came to us kaypoh-ing their work. Very pleased with the results thus far (pics will be up in abit...promise). By the way, our contractor has his own carpentry production (think it's called Aian Furnitures), so I guess that would explain why quality is good. Going to veer a little bit away from the actual reno process here... Indian Embroidered table mats (intend to put them under my table lamps etc to protect my table tops- just love the rich colour and textures) One of the many ethnic carvings that hubby and I have collected over the years. Still haven't really thought of where to hang this one in the new house

ID versus Contractor Hot topic eh? Actually, hubby and I decided from the get go that we weren't going to waste too much time and tears (?) on shopping for an ID or contractor. We were clear about what we wanted in our new home, and so with only 2 criteria in mind (1. good quality finishing and workmanship, 2. reasonable, competitive pricing), we set off to compare a grand total of 2 quotes. We decided that the most effective way of selecting the right guy for our home was to pit the ID against the Contractor. Started trawling through the internet and forums for feedback and recommendations, and finally shortlisted 2 candidates: Summit Design and Alan Design. Summit Design: We specifically requested for a particular ID from this firm based on what we read online. Met up with him at their office. Overall impression was pretty good. The guy knew his stuff and seemed very capable and sincere. A quote was requested and delivered within a reasonable time frame. Pricing was so-so. Not cheap for sure but not jaw-droppingly expensive. Design ability didn't really factor into the equation because, as mentioned earlier, we didn't really require much in terms of fixtures etc. Alan Design: Responded promptly to my sms and visited my flat (which was being sold off at the time) for an initial discussion. He definitely knew his stuff and came across as quite a quiet, affable guy. Not the typical contractor type (no yellow boots in sight). He promised a quote and also delivered via email. Pricing was more reasonable than the ID's but there were items that were also more pricey. Why we chose The Contractor: It all boiled down to chemistry I guess. We felt comfortable dealing with someone who had so much experience and yet would not impose his design preferences on us. Yet, he does not hesistate to speak his mind when we made certain impractical suggestions (for eg, the choice of material...easy to clean etc). We also heard a lot about the quality of his work. Our reno is at its final stages as of today, so it would only be fair to comment on my experience with Alan only after the handover. But while the reno has had its normal share of hiccups, I must commend him on his attitude towards rectifying any mistakes. More on this later....

The combination of quartz top, tiles and laminates we chose for our kitchen and bathrooms: Kitchen- Common bathroom- Master bathroom- As you can probably guess, we're very into neutrals I like to think of interior design as make up application. Heehee. So I tend to apply the general rule of thumb that if you want one thing to stand out, then you should downplay the other parts eg. hot red lips with simple eyemake up, or smoky dark eyes, with a nudey lip...something like that lah. We have alot of furniture that we love and want to admire so I guess it would make more sense to keep everything else soothing and neutral. Most of our friends and even the sub contractors were surprised (bordering on shock) that we didn't get Alan to design or built any built in feature wall, TV console, divider etc throughout the house. The only items that are fixed are our kitchen cabinets, bathroom fixtures (duh...imagine a movable toilet bowl), and wardrobes. We also take a lot of pleasure in going "treasure hunting" for great furniture/ decor finds and tend to reaarange our furniture every so one in a while. Gets energy flowing in the home too, I feel. You'll see what I mean once our old and newly ordered furniture come in. Can't wait!

Hey there. Sorry for the late reply, Makanology. Was trying to sort out pics while running between the new place and mom's. Sorry to hear that your reno journey wasn't as smooth as you wanted it to be. Mine's been overall ok so far. There were a few booboos, mostly due to minor mistakes made by the sub contractors, but our contractor, Alan, has been quite responsive to our feedback and 2 thumbs up to him for making the effort to make rectifications according to our standards Paiseh, we don't really have any priceless collection of Rajasthan rugs (hmmm... ) but I've always been fascinated with fabrics, architecture and furnishings from India. It's hard not to fall in love with the rich, jewel colors, don't you think? On that note, I've also always appreciated certain oriental designs especially those with intricate carving. Gives a room tons of character. So I guess our home now combines my love and attraction for these 2 very distinct cultures. Cross fingers it turns out how I imagine it. lol Anyway, to start off with a pic (still trying to figure the whole pic thing), here's my floor plan: Not a huge apartment. Original marble flooring in the living/ dining area put in by the developer had cracked and sunk in 2 spots, so we definitely had to look into replacing the flooring. We didn't really dither over what to use- we've always loved the classy look and feel of marble flooring, so marble it is We also felt that being a 9 year old apartment with the original fittings still intact, it was time for a major overhaul. We loved the existing layout as there's a separate store room and maid's room/ utility room (one of the main reasons we decided to buy a unit in this particular development). 3 bedrooms, 1 ensuite master bathroom, 1 common bathroom and a maid's toilet in the backyard- we felt it was perfect for our family. So there wasn't any thought given to knocking down any walls or changing the existing layout. Our major overhaul includes: - putting in new marble flooring for the living/ dining areas - hacking and tiling for kitchen, all the bathrooms, store room and maid's room - staining of timbre strip flooring in 3 bedrooms - new doors throughout the house - new wardrobes, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanity - new aircon fancoils and compressors!! Will be posting more pics in a bit.

Any idea if it's possible to post pics from an iPhone? Any help would be appreciated! TIA

Hi there Makanology! Thanks for the warm welcome Not sure if the tilers were Ah Meng and team but the work looks pretty good. Alan assured us he'd line up his best guys for the job. So far so good. Not really in a rush. Bunking at my mother's home for the time being and we wanted things done nicely. But hoping to move in soon lah. Would post pics but trying to figure out how to do it using my iPhone.

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Finally, our first home reno blog! Didn't manage to do a blog for our first home 5 years ago but very happy and excited to document the process for our new home. For our first home, we kind of wanted a more resort, Balinese spa feel. But this time round, we've decided to go with an Oriental- Rajasthan theme. This change in taste probably signals us finally growing up or something? Lol Anyway, more to come later. At this point, our reno is nearing its completion, so we've got lots of pics and retrospective views to share. Stay tuned! P.S we've engaged the very popular Alan from Alan Design as our contractor. We've always been very clear about our design concept and what we wanted so felt that an ID wasn't necessary. More about our contractor later!

Hi everyone. Want to use sage green for my feature wall but can't seem to find any samples. Anyone tried using this in their home? Pls share pics if you can? Thanks!

Price reduced

Last call

Price lowered to $1000

Last week!

To clear!!