flowersinherhair

Hi @Rooney3, PM-ed! Hi @javier, PM-ed!

Day 72 Counting down to handover day which is this coming Wed, super psyched! It's painting day! When I dropped by my house this evening, I saw my door was attached back, I approached the unit gingerly cos I was very worried that the door will look very out of place with the new colour, but oh boy.. I super love the grey colour, it's gorgeous!! I'm gonna have the gates and frames painted grey as well, hope the effect will turn out okay.. My bathroom and bedroom doors have all been spray painted to matte white, only left the frame and bomb shelter to be painted. The white colours made the walkway look so much spacious! The panels on the doors aren't that obvious anymore though. Super in love with the IKEA mirror!! It's a statement piece for this bathroom. And the best part is, it only cost me about $150. The mirror laminate matches perfectly with my cabinet laminate (same as the kitchen cabinet laminate)! See how the full swing mirror is blocking part of the basin, I can't close my door any further.. argh, major regrets, should have gotten a bifold door instead. I also got to be careful, cannot splash water on the door! All the hanging racks, shelves and hooks are tucked behind the full swing door. Grohe tap for the common bathroom, it's the exact same design as the master bedroom bathroom. Grohe shower system, and 2 tier rack from Song Cho. I'm very glad that the HDB tiles for my BTO project look okay, cos I don't have the budget to overlay the tiles! Mirror for the master bedroom bathroom's vanity cabinet. Grohe tap fixed! Grohe rain shower system, super glad that my contractor advised me to take off the ventilation panels so that the bathroom can accommodate a tall rain shower system. The 3 tier rack is also from Song Cho. I need to get some plants and paintings to beautify the bathroom.. My kitchen is more or less done! My contractor removed the window panes (cos ain't nobody got time to clean those panes), and he replaces the panes with neat shelvings for deco stuff. My contractor also installed a single plank for the half cabinet side. Grohe tap, so shiny! Hansgrohe tap for the mini service yard sink. I should have done the laundry yard cabinet with glossy laminate, instead of matte.. regrets regrets.. All the cabinet doors have been fixed up. This is how the hexagon display cabinet looks like, it's something different from what you see in most BTOs, very pleased with the final design, I paid $1.6K for the design package, at least I got something unique from my ID. There were some variations from the finalised 3D designs though, eg the 4 panels are not of equal length, I also chop off the sharp corner on the extreme ends, kept to 3 colours for the hexagon laminates (save $$$). According to my contractor, the workers took a long time to fabricate this cabinet, probably due to the hexagonal construction, hence more challenging. Not sure why the cabinet door does not have the inwardly beveled edge for the fingers to wrap around on one side (I opted for no handles for all the cabinets as I wanted a minimalistic look, and handles might spoil), I notice that for some of the cabinets as well. There is also no ABS trimmings for the joints. Need to clarify this with my contractor. Common bedroom. Chose a blue colour for this side of the wall (Fountain Mist from Dulux). This photo shows the true colour of the lovely shade of blue. Sliding cabinet for the study desk. The blue colour here looks a lot darker in this photo. Likewise in this photo, the colours look darker here for both the wall and the laminate. The grains on the laminate is super gorgeous, immediately shortlisted this piece when I saw the display piece at Lamintak. My advice is... please go down to the show room to see the actual big piece laminate cos you can't really see the patterns and grains on the smaller size sample. Added a single plank for deco stuff, as well as a hanging rack for clothes. Lastly, moving on to the master bedroom. This side of the wall is painted pink, Misty Rose from Dulux. The shade is perfect! It's a very lovely shade of pastel pink, the exact shade I have seen in Pinterest. Master bedroom's display cabinet. Very pleased with the final product, I would prefer the white frame to be slightly thinner though. My TV is hidden inside! There's a mistake with the cabinet. I should be able to slot in the two panels, so that the panels are not blocking my TV view. Also, I should be able to pull out the tray containing the TV (like the ones you see in hotels). Not sure why this was omitted.. hopefully the workers do not need to redo the entire display cabinet. I'm very pleased with all the laminates chosen. I got all my laminates from Lamintak, they have a good selection and huge pieces on display. For this piece of laminate, there's a 3D effect with the grains and eye figures, you can actually feel the eye figures kinda 'popping' out. It looks pretty cool in real life. Covers for the bedside cabinet. The cover does not come with a inwardly beveled edge, so it's very hard to lift the cover up.

Day 70 Dropped by my new place today again but unfortunately, there's nothing done to the remaining carpentry works, plumbers are coming down tomorrow to install the bathroom fixtures. My very first piece of furniture was delivered today! My TV console from Namu is 1.6m long, it's the maximum length that I can go considering the length of the wall available. It is made of solid ash wood, love the pleasant wood scent.. I would prefer the 3 tiers drawer to be made into a single cabinet instead. So much storage space wasted... argh.. The wood grains are so gorgeous!

Day 69 Dropped by my house today and all my cabinets are in!! Yayyyy~~!! Photo galore!! First up, living room's display cabinet. I super love the cabinet but OMG... the hexagons are HUGE.. so much storage space wasted, I need lots of storage cos I'm a hoarder!! Small regrets, maybe I should have cut down to 4 hexagons instead, or included a plank in between some of the hexagons so that I can display more stuff.. Is this ABS trimming? Not sure why some parts of the carpentry has the trimming done, but some doesn't have? Kitchen cabinets are fully done! My top cabinets and solid surface are all pure white but somehow on photos, it looks beige, must be the lighting.. i'm using this marble-ish like solid surface as my countertop and backsplash. It looks different from iquartz, for this solid surface, on close-up the marble-like print looks slightly blur and pixelated. I'm fine with it as the counter top looks okay from far and it doesn't have the yellowish-tone. I also like how solid surface curves at the joint between the counter top and backsplash? I don't see any silicon applied to the joint at all! Undermount kitchen sink. The sink looks smaller now.. Bottom cabinets Top cabinets Pipings are boxed up! Drying racks.. Super in love with the under-cabinet lights! I wanted to box up the pipings but my ID advised me against doing this as in the event of leakage, I have to tear down the entire cabinet to fix the leakage. Spoke to my contractor and he agreed to do it for me, his thinking is that chances of leakage won't be so high.. *crosses fingers* My laundry sink! Common bathroom White solid surface top for all my basins.. Master bedroom bathroom I like all the small touches that my contractor suggested, eg installing a piece of plank near the entrance, display cabinet by the bed side, these are the little details which my ID did not brought up during the design phase.. My master bedroom wardrobe on the left and display cabinet on the right. My display cabinet is modelled after IKEA's Billy bookcase, hope it turns out fine. I modifed the cabinet to house my 32 inch TV. My crestar fan has to be re-adjusted further away from the cabinet otherwise when I open the cabinets' door, the door will bang into the fan! I requested for storage drawers underneath my bed frame for me to store my bedsheets. As I did not want to sleep under the beam, there was some space left by the side, so my contractor did a storage shelf for me to put stuff, it's not a lot of space, but every little space counts for a pigeon hole, need to maximize my storage space!! My dressing table, it is very small in real life, it occupies a tiny space at the corner of the bedroom. The drawer is very shallow, I can't put much stuff inside..

Day 67 Carpentry started coming in since last week... Handover is proposed to be in 2 weeks' time, crosses fingers that everything goes smoothly, no more mistakes please.. Brandt hood and Brandt 2 in 1 microwave and oven, missing the Brandt induction cooker which has yet to be installed. I got all my laminates from Lamintak. Workmanship is good. Soft closing using Excel. Countertop is not up yet, here's a photo of my sink which is gonna be undermounted. My Vento Fino II fan spinning in the background, wind is quite strong! My service yard's sink, seems like the workers have to redo the cabinet as the tap cannot be placed right smack in the centre. Common bathroom. I got the 80cm huge mirror from IKEA. I feel very sad whenever I look at the shower screen. It won't be so bad if the contractor has fixed on a milky white frame (like the one that was done for the kitchen bifold door, the colour was perfect!), the pure white frame just look so out of place with the bathroom wall tiles.. Master bedroom bathroom, sighhhh.. the shower screen.. All my doors have been taken away to be spray painted.. White for all the bedroom and bathroom doors. Gray for the main door, hope the colours turn out fine.

Day 62 Service yard's windows are installed. Kitchen bifold door, love the design I went to check out my bathrooms and to my utmost horror, the wrong shower screens were installed. OMFG!! I wanted the aluminium frameless kind (same like the kind in my 3Ds drawings) but there was a miscommunication and my contractor ordered the wrong one... Common bathroom Master bedroom's bathroom.. I wanted only 2 panels but became 3 panels... The panels are so plasticky and 'cheap' looking..... I'M SO UPSET NOW...

Day 60 2 months since my renovation has started and my carpentry is still not in yet.. Anw, I engaged Maison Mod to replace my bomb shelter ventilation cover over the weekend. I only replaced the one above the bomb shelter door. The other has been covered up by the feature wall. I paid $140 for one cover. No more ugly ventilation cover!! The cover will blend in seamlessly with the wall once painting is done.

I met Allan a couple of months ago at the Serangoon NEX branch. I was introduced to him by a friend. I only met him once as I dropped him in the end. I can't comment much about the workmanship as I did not engage him for my renovation, but on first impression, he was quite a nice guy, very well-dressed. I would say he is a very good salesman and a smooth talker. Chose not to go ahead with him as I did not like the designs that he proposed and the works he showed to me on the iPad. I also don't feel comfortable when he threw in freebies to entice me, and tried to convince me to sign up on the spot.

Day 54 It's weekend, time to visit my new house.. A couple of days ago, I bought some dulux testers to test out the colours that I have shortlisted. Decided to go with Dulux as I can purchase their testers to try, I notice that the catalogue colour doesn't really turn out to be as true as the ones painted. The colour testers can only be purchased on Lazada and they are having some promo right now, I got mine for about $4 each. Not all colours on the catalogue are available as testers though. My doors are installed!! I think these are nyatoh doors, all the doors (including door frame) will be painted white. Common bedroom Common bathroom Master bedroom Master bedroom's bathroom Close up of the handle, looks really sleek! As you can see, I opted out bi-fold door for both the bathroom. I wanted a consistent look for all my doors, but I'm kinda worried that the bathrooms will be too cramped with the swing door. Major regrets now. I checked with my contractor whether this kind of design door can be made into bi-fold or not, he said not possible and will be too heavy to fold? Oh wells.... This will be how the doors look after painting into white. For the past few times I dropped by, I have been wondering where's my storage tank (from Rheem btw), I remembered seeing it in the common bathroom and I don't see it nowadays.. It just dawned on me today that the storage tank has been boxed up... Just some random photos I took today..

@Fishpokpok PM-ed!

@matchalatte I see! The laminate looks really good, goes so well with the sink and the gold tap. I was quoted $330 per metre for the solid surface. I'm using it for the countertop as well as the backsplash. I don't cook often so I suppose it's okay, I was told as long as you wipe off stains/water immediately, use a coaster for hot stuff etc, the solid surface should be able to last long.

Day 51 There's lots of progress this week! Went down to my new place to check out the lightings and ceiling fans, they have all been fixed up after the ceilings are painted. FINALLY there's lights and fans in my new place!!! All my lamps are purchased locally btw, didn't want to order them online as I wanted to see how the lighting looks like IRL. Another of my concern is safety issues, hence all my lights are sourced locally. I'm so in love with my rose gold pendant lamp! It's hanging over the dining table and serves as a great statement piece for the living room. I especially like the 'light shadows' that the lamp cast onto the ceiling. Price: $349.20 from Viva Nueva This is how my living room looks like now! I love how the track lights' beam are spread out gently around the walls, thankfully no dark spots! Price: $24 for the 1m track, $34 for each of the LED bulb, all purchased from Chan Huat Lightings. I'm so pleased with my Crestar fans, I chose the design with the largest bulb and the lighting is bright enough for the entire living room. The design is clean yet stylish. Performance wise, the winds are strong, but not too noisy at all, you will only hear a considerable loud noise when you turn to the highest speed. My Vento Fino II fan is also installed!! I love the fan so much, it's so cute! I didn't get to try out the fan though, I can't seem to fit the battery snugly into the holder?? My kitchen LED light strip is spoilt, got to bring them down to Chan Huat Lighting for an exchange. I got a very simple design lamp for my kitchen, so that it's easier to clean, since kitchen is full of oil and grease. Price: $282 from Chan Huat Lighting My service yard LED lamp, similar model as the kitchen LED lamp, only difference is that it comes in a square shape. It's bright enough for the entire service yard. Price: $170 from Chan Huat Lighting Also got a simple 'hamburger' design LED lamp for my bomb shelter, since nobody will see haha. Price: $48 from Chan Huat Lighting Common bathroom downlights. I did not add LED tube inside the perforated ceiling panel. The right hand side is a bigger LED lamp which can toggle between day and warm light. The right hand side is a smaller one and it only comes in warm light I think. Price: $36 for the large downlight (daylight), $36 for the large downlight (daylight/warm light), $23 for the small downlight (daylight/warm light). I got all of my downlights from LC Lighting Centre. Master bedroom's bathroom downlights Crestar fan for the master bedroom, it's the exact same design as the living room one, albeit smaller. The LED lamp is bright enough for the entire bedroom. Day light Warm light Crestar fan for the common bedroom On a side, this is how my kitchen cabinet (laminates from lamintak) pairs up with the marble-like solid surface. yay or nay?

@Diluted Yea I supposed so, it's quite a common brand and it's from Taiwan. The motor warranty is 10 years, while other parts of the fan come with one year warranty. KDK is only one year warranty IIRC. Just tried out my fans this evening, they are powerful yet quiet, quite happy with my purchase.

@matchalatte I am super in love with your kitchen countertop, is it iquartz? I chose a marble-ish solid surface for my countertop, a bit apprehensive on how it's gonna turn out..

@LalaMANx Hi, PM-ed! @Diluted I asked the salesperson but he told me the 3 tone lighting only comes in 60 inches, no other smaller sizes. As I wanted the same fan design throughout the entire house, I went to look at other brands instead. I did considered Fanco as well but in the end settled for Crestar as the design is nicer.

@Diluted Yes I did saw this.. But I cannot get anything more than 50 inches due to my small living room, so KDK is out.

Plumbing fixture I will talk about the plumbing accessories that I have gotten last month. It was so stressful and overwhelming as there were so many different shops and models out there, where do I start?? Thank goodness after weeks of hunting, I have found all my desired accessories! Got so obsessed with taps and basins til the extent that nowadays when I go to public toilets, I will take notice of the brand of the taps and sinks. Taps Before the start of renovation, I have already made up my mind that all my taps are gonna be either grohe or hansgrohe. Good quality taps plus they come with 5 years warranty, I would rather pay more than having to replace them once every few years should I get the not-so-good ones. Moreover, I got all my grohe and hansgrohe stuff on promo price, very happy that i got a good deal. Kitchen sink tap: Grohe BauCurve Single-lever sink mixer 1/2" Price: $171 from Bathroom Warehouse Service yard laundry sink tap: Hansgrohe Focus E kitchen tap with 360° swivel spout Price: $152.35 from Bathroom Warehouse Master bedroom and Common bedroom's bathroom basin tap: Grohe Eurostyle Single-lever basin mixer 1/2" XL-Size Got the same tap for both bathroom, and the XL one to fit my large basins. Price: $299 from Viva Neuva Common bedroom shower system: Grohe Euphoria 110 Massage Shower Rail Set 3 sprays Price: $149 from Bathroom Warehouse Common bedroom shower mixer: Grohe Eurosmart Cosmopolitan Single-lever bath/shower mixer Price: $150 from Bathroom Warehouse Master bedroom shower system: Grohe New Tempesta Cosmopolitan System 200 Shower System I wanted a rain shower for my master bedroom toilet and this was a steal! The original price was retailing close to $1.5K! Price: $599 from Bathroom Warehouse Kitchen sink: Adamas Bathroom in-house brand I wanted a Blanco sink but I didn't manage to find one that can be undermount. Got this sink because of it's unique shade, it's in between graphite and stainless steel kind of material? The salesperson told me that this is made of stainless steel but coated with another layer of material (can't remember the name) that makes it looks like graphite from certain angle. Due to my small kitchen, my sink can only be about 600mm. Price: $430 from Adamas Bathroom Service yard laundry sink: Galassi wash tub I need a laundry sink for my service yard to wash my delicate clothings and shoes, will be building a cabinet below the sink.. Price: $388 from Sim Siang Choon Common bathroom basin: H+M counter top basin Oblong shape, perfect for my common bathroom. Price: $98 from Bathroom Warehouse Master bathroom basin: Art Ceram coral basin Fell in love with this lovely peach colour! When I saw this sink, I'm like 'Just take my money!!!!'. Price: $436.08 from Bathroom Warehouse Overall, I'm quite happy with all the shops that I visited, good service and were happy with all of my purchases. The only shop that left a bad impression was Bathroom Warehouse. I visited the Changi and Bukit Merah branch and found that the services are quite inconsistent. I visited the Bukit Merah branch in the evening last month to place my order, all the prices were quoted wrongly when I asked for a final quote before payment. For instance, prices quoted to me vs prices on display vs prices in the system are inconsistent. I have to check each item one by one, triple check all the pricings before I made my payment. Service was slow and it was so frustrating.

Fans I bought a total of 4 ceiling fans, 1 for living room, 1 each for the two bedrooms and 1 for the kitchen. Decide to forgo standing fans as they take up too much space and it will make my 3 room BTO even more cramped. Here are the fans that I have bought: Living room: Crestar Rainlite Polycarbonate in 50 inches with LED light (White) Initially I was adamant in getting KDK since I have been using KDK in my current home and it has been going strong for more than ten years. Unfortunately, KDK fans do not come with 3 tones light so I have to forgo KDK. I chanced upon Crestar at Chan Huat and fell in love with the rainlite series, especially the design of the holder where the motor is housed in. In addition, the fan comes with 3 tones LED lighting. Price: S$385 from Chan Huat Lighting Bedroom: Crestar Rainlite Polycarbonate in 43 inches with LED light (White) I got the same design for my two bedrooms as well, as I wanted a standardised look throughout the entire house. I chose white for all the fans as my head will get giddy seeing something spinning at the ceiling lol. And Kudos to Chan Huat's staff, I went down twice and was served by 4 different salespersons. All of them were very helpful and approachable! Price: $365 from Chan Huat Lighting Kitchen: Vento Fino II (Chrome with oak blades) I definitely need a fan in the kitchen! Can't imagine cooking in a stuffy kitchen. This fan needs no introduction, this is a designer fan and I can buy the above 3 ceiling fans for almost the price of a Vento Fino II. I was so upset that this fan is so expensive but am adamant in getting the fan. I was advised to get the KDK wall fan with the super old school grille thingy cos it only cost about $100, but no way! The design does not fit my Scandi theme at all and I hate cleaning the grilles! Thank goodness JB has quite a few shops selling the Vento Fino II and I managed to get it for less than S$300! I'm super in love with the fan, it's so pretty in real life, especially the wooden blades! Price: RM899 from HT lightings

Day 47 Hi everyone. I went to my new place on Sunday to have a look at my deliveries. Got a shock when I saw a worker lying in my living room, he's here to paint my ceiling. I only confirmed my ceiling paint on Saturday and my contractor has sent down a guy on a Sunday to begin the painting! After the painting is completed, electricians can proceed to install all my ceiling fans. Lots of deliveries over the past 2 weeks. The state of my master bedroom right now haha! Skirting at the entrance The paint used for my ceiling. Decide to opt for a better paint instead of the standard Matex that most contractors/ID used.

Anyone having problems uploading photos right now?

Day 39 Hi everyone, it has been more than a month since my renovations have started. Just confirmed all the carpentry works so hopefully everything will be ready in one months' time as the good date for me to move house is advised to be end of November, if I miss this date, I have to wait til January next year, and I have to vacate from my current place by Dec! Progress has been rather slow recently cos the carpentry works have not officially started yet. I have been sourcing for my bathroom and kitchen accessories over the past few weekends, quite pleased that I have gotten all the necessary stuff, feeling very accomplished! Shower kerb in master bedroom's bathroom is up! Common bathroom's shower kerb Electrical works in master bedroom Another view.. Skirting is also up! This is my common bedroom. Another view of my common bedroom Kitchen Another close up view Power point for my fridge I added another power point for my service yard (opposite the washing machine), this is for my garment steamer. Electrical works for my living room's ceiling, 1 point for my fan, 2 points for my track lights (TV side) and 1 point for my pendant light (dining table side). Electrical works done at the TV console feature wall. Last but not least, my feature wall is finally completed!! So pretty! Glad that I didn't went ahead with the craftstone brick walls..

@spooky Hi, May I know how much you paid for the Vento Fino 2 fan in ringgit? Also, is the box very big, cos I don't have a car and it will just be one person carrying the box from the shop back to SG. Thank you!

@hoWL Thanks! My contractor used a 8mm grouting for my wall tiles..

@Pooroldman Hi, if I didn't remember wrongly, the tiles cost $6 per piece. They are made in China though.

Day 27 Hi everyone, it's been 2 weeks since the renovation have started, tiling works are almost done, minus the half of the feature wall on the tv side, cos the electricians are doing electrical works on that part of that wall. Skirting is also not done yet. I shifted quite a bit of the electrical points, and added a couple more. These are my finalised electrical points: Living room: Total 7 points - 4 (added 2) on the TV console side. - 2 on the sofa side, added another one by the window. - Shifted telephone point to TV console side Common bedroom: Total 5 points - 3 (added 1) by the study table, 2 by the bed. Master bedroom: Total 7 points - 3 (added 1) by the lounge chair - 2 by the study desk - 2 (added in) by the TV cabinet Kitchen: Total 6 points - 4 on one side, 2 on the other side Service yard: Total 3 points - 2 (added 1) on washing side, added another point on the other side of the service yard for my garment steamer. Bomb shelter: Total 2 points Total number of electrical points: 30 points. Is it too many? Some photos to share.. Removed all the window panes from the service yard windows.. This is the entrance of the master bedroom, aircon is supposed to be placed at the entrance and there is a trunking on the left. See how the trunking has been boxed up nicely! This is the master bedroom's bathroom, my contractor suggested removing the honeycomb panel so that I can accommodate a taller rain shower, so pleased with my contractor for advising me to do this! My original plan was to remove the honeycomb panels and replace them with acrylic panel, installing T5 lightings inside. My contractor suggested doing it in another way: remove all the panel boards, box up that portion instead, now my toilet ceiling looks higher and more spacious! Likewise for common toilet, my contractor removed all the panel boards, will be boxing up the pipings. This is my walkway leading to the bedrooms. My initial plans was to placed 2 simple downlight along the walkway. As there are air con trunking running down the walkway, my contractor suggested boxing up the trunking and add downlights in the trunking instead. Good idea!