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Floorplan: 4 room Type 3(H)

Looking for reccommendations for id who experience in doing vintage industrial design for hdb?

Hello all! Inspired by all the lovely t-Blogs and decided to start our own. So we just collected our keys from HDB yesterday and very excited to get started on our renovation journey. Must admit that just a couple of months ago when we were looking for IDs we knew completely nothing about home renovation, decor etc just that we wanted industrial theme, thats it. Thankfully for Renotalk, been browsing thru the forum and picked up so much useful information along the way! So this is our floor plan, quite a typical 5 room BTO plan. We did not opt for tiles/doors and intend to hack part of bedroom 2's wall down for a walk in wardrobe. Bedroom 3 will remain empty for now for future kid's room.

Hi everyone! This is Mrs JohnB here. We have learnt a great deal from the users on RenoTalk. Which heater to choose, where to route the air con trunking, how to spray paint, etc. What a treasure trove of helpful homeowners and information this forum is. Thank you. We are excited to finally have a t-Blog. Please feel free to share your opinion; we are new to renovation and would appreciate your advice. So, here goes.

**Very long post** Hi All, I've been a silent reader (albeit not registered) of Renotalk t-Blog for the longest time (since 2010 - 2011), I have learnt so much and garnered so much inspiration for my 3rm BTO @ Tampines, that, I've decided to share with all of you my reno journey. I would like to apologise in advance if it seems boring, somewhat a repetitive of what you've probably seen before over the years active in this forum / somewhat similar to your reno journey and if I can't be much help. However, I do hope that my contribution will somewhat inspire someone just like how all of the t-blogs have inspired and helped me with my decisions. First up, this is our 3rm flat floorplan: We have gotten our keys in September, after a grueling 3 years wait hohohoho. But it was, to us, good timing as our wedding was in Jan 14’ and we had ample time to prepare prior to receiving the keys. Of course, ID / Contractor hunting wasn’t all that easy. Weeks after key collection, we have not made any decision to which ID / Contractor we were going to engage. It looked like we were somehow taking our own sweet time. DH decided that we both did not have the luxury of time if we were to engage contractors (he works shifts, while I was in the Oil&Gas shipping line **not anymore fr me**) therefore we agreed on engaging an ID. Truthfully, I have started ID hunting on my own 3 years prior to getting our keys. Looking at reviews, testimonials, the work they did, experience of homeowners in renotalk. Researched enough to know what I want and to know what to look for. I only started asking for Quotations late 2013. Of 5 quotations, we met only ONE (we didn’t go ahead with them). & Just about when I wanted to settle with D**s&T**s (meeting the ID and signing the contract), I stumbled upon what would be our ID right now. It’s important that DH feels comfortable with the ID and the price. Design Profession gave us Assurance, Competitive price & Friendship. Most importantly, they can deliver our wants towards the design. I didn’t want our house to be cluttered i.e: to put decorations just for the sake of putting them. DH & I are more towards practicality (cleaning time, dust problems etc etc) than aesthetic (ok maybe 50% aesthetic) so our house should be a balance of both. We wanted industrial theme but I would like for it to be towards being minimalist. Therefore, we embarked on our Minimalist industrial theme (no craftstone brickwall, no cement screeding flooring – due to fear of it cracking in the future and no unnecessary decorative wall etc). Our reno journey started in October 2014, spearheaded by our ID, Rae Foo from Design Profession. He has given us a lot of suggestions, kept up with my questions (I ask A LOT of qns) and is very efficient. In fact, we only go to our house for checks on weekends. The rest of the days, Rae will be there and will update me with pictures. Right now, the renovation has slowed down as we are waiting for our bedroom lights to arrive and for the painting to be done. ANYWAY! Pictures time!! (feel free to ask me any qns and I will be glad to answer them) P.S: I will update in sequence later on the type of floorings, lightings, appliances, painting, air-con & carpentry. For now, an update of our house thus far. =) 1. Before Overlaying of Kitchen Tiles 2. After Overlaying of Kitchen Tiles 3. Laying of living room

BRAND NEW "Heather" storage seat - $690 1. Imported waterproof Sunbrella fabric (from Glen Raven Mills USA) used to make the high density cushion. 2. Current finish is raw, but can be varnished also. It's a personal preference so we let our customer decide if they want varnish or not. 3. Very solid, sturdy and heavy frame >10kg. 4. Seat cover can be removed to reveal spacious storage beneath. Can seat 1 or 2 people. 5. Cash & Carry or $50 delivery within Singapore. 6. Fresh from the oven! Only 1 of a kind in the world. Made to order, not factory made! BRAND NEW "Caspian" lounger - $750 1. Imported waterproof Sunbrella fabric (from Glen Raven Mills USA) used to make the high density cushion. 2. Current finish is raw, but can be varnished also. We don't advise varnish though, because it looks better without. 3. Very solid, sturdy frame with a low centre of gravity. Can seat 3-4people. 4. Can join 2 together to make a pool lounger or to lie down for reading a book. 5. Cash & Carry or $50 delivery within Singapore. 6. Fresh from the oven! Only 1 of a kind in the world. Made to order, not factory made! Please PM to buy/ view. Thanks!

Hi! We have been following the posts here for the longest time and it is finally our turn. Here's the typical and unexciting hdb floorplan haha ps: we hate the aircon ledge position

Hey guys! We have just started our renovation journey and thought to share with everyone who reads this forum! Everyone has been exceptionally helpful and assisted us a lot on the journey to finding our contractor as well as furnishings and such. Very excited to get the party started! Located just beside a huge canal, it kinda reminds us of a lake...... therefore the name: "Lake" House We collected our keys in May 2014 and spent a total of approximately 4 months settling our defects. At the same time, we were finding a contractor whom we are comfortable with. We already had our rough designs ready and needed someone to execute it confidently with professional suggestions along the way. We were really pleased to come across MrJ & MrE. They replied promptly and professionally to all of our doubts and understood what we wanted as soon as we had our first discussion. First up, here is our floor plan Our "Lake" View Day 1 (06/10/14) Signed at MrJ & MrE's factory and had a discussion with the both of them regarding all our designs and layout. MrJ did a sketch on all of our carpentry works and understood what we wanted. He then passed us a couple of booklets of laminates for us to browse through. Day 4 (09/10/14) Met with MrE and electrician; ironed out all of our doubts and did planning of lighting and other electrical works. Electrician was really helpful and provided some really good suggestions. Thereafter, we caught up with MrJ at the Lamitak factory to view bigger pieces of the laminates that we shortlisted(a whole bunch of them!) We had serious problem deciding on what laminates to use as the range was massive; when we always thought that a certain design was exactly what we wanted, we will come across another that wavered our decision. Looking at the bigger pieces really helped. It looked so different than when it was in a little sample piece in the booklet. Just when we were about to part our ways, we were informed that the electrician has already started work! How efficient Meanwhile, here's our styleboard Day 6 (11/10/14) A really fruitful day! Met MrE at Hafary (Eunos branch) to select bathroom and kitchen tiles. We were overwhelmed by the wide varieties of tiles. Thankfully MrE introduced us to the sales executive there and she was really helpful. Some pictures of the place There's a good variety of tiles which were in our budget, enough to drive us crazy while finalising our tile, therefore we would advise homeowners to not venture to too many stores to look at more choices because this would only confuse you - making your selection process a nightmare. MrJ met us soon after and we discussed on a couple of changes in our designs and they were really flexible about it. We were glad that they were not the kind who would request for a topup when informed of any changes. Looking at how confused we were, they also gave us ample time to finalise our tiles and laminates.

Excited to transform this old unit into our dream pad. The theme would be industrial chic coupled with ps cafe feel. And a hinge of nostalgia from the colonial days. I love an open and spacious home. So we would hack down quite a few walls. Hacking and transforming the middle bedroom into a walk-in. Hacking our store room to a dry MBR toilet where the sink and make up area would be. Hacking the wall in between the wet MBR toilet and old store room as well. We would also be hacking parts of the kitchen. and separating the kitchen into a yard n cooking area. the black metal grille with glass separating the two areas is to keep cooking fumes from tainting the clothes. We would be using vinyl to layover the existing reddish marble floor. Hacked the old kitchen,bathroom & balcony floor and wall tiles. Update as of 27th OCT: We engaged an ID to redo our house for us. Why we decided to go along with them is because they are a married couple running everything themselves. Meaning no dealing with sales person but the bosses directly. After interacting with them for 2 months plus, here are somethings we really like about them. They have a very good relationship with the contractor - they have been working together for a long time and things that needed to be amended or redo, the contractors are willing and helpful and has initiative. They make me feel very comfortable as they are trustworthy and I have a peace of mind. I know they will not try to hoodlewink me. This I appreciate a lot. They always tell me the truth, like what I have to anticipate if I go down a certain path. They will try to dissuade me from something too fanciful that is not cost worthy. They lay out the options for everything - like if i go for this is cheaper. and the quality is ok so just go for this. go if i go for that its more expensive but the mark up is worth it... because.... so on and so forth. and ultimately after laying out the cards on the table, whichever i choose they wont feel unhappy. I really like knowing what I am paying for. I wanted bricks for the balcony area, but the price for craftstone added up to around 3k because the surface area needed to be tiled is really quite big. I could not afford it so they gave me various options. At first we agreed on normal bricks, but when we saw how bulky it was, they found brick tiles for me. Now I settled for normal brick tiles at close to half the cost. Of course its not at nice as craftstone but I could live with it because its still very nice. At first, I was very against plastering. I think it is a waste of money. They convinced me to go for it. I was a bit half hearted and went ahead. I must say, the plastering is one of my fav things for the house. It totally transformed the unit and gave it an instant age rewind. (my unit is from the 80s) At first, I wanted colonial wooden lourves windows panels. They tried very hard to dissuade me but I wanted it very badly so they went ahead to search for one... The reason for not encouraging me to go for it is because of the high cost. It took them two weeks to locate a supplier and I was happy. 2 months down the road, I finally came to senses and told them that I shall go for blinds instead. They were so happy for me. I felt very guilty cuz they spent a lot of time looking for the supplier for nothing. But they did not think of it that way. They told me its always good to increase their knowledge and they are happy that I get to save 7k from this decision because its really unnecessary. They are very responsible. Always trying to think of the best the client could have, places they bring me to buy things like toilet accessories and lights, they will haggle for me. Even the blinds that I am making, they managed to help me reduce $ by haggling with the supplier The lights are definitely more expensive than from taobao but the tracklights and stuffs are guarenteed to be the lowest in SG. They come in a range of pricing depending on whether its from Germany or TW. I could tel that they are really great people because they are on good terms with all the people working with them. There is a lot of respect between everyone and I really like the their workmanship. The quality is impeccable especially for carpentry work. Ultimately, choosing an ID depends on what kind of experience one is after or willing to go through. For me, I needed the peace of mind and assurance that these people are good and honest and responsible. And what I get at the end of the day will not be a disappointment. I dislike being lied to about datelines and being led to accept decisions that has consequences I am unaware of. I like how they will ask if I want the decision to be based on asthetics or practicallity. I will continue to update this section. As of now, I must say I am really pleased with them. 3D Drawings

Hi, i love industrial concept for my new house, any recommend idea for the renovation teams?

Hihi guys! Hope the day have been good for you so far! Well, I finally joined the renotalk family today after my many visits to this portal for reno ideas and reading the blogs of some of the forummers here.. Finding the read every rewarding in many ways and that many of you open my eyes to the world of renovation such as the material used for the reno, design ideas and even the type of furnitures, appliances that you all eventually got for your home.. Ermm... In other words, I litterally getting myself "poison" along the way coz whenever I read the blogs, I'll start to think "Hey, maybe I should get this for my house too!"... Arghhh!!.... Kekeke.. I have been toying the idea of starting a t-blog for awhile now coz I'm quite worried about no time to maintain the blog... However, decided to start it so that we can document our reno journery and that we can see how far we manage to achieve the look that we want as a home.. So... I hope that all the qian bei here can help to guide us along if we happen to ask some noob questions about renovation.. Thanks in advance yet! Ohh... And I also want to declare that I'm not officially MrsKhoo (my username) yet but am going to be in a week plus time.... So very very busy during this time. Hoping the time could fly till after my wedding.. Very tiring now... So enough of the lengthy introduction.... Let's get down to the main topic on our new place! We bought a resale EA in the Northern part of Singapore in January 2014 and finally got our keys to our new place just last month... The search to our marital home was completed in only viewing about 5 to 6 houses.. Hahaha.. Yes! yes! I know.. I know.. That was fast right! We decided to buy the house as we find that it is bright and airy. We did viewed a few houses before this place and we were attracted to it on our first visit there.. Maybe because the few houses before that were ermmm.. yucky with some of the units having their floor & ceiling super dark and dirty.. Some have weird design with the orientation of the door to the bomb shelter / storeroom in the middle of the living room wall (wondering why HDB built it like that) and 1 unit asking for high COV for a place that is so rundown when alot of houses were offering $0 or little COV at that time.. And so we went back to this only house that we like again on a 2nd time at night to have a look and we still like it. So that's when we decided to make our offer that was $10k lower than the valuation price. But... the owners refused to budge on the price so no choice lor.. Since we like it then just got to accept the price lor.. Ok.. Thats all for my first post.. Will share the floor plan to my place once I find out how to attach photos.. Hahaha.. Forgive me k for the long grandfather's story and that I gong gong didnt go find out how to attach photo first before writing my first post... Will be back soon de! Cheers!

Hi everyone. We received our keys to the flat in end March this year. after meeting a couple of IDs, we confirmed one in April and started renovation work in the first week of June! Both of us like wood, and we like textures. Along with the fact that we are beach lovers, we thus wanted a "resort" theme for our house. Woody, white, beige, clean, spacious looking, etc. Just imagine a villa in Phuket or a resort in Maldives. i know it doesnt tally with the topic title.. but read on =) Our brief to the IDs: Platform bed Built-in TV console Huge shoe cabinet with design cover-up bomb shelter overlay tiles for both toilets replace HDB given toilet bowls, sinks, shower heads etc. No walk in wardrobe (too dusty and takes up 1 room) vanity dressing table in the master bedroom and the usuals carpentry wardrobe in master bedroom and bedroom 2, toilet vanity cabinets. etc And the theme must be uniform throughout the house Review of the IDs: I screened the names of the IDs and companies (except for my ID) because I believe different people might have different experiences with them. Anyway one bad ID does not make the whole company bad. My best advice is to look for IDs that have experience doing the theme(s) you like. The first ID I contacted was actually the company that did Xiaxue's renovation. I cannot remember the company's name now, but you can easily google it. This ID wasnt the one who did XX's house anyway. The ID Wi***e wasn't very creative, and the ideas she gave are the standard stuff. She's the template kind of person, either lazy or can't be bothered. anyway even though the quotation was pretty close to what we eventually signed but it's just the lack of confidence that she will do a wow job for us that led us to strike her off the list. We then met with R*x from Fuse Concept, whom we signed with eventually. On the first meeting he showed us a house that he did which wasnt what we had wanted. He showed his creativity and sincerity early, and we really appreciated that he took pride in his ideas and dared to think out of the box (what we call "think like an ID and not act like a contractor"). The extraordinary part was that he unearthed what we truly liked. Because we like wood and textures, we always assumed we wanted a resort theme. however he had the foresight and proposed so many 'new' ideas to us that we fell in love with, at the same time, still maintaining the wood, textures and things we wanted to build. along the way while reading lots of Square Room and Home Decor magazines, we realised that resort theme just would not be achievable to the standards we think we want (no spacious hdb, no high ceilings, no sea, no balcony...). R*x tried his best not to recycle the ideas and materials (even tho sometimes we insist at what he thinks is common. I always tell him it's common to him cuz he is an ID but to me, it's new and innovative hahaha). Most importantly, he used our budget very well. We managed to do alot of things + capentry with the limited budget we had. Third on the list that we met was Da**el from Id*** H**se. Well we met up with him because he did the renovation for our parents' current house (2 toilets and 1 room). He was around our age, and thus quite easy to talk to. he has some interesting ideas here and there but needs to be pushed/encouraged to explore further. However having worked with him before, we knew that he was 'bullied' by his contractors sometimes because of his youth and minimal experience and that means as customers we may get pushed back in terms of schedule or workmanship because he cannot win them over. the good thing about him is that he's upfront about practicalities and feasabilities of designs. he would not hide the facts from you but helps you understand the pros and cons to make informed decisions. He quoted us around 30k from the first round but alot of things we wanted were not included or were compromised. We then reminded him we still have budget to play with, so pushed him to rethink his proposal and quotation. however due to unknown reasons he took a long time to come back with the revised quote, and by the time we signed with our ID he still hasn't come back to us, so naturally we dropped him. any vendors who take too long to get back to you without any updates is a bad sign in our opinion. at least a "sorry i have been busy, i will come back to you by xx xx" is better than radio silence. Then there was this OMG and still laughable story about the 4th ID from Me**r Squ**e. His name is Ja***. For all the IDs above, the first meeting took at least 2 hours to go through our requirements in detail. however Ja*** was done with us in 20 minutes. he asked very little specific questions in terms of measurements, said he was very concerned about social media because nowadays (facebook, forums etc) have alot of influence (on consumers). Even though we could not really click with him, we gave him another chance to present his quotation cuz who knows maybe he can come up with something good. He proposed (or kind of insisted) that we should hack the wall between the kitchen and service yard because it will extend the kitchen and that we should do a open concept kitchen even though we did not want to. Plus he told us that our budget was more than enough!! At the second meeting, Ja***'s quotation came up to a good 10k more than the budget we gave him and which he claimed was more than enough. He seemed to have forgotten what he claimed.. okay nevermind. his ideas were mediocre (honestly can't rmb much of what he proposed), but he wasn't well prepared. Whatever sketches or layout proposals he showed us at the second meeting was what other IDs drew on the spot during our first meetings with them. and the killer sentence was when he proposed that we have shower curtains instead for our toilets because they are so small........ followed by laughter. thereafter, he also changed his mind and said he now proposes not to hack the wall between kitchen and service yard (errr... you proposed and then you killed it without good reasons or explanation to your client). when we asked him if a PE endorsement is required to hack walls, he wasnt sure... He then tried to arrange a third session with us but inside us we knew we were saying goodbye to him. we were not comfortable with his working style, nor his personality. totally zero chemistry. The other innovative ID we met was Ke*** from Spa** Se**e Stu***. He is actually an ID whom we admire very much as his works are unique and daring. He did not give template solutions and he is also a furniture maker. There were many things that he DIY for his clients, like buying table legs from Ikea and customizing the table top. He gave us unconventional and unheard of ideas, like building ceiling beams, wall pipes that act as bookshelves, and leaning walls and surprisingly his quotation was not that expensive. It was a very difficult choice to choose between his creativity and R*x's. The reason we chose R*x over him was because we clicked better with R*x. Chemistry matters to us because afterall it is a long period of working relationship and we wanted to be sure we chose someone whom we could feel comfortable with, in terms of discussing and rejecting ideas. Ke*** was extremely professional and so serious such that the discussion felt a bit uptight and we were worried we may not be able to communicate our ideas to him during the process. However we would recommend him if you like loft and industrial designs, which seems to be his expertise. Lastly we met up with J**n from The 80s S***o. She was open and easy to talk to, and was also someone who takes her job seriously with 8 years experience in the industry. Honestly I like their designs very much. They have this knick knack ability to use simple ideas or materials that you don't usually associate with home decor, to demarcate an area or transform the space. However her quotation was the most expensive at around 55k-60k. Comparing the various quotes, their carpentry costs were like at least 10% higher than the other companies. Because we have alot of carpentry requirements, we were not willing to settle. However meeting up wtih J**n actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise even though we did not work together. She gave us a brilliant suggestion to enlarge the master bedroom, which we later explored with our chosen ID. We're thankful for her help unknowingly. Sorry for the lengthy intro/review. I am uploading the pictures... Edit: here's our floorplan so you can see the overall layout.

Hmm...have been procrastinating for a while to start this thread on our home. Finally decided to sit my a** down and start sharing our journey with you all. We are noob homeowners, so it is a learning process and hopefully what we share will be interesting and useful for you too. Do share with us too...especially those who are at the same stage as us, and those who had 'attained nirvana from this process Because I had procrastinated for so long before starting this thread, we had already finished on the early stages of confirming our ID...haha. One hand I am happy to get the ID confirmed and move on with the process, the other I don't suggest anyone to be like us. Despite reading so much from the 前辈s here about how to choose ID, we only applied maybe 20% of what we learned here and depended the rest on gut feel. Now, starting to worry and regret for acting so impulsively. Sigh~~ Time will tell, if our gut feel is reliable. So, in summary we contacted 6 IDs. Who did we get? 1. Space Sense We liked K****'s portfolio in industrial style so we sent him an enquiry. He replied to ask for our budget and requirements, then there was a long delay before he turned us down citing it is impossible to fulfil our requirements with our indicated budget. To be fair to us, we really do not know what would the cost for the intended renovation of our scale, so we mentioned an estimated of 35-40K hoping that our conversation can carry on and we can make more realistic adjustments to the budget. It is a pity that we were not given the chance to further our enquiry, or perhaps there was too much projects to handle for the ID firm. In another words, no fate with Space Sense. 2. BoxID Saw their work on an article from renotalk.com. Sent out an enquiry but no reply until a full month later. By then we are already in closing talks with the final ID so we did not proceed to meet up anymore. 3. Artist Room Read about them on renotalk, but no reply on our enquiry. 4. Three-D Conceptwerke One of their designer, Will, contacted us the next day after we sent our enquiry. Initially, I had my reservation because Will is not a local, and thought someone local will contact me since the firm is local. But not willing to discriminate, we proceeded to meet up with Will, who turn out to be quite an enthusiastic and friendly chap. It was easy to talk to him about the concept we are after, but we left the meeting feeling a little iffy if Will will understand what we really what and how he will propose the layout to accommodate what we want (will show below). But boy, we were pleasantly surprised by Will's proposed layout. It was interesting and quite similar to what we were thinking, only perhaps better. We were quite blown away. (And this is when our gut feel started to kick in over rationality...sigh). 5. New Nyew I really like New, and her hubby. We first visited New at her place, and both of them are very nice people. She spent 3 hours going through our floorplan and proposed her ideas right on the spot (even brought us to see her showroom in Yishun). She was also the only ID whom brought to site immediately following our first meeting to view our place, and she was the quickest with her response including the edits we requested to the initial proposed layout. Frankly, we were so closed to confirming with New had we not gone on to meet Will and saw his layout. I would still strongly recommend New to anyone who is looking for an ID 6. The Design Practice We found R****** from vincentinteriorblog.com. He was one of the recommended ID, and after viewing The Design Practice portfolio online, I found that he was the designer for a flat reno that I really like and bookmarked since the day we got out flat. Told myself my future flat can possibly look like that. Unfortunately, fate is not with us for R******. We waited long for his responses, and never get to fix down an appointment date. So, in the end, we decided to drop this enquiry as well. By now, you should have guessed it. Since our gut feel was so strong...we decided to go along with Will from Three-D Conceptwerke (TDC for short..lazy) Hmm....any renotalkers who had also used TDC before? Do share your feedback =)

Our 5 rm BTO is now already undergoing renovation. Tiling works and wiring are in progress. Pardon me but let me do some back dating work here. Renovation is really more hectic than we though it would be! We'll let the pictures do the talking. Here is our floor plan. Very typical 5-rm floor plan. Had thought of hacking the wall between bedroom 3 and living room so as to make a, very popular now, semi-enclosed study room complete with glass doors and black frame. This would very much fit into the modern scandi feel. But then did away with it after consultation with our feng shui master. Decided to do away with the wall between our master and bedroom 2 instead! [bEFORE] [AFTER] Much space and light after. Didn't know how much space was the wall hiding! Since I am in the mood of hacking, why not just remove the hideous white plastic box with mesh-like PVC material covering the drainage in the master toilet. Somebody may like it, somebody don't. This was an inital idea that alarmed our ID a bit but then was accepted cause it fitted our design! Alright the picture doesnt do it justice. But trust us, it's a lot bigger with the damned box removed. The black stuff is preparation work for our overlay~~ That's the update for another time..

we are halfway to complete our 4 room flat renovation. some of the good stuffs done by the sub-contractor that we absolutely love it. the kitchen cement walls, done by the tiler. Though it was his first attempt for such request but he did it anyway!

I've been marking down notes and learning the ropes from you guys in renotalk who made it possible by sharing your experiences. 3 years have passed. Now here is where we begin our renovation process. This will be a slow but comprehensive renovation as we wouldn't like to rush into things. Hope you guys will appreciate this compilation of the steps we took to build our home.

Finally I decided to have a T-blog here, simple reasons that we will like to share our gained sweat & sweet that from unit sourcing till renovation, and of cos furniture expenses! We rent HDB, condo and landed property for the past 5 years and really tiring to share the unit with others with limited freedom in the space such as laundry, kitchen and of cos living room! We had good housemates who become our very best friends and bad housemates who don't care others' feeling, do what they like . Long story short, we are easterner hence those units that we hunted all located in east. Having said that, it's not a cheap place to stay in east due to most of hdb all are very expensive. We had to test water of the HDB market in mid 2012 and we engaged an agent source us unit. The agent brought us to Marine Parade 3I HDB selling at 410K but asking 60K COV . That's really turn me off although I like the location very much due to we have not much cash to pay for the COV and of cos we are looking at least 4 rooms. We have no choice continue stay with our rent unit to save more bullets for our dream house. A year later, mid 2013 we begin unit hunting again...however after thoughts we decided to focus in Bedok Reservoir with few reasons: * it's located in east * it's nearby central of SG instead of Tampines, Pasir Ris area * those unit selling history in HDB website mostly within our budget * there is future MRT to be completed in 2017!

We just collected our keys! Can't wait to start our reno journey! Had been quietly following all the t-Blogs that inspired us a lot and now it is finally our turn to document and share this adventure with the fellow Renotalk peeps. So exciting! YAY! Here is the floor plan... P.S. This will mostly be the wife blogging, I hijacked my husband's RT account to blog.

After being a silent reader of many reno t-blogs and many PMs exchanges for ID contacts, I have finaly (and reluctantly) decided to start a t-blog to document our reno journey, learning process, and sourcing tips etc with fellow forumers and future readers. Have taken too much good info from this forum and this is our small way of giving back to this lovely and helpful community in Renotalk. First and foremost, like any other reno t-blog, our floor plan. Right from the start, I knew there's some design flaw (oh well, it's HDB BTO, either take it or leave it) 1. There's no way to hack the kitchen to create open concept, and my wife have to forget about any kitchen island. 2. Placement of dining table gonna be a challenge (I actually use this as one of my key selection criteria to determine if an ID is giving much thoughts about space planning, or they are quoting for the sake of quoting only). Some ideas/themes that my wife and I like, and inspired after reading many pages of t-blogs and other online sources ....

There used to be some a thread for those who love industrial theme and vintage items. Here im starting a new one with more updated pictures & inspirations to share. We are not bias on designers or ID companies. its just a visual references. I love brick walls, Cement, pipes, wire mesh & factory lamps! so here are some looks im share with u guys, Feel free to post more pictures of what's relevant and avoid nasty comments.