ngunadi 2 Report post Posted June 21, 2010 Actually I didn't buy a dining set from them, but I got my existing one varnished and upholstered. Well, what can I say for good ole D? Nice person during the marketing part, but quite rude and nasty after he's sold you his item. Had a bad experience about delivery dates and long silences in between. In the end, he's just a middleman coz the person doing the actual work is another contractor which he deals with. Anyhow, if I can rewind, I would have probably tried my luck with another cheaper (but by not much) vendor. Barossa's quality and workmanship is good though. If you can tahan his quirkiness, and be firm on your demands, you can try this company out for varnishing and upholstering works, especially for wooden furniture. The stuff in his shop is not bad too but you can get equally nice ones over at Dempsey Road. Verdict: 3 out of 5 stars, Recommended if you're a quirky and eccentric Brit yourself Do you have the contact for the Dempsey road one? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Umaisarah 2 Report post Posted June 21, 2010 Do you have the contact for the Dempsey road one? There's a lot of furniture shops at the Dempsey Road village, selling antique and teak furniture. The one where Patysg bought her dining set - Pasardina - is not bad. Can't remember all the names, but I remembered a whole row of shops not far from the entrance. can check out the website at www.dempseyhill.com or www.tanglinvillage.com.sg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Umaisarah 2 Report post Posted June 21, 2010 (edited) Just realised that I missed out on a very important shop 5. lightings.com.sg, 515 Balestier Road Items Bought: Light fixtures and ceiling fans There's been a lot of positive reviews about lightings.com.sg in RT. For me, it's 50-50. In terms of price, other places can probably match them, especially if you buy a lot of stuff from them. Range-wise, nothing to shout about, pretty standard fare. Service? So-so lah. The ballasts I bought with the downlights were poor quality, according to the electrician, and it's pretty true coz there're a lot of flickering before the lights come on. These ballasts are from M'sia, so if you're buying those lights, choose the Australian-made ballasts which I presume would be better, and it's only a few $ more. And if you're buying from lightings.com, do bear in mind that the price doesn't include installation. Repeat, it doesn't include installation. You have to arrange for it yourself. They do hv their own in-house electrician who can do the installations for you, and they're quite transparent in that they show you the fees that the electrician charges to prove there's no mark-up on their side. I had to change the LED spotlight they recommended me because the combination they recommended didn't work (the bulb was too big for the casing) which was frustrating coz they should know their own products right? The plus point was that I won a PS3 in their lucky draw (I haven't mention that, have I? ) but this has not influenced my ratings on them. Verdict: 3 out of 5 stars. Recommended if you want transparency in your pricing, and have your own electrician to install the fixtures for you. Edited: Finally remembered the lights u install in the false ceiling are called downlights! My poor memory, it is go, going, gone..... Edited June 21, 2010 by Umaisarah Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
teddy19 0 Report post Posted June 21, 2010 Hi Umaisarah, Could you PM me your Eletrician contact? Thank you ! Regards, Teddy19 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Umaisarah 2 Report post Posted June 21, 2010 Hi Umaisarah, Could you PM me your Eletrician contact? Thank you ! Regards, Teddy19 pm u aredy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TnJ 0 Report post Posted July 18, 2010 Anyone heard of Koan Lighting? It's an online store, based in Singapore which sells 'Asian-inspired' lights. I dunno how I came across their website, but I ended up ordering 2 sets of their ZE Light. They have a buy-1-get-1-free offer, so in total I hv 4! What is ZE light? Well, its a DIY light which you assemble yourself according to the design you like. I liked it cuz it was just the type of light me and DH wanted for our MBR and it was cheap. $39.90 for a 30-cm diameter lamp (without the light cord and bulb). They sent it to you in 30 plastic pieces and you're supposed to fix them up together like a jigsaw puzzle. I bought 4 sets, so tt's 120 pieces, and I can make a 60-cm diameter lamp. Tried to superimpose the lamp in my MBR 3D drawing and this is what I came up with: Hi, Did u assemble the light? Was it easy to do? Are they easy to maintain? I'm wondering if I should also get a couple of them. Thanks! TnJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Umaisarah 2 Report post Posted July 21, 2010 Hi, Did u assemble the light? Was it easy to do? Are they easy to maintain? I'm wondering if I should also get a couple of them. Thanks! TnJ Have PMed you the reply. Let me know if you want to try your hand at assembling the lights Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Umaisarah 2 Report post Posted July 21, 2010 Wow, it's been exactly 2 months and 1 day since I moved in, and I think it's time for me to do a review on the contractors I engaged. 1. Styleline, Kitchener Road Service: Bamboo decking for balconies I wanted to deck up my balconies and was looking at a few options - Chengal, Teak, and then I found out about bamboo flooring. I think Styleline is one of the very few companies in Singapore which specializes in bamboo floors. Kent - the salesguy who handled my work - was friendly and patient. There was a slight hiccup during the installation, other than that, the service and workmanship is satisfactory. Need to call him up to ask about oiling the balcony though coz my living room is all discoloured due to the rain, and there's a lot of scratches coz SOME people are not as careful and appreciative of the outdoor deck as me (I'm looking at you Hubby and Helper ). My MBR balcony is still in pristine condition, though. Verdict: 3.5 out of 5. Recommended if you're into living green. 2. Euro Furnishing & Renovation Service: Electrical Wiring and Fixtures Regular readers would have known about the trouble I had with the electrician whom I eventually fired. Euro Electrical was the back-up plan. Their prices are average, meaning it's not cheap, nor is it exorbitant either (go read the topics on Electricians to find out about the horror stories). But I'm very disappointed with the service and workmanship, given the price I paid. Though they are very prompt, and supply a lot of manpower (there were about 5 workers at one time in my house), their work is shoddy and most of the workers were inexperienced. They had to be told what to do by this very loud Supervisor (local Indian) who had a careless attitude about things, in my opinion. There was also another Supervisor (a Chinese) who didn't do anything much except look on and go out to buy supplies. But he's the one who will ask me for payment. Back to the workmanship, it's kind of shoddy, eg switches were placed the wrong way, not properly aligned, etc. They were also quite messy in their work, eg the Indian Sup cut off the blunt parts of his pen knife and just leave the cut-off part on the floor! Quite poor organization and planning of work. Likes to blame others if things don't work, eg they install dimmer for my MBR light, even though I never asked for it, and when we tested the light, it flickered continuously. So, when I asked, they said the problem is with the bulb. But when I asked them to remove the dimmer and replace with a normal switch, the lamp worked perfectly. Duh! They 'destroyed' half of the bulbs that came with the downlights and other lights, because they fixed the lightings wrongly, and me and my Hubby had to go out and buy them ourselves! And the Sup helped himself to some canned drinks in our fridge without permission! Verdict: 2.5 out of 5, and I'm being generous. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
patsy_sg 1 Report post Posted July 26, 2010 Wow, it's been exactly 2 months and 1 day since I moved in, and I think it's time for me to do a review on the contractors I engaged. 1. Styleline, Kitchener Road Service: Bamboo decking for balconies I wanted to deck up my balconies and was looking at a few options - Chengal, Teak, and then I found out about bamboo flooring. I think Styleline is one of the very few companies in Singapore which specializes in bamboo floors. Kent - the salesguy who handled my work - was friendly and patient. There was a slight hiccup during the installation, other than that, the service and workmanship is satisfactory. Need to call him up to ask about oiling the balcony though coz my living room is all discoloured due to the rain, and there's a lot of scratches coz SOME people are not as careful and appreciative of the outdoor deck as me (I'm looking at you Hubby and Helper ). My MBR balcony is still in pristine condition, though. Verdict: 3.5 out of 5. Recommended if you're into living green. quote] am having the same issues with the bf and helper and the bamboo decking!!! Also need to get a bottle of the oil.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leslyn Tan 0 Report post Posted September 9, 2010 Master Bedroom. View from entrance, looking into the balcony and the TV wall. Was very disappointed in the wall. My ID charged me $250 for sticking some bits of plywood on the wall and painting it. Another view, looking directly at the Yoshi bed and Serta mattress. The mattress is fantastic, by the way, and so are the pillows. Highly recommended. View of the '3' moons. How much for serta mattress ? Nice house.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Umaisarah 2 Report post Posted September 13, 2010 How much for serta mattress ? Nice house.. Hi Leslyn Sorry for the late reply. Was bz preparing for Hari Raya, only now got time to check. Here's my original post about the mattress. I think I paid about $3,700 for it, with all the freebies thrown in. I saw a Serta ad about a week ago in this papers and they were having officers for Micro-something pillows and bedsheets costing abt $300++ Maybe you can bargain to get them for free if you buy a mattress from them Happy renovating and shopping! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Umaisarah 2 Report post Posted September 13, 2010 Hi Umaisarah, Able to email your quotation from inner room, if price is ok, might look for your id. kenlim_76@hotmail.com Really appreciate it Hi Ken! Do you want the breakdown by items or the total? For the total, I think it was abt $18k. I pm you the breakdown once I find the quote at home. Oh, that reminds me, I still hvn't done the review on Inner Room yet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Umaisarah 2 Report post Posted September 13, 2010 Okay, almost 3 months into my new home, and here's my final review of my contractors. Last but not least, my main ID - Inner Room! Inner Room Service: Interior 'Designer' and Main Contractor Note the 'designer' in inverted commas. Nothing original in their designs, most were re-hashed from previous or someone else's designs but at least they were practical and functional and not unpleasant to look at. I hired them because the ID, Cadine Lim, had given positive vibes during my window-shopping period, and she was prompt and well-prepared during our initial meetings. You can read my earlier postings about my search for an ID. Inner Room prices are on the high side because supposedly their materials are of higher quality. The materials do look good, especially the wood laminates, but workmanship can be improved. All the carpentry is from Malaysia - which should help keep costs down and the savings passed on to customers - which means that my ID is not there to supervise and instruct while they're fabricating the furniture. This is a disadvantage coz she can't point out if they went wrong with the fabrication. Not that anything major went wrong, but there were some things which were not to my satisfaction. One major thing was the bedroom set for my daughter. And for this, blame falls 60-40 to Cadine and the carpenter. Cadine because she didn't modify my original concept (very rough and squarish) and put in her designer inputs. The bed turned out to be impractical in some aspects, and 'dangerous' in others. It had very sharp corners just waiting for kids heads to bump into. The loft bed was difficult to get to coz the ladder had no holders or handles. The only other thing I was not satisfied with was the bay window ledges. I had slanted ledges, and I think because they haven't done it before, the workmanship was quite bad. The joints were finished very roughly and some looked unfinished. And the carpenter scratched the bedroom floor when he was cutting some of the laminates. Other than that, in terms of project management, can't find any fault with Cadine. She is very organised and pleasant to work with. She is quick to catch what you want and will offer good ideas, and advise you what will work and what won't. She will admit her mistakes (not that there were many) and make up for it. Inner Room is a sister company of Rest and Relax, which offers lifetime guarantee on their reno. I'm supposed get a cert or something from them. Which reminds me to give Cadine a ring and ask her about it. Verdict: 6.85 out of 10. Just short of getting an A Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Umaisarah 2 Report post Posted September 13, 2010 Finally got round to putting up the Winkplay decals for my kids bedrooms. Just in time for Hari Raya! Kids Room 1 - Treeflower Theme The Beginning.... Rubbing it in The final product! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Umaisarah 2 Report post Posted September 13, 2010 More Winkplay decals! Kids Room 2 - Oh La Love theme This one was soooooo difficult to do coz the decal refused to stick to the transfer paper no matter how hard I rub it in. But the design is really cool and suit my growing tween girl to a 'T' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
