Hi,

I have been a very silent reader all these while. But after leeching on renotalk's information for so long, I started to feel a little guilty. Hope I can use this thread to share a little of my knowledge and experience.

I started searching for id and contractors at least half a year ago.... We even thought of being the contractor ourselves and get sub-con in to do the individual work. I think we might be able to save more money. Having to work within our tight budget and yet not willing to settle with too little, we finally decided to get a contractor to do the job.

The first person in my mind was the same guy who did my mum's hse 3 yrs back. Just a contractor, but a very practical person. He will not get us to waste money on unnecessary stuff and will introduce us to places with good bargain. But his quotation was very competitive with other contractors. (I actually compared almost 10 diff quotes at the same time) But through renotalk, I read a few good reviews about him. So we decided to give him a try... Glad to say, till this stage, we still have not regretted.. hahaha....

Since we decided on using contractors instead of id, we have to do a lot a lot of homework ourselves. There will be nobody to tell us about aesthetic factors.... Below is a picture of the space planning I did for my home....

Edited September 21, 201115 yr by jopej

I am horrible with design work, so I did lots of research on magazine and internet to find an exact picture to show my contractor to minimise misunderstanding.... below are some of the photos I found.

Hi

Welcome to renotalk! You draw up the floor plan on your own? That's awesome!

We are quite similar in a way that we didn't hire ID but engage a contractor instead. Save cost as well as we already have the concept and design in mind.

We sourced ideas from magazines (home & decor, square room), renotalk etc. and show the contractor pictures of it. So far so good. But becos we don't have a 3D design, we have to be careful with colors combinations and measurements.

Good luck with your renovation! Btw, what kind of theme are u looking at? Those pictures look great!

Edited September 21, 201115 yr by Dreaming

Here are some of the photos of my hse when i just took over....

Hi

Welcome to renotalk! You draw up the floor plan on your own? That's awesome!

We are quite similar in a way that we didn't hire ID but engage a contractor instead. Save cost as well as we already have the concept and design in mind.

We sourced ideas from magazines (home & decor, square room), renotalk etc. and show the contractor pictures of it. So far so good. But becos we don't have a 3D design, we have to be careful with colors combinations and measurements.

Good luck with your renovation! Btw, what kind of theme are u looking at? Those pictures look great!

Hi dreaming,

I used to like contemporary. but my hb prefers minimalist.. so this time we are going for tat.. which means everything gonna be black and white... :-)

My aircon units were fixed up today, but not totally to my liking :-(

The position of the aircon in the master room is not near to the wall. I am not able to have a 2m pelmet with curtain which is meant to cover the wall next to my window totally. Now hoping that my contractor can get his guys to shift the aircon unit....

Here are some of the reno work photos:

Master room aircon unit

Master toilet

false ceiling @ living rm

On top of spending almost 35k on reno, the next painful thing is having to buy all the furniture and white goods. Fortunately, i managed to get a lobang to buy some stuff from china which allow me to save quite an amount... These are things like carpet, lightings, toilet accessories and etc... :-)

Here is the photos of some items i got.

carpet for master bedroom, this is really cheap.. so happy.. most local furniture shops quoted me $500 for the bigger one. lucky never buy, else feel so cheated... :-) now thinking of getting a bigger one at the living room...

painting on the wall @ living room... another thing at unbeatable price

i jus love this bedside lamp which is such a good buy and will add some soft touch to my so black and white room...

a 60 cm height vase and another decorative item which will decorate my living room as well.

On top of spending almost 35k on reno, the next painful thing is having to buy all the furniture and white goods. Fortunately, i managed to get a lobang to buy some stuff from china which allow me to save quite an amount... These are things like carpet, lightings, toilet accessories and etc... :-)

Here is the photos of some items i got.

painting on the wall @ living room... another thing at unbeatable price

a 60 cm height vase and another decorative item which will decorate my living room as well.

Hi jopej,

Where do you get these three items? Mind sharing their prices? Thanks in advance.

nice one!

when i see this, it reminds me of a deflated disco ball!! 8|

Hi jopej,

Where do you get these three items? Mind sharing their prices? Thanks in advance.

Hi Reiki,

I got the painting at 240 and the vase at 180. The decorative platter comes free with the vase... :-)

Hi Reiki,

I got the painting at 240 and the vase at 180. The decorative platter comes free with the vase... :-)

Where do you get them, jopej?

Hi Reiki,

I did not get these in Sg. I go through another person to get them in China. She was mainly doing carpet groupbuy, but on good will, she helped me to get some other items as well. :-)

you can try contacting her at wendychia70@yahoo.com.

Other money draining items i bot are as follows:

- L-shaped Black Sofa, Coffee Table/Side Table and Master Storage Bed from OM

- TV Console and Dining Set from Yang Hua (aka FCC, very worried if items will be delivered cos read horror stories from forum after buying)

- TV, Fridge and Washing Machine from Audio House

- Sink, Toilet Bowl and Storage Heater from AMK Blk 400 Plus

- Downlights and T5 from Malaysia Tampoi (recommended by other thread)

- Study Room Cabinet and other misc from IKEA (planning to)

- Aircon System 3 (recommended by contractor)