Congrats on the finished Reno and moving in...

Update us again when all the furnishing is done

Sofa, rug and TV

We bought all these from Harvey Norman (Millenium Walk). We bought LG TVs for the living room and MBR. We were planning to buy Samsung TVs, but the salesman convinced us that LG is on its way to be the next Samsung. The colour of LG TVs seem more natural than Samsung's and is cheaper too.

Living room

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

MBR

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

Edited April 24, 201412 yr by Harriette

Dining table

The kitchen is still very messy. The dining table is also from Harvey Norman.

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

Scanteak bookcases and tables

The original intention was to buy some Ikea Billy bookcases for the upstairs bedrooms, but it was out of stock. Then Scanteak had a sale over the Good Friday weekend where the bookcase ($199) was even cheaper than Billy (also $199, plus $19.90 for assembly). The Scanteak bookcase is about the same size as Billy, but with much better material. It was a very good deal.

The Scanteak furniture has a very nice woody smell.

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

Edited April 24, 201412 yr by Harriette

Hi nwz,

Yes, the design comes first. Jay did up the drawings and technical details. These documents include:

- the proposed floor plan (ie. space planning, which wall to hack/erect, etc),

- electrical plan (ie. light points, switches, data, TV)

- floor finishes plan (homogeneous, parquet, etc)

- ceiling plan (false ceiling, cove light, etc)

- carpentry designs

The contractors are given the above-mentioned documents done by Jay, and asked to quote a price. As part of my agreement with Jay, he sourced for 3 quotations. Being kiasu, I sourced for another 6 quotations on my own. These 9 contractors include Jay's regular contractor (William), 7 contacts found in Renotalk and one recommended by a friend. From these 9 quotations, I eventually decided to engage Mr Yeak as my contractor.

Jay does the design and also ensure that the design is executed well. As part of my agreement with Jay, he will:

- visit the site once a week

- Advise/accompany client on sanitary ware, tiles, lighting fixtures and cabinetry works

- advise on furniture and lifestyle accessories

Jay also advises Mr Yeak on the technical details.

Mr Yeak is the main contractor. He does all the coordination works for everything - tiling, aircon, electrical works, windows, window grills, etc. Well, everything.

Once a week, or once in 2 weeks, all 3 of us will meet on site to discuss details.

I will PM you Jay's design fee, coz I sense you will be asking,

Hi, Can you pm me the design fee and the contact? TIA

Hi, Can you pm me the design fee and the contact? TIA

PM-ed.

Nice place u have got, planning to buy your area as well. Mind if u can share yr purchase price?

Hi,

you can check the latest resale transaction price at HDB's website.

Bedside tables

I tried to find suitable bedside tables, but I did not find anything suitable. Most bedside tables available are bigger than the 40cm width which I was looking for. I quite like some side tables from kimono-net. A side table roughly costs $180 and comes un-assembled. I could assemble myself or pay $40 for assembly. Overall cost will be maybe $220, which was rather costly.

http://www.ki-mono.net/index.php

So I got Mr Yeak to custom-make 2 bedside tables for $250 each. The bedside tables are built to fit the available space perfectly, fitted with wheels, for easy moving and covered with the same laminate used for the other carpentry.

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

Source of inspiration: Journey East

Inspiration for the bedside table came from Journey East. The one that Journey East is selling seems much bigger.

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

Edited May 5, 201412 yr by Harriette

Tefal Actifry

We have used the Tefal Actifry to cook curry chicken, fried bee hoon and fried prawns. Very convenient. This machine is able to contain the smoke, oil and fumes well. A kitchen hood is not necessary.

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

We chose the Tefal Actifry coz it can cook "Chinese/local dishes" like the above-mentioned, instead of a Philip AirFryer which can't.

Edited May 5, 201412 yr by Harriette

Techno radiant stove

This stove can be used for any pot including Corning Ware and Corelle. It has a timer, which I use when brewing soup and steaming food. I can also set the heat to just "1" (the minimum) to keep the soup warm.

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

Steamboat dinner for 9 people

We recently had a steamboat dinner for 9 people. There was ample space.

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

Edited May 5, 201412 yr by Harriette

Looks good

Learnt many great safety and baby friendly advice here!

First blog I saw to incorporate baby functional feature!

My functional mop station

I would like to show some pics of my low-cost and very useful mop station. It doesn't look that nice, but it is very useful and flexible.

The mop station comprises one Grundtal towel rail ($12.90) and three Grundtal rail ($6.90 each). All are from Ikea. Mr Yeak's workers did the mounting.

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

I can use S hooks to hold detergent bottle and mops.

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

I can use water jug to hold laundry powder.

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

Anyone tried Philip PerfectCare Azur steam iron?

I saw this advert about Philip PerfectCare Azur steam iron. It supposedly will not singed your garment. 3 of my shirts were singed badly before - 2 by part-timer helpers and 1 by me. I wonder if I should invest in this iron.

image by Harriette_Tan, on Flickr

Thanks for the info on Tefal Actifry; always wonder that's better than Philips and love the idea of the water jug for powder detergent, that should help avoid powder spills!