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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.

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Edited by JohnB
 

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Background

Our new home is a small, three-room BTO flat.
Getting a flat from HDB was fun! I was particularly interested in the process as my research touches on public housing. More importantly, everyone we interacted with at HDB was easy to talk to, and eager to help. Because of them, the experience was made all the more enjoyable and memorable. :thumbs up:
After getting the keys, we looked forward to visiting our new home! To say we were excited would be an understatement. We live-tweeted the first visit. (Though that proved to be somewhat of a challenge due to the telco coverage :lol: )
Then came the checking of defects. I’m afraid we checked everything. Painstakingly. We wanted to be thorough and took a few months. The BSC folks made every effort to accommodate our wishes. They took care of the defects in less than a week so that our renovation could begin as scheduled. :thumbs up:
We are now in the midst of our renovation. I can’t help but view renovation with some trepidation. Hopefully everything will go well!
 

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Design: Somewhat resembling a studio. Minimalist blended with a little bit of industrial.



Studio

We are removing the bedroom walls. Thus turning the main bedroom, the other bedroom and the living room into one open, airy space :) The kitchen entrance wall is going too.


Minimal

Simple lines guide the design. We like the bare, empty look and are hoping to keep it basic, and understated. Preferably no clutter, just the things we need for everyday life. And in keeping with the minimalism in the design, we are aiming for a uniform look in the storage: we are hoping that the kitchen cabinet will look the same on the outside as the sideboard, which will hopefully look the same as the wardrobe.


Industrial

Because, concrete. The electrical conduit will also be left exposed, thereby adding another industrial element to the design.


Bathrooms

For the bathrooms, the design will take a turn: to keep within our budget, sadly we have to leave them as they are :(


Colours

We are aiming for a light palette. Predominantly white, as the colour is said to enlarge, reflect light, enhance decorative elements and look clean. Plus grey (hopefully light, soft shades), bits of black and blue (the colours, not bruises :lol: ), and some cool-toned wood. We are partial to cooler colours, such as those found in the following spaces:


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Source 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

 

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The Wall Behind The Bed

We like the simplicity of the bedroom in the pic below and are thinking of doing away with our headboard, and having a similar dual-coloured wall behind our bed. But reversing the colours – with the lower part in the same grey as our flooring (thus giving the illusion of lengthening the floor?), and the upper part in white. I think, ideally, the grey should only go up to the height of the bed or slightly above it.

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Source

Or going a step further, by giving a cement-screed look (love MintyVintage’s) to the lower part of the wall behind our bed, thereby upping the industrial feel? Or some texture, perhaps:

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Source 1 | 2

 

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I really like the mood board - feels cool without being cold.

Interested to see how you keep the temp of your place as cool.

AC-ing the whole studio is not straightforward!

 
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looking forward to ur floorplan and the actual house! xD

Thanks, Kindaichi24!

I'm afraid it clean slipped my mind, the floorplan. I'll add a post for it now. :)

 

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Pretty neat I'd say but watch out for the following:

1. Photos seen online have been vastly photoshopped. So mood boards based on those photos you need to take 20-30% off its eventual effect - let's face it, in reality we can't photoshop the real stuff after we place them in.

2. If you are into colours as I am - make sure the little things compliment - the linen, mattress and big frames aside - small things like books, lamp shades, floor mats to even books on the shelves must have colour complimentary values - look at all the display homes and even Ikea - everything on the shelves or walls are colour coordinated ie. bookshelves look fabulous because the books, small displays and the shelf colour blends in well but in reality, no one will have white covered books only unless you buys "display" books only - which means to have "that" effect, you need to keep up the showroom setup - whether viable, I think you guys can decide better.

3. Industrial or otherwise, I think thematically nice but not to turn your very nice concept into a garage. I have seen people dunking all kinds of harsh stuff and wall tones to make their house more and more industrial - I'd say store dump more than industrial. Keep the little bits and pieces going - after all it's a home first, theme second, and never garage.

4. Clutter is inevitable - trust me. No matter what, some hiding place is needed for the shoes you do not need or dress bought on impulse.

But I think you guys have gotten it - and I believe a very nice place is on the way. All the best.

Edited by bluebottle
 
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I really like the mood board - feels cool without being cold.

Interested to see how you keep the temp of your place as cool.

AC-ing the whole studio is not straightforward!

Thank you!

You are right! The aircon part was not quite as easy as we had hoped.

Thankfully, the house is small.

It has taken us some weeks but we have finally found two suitable aircon combinations, and with our ID's help, picked one. We are really glad to have got this sorted out.

I shall do a post on AC in a bit. Thanks again!

 

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