A Different 3 Rm Flat

[Changbp 5]

Didnt have space in my tiny 3 room, so the shoes goes into the electrical cabinet. The mini shoe rack at the electrical is completed. Top row right under the switchboard is a curtain rod from Daiso, its for hanging high heels.

2nd row is for 3 pairs of slip-ons that can be to be "hooked".

3rd row is a shelf for standing shoes, shares the air space with the hooked shoes.

4th row is a shelf for anything and 5th row is the bottom for boots.

 

[Changbp 5]

 

Found the perfect size coffee table that fits my sofa. The Ikea Vittsjo nesting table. It is very plain, but the 900x500 size for the longer side is the exact size that i wanted. So I had to modify it.

There were plenty of inspirations from pinterest which i drew from.

 

Before. Plain white one.

 

After. (Made it into a coffee table cum ottoman. Also can double up as seating for guests.... if they are not too heavy....)

 

And a week After the earlier After.

Spent a couple of hours last night sewing and tufting buttons into it which I actually regretted... The foam i used was super firm and its too difficult to do a deep tuft on the button. And I felt that it looked more posh without having the buttons. Anyway I'll leave it for now...the coffee tray should cover most of the buttons. 

 

Also the TV + TV console is also up! don't know how to hide the wires coming out from the TV...

 

 

The square unused piece of the Vittsjo is now up for sale... i don't think i have space to store it. 

 

Edited April 16, 2016 by Changbp

[Changbp 5]

 

On 23/03/2016 at 10:54 PM, Changbp said:

Its been some time since my last update. Some of the furniture like Sofa bed, washing machine, TVs, dining table, mudroom racks have arrived but i havent really had the time to sort them out. Some are still inside the box...

At the same time i've been aggressively buying accessories stuff from Amazon and Taobao, etc which have not arrived... when i can piece them together I'll post some photos.

Well the bombshelter vent eventually became this pattern. I made 5 designs, but i thought I'll just show the final one that i'm going to get it laser cut out from aluminium sheet. Machining time should be about 2-3 weeks. Hopefully it turns out great.

 

 

 

 

The mock up of the bomb shelter ventilation lasercut out in acrylic. This is actually mirror acrylic, the protective film has not been peeled off yet. I didn't get a chance to. The joints are too thin, it cracks into pieces after i accidentally dropped it.. Back to the drawing board.

 

[bykaraanne 30]

Exciting to see furnishing! Congrats on moving in. 

[ricepapergirl 21]

11 hours ago, Changbp said:

 

Found the perfect size coffee table that fits my sofa. The Ikea Vittsjo nesting table. It is very plain, but the 900x500 size for the longer side is the exact size that i wanted. So I had to modify it.

There were plenty of inspirations from pinterest which i drew from.

 

Before. Plain white one.

 

After. (Made it into a coffee table cum ottoman. Also can double up as seating for guests.... if they are not too heavy....)

 

And a week After the earlier After.

Spent a couple of hours last night sewing and tufting buttons into it which I actually regretted... The foam i used was super firm and its too difficult to do a deep tuft on the button. And I felt that it looked more posh without having the buttons. Anyway I'll leave it for now...the coffee tray should cover most of the buttons. 

 

Also the TV + TV console is also up! don't know how to hide the wires coming out from the TV...

 

 

The square unused piece of the Vittsjo is now up for sale... i don't think i have space to store it. 

 

Wow!! Loving the DIY on this! Wish I had my sewing stuff back from my maiden home so I can plan out more DIY stuff!!!

[Changbp 5]

On 16/04/2016 at 0:21 AM, bykaraanne said:

Exciting to see furnishing! Congrats on moving in. 

Thanks. I'm excited too.

Btw, how was your "hansgrohe" rainshower from TB? The one i bought seem to be kinda noisy. the handheld was ok,  I suspect it is because of insufficient water pressure that is inducing the noise.

The gold tap also started to slightly leak at the pivoting line when the tap is turned on... though both are minor nuances.

 

Rgds,

Bp

[Changbp 5]

On 17/04/2016 at 10:20 AM, ricepapergirl said:

Wow!! Loving the DIY on this! Wish I had my sewing stuff back from my maiden home so I can plan out more DIY stuff!!!

no special tools used for that though,I just bought cloth and sewing stuff from spotlight.  Just some needles and threads, some buttons and a big tack stapler. Kind of regret getting the batting from spotlight as it is quite ex. I found ikea sells it for way cheaper.

If you are going to do upholstery, get the bigger! tack stapler. Mine is not really big enough as sometimes it takes more effort to tack thru many folded layers of batting and cloth.

Edited April 18, 2016 by Changbp

[Changbp 5]

Some reviews on the Hob, Hood,oven and some cookware

 

1. Teka Chimney Hood,  it sucks. as it should. Operation is straight forward enough. But the carbon filter is not easy to install. And the instruction manual is written in such a way that it is almost undecipherable by humans. You will need to use screwdriver to take off some screws and slide open the metal prefilters in a certain order.  Thereafter you still need to figure out how to insert the filter cartridges in which is lagi less user friendly. There are no indications on the parts itself how to fit it and the instructions on the box does not seem to tally with the filter/hood combo that i have. My first attempt ended up with the charcoal filter splitting open spilling its bits all over my kitchen. Once you finally manage to insert the 2 filter cartridges in, you have to remember the precise sequence how the metal prefilters were disassembled to put it back in the reverse manner. The lighting bulbs are easy to change but these are not LED and can get pretty hot.

My take: It sucks pretty ok, but Avoid unless you like fiddling with stuff every 6 months when come to filter change. Teka customer service is excellent though, i returned the filter for exchange with no questions asked. 

2. Teka Combinational oven, with mulitple grill/bake/microwave functions. But so far I've only used it to bake cookies. It is relatively easy to use and looks real good (though not as good looking as fisher and paykel which have disastrous reviews on the net). However I didn't quite like the fact that i cannot use back the previous cooking setting and had to repeatedly reset it after every bake sequence ends(hey... this sounds similar to the disastrous reviews on fisher and paykel). I made 4 batches of the same cookie and i had to reset it 4 times! Resetting it 4 times is actually okay but the knobs became quite hot after the 1st batch ended. I think this is a very poor design. Right below the knobs were the vents where you can feel hot air coming out, which over time caused the knobs to get so hot that you cannot pause your fingers on the knobs for more than 1 second. On 2nd rebake you need to grab the knobs, spin it to your setting within a second. After you set the timing and function, you need to touch the glass surface for the OK and START touch button, those are hot too . If you wear gloves the buttons can't "feel" your entry. If you don't wear gloves, you risk burning your fingers. As my Hob is right above the oven, i cannot roast stuff at the same time as i'm cooking on the hob else my nuts will get roasted. Luckily i've never intended to cook at that position because of feng shui anyway. Good for my life of the carpentry though, just not good for reproductive organs of humans. 

My take: Avoid. Not cheap too.

3. Teka Sink - Generally some rust spots started appearing which i cant remove with my scourer. I only used it over the weekends and not much oily stuff gets dumped in it. maybe that's why this could happen..

My take: At $300+ for a sink, there should be better ones out there. Or go for bianco. I admit i was lazy since i was at teka i just bought everything there. I would have opted for Kraus sinks if i knew the secrets of bargaining for free Amazon shipping from some of the other forumners here.

4. ikea 365 wok - In the picture. My go to wok currently. Heats real fast. Good weight, good size and good handling. Handle stays cool. 

My take: Cheap and good. looks ugly though. 

5. WMF chrome vanadium... also in the picture.. heats slow, and handles get hot. Really sleek looks though. I got it as a free gift though so couldn't really complain. However if i were to pay for one, judging by the price you see in CkTangs, avoid.

My take: Avoid, unless you don't cook. You can use it for display.

I'm going to buy a flat bottom carbon steel wok from amazon soon. I hope it can get hot enough for chinese stir frying on an induction cooktop.

6. The Hob - This is one with a really different size. Its larger than 30cm width dominos but smaller than those 60/90cm standard size hobs. Luckily the touch buttons are intuitive enough (though i did spend a good 10 minutes figuring why i could start it at first try as it keeps powering off by itself, untill i read the manual).Though again the manual is next to useless. You have like a 100 page manual but only 1 page with operational content that you can intepret from. Another good 10 minutes finding this page.

I like it, the button stays cool and its easy to use and powerful enough. Safety features are good, it also tells you if the surface is hot from radiant heat of the cookware even though you may have switched off the heating function  I hope the production of this doesn't go end of life by the time it is due for replacement. else i would have difficulty replacing as i will need to cut my quartz top for the standard sizes.

My take: buy if you like odd sizes. 

Edited April 18, 2016 by Changbp

[bykaraanne 30]

9 hours ago, Changbp said:

Thanks. I'm excited too.

Btw, how was your "hansgrohe" rainshower from TB? The one i bought seem to be kinda noisy. the handheld was ok,  I suspect it is because of insufficient water pressure that is inducing the noise.

The gold tap also started to slightly leak at the pivoting line when the tap is turned on... though both are minor nuances.

 

Rgds,

Bp

The rainshower is noisy because it's using "air" to add water pressure. Yes it's noisy. My husband likes it though, cus the white noise cancels out noise outside. Only he uses that toilet. I have also protected it with transparent spray seal to prevent rusting.

my gold tap doesn't leak at all. :/ it was quite well built IMO! 

Surprised that the Teka hob hood oven and sink had such issues! I guess I'm very blessed. 

My hood's filters are one click... Just push to remove and both comes out the same way. My oven's knobs don't get hot at all! The door too I can stand and cook in front of it with no issues. I'm very surprised that these basic things were not thought of by Teka!

oh for the rust stains on your stainless steel sink, try the white magic sponge from Daiso or 3M. Works wonders. I don't mind my Monic sink And the stains come off with the sponge easily.  

Edited April 19, 2016 by bykaraanne

[bipps 4]

On 4/16/2016 at 10:48 PM, Changbp said:

 

Found the perfect size coffee table that fits my sofa. The Ikea Vittsjo nesting table. It is very plain, but the 900x500 size for the longer side is the exact size that i wanted. So I had to modify it.

There were plenty of inspirations from pinterest which i drew from.

 

Before. Plain white one.

 

After. (Made it into a coffee table cum ottoman. Also can double up as seating for guests.... if they are not too heavy....)

 

And a week After the earlier After.

Spent a couple of hours last night sewing and tufting buttons into it which I actually regretted... The foam i used was super firm and its too difficult to do a deep tuft on the button. And I felt that it looked more posh without having the buttons. Anyway I'll leave it for now...the coffee tray should cover most of the buttons. 

 

Also the TV + TV console is also up! don't know how to hide the wires coming out from the TV...

 

 

The square unused piece of the Vittsjo is now up for sale... i don't think i have space to store it. 

 

Your DIY work **** chio can!! Are you using spray paint or lacquer for the gold finish? 

[bykaraanne 30]

Btw bro, the rainshower noise aside, I can vouch it's very water-conserving. Apparently the noise is the air technology using less water to "compress" and create water pressure. 

My hubby bathes there multiple times a day (he loves the rainshower) and our water bills are significantly lower than my friends' who use the small Grohe rainshower twice a day. 

[dukebluedevil 1]

13 hours ago, Changbp said:

Some reviews on the Hob, Hood,oven and some cookware

 

1. Teka Chimney Hood,  it sucks. as it should. Operation is straight forward enough. But the carbon filter is not easy to install. And the instruction manual is written in such a way that it is almost undecipherable by humans. You will need to use screwdriver to take off some screws and slide open the metal prefilters in a certain order.  Thereafter you still need to figure out how to insert the filter cartridges in which is lagi less user friendly. There are no indications on the parts itself how to fit it and the instructions on the box does not seem to tally with the filter/hood combo that i have. My first attempt ended up with the charcoal filter splitting open spilling its bits all over my kitchen. Once you finally manage to insert the 2 filter cartridges in, you have to remember the precise sequence how the metal prefilters were disassembled to put it back in the reverse manner. The lighting bulbs are easy to change but these are not LED and can get pretty hot.

My take: It sucks pretty ok, but Avoid unless you like fiddling with stuff every 6 months when come to filter change. Teka customer service is excellent though, i returned the filter for exchange with no questions asked. 

2. Teka Combinational oven, with mulitple grill/bake/microwave functions. But so far I've only used it to bake cookies. It is relatively easy to use and looks real good (though not as good looking as fisher and paykel which have disastrous reviews on the net). However I didn't quite like the fact that i cannot use back the previous cooking setting and had to repeatedly reset it after every bake sequence ends(hey... this sounds similar to the disastrous reviews on fisher and paykel). I made 4 batches of the same cookie and i had to reset it 4 times! Resetting it 4 times is actually okay but the knobs became quite hot after the 1st batch ended. I think this is a very poor design. Right below the knobs were the vents where you can feel hot air coming out, which over time caused the knobs to get so hot that you cannot pause your fingers on the knobs for more than 1 second. On 2nd rebake you need to grab the knobs, spin it to your setting within a second. After you set the timing and function, you need to touch the glass surface for the OK and START touch button, those are hot too . If you wear gloves the buttons can't "feel" your entry. If you don't wear gloves, you risk burning your fingers. As my Hob is right above the oven, i cannot roast stuff at the same time as i'm cooking on the hob else my nuts will get roasted. Luckily i've never intended to cook at that position because of feng shui anyway. Good for my life of the carpentry though, just not good for reproductive organs of humans. 

My take: Avoid. Not cheap too.

3. Teka Sink - Generally some rust spots started appearing which i cant remove with my scourer. I only used it over the weekends and not much oily stuff gets dumped in it. maybe that's why this could happen..

My take: At $300+ for a sink, there should be better ones out there. Or go for bianco. I admit i was lazy since i was at teka i just bought everything there. I would have opted for Kraus sinks if i knew the secrets of bargaining for free Amazon shipping from some of the other forumners here.

4. ikea 365 wok - In the picture. My go to wok currently. Heats real fast. Good weight, good size and good handling. Handle stays cool. 

My take: Cheap and good. looks ugly though. 

5. WMF chrome vanadium... also in the picture.. heats slow, and handles get hot. Really sleek looks though. I got it as a free gift though so couldn't really complain. However if i were to pay for one, judging by the price you see in CkTangs, avoid.

My take: Avoid, unless you don't cook. You can use it for display.

I'm going to buy a flat bottom carbon steel wok from amazon soon. I hope it can get hot enough for chinese stir frying on an induction cooktop.

6. The Hob - This is one with a really different size. Its larger than 30cm width dominos but smaller than those 60/90cm standard size hobs. Luckily the touch buttons are intuitive enough (though i did spend a good 10 minutes figuring why i could start it at first try as it keeps powering off by itself, untill i read the manual).Though again the manual is next to useless. You have like a 100 page manual but only 1 page with operational content that you can intepret from. Another good 10 minutes finding this page.

I like it, the button stays cool and its easy to use and powerful enough. Safety features are good, it also tells you if the surface is hot from radiant heat of the cookware even though you may have switched off the heating function  I hope the production of this doesn't go end of life by the time it is due for replacement. else i would have difficulty replacing as i will need to cut my quartz top for the standard sizes.

My take: buy if you like odd sizes. 

Hilarious yet informative read haha. Thanks.

Disappointed to read about the Teka sink because I just got one! Lets see how it performs. 

[Changbp 5]

12 hours ago, bipps said:

Your DIY work **** chio can!! Are you using spray paint or lacquer for the gold finishR

At present moment it is just Rustoleum specialty gold Metallic spray paint.

It gets rubbed off pretty easily. I intend to do another coat and then spray some polyurethane over it to protect it.

[Changbp 5]

9 hours ago, dukebluedevil said:

Hilarious yet informative read haha. Thanks.

Disappointed to read about the Teka sink because I just got one! Lets see how it performs. 

I have high expectation for German engineered products. So my description could have been a lil exaggerated.

i hope your sink is the "cross" version. (See my post on toilet tile). My sink was the flat one and I had bulky timah road water ponding inside it. I suppose that may have resulted in the rust spots.

[Changbp 5]

13 hours ago, bykaraanne said:

Btw bro, the rainshower noise aside, I can vouch it's very water-conserving. Apparently the noise is the air technology using less water to "compress" and create water pressure. 

My hubby bathes there multiple times a day (he loves the rainshower) and our water bills are significantly lower than my friends' who use the small Grohe rainshower twice a day. 

Actually I was refering to accessing the charcoal filter that's embedded deep in the hood. Replacing them is like doing heart valve replacement surgery....however The external filters are just like you mention, 1 click open.

For the rainshower, actually I found out if you orientate the head in a certain manner the noise can be cut by half with an observable increase in water pressure. So you are right, water saving when air is introduced and noisy.