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bryanchua83

First Home Sweet Home

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Hi everyone,

This is my first time writing a blog here and my renovation is now on progress. We apply our resale flat located at CCK on August and first appointment was scheduled on the 07th of Oct and following by the 2nd appointment on the 19th of Nov. We are both very excited as we are going to own our very first home. After our first appointment, first thing we did was to scout for renovation company to compare as we know nth about renovation. After we send out our floor plan, we receive about 15 calls from different renovation companies requesting for a meet up for further discussion. If we were to meet up with all the IDs it will be very tiring so in the end we shortlisted only 7 companies to meet up with after checking on their reviews. To cut story short, after all the meet up with all the IDs, we choose none of them reason being is that their quote is not within our budget. In the end we choose a neighborhood ID company which is near my new house and reason being is that she is very patient and is willing to give us suggestion and solution when we meet some problem with the design.

This is our floor plan

floor%20plan_zps2jiwp1ot.jpg

Type: 4 room

Area: 104 sqm

First time we came into this house,we feel that it is bright enough with unblock view plus the squarish layout make the unit looks big.The only bad point is that the house condition and design is rather bad as we believe that the house have not been renovated for almost 20 yrs since after the first house owner. Suddenly a question appears on my mind is that how come the house is painted with so many color :huh:.

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Bedroom 3: don't know why the dying rack is inside the room :unsure:

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This storeroom have been re-size by previous owner and it is so small. (How much things can be store???) :unsure:

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From the original condition we need to spend more on demolition works like removing the built in wardrobe at BR 2, concrete slabs & partition slabs at the center of the living room, false ceiling and whole house cornices, restoring the size of the store room.

 

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Join 46,923 satisfied homeowners who used renotalk quotation service to find interior designers. Get an estimated quotation

During our weekends, we are busy looking for bathroom / kitchen accessories, lightings & ceiling fans. We gather all sorts of information from FB and Renotalk forum on where to get the best deals for accessories. Below are the things we purchase

From Singapore:

Rinnai Chimney Hood

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Rinnai Hob

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Rinnai Built In Oven

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Total price: $1326.00

To Be Continue....

Edited by bryanchua83
 

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At first, we start to source lighting on tao bao, as we are not buying many things on tao bao so we use our previous china agent account which is call UUCH. We saw a light for dining table which is quite nice and at the same time we continue to look for other lightnings. When we decided to buy the light, The dining table light which we have shortlisted was all sold out...OMG.... so no no choice but to keep looking for other similar light but the only choice left is white color. We tried asking the seller when the new stock will be coming in and their reply to me is they are not sure. So our reply to them is "All right we will wait" so after 2 week we check with the seller and YES!! the new stock came so we faster place order. When my China agent receive the light, they inform us that one of the light broke into pieces and the color was not the 1 that we ordered, therefore they arrange for seller to resend the items in good condition before shipping to us. That is why we choose UUCH as they will do a pre check on the items before shipping out to buyer.

Dining table light -$43 Sing dollar

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LED strip for kitchen cabinet 5 meter-$13 sing dollar

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We brought 3 different size ceiling light which is for BR 2&3 and kitchen.Seller will provide the chart to let us know different size room match with different size of light and also option to choose only single light color or 3 light color comes with remote control.(When i refer back the website then i realize this light already out of stock)

Size:

30X30 15w single light-$12 sing dollar

45x45 3 color tone c/w remove control -$27 sing dollar

65X42 3 color tone c.w remove control-$35 sing dollar

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We found an interesting light on tao bao. The interesting part is the light is a Bluetooth light and it is able to connect with phone to play out music and able to control the color of the light thru apps.

Master bedroom light-$54 sing dollar

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The above is the lighting brought in tao bao, shipping cost is about $130 Sing dollar.

 

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This speaker ceiling light sounds cool. Please review after you have install as I love that idea to have it in the toilet area :)

 

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According to the floor plan we discuss what kind of light we plan to install, after shortlisting few type of lights, we went into Malaysia to source the light we need.First we go in Tampoi as some ppl in renotalk forum have introduce but we feel that the design there is not what we desire. In the end we find out 1 lighting shop which the shop name is YAKO LIGHTING near KSL shopping (another 10mins drive from KSL).The sales person name uncle Kang was very patient and helpful to help us source for the lighting we want.(because not every light have ready stock so we place order and put some deposit, during this 1 month we keep in touch with uncle to add on item we wan like switch,socket and also change the item we have been order) After 1 month we plan to go in Malaysia again to collect our light and also at the same time sourcing for ceiling fan, kitchen basin and meeting up with the sales person who is doing curtain which he have already came into Singapore to take measurement (we don't wan go in Malaysia again because it is too jam,so we stay 1 night in Malaysia to make sure everything have been collected and settled) we brought 5pcs track light, 14pcs T5 tube, 13pcs down light and 2 pcs celling light for bathroom at Malaysia instead of tao bao because shipping cost is 1 of our concern as the downlights are quite heavy and also we worry that the light might broke into pieces. Just when we are about to make the final payment for the lights we ordered, to my surprise, they are selling some bathroom mirror which 1 of them caught my attention. This bathroom mirror with cove light which is similar to my 3D drawing and we have been searching Hi & Lo for it. Once it is mounted up, we will update the picture.

T5 tube-RM28 each

Track light 7w-RM59 each

Tack light 12w-RM79 each

2 meter track-RM20 each

Downlight 12w glass side with 3 color-RM39 each

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If you plan buy a celling fan in Malaysia make sure u choose a low celling series, for KDK there is no problem because they have few model specially for low ceiling. For master bedroom we need a ceiling fan with light so we choose Fanco. Luckily the curtain sales person fetch us go to a shop that sell wide range of Fanco fan. One issue that we face is that the fan is main for high ceiling, the sales person suggested that we modify the fan rode to a shorter length in order to fix on HDB unit. But instead of modifying the fan rode we choose to buy a set of fan bracket, rode and cover meant for low ceiling from Fanco head office which only cost us $24.

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KDK ceiling fan-RM599

Fanco ceiling fan-RM550 (top up another RM30 for LED light)

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Kitchen sink we found in Malaysia-RM480

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This speaker ceiling light sounds cool. Please review after you have install as I love that idea to have it in the toilet area :)

Hi Luxexplorer, sure will review once installed. One thing to note that this light could not be installed in the toilet as there are water vapors due to hot water from the heater. We intend to install the light just outside our BR toilet.

 

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We wan to save cost so we just overlay the tiles instead of hacking. After they remove the wc then we realize that both bathroom have be overlay previously, if we are to overlay again,we are consider laying third of tiles.Try to imagine how thick it is? So there will be additional cost for removing the existing toilet tile(Our ID is willing to give us some discount for this labour charge which is $60 each). The day that our ID ask us go to choose the floor tiles and wall tiles for 2 bathroom, kitchen and floor tiles for living room, we spend around 3 hour choosing the tiles and also the sales man and our ID were very patient and giving us a lot of suggestions and ideas even though we keep changing ideas.In the end the first 3D bathroom idea i use it on the common bathroom instead of master bathroom. Referring to the first 3D drawing, we do not really like the color combination of the kitchen cabinet and master bedroom wardrobe. Our ID advise us to choose the material,color and design again before the second 3D drawing be proceeded.

1.Master bathroom-feature wall tile,floor tiles and wall tile

2.Common bathroom-feature wall tile,floor tile and wall tile

3.Living room-Floor tile

4.kitchen-floor tile and wall tile

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We choose I-quartz as our worktop for kitchen cabinet and in order to save cost, we opt for breakfast table instead of a kitchen island which is our original idea. And for using this material and color, we will need to top up an additional $100 from the original package.

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We choose another color and design for master bedroom wardrobe and the effect show that it is more brighter than the previous color.

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Our ID give us a suggestion to customize a budget TV feature wall that comes with wall paper. The main purpose to install TV feature wall for us is to hide all the cables behind the wall and giving the living room a cleaner and nicer look. The day we go and choose the wallpaper, they have lots of choices for the wallpaper (but not every 1 have stock), so we need to choose more than 1 selection for backup. The below wallpaper in the 3D drawing looks special but I feel that it is not really suitable to be a TV feature wall,what do you think??

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This is a new 3D drawing after we comfirm the wall tile and floor tile for master bathroom.

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Hi. I intend to look for jb curtain. Mind to share contact n quotation? Thanks.

Hope u hv a smooth reno journey!

Hi kimi09, I was quoted for full length x 3 sets and half length x 2 sets day and night curtain with new tracks and adjustable hooks @ RM2640 inclusive of installation. Contact person is Zac Yeo HP:+600108876933 Or FaceBook:JB HOME Curtains. He is a very nice young chap and he will come to your place to do the measurement FOC. I personally touch and feel their material and I can feel that the material is quite up to standard.

 

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Your toilet looks very modern and clean style. .nice especially the feature wall.

The pearl laminates also very cool and I wanted to change to this when I saw it last week but the carpenter has already ordered my first choice and i didn't want to cause too much problem for them.

As for the wall paper I would prefer plain and textured rather than printed for the TV area as feels a little distracting. But most importantly is what floats your boat :)

Edited by Luxexplorer
 

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Your toilet looks very modern and clean style. .nice especially the feature wall.

The pearl laminates also very cool and I wanted to change to this when I saw it last week but the carpenter has already ordered my first choice and i didn't want to cause too much problem for them.

As for the wall paper I would prefer plain and textured rather than printed for the TV area as feels a little distracting. But most importantly is what floats your boat :)

Thanks. End up we choose something more simpler.

 

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Day 2-Water proof for kitchen and toilet.

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Day 3-start tiling.

At first my feature wall should be place at the shower area but because the PVC water pipe is beside shower area so in the end we discuss on phone during my working hours she suggested me to move the feature wall beside the WC and do it as a whole wall, i accepted the idea and since i'm not there so I trust that she will give me the best concept. As for master bathroom concept, it is more straight forward as there not much obstruction on the feature wall side.

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Living room and kitchen

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After apply all tiles the house really look different, new and nice but its only for kitchen and bathroom area because we realize that the wall condition is bad and the painting is peeling off. The wall texture is rock stone (famous on 90s) even though we re-paint the wall there will still rock stone effect, so our id suggested us to do plastering but we rejected this suggestion after knowing that the cost is over our budget, therefore she is willing to try her best to help us scrap off part of the peeling paints. After 3 days of consideration (feeling the wall really ugly) we decided to go ahead with the plastering and we try hard to nego with our ID and thankfully she agree to offer us a better price for plastering.

Before After

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