The kitchen had an almost major overhaul. Finally got rid of the pink wall tiles that I hated. Hahahah....

Have both top and bottom kitchen cabinets really greatly increases my storage. At last, I can finally walk around in my storeroom without bumping into stuff.

The formica fo the bottom cabinet was specially chosen to match my beloved doors.

Edited December 20, 20169 yr by steffie

Removed my walk-in wardrobe and changed my bed from a king to queen. Was really amazed at how much more walking space I had in my bedroom. I can even put a console at the foot of my bed so that I can now comfortably work on my laptop in my room. Plus I no longer need to crab walk… hahaha….

Edited December 20, 20169 yr by steffie

To give my son a little more privacy, I moved his bedroom to the inner room. Created a cozy corner with the low cabinet with cushion so that his friends can have a place to hang out when they come over.

Edited December 20, 20169 yr by steffie

What was my son's bedroom is now the study room. A good area to store all his toys and gadgets so that his bedroom is less cluttered. Another place for my son and his friends to hang out!

Edited December 20, 20169 yr by steffie

The MBR and common bathroom are almost identical so I only took one set of photos.

Replaced the shower screen with a shower curtain as it felt a little claustrophobic previously, sitting on the toilet bowl and flanked by the sink and shower screen. I think it is a good choice as it was quite a challenge keeping the shower screen free of water mark and soap scum.

Edited December 20, 20169 yr by steffie

Most of my renovation went well. But as with any renovations, there were hiccups.

 

I had originally wanted to cement screed my kitchen wall so as to match the bathroom door. However, after the plumber and electrician were done and they patched up the walls, the walls had these wet, patchy marks that didn't seem to dry. The walls looks very messy. In the end, I reluctantly agreed to let Ronald paint over the walls with white weather bond paint. Admittedly, I was a little disappointed but I must say it did make the kitchen look brighter.

Edited December 20, 20169 yr by steffie

Ronald did warn me that scratches on black solid surface tops would be obvious so I was prepared kind of for it. I wasn’t prepared though that even bottoms of porcelain bowls and cups can also cause scratches. Within 2 weeks of installation, my solid surface top was full of scratches and water marks (because we did wipe dry immediately).

Ronald kindly arranged for the solid surface guys to come again to re-polish the surface. The guy shared that using Pledge would help to maintain the shine. All you need to do is spray it on the top, leave it for 10 mins and then wipe dry with a dry cloth. It has to be done weekly for those of us who don’t cook often and possibly about fortnightly to 1 monthly if you do.

Edited December 20, 20169 yr by steffie

My last post so I will end with some of the lessons that I had learnt from this renovation experience:

1. Ensure that your contractor provide you with a schedule before commencement and keep a close eye on it.
2. Be around during installation of doors, especially if you are changing the direction of your main door. Luckily I was around when the door guys came. If not, they would have installed the door according to what it was previously. 
3. Be around when aircon guys are doing the piping so that you can tell them how you want the piping laid. Also have your contractor around as well to make sure that they don't try to "smoke" you. Ronald was a real lifesaver.
4. Check often when your contractor are doing the foundation work so that errors can be rectified. After the cement’s dried, it may be too troublesome to correct mistakes.
5. Be around when electrician doing wiring so that you can let them know exactly where you want to have the lighting or electrical points.
6. Choose the contractor/ID carefully. The most expensive may not always be the best. Doing some research on his/her track record is very important.  Contact previous owners for their experience working with him/her.
7. If you want to build new walls or do cement screeding, get contractors that have experience doing it.
8. I absolutely loved shopping on Taobao. But you need to ensure that you take time to read the reviews. Even with me spending hours on end reading up on the reviews, there were still furniture that didn't quite make the mark. And if you are fussy, don't get wooden furniture as they would most likely be scratched by the time they arrive.

Just like how I had benefited from the many forummers who had shared their renovation experience, I hope that what I have shared would be useful to other homeowners looking to renovate their place.

Hey steffie!

recommend you a Magic Countertop spray (red bottle) and the 3M stainless steel spray for your solid top countertop. My solid top is quite well-maintained, and the 3M one is recommended by my solid top contractor and it does clean and seal the counter top very well.  

On ‎9‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 11:18 PM, bykaraanne said:

Hey steffie!

recommend you a Magic Countertop spray (red bottle) and the 3M stainless steel spray for your solid top countertop. My solid top is quite well-maintained, and the 3M one is recommended by my solid top contractor and it does clean and seal the counter top very well.  

Thanks for the recommendation. Can most certainly do with a good cleaner and seal. Quite a bother to maintain.

Have you have asked them to return to polish it?

4 hours ago, steffie said:

Thanks for the recommendation. Can most certainly do with a good cleaner and seal. Quite a bother to maintain.

Have you have asked them to return to polish it?

Nope! Mine is light colored though, so probably isn't as obvious as yours, but the 3M works.  

what i do is I use the 3M magic sponge (melamine sponge) and a natural spray to clean the top (Method or Mrs Meyer's) after cooking, then dry it with a microfiber cloth. I cook almost daily so my solid top does get used a lot. 

Then weekly I use the magic countertop cleaner or 3M stainless steel cleaner to seal it and it will look v shiny. Haha.

Thanks for the tip! So interesting to be using a stainless steel cleaner on a solid surface top! Will try it this weekend.

 

Hi Steffie,can pm me all the shortlisted contractors, thank you.

26 minutes ago, eoeo77 said:

Hi Steffie,can pm me all the shortlisted contractors, thank you.

Hi there, I have pm'ed you.

Grats on your new home ! Very nice blog you have done up, same as your house that beautiful!