as some of you may have already know, im a huge fan of DIY stuff. despite having moved in for so many months, im still trying find ways to beautify my home, on a budget of course. i've repainted my door frames to black because i didnt think the initial color (charcoal grey) was dark enough. and yesterday, i did this :

using woodgrain contact paper (remake sheet) from daiso to dress up my service yard. it was white tiles previously but this one looks so much better i love it! it has this outdoorsy feel that i like. probably cost me $5 for this project. i've also bought marble contact paper from taobao to redo my kitchen floor, will post a pic then! 

amazing!  

Hello,

You home looks amazing!!!

I would like to ask for the taobao site you got the curved shower curtain rod from, if possible? Is it strong? 

I love your pantry and am considering that option but I wonder where else can store nitty gritties like mops, vacuum cleaner, brooms, ironing board and such....how do you deal with these?

11 hours ago, greenfingers said:

Hello,

You home looks amazing!!!

I would like to ask for the taobao site you got the curved shower curtain rod from, if possible? Is it strong? 

I love your pantry and am considering that option but I wonder where else can store nitty gritties like mops, vacuum cleaner, brooms, ironing board and such....how do you deal with these?

hi, thanks! here you go :

https://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=523943417554&abtest=9&rn=947a60e3d5d5d1df3226b94e9fe56779&sid=55ce616445b1bb4b17a8c16beb43162c

so far so good for the shower curtain rod, just have to be very gentle when pulling on the curtain. 

i still keep the broom at the sides of the pantry, i also have a stepladder there. for my vacuum cleaner i put it beside my full height wardrobe. theres a gap there near the window. i dont own an ironing board, i also dont own a rice cooker so basically my lifestyle is quite "abnormal" haha. for mop, im using the magiclean wiper stick with a cloth attachment from daiso. thats my mop. when i mop the floor i simply fill my bathroom basin with water & floor detergent so that does away with the need for a pail as well. really need to do away with many things else theres no room for all these in a 3 room flat. 

looks amazing btw!! would love to see some recent pics of your bathroom

On 7/26/2018 at 12:09 AM, matchalatte said:

as some of you may have already know, im a huge fan of DIY stuff. despite having moved in for so many months, im still trying find ways to beautify my home, on a budget of course. i've repainted my door frames to black because i didnt think the initial color (charcoal grey) was dark enough. and yesterday, i did this :

using woodgrain contact paper (remake sheet) from daiso to dress up my service yard. it was white tiles previously but this one looks so much better i love it! it has this outdoorsy feel that i like. probably cost me $5 for this project. i've also bought marble contact paper from taobao to redo my kitchen floor, will post a pic then! 

This looks great!

 

But i'm just wondering... will daiso contact paper be able to hold up to heavy use? If you need to mop your floor, or there is laundry dripping onto it, or grease stains that you need to wipe off in the kitchen, not sure if the contact paper will hold?

7 hours ago, squazee said:

This looks great!

 

But i'm just wondering... will daiso contact paper be able to hold up to heavy use? If you need to mop your floor, or there is laundry dripping onto it, or grease stains that you need to wipe off in the kitchen, not sure if the contact paper will hold?

there are 2 types, the glossy one that is thicker and usually in marble/granite print. this woodgrained one is thinner, but still water & greaseproof. it scratches easily though, i was doing some gardening work at the yard and dragged a pot with soil, also had hangers dropped on the ground and both resulted in scratches/dents. if its just normal mopping i think it should be ok.

one of my favorite things to do is at home is hosting close girlfriends and having afternoon tea. 

today i made raisin scones, orange chocolate chai & matcha green tea financiers. 

On 1/19/2018 at 5:41 AM, matchalatte said:

finally the review of my chosen contractor! sorry to you guys who pm-ed me asking for my contractor's contact. i decided not to reveal who it was until the whole reno is over mainly because i wanted to be objective in my review and of course, the other selfish reason being hes very famous around here la, i didnt really want to "burden" him with more projects.

i think nick or renoguyz requires no introduction. obviously i read much about him and what his personality was like from the tons of people who met him - things about him being blunt & sarcastic but in the beginning it was more difficult dealing with him than i could imagine because we couldnt really see eye to eye in many things and we do not have the kind of "chemistry" that some people have with their contractor and ID. but that wasnt a major concern as its more important to be able to deliver than to be a good salesman. as you probably can tell, i do not like typical HDB cookie cutter ID style design with lots of built in carpentry and im very anal in some of my requirements so i feel that nick thinks im very troublesome. afterall who on earth would want all drawers for kitchen cabinets and who the helI still does laminate countertop nowadays? during the time we met at my place after key collection, he was just so unfriendly to the point of being scary. he just squatted at one corner looking very sullen while his assistant terence went around taking measurements. at that moment i wondered whether i chose the right person to take up my project. even hubby was appalled. but soon, i started to see the positive side of him. 

i dont want to go into the nitty gritty details of the whole reno, but lets just say that no reno process is smooth sailing. there will be lots of miscommunication and mistakes along the way but the most important thing is the willingness and promptness to rectify. that was one good thing about nick. another plus point is he has seriously VERY GOOD subcons. all his people are absolutely amazingly skilled with very good workmanship. because of the control freak that i am, im not the kind to visit my unit once a week so i actually had the "honor" in meeting most of the subcons - hacker, tiler, painter, electrician, plumber and carpenter. the only two people i did not manage to meet were the service yard window guy and the parquet polishing guy but even them did an awesome job and i really have lots of respect for these people, including nick who manage to source for these people to work for him. i do not think its easy at all. 

of course, another thing is nick is not profit driven so hes not the kind who will encourage you to do all sorts of things. in fact lots of times he would go like "dont do this la, so expensive, not good to use, you will regret one day". and since hes not profit driven at all, i actually HAD to beg to pay him a deposit and up til the end of everything i only paid him 50% and he only collected the balance 2 months after i moved in  

so would i recommend? absolutely positively YES but (theres always a but) do not expect lots of hand holding meaning if you're expecting him to constantly update or whatsapp you the progress, sorry to say, there is none. for me at least there is none. many times i had to ask him for updates then he will do it. i also hardly see him around, maybe only 3 times throughout the 3 month reno period. he does not turn up to supervise everytime something is being done, preferring to arrange for things via phone. sometimes i feel like i have to update him on mistakes instead, which i dont really mind but i would actually prefer him to be more proactive. thats the problem with engaging someone famous i guess. 

so overall no regrets at all! hes not the cheapest but his rates are reasonable. most importantly his subcons are good, because ultimately, workmanship still plays an important part. 

Thank you for your honest review! 

not sure if i've posted a pic of my living room at night. its my favorite space in the home, really dark, moody and just the way i like it!

posting the current state of my kitchen, a year into moving in.

view from the service yard

my full height unit on the other side. notice i also did the contact paper thingy on my floor finally, the marble one from daiso. pretty sick of the generic white flooring HDB gave, plus the grouts became dirtier by the day so i refreshed up a little with this. i think its very pretty.

for the uninitiated, i went against the "conventional" and opted for laminate countertop. just an update to say that after a year of intensive cooking, baking & washing, its holding up super well, no stains, discoloration or whatsoever. honestly apart from not putting hot items directly on the laminate, i hardly gave it much care. it was also really cheap. so the bottomline is you dont need to go for solid surface, quartz, silestone or whatever.

im still also loving my cabinets alot though i wished there were more gold elements like gold handles! oh well! 

embarked on yet another DIY project. this is the service yard, and also my baking area! i painted this part of the wall a darker grey, i also needed something to hang my baking utensils, tart rings etc. was contemplating between a pegboard and this, decided on the latter since it was cheap (yes, daiso again!) and fuss free. i do like how it looks and im really happy with it. its missing a little something though, fairy lights perhaps? haha

 

Your house is so nice! Creative DIY and deco....

I am thinking of learning baking but still cannot decide if I should buy a built in oven or a conventional oven which I will place on top of my WM .... your afternoon tea looks so yummy.... 

Thanks for sharing your journey ... 

On 23 September, 2018 at 8:55 PM, matchalatte said:

one of my favorite things to do is at home is hosting close girlfriends and having afternoon tea. 

today i made raisin scones, orange chocolate chai & matcha green tea financiers. 

 

9 hours ago, CaseBlue said:

Your house is so nice! Creative DIY and deco....

I am thinking of learning baking but still cannot decide if I should buy a built in oven or a conventional oven which I will place on top of my WM .... your afternoon tea looks so yummy.... 

Thanks for sharing your journey ... 

 

thank you for your kind words! it really depends on a few factors. if its a new home i would suggest a built in oven. you can probably get one at around $500+. mine's also the most basic range. that way you dont have to put the oven on the washing machine and if you really do intend to bake more often in future it wont be a headache trying to find space to slot an oven in. for me the oven is indispensable because besides baking it can also be used as a dehydrator for making dried fruit or yogurt, roast chicken, i also use it to keep food warm while cooking other dishes when i have company over. but ultimately it depends on you! 

Hi matchalatte, were you able to do anything creative with HDB's small and ugly bathrooms? I went through all 21 pages but didn't seem to see any photos of the finished bathrooms.