Our Sycamore Place

[sfk7 0]

Hello all!

I've been lurking in this forum for the longest time. Started 3 years ago when I was sourcing for bed, mattress and other add ons to my bedroom as we were going to stay with my mum when we got married.

This is my first thread, hope you enjoy reading it as much as me writing it! I've named it Sycamore place as the focal points of our place is both sycamore, one the sycamore fan and the other, sycamore laminate from formica for our feature wall that stretches from shoe cabinet at the entrance to the dining area! Hopefully it'll turn out to be as close as possible to using real timber strips as that's out of budget.

Now 3 years later, finally got our own place. This didn't come easy as we wanted a place near our parents as both sets stay in the kembangan area and this area is saturated, not to mention the sky high prices. Stumbled onto a non-descript advertisment on one fine sunday evening and as what they say, the rest is history. Whole process from the moment my wife saw the advertisment to issuing the cheque was less than 4 hours.

Being first time home owners, we are naturally very anxious to be able to move in. Our evening walks around the neighbourhood will include the new place without fail to see the progress of it. So overjoyed when we saw that it has been completed and a check with BCA confirmed its TOP status too. Anxious to get the keys we made calls to the developer but the ground staff did not even have basic manners and treated us like dirt. I would reckon that its like what my sergeant treated me when i was in BMT. My wife got so upset that she gave her a piece of her mind. That disappointing episode aside, we were sooooo glad to finally get our keys.

As of 10th Dec, our ID has her guys put up the protection cardboard as we await for renovation to start!

Some pictures of our place, taken with handphone so pardon the poor quality. Didn't take much too... haha

The floorplan. All 95 sqm of it

After deducting baywindows, the useable space is really limited.

View of living room from front door

View of dining area/kitchen from living room

We'll be removing the sliding door and a feature wall will replace it. An extra shoe and storage area will be built above the front entrance too to take advantage of the high ceiling and to put justice to the high price that we paid for this small little private property.

View of master bedroom

A customised wardrobe will sit on the baywindow to the left of the pillar.

Edited December 12, 2010 by sfk7

[jawskie 0]

Awww, I actually think the bay windows are quite charming. you've got a really nice place there.

[sfk7 0]

When I first started sourcing for ID, I was so bent on getting the scandinavian look for my place. However, after looking at the marble floor and dark colored wood finishing for the wardrobe provided, my dream was busted. Now our aim is to achieve modern contemporary that is as close to scandinavian as possible with mid century classic inspired pieces.

Some purchases we have made, most of the big items from GSS. With the current end of year discount everywhere, I'm not too sure if we made the right choice. But money has been spent, so not going to think too much about it.

Sofa!!! Love it... from Air. Great for us as we are rather small sized and at 2.04m it fits the space just right

Gotten a matching sidetable to serve as coffee table. Customised the legs to be shorter from 40cm to 30cm.

2 x Magis Steelwood chairs!! To complement the dining table and bench that I've fashioned myself.

More on the dining table and bench after completion.

From Grafunkt: Bedside table for one side, the other will be custom made by ID.

And lamp over the grafunkt wonder box.

Also gotten 2 round Kartell componibili that we were going to use for bedside table. Now that we have gotten a proper ones, these might just go into the toilets as more storage. An Artimede Tolomeo hanging light from the ceiling will be over the sofa, bought from Hock Siong, thanks curryqueen! Cant possibly make myself to buy a brand new one. That's just crazy money. Although we have asked a good friend to source for artemide tolomeo farreto as bedside light. If we were to buy from europe its half the price locally.

There will be no false ceiling installed by us as we don't really like downlights. The generic design that most designers showed us are the usual false ceiling with lots of downlights that look like stars in a cloudy sky. That's just me. My ID proposed to just put cove light at the baywindow where there will be a border and also at the new wardrobe in the masterbedroom. This is just ingenious. Save money and retains the sleek lines that we are after. We went to JB Avalon Top Lamp to purchase most of our lights, thanks dexufto! Really saved alot after comparing prices locally. However we are still short of lights for the other 2 bedrooms.

Well, thats all for now. Let's see when i can update again on the progress. Exciting days ahead. Hopefully all can be completed in time for us to move in for CNY.

[sfk7 0]

My first reply!! haha

Thanks jawskie. The portion that I'm covering up is too near the private houses that wasn't shown in the picture. heh.

Well, still have half of the baywindow left on the right!

[froggy 0]

hi sfk

Yr total area is 95sqm? Looks so spacious - doesn't look like 95 at all! Just curious - are bw included in the floor area? I think bay windows are nice too

and I love yr marble flooring!

welcome to RT!

[january 0]

Holy bay windows... Hey but you don't have the bomb shelter anymore, that's great!

Great choices of furniture so far... especially love the Magis chairs. Don't think I've come across this brand locally. What's their story?

Wishing you a smooth reno journey.

[sfk7 0]

hi sfk

Yr total area is 95sqm? Looks so spacious - doesn't look like 95 at all! Just curious - are bw included in the floor area? I think bay windows are nice too

and I love yr marble flooring!

welcome to RT!

Thanks for the welcome! Haha

And yes, baywindows included in the floor area as this development is just before the new government regulations. We get to enjoy the deferred payment scheme too but does not benefit us much as we are not looking to flip the property. It did however let us take a break after paying the huge initial payment.

Guess you took reference from the first pic but I took it from the front entrance and without any furniture it looked big. Looks can be deceiving. For instance the length of the baywindow is just 3.1m, taking that into perspective its not big at all.

Holy bay windows... Hey but you don't have the bomb shelter anymore, that's great!

Great choices of furniture so far... especially love the Magis chairs. Don't think I've come across this brand locally. What's their story?

Wishing you a smooth reno journey.

Bomb shelter is outside of the apartment, the common staircase.

Thanks! Read your blog too and envy your choices of finishings. Especially the arte fontana light. Looks so stylish.

Story about the Magis chairs? My story will be we took a walk at Park Mall, Xtra during GSS to sniff out any good (read:affordable) deals on designer items and immediately took a liking to the chairs using metal and beech wood to good effect so decided to splurge on a pair of them. Haha

Jokes aside, The Steelwood chair is a radical assemblage of two traditional materials: steel and wood. Unlike its plastic siblings, it is aimed to become more delicate through time, acquiring a patina over uses and years. The steel forming process required deep technological research due to the unique and intricate form. It led to the final process which requires almost ten successive stamping stages in order to get the right curvature. Designed by Ronan & Erwan Boouroullec and manufactured by Magis.

More info here if you're interested http://www.magisdesign.com/#/products/1/114/gallery/

Edited December 12, 2010 by sfk7

[sfk7 0]

Just a simple update over the week and to prevent my thread from going into obliivon

The space above the main entrance that will be converted to storage and extra shoe cabinet

Chunky sliding doors... gone!

Covered passageway

Better view of the masterbedroom

My ID is still unsure when she can handover and if its possible before CNY. It all boils down to the carpenter and she said she don't want to rush him to ensure better worksmanship.

Oh well, till next week!

[leechaorui 2]

Congrats. Very good location.

[reglxt 0]

When I first started sourcing for ID, I was so bent on getting the scandinavian look for my place. However, after looking at the marble floor and dark colored wood finishing for the wardrobe provided, my dream was busted. Now our aim is to achieve modern contemporary that is as close to scandinavian as possible with mid century classic inspired pieces.

Some purchases we have made, most of the big items from GSS. With the current end of year discount everywhere, I'm not too sure if we made the right choice. But money has been spent, so not going to think too much about it.

Sofa!!! Love it... from Air. Great for us as we are rather small sized and at 2.04m it fits the space just right

i saw this sofa too in air showroom.. i think 3K+ near 4K right?

love it too! you got good taste

I went to customise something like this as well with nyatoh wood base

[sfk7 0]

Got it during the GSS so its lesser than what you have written

Bought from them a matching ottoman and side table to serve as coffee table. All in slightly less than 4k.

[sfk7 0]

Look what came with the mail! Legs for the dining table. Gonna powdercoat it, anyone has any idea where to do it?

Sure took a long time since its about a month after I've paid to reach here. Guess its due to the holiday period in the US. Ordered another 8 short ones to go with the grafunkt wonder boxes. Paid extra shipping as it was too late when we decided to order more.

Wife's cousin helped to hand carry back Roomba 530 when she's back from the US for holidays.

So yea, great presents all round for the yuletide season!

[gakuseisean 4]

Hi I found these lamps on eBay and I think you'd love them/it suits your house. Mid-century lamps from the UK. You might want to consider.

You can find them here.

[reglxt 0]

Look what came with the mail! Legs for the dining table. Gonna powdercoat it, anyone has any idea where to do it?

Sure took a long time since its about a month after I've paid to reach here. Guess its due to the holiday period in the US. Ordered another 8 short ones to go with the grafunkt wonder boxes. Paid extra shipping as it was too late when we decided to order more.

Wife's cousin helped to hand carry back Roomba 530 when she's back from the US for holidays.

So yea, great presents all round for the yuletide season!

haha nice

i got my irobot from amazon

[reglxt 0]

Got it during the GSS so its lesser than what you have written

Bought from them a matching ottoman and side table to serve as coffee table. All in slightly less than 4k.

I see.. very nice sofa