Honeygal

here is a small feel of how my fusion theme may pan out. the gap between the armchairs will be filled by a black chinese cabinet, which will be adorned by a gold semi-sleeping buddha on top. these will be moved from my current home: the console table behind is the feng shui corner. will be adorned by a pair of Chinese Cloisonne vases, water feature, and a plant. all of which will again be moved from my current home: close view of the rosewood armchair. second hand but looks brand new. only $140 each: close view of the console table. made in canada. this console was discarded by Four-Seasons Hotel here. good as new. only $260: kitchen cabinets: pull-out tray for extra work space or to be used as a breakfast area: under table garbage hole, much neater i felt: Masterbed room toilet. Thought the walls tiles i have chosen are white, somehow turned out to be off-white. Same floral laminate as wardrobe, not my favourite since it is my last choice:

what a coincidence ! you can see how mine turns out in one my earlier posts. i feel my aluminium handle is an eyesore. would have looked better if the handle is same laminate, more seamless, like wallpaper.

haha of course a replica! even the replica is far from cheap. Visited both V-hive and Comfort, the one at Comfort seems to be of better workmanship. Lush replicas are the best (made in australia they claim), but priciest too at $800+. would love to move in within the next two weeks, but unfortunately, unable to take leave due to heavy work commitments. so closest date is mid-end march, sigh!!!!!!!!!! i agree, homes that we do up ourselves (instead of relying on ID's template designs) have more character. this flat is only 70% of how my dream home will look like. due to cost constraints, i have had to sacrifice a whole lot of stuff which i otherwise would have done, eg: change floor files and wall tiles, put wall-paper, change doors, install glass wardrobe, put up nice paintings, have down-lights, designer dining chairs etc etc.

study desk is 5 feet. cost is $380 (not $350 as stated earlier). very expensive. am satisfied with workmanship and service. i would suggest you bargain with them. will pm you contact. good memory! am trying to achieve a contemporary chinese feel. hope i succeed! as i said before, i am the least creative person around and have little sense of mixing and matching. planning to get a barcelona chair, not sure if it will look out of place next to my rosewood armchairs. i bought this place precisely because of the long kitchen, which allows plenty of workspace. in fact, i have even installed a pull-out tray in the kitchen cabinet, in case i needed even more space haha. i spend loads of time in food preparation and the kitchen is like my sanctuary, believe it or not! thank you everyone for the kind words and compliments the furniture are all ready but i can't find time to take delivery of them due to heavy work commitments. this is the problem with being single - no one to take over.

this pic was taken before the light is lowered. hopefully the electrician got it right this time, haven't gone to check. slippery only when there are puddles of water. i hardly fry food, so am not worried about grease. as in any other similar glossy tiles, got to be careful when mopping. thrilled that reno is completed!! now anxiously awaiting dates for 'xie tu' and move-in. will get all furniture & electrical appliances delivered on the same day next week. in the meantime, still tearing my hair out over which laundry drying system to choose. all seems too heavy for me. help!!!

thank you agree with the uniformity part. but realised the flat was getting overwhelmingly white, so i threw in some black for balance.

Very much a white-black theme flat. Very safe, as i am not much of an Interior Designer and do not quite know how to mix and match colours creatively. Kitchen cabinets up. Flooring & cabinets have not been cleaned yet. Disappointed that the black floor tiles are not as glossy as i thought: Common toilet bath accessories up: Study room book cabinet. Just installed and not cleaned yet. Third choice of laminates, so i believe it would have looked better if carpenter had allowed me to go with my first choice: Matching laminate study table. Didn't need the 3 drawers but carpenter said it's the same price regardless of whether there are drawers or not. So naturally, i asked for the drawers. Quite expensive $350.

wanted a smaller version of this for my living room but lighting shop only had this size. so bought it anyway - too lazy to shop around. $180. still find it too big. should the light be a little lower? pleasant floral tiles for common toilet to 'cheer up' the dreary place where i do my manual laundry:

i happen to pick the beige victorian (1st design from left) for my toilet MBR vanity cabinet and wardrobe. you may view them in my blog "bachelorette's pad".

Master bedroom cabinet and light ($120 from A Lighting) installed. Not entirely thrilled by the floral laminates, that was my second choice anyway. Anyone thinks the light is installed too high, or just right (note that there will be a queen size bed beneath it)? Kitchen sink partially installed. Laminate cover not removed yet. I have asked carpenter to cut a hole for my plastic garbage bin (far right):

thanks for the pic. questions: -is it very heavy to lift the poles? -do you dry the laundry indoors and it dries by 7pm next day? if so, does drying indoors cause any dampness to the kitchen cabinets? -how do you use the alumininium retractable pole outside? i can't figure how you put the bed sheets when the poles are fixed outside? -where did you buy and how much does this system cost?

hey it's understandable that you should feel a little upset. i would too! btw what kind of laundry drying system do you use? am looking around for one. i daren't use bamboo poles. i also wonder how to dry my laundry since i am out for at least 12 hours a day and when i get home, it's night. a lot of my clothes are not suppose to be tumble dried, as such, a dryer for me would have limited usage, though i intend to get one in due course. my current place has a balcony so i have no problems drying the laundry even when i am out. any recommendations on laundry drying system from anyone would be greatly appreciated! thanks all!

did you specify paint grade and colour for your ceiling?

Oh dear me! so sorry to hear that! it's important to choose high quality range for ceiling. i selected white for ceiling and i know there is a danger contractor may simply substitute the range - afterall, there is a white for every range. that's why i want to be very sure contractor use the Dulux All range i selected for ceiling. looks like i have to go down during the paint job to spot check on the paint tins!

Thanks for your detailed explanation. Am using HB painter. I just found it unusual when HB advised me to use Pentalite instead of Dulux range (which is priciest i was told) for ceiling.

How can we ensure that contracter uses the specific grade of paint we have selected, ie, that they do not shortchange us, eg if i selected Dulux All White but they actually use Pentalite White?

wow thanks for the wonderful tip! i did not know that Just Anthony is expensive until i went there. but their furniture especially cabinets are so beautiful. would you know if the other shops you listed sell the same type of stuff? i seem to remember that nghee hong and feffco sell rosewood, not the sort of stuff that Just Anthony sells. please correct me if i am wrong. if you know of any other shops which sell similar range as Just Anthony but cheaper, let me know. for the laminate, the 'out of stock' was a lame excuse, as the carpenter later admitted that the one i chose was above the allowed price range. if i wanted to stick to my selection, i have to top up a lot more. the carpenter also discouraged me from using Made in China solid surface top. i was told these have a lot of problems in time to come. does anyone know how true this is?

found these absolutely gorgeous camphor chinese chest boxes at Just Anthony. am a sucker for such contemporary chinese furniture. thinking of getting one of these as my bedside table or for use in the living room. costs $350 each and comes in a huge array of colours & patterns. white, green, pink, yellow, beige, orange, red, etc. as usual, the price is holding me back have just been told to: (1)change my selection of ceiling paint colour (contractor said the range i chose is not suitable for ceiling) and (2)change my selection of vanity cabinet laminate (carpenter said laminate not available - but i know the real reason is that it is too expensive). really disappointed , since it's such a pretty laminate which many forumers here also commented earlier. anyway, acid wash due next weekend. really excited coz many things happening next week - lights, painting, WC installation, pipe boxing, toilet windows & doors, cabinet installation. the whole place is a huge mess now so i decided against taking any pics.

i completely second your views about the wooden pattern laminate for cabinets, esp kitchen cabinet. that is also a big nono to me too! wouldn't even dream of it. and to have solid surface with wooden pattern laminate? gosh, that is just so salah! maybe you can superimpose the two and show your hubby? thanks, wow you are really so knowledgeable!

the original tiles are 6 years old. i dunno if that is considered old or new? thanks so much for your reassurances. i will make a last ditch attempt to bring down prices when i meet patrick tomorrow. not at all hopeful though. got electrical contact from this forum. very responsible and nice guy. he issued a $700 receipt without me even paying anything! gosh, he sure trusts me a lot! got my aluminium contact from my geomancer. i needed special fengshui toilet doors, so apparently this guy had experience in making such doors.

i do not doubt his professionalism at all and i have utmost confidence in the quality of his work (although i haven't gone to check yet). i leave everything for him to coordinate with my sub-contractors, and so far so good. he is very organised and reliable, and sure knows his stuff. i am only sore that a lot of items do seem necessary on hindsight, eg hacking of wall and floor tiles versus overlay. i did not realise that hacking had so much implications (and therefore more costs) on piping works. i am also disappointed that he does not offer FOC for installation of toilet accessories. it costs $60 just to install one water heater! it was my electrician who highlighted to me that i could have done tile overlay, since 'there is so much height and space left'. he saw the quotation and commented that the pricing is very high. that was when my alarm bells started ringing - although too late then. your entry is so funny i guess we both chose him for his reliability. i am extremely busy at work and absolutely have no time to manage all the nitty gritty stuff. so i have to rely alot on his recommendations. i only manage to go check reno at most once a week over the weekend, since i do not have any partner to split such errands with. i was told tiling would be completed by tomorrow. keeping my fingers crossed that my selection and colour coordination turns out ok!

agree agree agree. my draft reno quotation as follow and there are many things done along the way, eg making good wall where aircon compressor was, removal of 2 aircon units ($120), covering pipes in living room, etc. Additional reno costs Carpentry (2 room cabinets, 1 kitchen cabinet, 1 study table, 1 small vanity cabinet: $7100 Electricals $1152 Aluminium works $770 Most work have been completed, so i wonder if there is any more room for negotiation?

now that is awfully depressing to know

thanks very much. good thing you only paid $13k! the big ticket items which Ho Bee quoted me are: painting, toilet wall tiles, plumbing works, haulage & debris removal, plastering, hacking and 'making good' this and that. i believe if i had insisted on overlay, my costs would have drastically reduced. about your glass panel, it seems they apply the same principle to me as well - although i selected the $2 wall tiles, i was still charged as per $3 range. they absolutely, resolutely refused to lower the pricing on this. they were actually ready not to do my biz (because of my constant haggling) and told me so, in no uncertain terms. as reno work is already in progress, guess there is no way i can cut costs further. gosh, i sure dread seeing Ho Bee's final bill thanks for your kind suggestions. i have haggled like crazy but very futile, they are extremely rigid in their pricing. installation of toilet accessories $60, also charge. i notice a lot of firms throw in quite a few FOC items, but not HB. they even charge me for dismantling 2 aircons (which i believe they can re-sell, not that they necessarily will). will reproduce the quotation here shortly. guess it is too late now to do anything, but if you know how i can cut my costs in any way at this point, let me know. it's scary how my $$$ is draining away so rapidly. ***shudders***

sigh, i am feeling so awfully miserable now that i know i have grossly overpaid well, this is the problem of being single, no one to turn to for 2nd opinion. thanks for the pics, i think your place is so tastefully done up for a $15k job. well done, it's got character, unlike the many ID-designed ones. my carpentry works out to $7100 (2 built-in bedroom cabinets, 1 small vanity top, 1 study table, 1 set kitchen cabinet). the carpenter included soft drawer tracks for everything, gosh i really don't need those. when i told them i didn't need all the fancy stuff including branded solid top, they said "all same price". wall tilings for the 2 toilets works out to $2200, then there are lots of those haulage and debris removal which costs about $1000.