asianms

house is actually 23 this year. I'm the third owner. Still have 2 plastic boxes of things in the entertainment room. Son's things, don really know what to do with them... odds and ends like dictionaries, toys, stationery ... Have bought a carpet second hand, $50, to put in the entertainment room. Son drags schoolbag & chair back & forth over the parquet flooring, leaving all manner of scratches. Heart pain. Casement window handle broke the other day. Sigh... THINGS FALL APART Reno Cost Reno shifu took care of all things to do w electricity, paintjob, floor sanding & varnish, odd jobs $2388 Purchases 2 beds + bedlinen (Robinsons) $3500 Computer table IKEA $25 Dining table (XZQT) $1500 Coffee table/bench (Barang Barang) $420 Ikea Carpet (2nd hand) $50 Retractable laundry dryer (TAME/Universal Union) $398 25l Joven water heater tank (Universal Union) $240 Lights + Ceiling fan (Thomson Lighting & Light Vault) $1000 Maindoor lockset (Shanghai Tong Lee) $150 House move $400 + $150 (piano) Softfurnishings Roller blinds (MGL) $1050 Cushion covers (J&S) $690 Re-upholstery & foam inserts $650 Additional... think of changing... kitchen cabinet drawer pulls tarnished, bathroom mirrors has patchy discoloration, casement window handles loose & 1 has broken, toilet seats yellowed with age

there are 3 different systems. Honeygal: is it very heavy to lift the poles? must have some arm power -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? this has never ocurred to me I think the wind at my place quite dry; my idea of washing kitchen floor is to pour a bucket of water on the floor and flush. It dries off quite fast I got mine from TAME through Univeral Union at Geylang. $398 for 4 poles, max 6 feet. My space can only fit about 4 feet. Retractable aluminum poles (hydraulic system) This one is ceiling mounted, and the rods face the windows (mine are parallel to windows) so they can be pushed out. Each rod has an inner thinner rod that can be pulled out and extended (like shower curtain rods, hope you know what I mean) while the poles are still in the house. I think that's the one Mrs Piglet was referring to. Basic extendible aluminium rod Usage of this is similar to the bamboo rod, except it is made of aluminium, and is like shower curtain rod, where the inner thinner rod can be pulled out to extend the rod. It is not fixed, you bring it into the house,hang your stuff, then bring it out and insert into the bamboo holder. I bought mine from Toa Payoh, $8.90/rod Is that what you are looking for, Rondy?

congratulations & welcome nice square layout. Wow, have provisions for future room! There seem to be a door at the end of your acess balcony?

I'm using the pulley system from TAME. So far so good, though the poles are v short. I do a 5kg-load of washing about 3 times a week, and each time, the 4 poles are loaded. There isn't much space between the poles for the clothes to air properly, unless there is a good breeze. But generally, the clothes do dry in 24 hours. I'm not in the house during daylight hours, so I don't really dare to hang clothes out, in case of rain. I hang my laundry up at about 10pm, by the next day about 7pm (before I cook dinner), they are dry. need a bit of strength to pull it up with a load of wash. I found some fun accessories at Daiso, such as hanger spacers that can be used to stop clothes hung on hangers from being blown up and down the poles. I supplement with an aluminium retractable pole that I can put out of the house. I use that more for sheets. U see the two short poles outside the window? I asked the TAME staff to give it to me after he had cut the length of the poles, I fixed a rber cap on the end, and I use that for hanging out the laundry carousel, and hangers.

your bunny is a family member, mus hv personal space too

wah, luxury... wet & dry kitchen

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on getting your own space. Nice squarish layout you have.

I usually succumb within 48 hours. The longest I've held off was 3 months, and that's for my XZQT dining table. At $1.5k, I was really trying to resist, but in the end...

"If you take a look at my sister's posts..." didn't know u were sisters she's not as active in renotalk as you are wah, carry back all the way from uk. so heavy. I bought cork placemats inlaid w eucalyptus leaves from Aus many years ago, very unique, but I kept worrying about how durable the varnish on the leaves is, so in the end became white elephant, cos too precious to use. Threw them out after 10 years of hording, cos realised I can't bear to use them in case the finish gets damaged! But I think glass is quite practical. ilmare612, $12 a piece is quite worth it if you think how long you can use it; that is if you don't wish to constantly update the look. It's like Corelle plates, I'm still using the set I got as a wedding present more than 15 years ago. No choice, it refuses to biodegrade, so cannot throw out

I saw one in Thomson Lighting, Balestier. It's for use indoor, so I think it is a lot shorter. I was quite attracted to it, bt did not check the price, cos it ddn't quite go w my decor at home.

love your placemats! can share where you got them, and are they awfully expensive? I love these little home decor items :-)

what does bamboo flooring look like? anyone has a picture to show?

Mine was leaking too. I didn't notice, and when pointed out to me, I shrugged it off, thot it wasn't like water was gushing out. But my reno shifu said cannot, wasting water, let him try to fix, so he fixed it... dunno what he did. I discourage anyone from spending too much time in there, so no need to make nice-nice .

wah, I think you guys are very generous. You are not collecting a lot of rent $, yet must feed your tenant & look after his/her well-being. I think it is too much. Should seriously consider, since it is not a big sum of $, can you do without the $, and enjoy more privacy & peace of mind. I don't think there is very much left from the rental $ afer you deduct their utilities usage, food bill, and clean-up services. I consider the stress and inconvenience a very high price to pay. Now that the economy is down, I'm sure there are more properties available for rent. Perhaps its time to suggest they move on. When I was flat-hunting, I came across 1 household where the owner rented his common corridor room to a girl. He laid down strict rules that she is not to bring any kind of friends back. Even installed a CCTV camera along the common corridor to ensure his rule is strictly adhered to.

love the funky look in your kitchen & bathroom

some pix to share... dining area music corner entertainment room common bathroom with 10-year old toilet bowl & seat! MBR bathroom... all fittings are 10 years old 12 yr-old fridge with my crockery cupboard (it's such a luxury to have a cupboard dedicated to crockery)

seems like Ho Bee has got so much bizness that they can afford to be arrogant. I haven't encountered them personally, but from the sound of things, they seem to have a "take or leave it, I don't need your bizness" kind of attitude.

Thanks Pinklady you are very sharp, noticed that some pictures are missing . no pics of dining because my beloved dining table is not in Singapore yet. must wait till March. also, no pics of entertainment/study room cos my existing dining table will go in as study table. Right now, it only has 2 computer tables. It's the messiest room now cos there are a couple of leftover boxes that I'm not sure how to unpack. toilets no change at all. Am not a good photographer, find it very hard to take pix in small spaces & through doorways, cos can only capture a small section. Will try to gewt a cuople of decent pix that show more than jus the shower stall or the light. flyingballoon, I have a lot of built-in storage in the house. The bedrooms have full-height 4 door wardrobes, MBR has matching drawers set, entertainment/study has built in cupboard + shelving, I have 2-door full-height shoe cupboard, kitchen has a full wall of upper & lower cabinets; there's also a storeroom with shelving installed. Very easy to stash everything away of the 20 boxes, I think 8 boxes of small electrical items, crockery, & pans went into the kitchen, 4 boxes of books & old toys went into the storeroom!

It's so cool. I was jus at Howard's last weekend looking for bins, but didn't see it. Question: if it is attached to the door of the cabinet, does it put stress on the hinges if it is swung out when full? Will it cause the cabinet door to 'sag' over time?

your COV is very low, good deal. I paid $40k COV for my 4-room TPY place, and the reno is 10 years old!

I use Fabrez (I think that's how it's spelt). It's a fabric freshener, supposed to freshen up the fabric & remove odour. Dunno if it really works, but my sofa doesn't smell.

err... why must change? It's clean, it flushes ok... it works! My existing Caroma toilet bowls are 10 years old, installed by previous owner. I'm not bothering to change them, cos they still work. My logic, if we can use public toilets, what is the problem with keeping existing toilet bowls, so long as they are clean and not cracked. I'm thinking about changing the toilet seats, cos they are yellowed with age. But just thinking only. But my estate agent very funny, when we went through the list of items that will go with the house, he said toilet bowl must change. I asked him why, he gave me a LOOK, and said toilet is very personal. So some guys are quite icky about toilet bowls as well

hi hi. hard to say how long it will take cos it depends how long you take to find your dream flat. The HDB sale procedure takes 3-4 months. Some tips: To start, decide where exactly in the East you want to live in, if possible, target specific blocks in specific districts. If you are using an estate agent, let the agent know your exact requirements (which blocks? how old is the max age of flat you will consider? floor level? must be life level? orientation? floor area? renovated or original condition? etc), then he does all the legwork of contacting sellers & arranging the appointments. If you have not decided where you really want to buy into, spend a couple of weekends checking out apartments in different areas using the classified ads. Get a feel of what you are looking for if you are clueless about what you want. If you are not using agent, then you have to read the classifieds and call up to arange for viewings. When I started my apartment search in Mar 2008, I badly wanted Bishan. I searched in Bishan for 3 months for my dream flat... mid-to-high floor, unblocked view, good condition (I didn't want to spend a large sum renovating), accessible to public transport but without the noise and the crowd... but ended up finding my ideal space in Toa Payoh in July. The option to purchase was submitted to HDB in Aug, 1st appointment in Sep, and 2nd appointment 8 weeks later towards end November. Good luck for your search.

very pristine and compact. Showroom standard. but I understand what you mean about "nice is useless. useful is the main thing". I have nice shiny wood floors, but they scratch like crazy, esp w a teenager around who doesn't believe in lifting anything during the process of transporting from point A to B. After more than 10 different homes, I'm still learning from mistakes

Congratulations on buying such a lovely place. Love the view & the kitchen