asianms

in more formal dining sets, the chairs at the head & foot of the table have arm rests. the zen type of dining set don't have dining chairs, they have dining benches

Went back to MGL today to confirm roller blind. May (staff)confirmed that they use spring mechanism, which makes their price much beter than J&S. Son's room using material at $6.50/ft Study/Entertainment room using material at $5.50/ft Hall area using material at $11/ft otal damage $1050 May was very nice; she tried to find cheaper alternatives similar to the material I had chosen for the hall. She was also very adamant that her staff must have the blinds ready before CNY, tho I told her after CNY was ok. Really appreciate her effort. Things to buy: Super single bed for son, Queensize bed for me went to Robinson's and bought Four Star mattresses cum bedframes for my son & I 20l water storage heater - checked out Ariston from Poh Joo; original storage tank was from Ariston & Poh Joo staff said must change pipes if I change brand. Ariston only has 15l and 30l. I think 30l is too big, but 15l seems v small. dilemma Main door lockset - checked out Shanghai Tong Lee, but forgot to bring measurements

Looking forward to your reno blog I agree with mwerkz... u don want t have to re-renovate or worse, move, if kiddie comes along if present location is great.

If you not say die die must buy this flat, then give a deadline. If the deal is not closed by the deadline, move on.

1. never put a signature on an unfilled form. agree on price first and have it written in B&W 2. 'unsure' seller could just be waiting for better offer, knowing that they have an interested buyer in you. In fact, once they accept your offer, they should not show the flat to any other parties, but many sellers don't observe that, esp if they are not in a hurry to sell. so you might end up wating even longer 4. industry practice seems to be $1K + $4k, but it is not neccesary. My recent place was bought through DTZ agent, $1k + $500 only. My agent pointed out to me that the terms actually say 'not more than' Since agent acting for both sides, did youy check if you need to pay commission? House hunting is stressful. keep a cool head. Good luck

feel very happy today, can sense my house coming together. Bought reno shifu to see the place today to provide quote, and v happy: - whole house painting using free choice of paint - minor sanding and varnishing of wooden floors (3 bedrooms & living area) & main door - removal of wall light points & changing/installation of lights & ceiling fan - additional power point to be created in study room - hacking of false wall & haulage charge - changing main door lockset - changing of water storage heater Total: $2k He's a man after my own heart... he assessed each item I requested for and gave me his opinion whether there was any need to do eg. I asked him whether I need to varnish all doors and door frames, he inspected then said it is expensive to varnish and the wood is in good condition, so no need to varnish The previous owners say they can handover on 11 Jan, shifu says he can get all work done in max 10 days. My house will be ready for CNY! yippee! Been very busy over the past few days checking out curtain shops. For the same fabric that my son chose for his roller blinds, MGL quoted $380, Showplace (Anchorpoint) quoted more than $400, and J&S (Plaza Singapura) quoted $344 (using the cheapest roller blind mechanism - non-spring) Purchases so far: Coffee table/two-seater bench from Barang Barang $380 Dining table from XZQT (1.2m extendible to 2.4m) $1480 Lights from LiteVault & Thomson Lighting (approx $780) Things to buy: Super single bed for son Queensize bed for me 20l water storage heater Main door lockset Retractable ceiling mounted laundry airer Definitely blown my $5k budget Will economise by recycling my existing sofa by replacing the cushion seat (approx $300)

For me, if I can pay for my flat without the need to take any loan, that would be great. However, there are those who take out a housing loan because they are investors, and they can generate higher returns by investing their CPF funds then the cost of the interest on a loan. So it boils down to what you would do with the $ in your CPF account if you do not use it to pay for your house.

jus sharing my knowledge ... yes, parquet takes time, cos after laying, must let it dry out. Then varnish, after which, must wait another 4 days (I think if it is wet weather, may have to wait even longer). I'm not sure about now, but last time, it was normal to have two coats of varnish applied. Compressor in the house generates a lot of warmth. I used to hang clothes over the compressor unit, and overnight, the clothes will all get dry. v shiok. I saw a unit similar to yours when I was flat-hunting in Toa Payoh; seems like HDB designed this batch of flats to have the compressor in the house. Maybe for aethetics (HDB's, not yours

sori, back track a litle... how did you change door lock? Do you go buy a lockset then ask locksmith to change? Do locks come in sizes?

what a lovely house. Big & square. I love your living room leafy view. It's been a year, so you've done it up and are living in it? Any regrets?

from courtship days, my ex and I started a joint acount into which we put a pre-determined amount each month from our personal funds. After marriage, $ in joint account used for settling all household-related bills. Our personal account we keep private. When we divorced, the joint account was v useful for paying legal fees :-) and estate agent's fee when we sold our place etc. We still have joint account, cos it's for ex to pay his child maintenance every month.

Is the Nippon charges exactly as they advertised... $1100 for 4-room standard package? $1200 for 5-room? Any hidden charges?

I read somewhere that sink and hob cannot be next to each other, but I find that sink-next-to-hob is a very practical arrangement. Food prep at the sink can be easily transferred into the cooking pot. Any mess on the hob is easily cleaned up. Some people do an L-shape with the hob and sink.

u r putting your bed right beside your window? isn't it v troublesome for getting to your window? my son also wanted his bed there, but I said no, cos I'm afraid it'll be difficult to open/close/clean windows, or if rain and the windows are open

I love chairs! Over the weekend... APEX5 sent rep to discuss re-upholstery work to and . The dining bench is my son's fav. We've had it for about 4 years, now cannot find in the shops, so thot as a gift to my son, give it a new lease of life. $300 to re-upholster bench & separate cushioned seat. $65 to reupholster the dining chair. Original price of the bench and 4 dining chairs (from Lami, closed down since) - $500. Bought two XZQT chairs from eBay seller... I'm a big fan of XZQT. These chairs are selling in their shops for $598, b4 25% discount. Bought the chairs for $350 for 2, and the nice guy delivered to my place. Last week, went Barang Barang and saw this coffee table that can be converted to extra seating bought the 2-seater version, price after discount $380. W a flat $50 transport charge, I feel I should buy more stuf from Barang Barang to make it more worth it! Do u get this feeling that I have a lot of seats in my house?

depends on when the previous owners finish their reno and return me the house. They say maybe end of this year, or 1st week of 2009. I bought lights yesterday, and confirmed the electrician appt for 10 Jan. I dunno when I can get the rest of the basic reno done. Hopefully, can celebrate CNY in new house. If not, must move in before 9 Feb to avoid paying another month's rent on my rental apt. But someone said there may be taboos about moving house around the CNY season. go where and check for such taboos? quite blur

yah, well-maintained w a lot of old world charm. I feel like I'm stepping back into the colonial ages everytime I look at the house. I would really like a very modern & minimalist look, but I feel v wasteful on resources to rip out stuff. Somemore, w economy going down & down, must save $ looks like I'll never have a home with my dream look, cos I can't bring myself to buy a house that has not been well-maintained. I feel tat a well-maintained home is a good sign that the owner had cherished the home and there are good vibes.

Last thing about cleaning blinds... just pull to the max (gently of course) and wipe them down. That's all. Thanks for letting me know the approx price. Haven't got quote from APEX5 cos they do house visits with the materials to get precise measurements. Maybe I should shop around for greater variety in materials. You don't plan to open windows? or open windows the blinds must be rolled up? I have only seen roller blinds used in aircon rooms. If windows are open and roller blinds are down, will the wind blow the blinds up and down?

me love your 'balcony' & your bedroom light. Wish my house can take such avantgarde looking lights btw, Yang Guifei is loitering around on the void deck cos she is one of the 4 well-known beauties (that's why the estate is called Simei; in pinyin, it is Four Beauties) I'm getting APEX5 to do roller blinds for my son's room, and the windows facing the common corridor. I hope they are not expensive. Satin roller blinds sound quite glam. How do you clean roller blinds? Exciting, u will be moving soon. Packing is a mega chore. I dunno how u manage w 5 people's barang barang. In the past 20 years, I have moved home 10 or 11 times, but we still manage to accumulate a lot in the few years we stay at each place. This time, we have been renting a place for 6 months, I didn't unpack half the boxes

Thot I had selected lights last week, today brought son to lightshops to see lights in real life... ended up, changed all the lights! Now, the living room lights will be Bathroom lights Kitchen dinette light Getting see-through acrylic ceiling fan w shades specially fitted, looks something like this (pix not the actual see-through acrylic fan, jus mock-up for us to see how the shades will look) I don't quite like it, but son is confident it will look fab, so go with his idea first. If really ugly, jus switch to regular fan light shades, and use these shades in table lamps!

ummm... why did u get rid of the safe? u didn't find it useful? I'm exploring the option of getting a safe, so would like to know more.

thot of putting inside cupboard

hi. Does anyone have a safe at home? Can a burglar carry away a home safe?

thanks for the tip porkypig.

Am now renting in Lor 2, will move 1 lorong to Lor 1 next Feb. Yokine9a, which block are you in?