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5. Carpentry & Solid Surface This is another headache. Workmanship is not an issue since we used back the same carpenter that we have used in our previous 3-room flat. But planning is. As mentioned, we have not engaged the services of an ID. So we have to do carpentry plan ourselves. And we have many carpentry to plan: • Full stretch full height storage cabinet cum TV console in living room • Shoe cabinet behind main door (which we later cancelled) • Top and bottom kitchen cabinet – initially wanted to hack away all the walls between kitchen and service yard and put in a tall cabinet next to sink, but later kept the wall near the sink. Our experience from old home – laminate peeled after some time due to daily exposure to sunlight, so we are worried the same will happen to this tall cabinet which will be very near to service yard windows • Breakfast counter • Full height bookcase in BR3 • Wardrobe in BR3 • WIW in MBR/BR2 • Vanity counter in MBR • Vanity counter in Common Bathroom(which we later cancelled) Living Room TV Console Kitchen Cabinet BR3 Bookcase BR3 Wardrobe

I think putting in wall lights in dry area shd be ok. But yr electrician may not want to risk getting into trouble by concealing the wires. So u will see casing running from yr wall lights to light switch.

Read your blog. Envious of your long island Can't do the same for mine cos my kitchen layout is longish and narrow, so putting in an island will make my kitchen appear smaller. And now after moving in, I find my kitchen cabinet work top space not sufficient when I need to cook or bake. So I regret not getting carpenter to put in a long counter like what theitsybits has done recently, but level it up to a bar counter height (about 1100mm) at the end near dining corner, like my breakfast counter now. ahhhhhh regrets Luckily, I can still add this in at later stage if I want to, so not so "heartache"

I finally have time to visit your blog and saw the painting that you mentioned above. Nice friend of yours to get you the canvas painting from Vietnam as housewarming gift. I also want a friend like that I bought my green painting at about SGD400, cry

My electrical works cost about SGD3,505. I think not too expensive, considering that it includes: 37 x lighting points add/shift 3 x single 13amp add/shift 7 x double 13amp add/shift 3 x SCV points add/shift 5 x tel points add 2 x 15amp for induction hob and convection oven install 37 lights install 3 ceiling fans connect 2-way heater point add trunking for future opennet installation hack wall for concealed wiring + plaster labour costs But all costs including false ceiling with covelight and light holder for whole house; PLC downlights, covelights, ceiling lights for service yard and common bathroom, pendant light for dining corner, add up to quite a lot of money My sis-in-law said it well when she said "ideas equal money"

Thanks for your compliments. For MBR, I bought blue lovely tree from One Piece Painting onepiecepainting.com and cafe poster from The Wright Gift www.thewrightgift.com at ION (the poster came in loose pice, so I framed it up myself).

False Ceiling, Lighting Points & Power Points Continued... Living Room - Uses the T-shape false ceiling as a divider (visually) between living room and dining area Kitchen, Dining Corner & Passageway - Before & After false ceiling and lights are installed MBR First before photo shows L-shape wall between MBR & BR2 hacked away and L-shape partition installed in BR2. Dangling wires KIV for TV console cum storage cabinet to be installed BR2 & BR3 - Before & After false ceiling and lights are installed

It will depend on your purpose. For my case, I'm thinking along the line of a temporary arrangement for about a few years. After my MIL has her own living arrangements, then we will tear down the partition and get our carpenter to install wardrobe with doors for a bigger WIW in BR2. Then we will recycle this IKEA pole system in our bomb shelter (currently we only have racking on 1 side of the bomb shelter). But this system works well for me so far (we installed the supporting poles into WIW false ceiling and it's quite sturdy and can support quite a heavy load) and its white colour suits our home colour scheme too. So no complaints

After putting up the L-shaped partition in BR2, BR2 can still accommodate a single bed and a bedside table for my MIL and comfortable walking space between the bed and bay window settee (600mm in ht). Here are some photos of BR2 after reno. Didn't take any photo of BR2 after furnishing is in cos MIL is already staying in BR2. Will try to take some photos once get the chance. Entrance from passageway. On the right is the partition painted white and with skirting added Turn right to see a "sanctuary" hidden from view Blue feature wall to contrast against a white PVC leather headboard View of entrance from room. On the left is the partition painted white and with skirting added Hope this answers your query.

Haha, I like your question. Very practical indeed I follow these steps - light cleaning daily and thorough cleaning weekly or bi-weekly. (1) I use Magiclean mop and dry wipes (disposable) to absorb hairs and dust on the white tiled flooring daily (Hairs are very visible on white flooring). Then I vacuum on weekly basis for more thorough cleaning. (2) I use Magiclean Handy Duster (disposable) to dust paintings and decorations on weekly basis. These dusters work like magic! (3) For white solid surface on bay windows settee (weekly), breakfast counter top (weekly) and kitchen counter top (daily), I use anti-scratch cloth to wipe clean. Just damp it with water. (4) For leather sofa, MBR PVC leather day bed and PVC leather bed headboards for all 3 rooms, I use anti-scratch cloth to wipe clean on weekly basis. Just damp it with water. And use leather lotion and PVC leather lotion on bi-weekly basis for more thorough cleaning. I don't have a maid, so it's a lot of hard work, I guess. But my hubby chips in to help with cleaning. And I think the materials that we use in our reno helps - (A)tiled flooring helps with its easy maintaince (B) TV console cum cum storage cabinet in living room and MBR also helps as clutters are hidden away, so we don't have so much cleaning to do on the "surfaces". Just need to wipe clean the cabinet doors on monthly or quarterly basis. © Glass backsplash between top and bottom kitchen cabinet is also easy to clean. Hope this will help you with your own cleaning

4. False Ceiling, Lighting Points & Power Points This is the first time we have put up false ceiling and downlights in our home, thus we had a hard time. After discussing with ID contractor, we designed our lighting plan based on our carpentry layout and overall space planning. There are many changes along the way, but this is the final version. T-shape false ceiling in living room is my “baby” Here are the steps: • ID contractor, electrician and my husband met at our new house and went through the lighting plan, point by point with changes done on the spot while electrician do the markings on the walls and ceiling • Electrician and his workers put up the lighting points and cover with casing first • Then false ceiling contractor put up false ceiling • Painter painted over the false ceiling • Electrician and his workers cut the shapes of the downlight casing and put up the downlight casing and bulbs • False ceiling contractor and painter do touch up Then we started shopping for downlights. We didn’t realize there are so many: • Types (LED, PLC, Halogen, energy-saving bulbs without ballast etc), • Designs, • Casing sizes (different shops have different sizes for same watt- for example Shop A’s 13 watts PLC casing will differ from Shop B’s 13 watts PLC casing size), • Watts • colour temp (PLC-warm, day, cool white) So after comparing many shops in Geylang, Balestier and Jalan Besar, we decided to purchase PLC lights from www.lightings.com.sg as they seem to have competitive prices and good after sales service (they promote 7-day exchange policy). How wrong we were! First of all, goods were not delivered on time. Then when we wanted to change the ballast and bulbs from 18watts to 13watts (we find 18 watts too harsh and emits hot energy, thus makes our home very “hot”), the salespersons made it very difficult by asking many questions and with their reluctant attitude. And after many rounds of discussions, they agreed to change only the bulbs. But when we brought the bulbs to the showroom, they spent a long time inspecting the packaging and rejected those with bad packaging, so we have to spend additional monies on buying new ballast and new bulbs of 13 watts. In the end, we still did not save monies because of these additional purchases. So be careful if you decided to buy from them, check the packaging before you accept delivery and keep all your packaging in “good” condition in the event of any exchanges. Then because my hubby was formerly an electrical contractor, he has certain expectations that must be met. He complained about their sloppiness when it comes to: (1) lighting point positioning (2) bulbs facing in different direction (3) loose wires from heater point connection dangling from bathroom ceiling (4) “ugly” casing for karaoke speakers wire – we changed our TV console positioning in the midst of reno, thus we have to change positioning for all speaker wires. Instead of taking out the whole casing and repositioning it, what the electrician did was cut existing casing in half, tore out one part and left big gapping holes in the TV console wall, then repositioned this one part in another direction, so it looked like this. Their reasoning was since we will cover these walls with TV console and storage cabinet, there is no need to “beautify” the casing, but theeeeeee (5) switch boxes provided by them at the main entrance and passageway are of low end quality (6) when asked to shift some positioning of the lighting and power point and later changed the ballast and bulbs from 18 watts to 13 watts, they were not happy about it and showed bad attitude (7) when asked to add in 2 downlights in MBR bathroom, the main electrician showed impatience (we already bought a P brand ceiling light for MBR bathroom and installed it, then finds it too dim, so we decided to go with downlights for MBR bathroom too) (8) when asked to clean the downlight casings (has painting and finger smudge marks on the glass coverings) and ensure the ceiling fans are properly aligned (top coverings were not installed properly and has noises when on), they were very curt and angry. So at times, the ID contractor and I felt like we are refereeing a boxing game between the electrician and my hubby But at the end of the day, they made all the changes that we wanted. So that settled it all

This is cable tv main box. U have individual SCV point in living room and all bedrooms. So if u subscribe to Starhub, u can just connect yr set top to these points. Fibre cable still not installed for Casa yet. So if u have a lot of BI carpentry like me, u shd ask yr contractor to standby a trunking for future fibre cable installation. Tel points in all the rooms are linked to 1 line, so it shd be home networking ready. And if u have more than 1 tel line, ask yr contractor to connect to diff tel port. Main tel port located in living room near windows.

Thanks. I bought these paintings and posters from a few shops in Singapore: Couple under umbrella from Art Mart Gallery www.artmart.com.sg Green lovely tree, blue lovely tree and animal portraits from One Piece Painting onepiecepainting.com Dog and cat poster at passageway from The Good Things www.thegoodthings.com at Clementi Mall "I've found the right one" tea towel from Pomelo www.pomelo.com.sg Address: 6 Teck Lim Road Tel: 6226 4663 Cafe poster in MBR from The Wright Gift www.thewrightgift.com at ION Hope these help.

May_dream1 - Thanks. I was sorting thru reno and decor photos to post on this blog, then can't resist posting these collectibles first as they are so irresistable. Guess I went ahead of myself again petalfruit - Thanks. I love them too. Too bad my hubby stop me from buying more when I was overseas. He has to literally "drag" me away from these stores

I bought these 2 cube display shelf from Kiitos @Marina Square and Suntec at $69 and $79 respectively (b4 5% discount). These shelf are meant to be wall mount, thus back side is not as glossy finish. But I choose them cos their depth is narrow enough to fit into narrow space next to my sofa.

“Memorabilia” Continued... Dining Corner "Dolling up" for dining chairs, mini socks, cool My hubby's fav painting - lovely tree in green and his pride - Red lamp and red designer table with mix-matching chairs bought from Space Concept My fav Japanese mini doll couples Living Room Mini cactus in transparent vase, gift from my sis in law Passageway Red dog rep my hubby, nagging at me. Blue cat rep me, responding with "lalala..." to his nagging My fav painting of all - couple under umbrella. Depending on the lighting, the mood portrays by this painting varies. Love it MBR My fav items in MBR are the lovely tree in blue and the jewellery mannequins

“Memorabilia” Only when sorting through my home décor photos, then I realized that I have collected so many collectables form my overseas trips and quirky shops in Singapore. Here are some of my favourites: Main Entrance Clinging koala bears from Australia Aboriginal mask, surf board, koala bear, kangaroo from Australia Mini owl and fortune cat from Japan Mr Bruce Lee miniatures and mini "Cai Shen", "Guan Yin" and "Guan Gong" Korean dolls and Japanese Kimi dolls Japanese doll with "gong gong" black hair and in red kimono represents my sweet Anata and the cutie doll in white kimono is me, Miss Kawayi

Before & After Hacking Living Room - Before and after false ceiling and full ht storage cabinet cum TV console is put up Before and after the wall between kitchen and dining corner is hacked away Before and after the wall between kitchen and service yard is hacked away and kitchen walls are plastered Before and after L-shaped wall between MBR and BR2 is hacked away Before and after L-shaped partition is put up in BR2 for WIW in MBR Common Bathroom - Before and after PD doors and partitions are removed and wall and floor tiles overlaid MBR Bathroom - Before and after MBR bathroom door is removed and aluminium frame boxed up

Key challenges/problems to solve through reno: • PD Partitions and doors in common bathroom • 2 entrances to common bathroom • Wooden door at MBR Bathroom entrance • Small MBR Bathroom • Small Kitchen • Huge piping above kitchen sink • 2 huge full height piping in service yard • Bomb shelter ventilation at dining corner and passageway 3. Tiles My hubby and I have always been in agreement only to choose tiles (for its life span, durability and easy maintenance) for our living room, bedrooms, open concept kitchen and bathrooms. Thus, we thought it will be easy since we have already decided on the materials and colour (white, of course ) we wanted. But gosh, there are lots and lots of choices even on whites alone! We couldn’t make up our mind initially. But it’s love at first sight when we sighted the homo tiles at LSH. It’s homo tiles with porcelain top coating to achieve the “white effect” that we have always wanted. Of course, it comes with a $4.40psf or $4.50psf price tag. But we decided to go with it. Then things started to drag after that. We took 2 days with the bathroom wall and floor tiles selection, visiting LSH and Hafary. We initially wanted the same tiles for bathroom wall and floor. But wall tiles are too slippery to use as floor tiles and my MIL is staying with us, so we have to discard this idea. After much hassles, we decided to go with smooth wall tiles 30x60 from LSH and rough floor tiles 30x30 from Hafary. We regretted our decision on the bathroom floor tiles half way thru the reno. First of all, the tiling contractor did not align the wall tiles (30x60) with floor tiles (30x30). We assume this will be done without us having to remind them. But the contractor said it’s not the trend to align wall and floor tiles nowadays. After some negotiation, the contractor agrees to chip away the newly laid floor tiles and re-align with wall tiles. Then my dear hubby said no need to change, since both bathrooms flooring are already done and it’s too troublesome to change. He’s the one who complained in the first place Then after first few washings (with and without chemical), we realized that the urine stains and footprints left over by the workers are very difficult or impossible to wash off these rough floor tiles. The tiling workers have to use chemicals used in industrial cleaning to do the washing manually. And the contractor has to change quite a number of floor tiles in common bathroom as they are either chipped or stained. Even after cleaning, these rough tiles are easily stained and stains have to be rinsed or washed off immediately to prevent permanent damage. But we have to eat our own “humble pie” as we were the one who insisted on using these rough tiles, so we can’t blame the contractor in any way. But finally, after we moved in, we fell in love with these rough tiles. As they dry quickly and not slippery at all when wet. It’s really a love and hate relationship that we have with these rough floor tiles

Homogeneous tiles from LSH Q4300GM

Here are more MBR bathroom photos: One of our prized possessions - Nobel Rain Shower 3-Way System, gotten at very good price at Universal Union

I bought the pole system from IKEA and my hubby installed DIY. And he did it on the same day that we moved house , so I did not take any pictures of WIW with the empty pole system without the clothes. But here're the pictures of empty WIW and IKEA pole system (I took this photo at IKEA).

Welcome, neighbour. Haha, funny interpretation of the air con window. Try to change air con brand. Maybe to LG Inverter 3+1 which I used myself. Its compressor is small enough to fit thru the "big" window

Haha, indeed I can watch TV from shower cubicle. It's my "mental food staples" as I spend long time bathing. My hubby said I'm "xiao" We dismantle the wooden bathroom door originally provided by HDB. This door will hit the sink and leaves us no standing room when open. Also make the bathroom very small and squeezed. Then got carpenter to box up the aluminum frame to leave it door less. So I guess u have to be open minded about it. In this way, water and condension is not kept behind bathroom door, thus it's not a.problem for us. Furthermore, we did not put in full ht glass shower cubicle. Instead, We put in a glass sliding door with gap above for air circulation. Will try to upload more MBR bathroom photos soon.

BR2 can still accommodate a single bed and a bedside table for my MIL and walking space between the bed and bay window settee (600mm in ht). We put up a L-shaped partition (don't know wat material. But it's not brick and not gypsum) with "lock wool" in BR2. With this "lock wool" and clothes in WIW, TV sounds from MBR is minimized.