january

Hello, welcome to renotalk. Great floorplan. No TV in the living room, that's awesome. Just some thoughts about the piano; what type is it? If it's the electric type you may want to position it such that the performer and the audience can look at each other. So it's like an intimate performance venue. And maybe you don't need such a long seating/storage. Cuz the more storage you build, the more rubbish you store. (At least that's what happened to me). All the best for the reno.

@reglxt: Ack. Last minute add ons. I guess that's why your handover is delayed. I think my actual reno cost is lower than proposed because we're taking out more and more stuff as the reno progresses... (and the handover is still delayed!) Maybe there's now enough to do a strip of vertical garden in the balcony? Cuz that would be really cool. I'm thinking of putting artificial grass on the balcony area. A bit of greenery is always welcome. @dexufto: Do you mean XZQT at Pandan? I've only been to XZQT at ION. I'm done buying furniture for the place for now, although I don't have a coffee table. Just so sick of looking at furniture! Was thinking of customaking a long ottoman with wheels which I can use as seating or coffee table or leg rest when I need it. Any recommendations?

O. Black paint. Your ID is a clever person.

All the lights are up! Well, except for 2 halogens in the dry kitchen area. I did the trough light thing and I don't think it looks that fantastic... maybe they still need to put finishing touches on it? @reglxt: Fontana Arte Toobo lamp was selling for around $3K at Marquis. Go check them out. So. The fan debacle. My contractor installed the A11YS in the living room, and it's way too small. I told him I wanted a bigger one. But he insisted for the A11YS each blade was 44 inches i.e the whole fan would be 88 inches wide, and he's WRONG. Seriously you're a contractor can't you call the KDK guys to confirm instead of arguing with me. *facepalm*. I had to move the fan point when I actually didn't need to. I'm not paying for that bit of hacking and plastering. It was his responsibility to measure all the items properly and I'm not gonna give him cash to do things which didn't need to be done in the first place. [/rant]

Hello... Your reno is shaping up well... hang in there! You'll be done sooner than you realise. I see you made the light trough in your living area as well. I think yours looks better than mine! Hmm. May I ask what material your ID used for the black portion? My ID proposed black acrylic in the beginning but apparently it's not enough to support the weight of the lights, so he used black glossy formica instead. I can see that the laminate joints at the corners, it's quite annoying.

Isn't it safer to have the safety film coating the outside of the glass as opposed to the middle? That way even when the glass breaks they'll be held together by the film... and is probably still usable if you don't mind the "distressed" look. just some thoughts.

@hermione: I got the lights through my contractor, so I don't know how much he paid for them. It's definitely lower than their price tags though. As for discounts, it doesn't hurt to ask. @yeo99: I know there are dimmable LED lights around. They might be quite expensive which explains why lighting shops are not bringing them in.

Is that chalkboard paint? That's cool. Did you paint it yourself?

Hey there, just came over to say hi. Floorplan looks good, but the dining area seems a bit far from the kitchen? Anyway, all the best for the reno.

@hermione: Sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances that will lead to delays... My contractor is semi-retired which could explain why he's taking his own sweet time. Need to push him. As for the sofa, it's wrapped up in layers of cloth and bubble wrap... should be okay. (I hope). But if you have a room where you can safeguard them, I say do it! Just don't unbox them until the right time. Anyway for the tracklights, do note that they cannot be dimmed. Lightcraft probably don't carry the dimmer drivers. The first time when I went to choose the lights with the contractor I vaguely recalled her saying that it can be dimmed, but upon installation and finding out otherwise, I went back to lightcraft to check again. And this time the lady said, Oh no they can't be dimmed. I blame myself for not writing down the specs the very first time I was there, so at least I had something to back up my story. I don't actually mind that the tracklights can't be dimmed (they're not very bright in the first place), I just don't like being given misleading information. But since I'm not sure myself, I'll just have to suck it up.

Today - Made progress payment. Handover is 15 Jan 2011, about a 2 week delay due to the wallpaper having to be indented. Some of them we confirmed months ago, I don't know why he couldn't have just ordered them first?

Thanks for the encouragement everton and hermione. There have been several variation orders, mostly adding more powerpoints and not constructing some of the proposed built in furniture... so hopefully it will bring the total reno cost down a bit. Reno is going to continue till mid-January now. If nicknamed myself November or December, the reno would be done by now! And lights are up, even though the place is still a mess. These are LED tracklights from Lightcraft. I've never used tracklights before but I think they give good level of lighting; though not quite as good as downlights for general purpose lighting. I like the ambience it gives though. Best thing - halogen-like lighting effect w/o the crazy heat! It's also very flexible. And if you find that it's not bright enough, you just need to buy another light and stick it on the track. Instant brightness.

I saw this cool system by MisuraEmme at Marquis. The AV equipment is concealed in the slim cabinets below so you would think that you'd need to open the doors to control your AV devices. But it's got an IR "eye" on the board where you mount your tv, which you will connect to the IR receiver of your players, so that you can control your them even when the cabinet doors are closed. Really cool. It costs an arm and a leg though. But if you're gonna custom make your TV feature wall (which many people do), I think a similar concept can be replicated fairly easily... Just need to find the right parts at Sim Lim.

Hi gimz I read in the KDK brochure that you shouldn't place a fan on top of a bed... I *think* they wrote that to disclaim liabilities if the fan should fall on somebody and injure them during their sleep. Either way, don't wanna scare you. Just trust that your fan is installed securely. And yes, I'm quite superstitious... *** Either way, I got the contractor to move the fan pt so that I can install a larger fan. It won't be in the centre of the room anymore, but I think that's okay. On a different note, I sometimes feel that my contractor doesn't respect me? Sometimes there is a problem that I need him to solve, and sometimes I even offer him certain solutions but he just gives me all sorts of excuses to say that it cannot be done, i.e. the problem can't be solved. And then he goes into this whole lecture which can be summarised in the following sentence: "Why don't you buy a landed house... you can do anything you want!" (yeah, this guy sometimes just can't stop talking). I get the "your house is so small why are u bothering to do so many things" feeling from him... And I think this has caused a bit of communication barrier between us. Sometimes I have to tell him to do something 3 or 4 times before he realises... At this rate I might be better off managing the whole reno myself, which is what I am almost doing right now. I'm pretty sure this project will be go over schedule... Perhaps I shouldn't have told him we're in no hurry to move in in the first place. Because it's already taken so long. I'm getting bored. [/rant]

Mine has the power socket inside; it's 50cm deep.

Thanks for your comments gimz. So the wind sensation can be felt only below the fan.. okay point taken. I only have standing fans in my current home so I'm not sure what to expect from a ceiling fan. Could you tell me roughly how big your MBR is? Did you install your fan above the bed? I heard it's not good to do that... sfk7, thanks for bringing this fan to my attention. Bold lines, but kinda looks like a knife? I don't want our elderly relatives to bit-ch/complain about the "knife" in the living rm so I should stay away from this right now. edit: this forum is pretty tight on the censorship!

wanna try this? The French Stall 83 MacPherson Lane 6746 0183 http://myfoodsirens.wordpress.com/2010/08/...e-french-stall/ still kinda local, but french at the same time. bon appetit.

The ceiling fan problem. The original ceiling fan that we wanted, a KDK V60WK, is too large and would hit the track lights on the ceiling. My contractor suggested the small A11YS instead. But I suspect concerned that it would not be able to move enough wind in the living room. I don't need the fan to generate a tornado, but a light breeze. Any thoughts? My living room is about 5m x 4m. If the A11YS is not enough that means I'll have to move the electrical point on the ceiling (either fan or track light) to space them out further. That means more hacking. I wonder if KDK has come kind of return/exchange policy on their goods? Like if the fan is too small I'll go to the shop and exchange for a bigger one.

steelze, have you considered invisible grills?

COE so high now and you're looking at cars? Congrats on your new place... but your old place was really nicely done up. All the best for reno-ing the new place, I'm sure it'll turn out to be even better.

You guys are amazing. If you ever move house, you must bring this door grill with you. RESPECT!

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.

I'm hoping one or more bottles of wine is in that $500... it is your move in day after all But seriously, $500? The most I've spent in a supermarket in one go was $250 and I was cooking for 25 people... heh. Wine not included.

K, you've moved in, congrats!

@everton: Ah. Good to know that they won't flap around. Will probably install that. Thanks! Today some paint guys came over to spray paint the wooden skirting. It was originally finished in matt white (which got dirty really easily) and now it's a semigloss grey, like the colour of the window frame. Until now the reno progress has been quite boring. Nothing much to show. Guess it'll become more exciting once the carpentry gets installed. In the meantime, just thought I'd share some mood boards of the furniture that we'll be using around the space. We're not actually using the carpet, but I adore them colours.