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LOL yeah... I'm from 2lf... I think I'm more remembered as the -faced guy...

Hi May_dream1, able to PM the contact and company and quotation, if possible? Thanks.

Hi and thanks! Looking at your profile pic, I think we've met before @ salsa events.

Thanks! We think we got it at an OK price too. Could have waited a little longer for the COV to dip, but waiting may also means the possibility of missing it, which is quite high. Anyway, already bought the place, so just have to psycho ourselves it's money worth spending. Yes. I agree with you that finding ID is even more difficult. We already agreed to look for recommendations from friends/colleagues who have done up their flats recently, but alas, most of them have bad experience with their renovation. Hence we turned to renotalk for recommendations and as some forum members have highlighted, sometimes, there might be bogus posts by "shadow" members. Can be difficult to sieve thru the info. Even some of the contacts I've gotten from other members here also proved to be more $$$ than I've originally thought. Maybe I should be more realistic abt my budget and what I really need to do up. Will post abt my preferred layout and the items in the quotation later. My budget is ard $50K-$55K for renovation (incl electricial rewiring minus furniture, appliances, wetware), but so far most of the quotes I've received are in the range of $63K to $78K and some doesn't even include everything I need to do.

Thanks! LOL! Nope. I studied in Shuqun Primary School.

PageOne Warehouse Sales!!! (Part 3) 500 italian dishes 500 cookies Original price: $15.94 30% off: $11.16!!! 50% off: $7.97!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hates it that the forum only allows 5 pics per post.

PageOne Warehouse Sales!!! (Part 2) Stylish Thai in minutes over 120 inspirational recipes my fiancee loves thai tom yum soup. This is for her. Original price: $26.64 50% off: $13.32!!! Various selection of "500" books 500 bbq bites 500 soups 500 cocktails 500 juices & smoothies

PageOne Warehouse Sales!!! (Part 1) Managed to see the ad on PageOne Warehouse Sale @ Kaki Bukit last weekend, and decided to pop by to check out the stuffs. And I ended up spending $282.46 on interior design and cookery books! LOL... Buying books is my form of retail therapy! LOL... just buying them already made me feel happy and more "knowledgeable". WAHAHAHA Home Decor Volumes 01-20 at 50% off!!! I've been thinking of getting them online (maybe from Amazon), after seeing one of the IDs we've met is using them for reference. Original price: $180.83 for 1 pack. Now: $180.83 for 2 pack!!! (50% off!!!) The Lighting Bible Ideas for Every Room in Your House. Very gd reference book for lighting; and all sort of lighting schemes for different areas. But to implement all the ideas, the lighting and wiring cost would be astronomical, I guess. Original Price: $26.64 30% off: $18.65!!! The Colour Scheme Bible (Neutral Collections) Neutral palettes and dramatic accents for inspirational interiors. Someone posted a screenshot of one of the pages featuring the "Rugged Landscape" scheme. Got inspired, and I just needed to get this book. Happy to find it there and at a discount! Original Price: $26.64 30% off: $18.65!!!

Hello everyone! I've been hanging around the forums for some time, and managed to get lots of really useful information here and also from some of the forummers (mae29, sgnick, Reiki, ymjp100, reglxt, RimBlock, etc). Been thinking of starting a t-blog chat for some time, but was lazy... And now it seems like a really good time... to really document our homemaking & renovation journey (before we start to forget a lot of stuffs) and, hopefully, get some opinions/comments from fellow homemakers. A short (or maybe not) background My fiancee and I have been looking for a place to call our own since early 2010. As we didn't want to wait too long for the BTO flats to be ready (i suppose they take 3-4 yrs at least) and both of us are nearing 30s and we don't want to stay in with our parents after our marriage, hence resale flats seem like a more obvious choice. Most would have known from the news, that COV was quite crazy for 2010. We decided to look-see and hope for the COV to dip a little, but alas, the trend was nowhere going south (except for maybe the last month or so, prob due to general elections coming soon). Hence we decided to try our luck at some BTO (eg. Punggol Waterway Terraces) and the Sale of Balance Flat exercise, but luck wasn't at our side (which may be a blessing in disguise). I'm currently staying at Jurong West area, near Lakeside MRT, and was actually looking to get a place in Punggol (as some of my colleagues said, it is actually a up and coming place, though my dad and mum think it's really very far away and ulu). I guess, like most people, our criteria for our home was location. Location as in near to town (as both of us work in the city area), and location as in near to amenities (kopi-tiam/food centre, shopping mall, MRT, schools, etc). 2nd criteria is super low or no COV (only in our dreams). We soon realised that other criteria do matters too, eg. facing of the unit (N-S facing), floor level, point blk?, door-to-door/corridor/corner unit?, 4-rm/5-rm/EM? etc. I guess it can't be helped, buying a flat is probably the biggest investment for us (and in fact most other people), and it will be a place to call home for quite some time. Can't fault us to be more choosy. Due to some reason which I shall not share here, we started house-hunting frenzy over the few weekends in Sep/Oct and decided to settle for a EM near Lakeside MRT. I've always wanted to stay in a unit with internal staircase; I like the fact that the "public" area (area to entertain friends, etc) is separated from the "private" area (that's the sleeping quarters, etc). And it's like the closest thing to staying in a landed property (yes yes... i know it can't be compared to a landed property... there's no car porch, outdoor garden, swimming pool, etc), and I probably can't afford a private property in SG, seeing how property prices are going now (unless I strike lottery or so). And given the fact that the new HDB flats are really quite small compared to the older flats, I really appreciate the spaciousness of a EM unit. BUT my fiancee and some other colleagues/friends have their reservations: 1. Not child-friendly or elderly-friendly due to the staircase. 2. Might be troublesome, when my wife-to-be gets pregnant next time 3. Big floor area = more area to clean (3rd toilet, staircase, balcony, etc) = more household chores 4. Potential taxing on the wallet 5. High renovation cost Finally I managed to convince her that this will be our dream home... and was glad that she also shares my thinking now. Some friends question us the need to get such a big unit, when it's only the 2 of us. My reasoning may be flawed, but i guess everyone has different priorities and preferences. For me, 1. SG is land scarce; other than the location of a unit, the size of a unit matters next. 2. Future-proofing; gives me more "room" for future plans (eg. childrens, parents staying in with us next time) 3. HDB not building anymore EMs (though they may build more loft units like those in TreeLodge or Dawson); so it can be considered a rarity(?) Our dream home To cut the story short, we managed to bargain and lower the COV to $27K. To some people (esp some of our friends who have bought their unit at low or zero COV, before the COV started to creep), it's a large sum to pay for COV. But as we have been looking for units ard my area for a while; we do get the sense (or misguided sense) of the COV for units ard the area. The unit is in quite original condition (will post some pre-renovation pics, when we go and do our inspection before the 2nd appt); some may think it's not worth paying so much for original condition; shall not argue more as it's a matter of perspective/preferences. Some info on the unit: 1. It's at least 26 years old and we are going to be the 2nd owners 2. Original condition 3. Ard 600m away from Lakeside MRT (using OneMap to measure the walking distance); hence maybe 5-10 min walking distance. 4. In between 2 major markets (Blk 502 area and Blk 492 area) 5. There's a neighbourhood park 1 block away. 6. My primary school is just downstairs (<200m away). 7. 5 min's walk to my parents' place (my current home) 8. Almost N-S facing 9. At the 10th floor (considered mid-high?) We paid $555K for it ($528K valuation + $27K COV). 1st appt was on 9 Nov 2010. 2nd appt was supposed to be b4 X'mas 2010; however, seller has problem with his new unit, hence out of goodwill, we decided to extend the 2nd appt by another 1 month til 31 Jan 2011 (which is in ard 26 days' time. i'm so excited!) Original Floor Plan Design theme As most of our holiday destinations are going to beach resorts @ Koh Samui, Bali, Batam, etc... and we really enjoy spa resorts/villas; hence for the design theme of our new home is modern resort feel; as we wish to come home to a spa resort everyday! hehehee... Reading the tblogs of fellow forummers here gave me a better idea of what we hope to achieve (though i think it will come at some cost, no doubt). That's it for now. I'll share more on our preferred space planning design in the next few entries and our thoughts on hunting for IDs/renovation contractors (think we or rather I have spoken to >10 different IDs).

Hey! I can't remember my timing. Need to call my agent again or wait for HDB's letter (do they send reminder? I hope so.) but i remembered it's late afternoon too... ard 3.30 or 4pm I think. I think I've spoken and met up with >10 IDs... until I'm like super sian... As i'm getting a resale EM (>25 yrs old), I'm going major rehaul. My budget is like 50K nia... but so far, most of my quotations are between 63K to 78K... zzz... only the uncle @ JGH (@ TradeHub 21) gave me a quote ard 50K... it seems too gd to be true... I wonder if there's "hidden" costs, or going to have lots of VOs later... like most forumers say, get ID if you got money, get renov contractor if you got more time to do the coordination and project management... I'm doing part-time studies and working full-time now... **** shagged... plus not much cash left after paying COV... Sigh. recently, there's the pageone warehouse sale... bought some ID reference books, incl lighting bible and color scheme bible to self-study a bit... LOL...

Hi there! My 2nd appointment is also on the 31st Jan! LOL... maybe I'll bump into you @ HDB Hub. Yeah, been spending the past 1-2 months looking for IDs/renov contractors and getting quotations. And yes, so far, it's all quite $$$... Sigh... All the best for 2nd appointment and search for renov contractor!

Hi! I've received it. Thanks! Seems like you did quite a lot of stuff for that amount.

ohh... actually, i very like your kitchen design (colour scheme). It would be something i would like to do... maybe a bit darker wood colour. can PM me your ID's contact and maybe your quotation? Thanks!

Woah. Thanks for your replies. I think my resale EM is the 1980s one. The power rating not upgraded, so think it's difficult to do airconditioning for the living room, likely going to skip this option (and save some money). BUT i got intention to install home projector system for the living room, so that i can jio my friends over and play xbox or wii or watch movie on big screen. and the Arco Lamp (which i actually intends to get from the forum's group buy), might not fit well in the living room. Balcony doors I was thinking of doing folding so that i can have a very wide view (think my balcony quite similar to yours, it's abt 5m long). but yah, maybe have to reconsider it, given that the width of the balcony (1.7m) is not very deep, might be troublesome to open and close, esp if i'm going to put a 2-seater outdoor set. My resale EM is located near Lakeside MRT (blk 469-472 area). supposed to get my keys before x'mas also, but my seller has some delays with their new unit (developer last min unable to hand over in time; think got issue with TOP permit), hence out of goodwill, i've extended my 2nd appt beyond the max 8 weeks to 31 Jan 2011. currently, looking for renov contractor/IDs. i already have some rough idea of what i hope to achieve. looking at more modern resort style. did some research online and on renotalk. my new place is very original conditions (20+ yrs kind of look), so need major rehaul of whole place, but likely just furnishing up the living rm, balcony, MBR, 3 toilets (intending to convert lvl 1 wash area to a WC), and kitchen. after paying stupid COV, feeling a bit broke, and all the IDs' prices cut throat one... any gd & affordable renov contractor/id to recommend? thanks.

Thanks for the info! Studying for my exams now. Will try to go over to my future home to take photos soon. Still sourcing for renov contractor/ID. *sob* feeling very poor after paying COV... where's your new place at? btw, need to apply for HDB permit to install WC at wash area?

I'm intending to convert my level 1 wash area of my resale EM (getting keys next Feb) to a WC too. But so far, none of the IDs dare to confirm. They want to do site visit to assess whether possible to convert or not. Though the seller did mention that his neighbours got do la, and maybe like you mentioned, it has to be a side-discharge kind. Not too sure what it means also. I also want to find out...

Hello everyone! I'm looking for suppliers to supply/install outdoor wood decking (preferably chengal) for my hdb open air balcony (5m x 1.7m), which is ard 96 sqft (inclusive of wastage). I stumped upon this person from EcoWood, who quoted me $1.5K (inclusive of 1-yr warranty and installation fees). From their website (http://www.ecowood.com.sg), which looks a little dubious, it seems like they are using reclaimed chengal wood (which they said it's supposedly better and longer lasting as it's seasoned). So far, the other quotes i've gotten from Liang Hoe Huat, Wood&Wood, Goodhill all range from $2K to $2.5K. It seems too gd a deal (sgd$15 per sqft for outdoor chengal wood decking). I was updated that for freshly-cut chengal wood, it's $2K for my area. Anyone heard of them or used their products before? Pls advise. Thanks!

Hi! Very nice layout and design... love your "cheong lightings"... LOL... esp the Arco Lamp. Did you get it from the Group Buy organized by some of the forummers? I'm getting my EM at end-Jan 2011. currently looking for ID/renov contractor. My layout is very similar to yours, but mirrored. I like the room divider for the living room, but my fiancee thinks it's a waste of money to build that. I was thinking more of having aircon for the enclosed living room (when there are guests over, but she thinks the frequency is < 4 times a yr ) and for it to act as sound barrier, when i play my rock band 2 on wii. LOL. btw, how did you plan your aircon? System 3+2? I also noticed from your pics, that your balcony doors in the one of the earlier pics, seem to be a folding doors type. but in this pic (attached above) it's like a sliding door. so what is it? you installed bestview or something like that?

Hi, I'm sourcing for a renov contractor for major rehaul of my resale executive maisonette. Any good, affordable and reliable contractor to recommend? Thanks!

Hi sgnick, Can I have the contact/email of your renov contractor too? Thanks!