MsChocobanana

Day 4: Tiling started!! We chosen the tiles in this shop with an extensive range.I can’t remember the name of the tile shop but it’s along balestier (the more posh looking tile shop in that stretch). One gd thing abt having a Hb ID is that we can pop by to select tiles as and when we are passing by the area for dinner. The selection process was fun as there were so many different colours and shapes (of tiles) to choose from. As much as I like subway tiles/hexagon shaped tiles, we decided to go for a more classic look and headed to the stones (stone-ish looking tiles) section. I really love travertine but it’s such a waste to have it in my tiny home. plus it’s quite expensive and not worth if we are gg to stay here for only 12 plus years. In the end, we decided to go for these tiles which I really like. It will be a timeless look, and then price is reasonable as well. The last photo shows the difference in texture. The smoother tile will be for the wall and the one with texture will be for the floor. I can’t wait to receive more photos from hb regarding the progress of our house.

HAhahha!! U r funny. I wouldn’t have read your thread if you didn’t drop by mine. Love your plants, the marble pot and table, the grey patterned wall on the MBR and walk in wardrobe! Dont need have a monologue with yourself, come chat with the other forumers!

Reno started today!! whoopee!!! Day 1: Hacking. The doors and false ceiling gone. The master bed room toilet gone! Storeroom gone! and we are ready for the next phase (which reminds me that I need to check with hb. Luckily he doesn’t come in to renotalk if not I don’t think he wants to come home before I zzz).

Hello Ando Tadao! Gd idea. My hb is not really affected by noise evidently from his lack of response when I speak to him. Lucky his work desk is not going to be fixed so can still shift around according to his preferenc.

LOLLLL at last sentence of point 4!!! Hahahhaha..!! No don’t apologise. I’m very thankful that you dropped by and actually thought through my floorplan. Ur suggestions made a lot of sense! For points 1 and 2: We did consider that but we consider the bedroom beside the corridor as the least favourite room. Thus; we try not to use that as our bedroom or kids room. The options for us is then helpers room/hubbby office. For point 3: we prefer helper to have her own space and privacy and also becos sometimes I stay up at night to work. Hence cannot share room. We consider craftroom as the best room in the house due to the amt of light we can get. For point 4: hubby’s work requires tool that are not kids friendly. Thus it’s my idea that We hide his work somewhere that the kids won’t see. *snigger abt the helper and her no 2* . Let’s just hope he is not working when she ever has LS-type of tummy ache. For point 5: when kids has grown and need their room, we probably won’t need a helper, and one can take the craft room, while craft room can shift to helper’s room. *hubby will have his office space in the near future and we can convert that to a store. Actually I have myself to blame for all these requirements and then the FS master gave more restriction.

Really very pretty house you have! The colours of the floor, table and sofa matches so well. I am looking to have such a colour scheme, but with kids, its not going to be easy to maintain.

This is a beautiful piece! Do you have to assemble it yourself ? Is it convenient to share which TB seller is this?

Hi Ando Tadao, such a conincidence. I just saw your comment after I posted an update (pending admin approval). I didn't thought about the sound part. I understand the water slushing part. I don't get the metal clinking part though. Can elaborate? Let me/my hb think about it again, my stove have to be as far away from the MBR as possible (fengshui master's advice) so not alot of options for us.

The space planning part is done. The next up would be to select a theme, which is the fun part! In our previous place, we did a dark, industrial theme (see https://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/50583-my-first-home/?page=22&tab=comments#comment-845914). But as they say, when you have kids, your life changes alot. We realised that dark houses are not that ideas for our kids (and our well-being when they leave tiny toys on the floor for you to step on). This time round, we opt for a brighter design, making use of of our full morning sun that comes in from the living room window. I can't decide if it is a more scandinavian style or a minimalist or a just something else. Here are some of the photos I used for reference. It is important to note that we can only apply certain elements to our house such as the colour scheme, the placement of furnitures. The outcome will differ based on the following factors 1. Ceiling height - photos we source from the internet may look nice due to higher ceiling, thereby giving a perception of larger space. 2. Natural light - some of the photos have large windows, thus allowing more light in. These windows makes the house look brighter and more open. In comparison, some of our flats, especially the older ones, does not have such big windows. 3. Fan Fixtures - another thing to take note is that photos of houses often does not have a ceiling fan. such a ceiling fan will not only lower the height of the flat/apartment, it will also distract one from the overall design of the house.

Hello KFC1189! Thanks for dropping by With the kids room, we wanted more space because I won’t know what they need as they grow up. Study table is not necessary for now, wardrobe also dont need big ones. N we need space to move these furnitures around just in case it the current configuration won’t work. If need be, we can split the room again when they r bigger. That’s a good question! At the moment, the bathroom 2 can only be access by the kitchen. My hb did suggest to hv a door from his office to kitchen also pointed out that it increase our budget. I’m thinking abt it, it’s unnecessary expenditure, we won’t go ahead with it. Are u also renovating ur place? If you have ideas for our place, pls do share. It’s gd to see things from another perspective.

As promised previously, here is my finalised floorplan. FINALLY! In the planning, in addition to our "Must haves", "Good to haves" and fengshui master's comment, we also factor in our lifestyles - E.G. A dinning area work for most family but not for ours, hence we have a small and functional one. Here are the main points of the floorplan. We have our a craft room where the kids can work and play, it will also be the place where I get to do some work. We have a bigger room for both kids. It will be where they sleep and get up to no good. We have a workspace for the hb, where he will find peace when he work. The kitchen will be simple yet functional. Helper will have her own room as it was in our previous place. The dinning area is small and functional. With our staggered meal times, we seldom have dinner together at the dining table. We opt for sliding door for a cleaner look for the craft room, helper and kids room.

Thanks for dropping by Ando Tadao. Yeah, the floorplan changed so many times and it ranges from minimal changes to complete restructuring of the place . I will try to upload the floor plan up next.

(just wondered why my post kept getting hidden, so tried to post again. Only realized that now the posts have to be approved by moderator). moderators, you may delete this post, thank you.

Here are the photos of the flat in its existing state. Here, we have the living hall. Love those windows and will have it opened up as much as I can. The false ceiling thing with staggered design will have to go. The tiles are placed so strangely. Those will have to go. We will have to fill up the grout lines before laying laminates. The living hall and the study. The study is to be converted to a semi-open space as the craftroom. Before this, it was planned to be the kids room, kids play room, Hb's office, dinning area, chill out room (with a hammock). The living hall facing the rooms. The kitchen. It is quite big. I have not much plans for this since I won't be cooking much. After consulting the FSM, the kitchen had the most changes - including color of our tabletop, placement of sink, type of cooking hob. sigh. The other half of our kitchen. This space previously was planned to be helper's room, kitchen, and now, store/office. I will upload the floorplan in the next post. Thanks for reading.

JTS. One of my floorplans that I sent to my Hb. This probably made him questioned my sensibility. and also caused him quite a bit of Well, if you haven't noticed, I totally left the kitchen out!

Hello to whoever is reading this thread!! I am so glad to be updating here. the past 2 months have been a roller coaster ride with coming up with new designs and getting rejected, redesigning and rejected again. Reasons for such a ride - Weird floorplan AND Fengshui Master. Let me fill you guys in on this as much as I can. Floorplan As mentioned in the first post, our floor plan at first glance looks alright. But soon when We ( my husband and I) start to seriously think of the space planning, things start to happen. Things = conflict. When planning the flat, I tend to plan it around my kids. Kids, as some of you may know, grow quite fast and their use of storage, play area will change a lot in the next few years. Eg, they will want their own wardobe soon; they may want to slp beside each other or as far from each other as possible; they may need a study table and the study table will shift around the house to be in the 'best' study spot. Hence, i have to say, the list of requirements I have is quite long. (as mentioned in the first post). My hubby is my ID. He is an ID*. So naturally he knows what goes and whats out at the tip of this finger tips. Conflict occurs when he tries to put it across that my list is not practical. It does not make things better when I drew out a floorplan and sent it to him. Those moments caused him undue distress and suffering . hahahah We managed to get a draft that I am able to accept. though not 100% but acceptance level is much higher than the previous 582 drafts. Feng Shui Master As it is, it is difficult to us to plan in a way that I get what I wanted. Having a third party in this process DOES NOT HELP. My Hb wanted to consult a master for our house, since we have kids, its better to have some advice on this. I am neutral - not a believer yet not a skeptic as well. Being practical, I told my Hb that is is possible that after all the planning and arguments, this FSM may throw all our plans out the window, bringing us back to square 1. As Murphy law would have it, our floorplan was rejected. 583rd draft was all wrong. OMGGGGZ. We cannot NOT heed since we paid good money for it. We went back to the drawing board and Hb started to plan according to what I WANTED and what the FSM SAID. FHL. lol. The FSM's advice made sense in many ways. Most of it is feasible only if 1. I don't have kids 2. I don't have a helper 3. Hb doesn't need a workspace 4. I don't need much strorage 5. I don't need a TV so.....something has got to go. (*i am not soliciting any biz for him so no mention of his firm here).

This layout looks nice at first glance, however, its not as functional as you think. The living hall is surrounded by doors to the other rooms, main door and windows. Hence, it is not easy to place the sofa/tv. this is one of the reasons for my super delayed update. This place is in serangoon/hougang area, lots of older flats (also in tampines, pasir ris) have such layouts.

Hello michmichtooo! Pardon the super overdue delay. Photos will gradually be posted over the next few weeks

Hello Guys, I'm back again after 6 years. We just bought a resale 5rm HDB just so we have a wider choice of schools for our kids. Just as before, I like to share my renovation journey and also get suggestions from fellow forumers. I have to add a disclaimer that I have no intention to advertise for my husband who is also my ID (I don't really have a choice here ). When we were looking for a new place, this unit is the only one that has a spacious corridor, lots of sunlight and unblocked view. We hesitated to offer them because the floorplan is very strange. Perhaps some of you can have a look and tell me if you find it strange. Well, because of this floorplan, my hb and I have different views about how things will be placed. Considering my list of needs, I have to admit that it is challenging as something got to give. Space planning Needs/Wants*: A master bedroom 2 rooms for the kids 1 room for his office 1 room for the helper preferably all the room should have a window for ventilation. After much consideration, I should give in to have 1 bigger room for the kids and we can cut up part of the living room if the kids request for separate rooms. Design concept Needs*: Brighter living area and kitchen Hidden storage all over to reduce clutter Herringbone something somewhere Design concept Wants*: more plants (maybe a home herb garden if hb permits. he strongly believes that I have a black thumb as I have, well, indirectly murdered our Tie(3) shu (4) and some cactus. I definitely will need lots of help and tips from you guys in this aspect) Regal blue bedroom *These are just my ideas. I haven't had time to sit down with Hb to discuss it properly without the kids climbing all over us and messing up the table (and with our minds). Regards, Mschocobanana

Hello everyone! its been few months since i last posted updates. yes updates = house not completed! if there is ever a longest renovation award, i think we world stand a good chance! Last post was on our new door as part of HDB's lift upgrading. we were told that it would be completed by june or july and that would be just nice since baby will arrive late aug/early sept.. but it was only ready in early-mid oct! after the lift was up and moving, the workers did repainting, scraped off the cement, paint ect accumulated during the upgrading process. Now, i can finally say that it is completed! From the photo below, you can see our original door (in black) and new door (in brown) (and also new baby.. haha). This configuration is better since it open the space between my kitchen to the piping. Previously, we have a 3 tier cabinet and a custom made grill/partition thingy above the 3 tier table, these have been removed resulting in a large space mentioned. Due to the space and new baby, hubby will think of how to utilise it. So now there are 4 spaces to redo/rethink (1) balcony where the shorter (almost new sofa) is (2) the space where original door is (3) dinning area (work in progress) and (4) baby's room. meanwhile, i requested to have our custom sofa sold to be replaced by another that is more child-friendly (the other 2 seater as well) and hubby agreed. This sofa was bought and delivered at mid 2013, so its actually about 1.5yrs old, in very good condition since both of us are working mostly from mon to sat and sometimes sunday, we hardly sit on it. the only time people actually sat on it was during housewarming. If anyone is interested or anyone who knows anyone who may be interested in either sofa or have any idea where I can sell them, please PM me. Living room with new door: 3 tier cabinet and partition at the original door New door. Sofas looking for owners. Looking for new owner to love her.

Ocean11, I almost died when I saw ur brick wall! V v nice!!

Thanks OceanEleven for the birthday wishes and for replying to Chrisjaren on my behalf My husband took a rare day off for me today and tmr I will return him to all the project sites, hope he is working hard on your home. When its done, i come by and pay u and ur mrs a visit k!

Thank u songz!

Thank u oceaneleven! *beam*

Hello hello .. After what seems like forever, I am back with some updates! The lift upgrading is almost completed and this week HDB assigned contractors to open up second main door in the balcony area for lift access! The original main door (as some of u may experience before) that leads to the stairs will remain as it is. This new door means a rather significant change to our house. The hubby will leave the baby-related ideas to me (yes! We are having a little one.) and he will busy himself with whatever little time he has for the balcony/living room area. So for now, when the door is ready, we can move all our bicycles from the spare room out to make space for the baby. The area where the original door is will be converted as well undecided of it shld be an extension of the living room or a play area or a lounging space (subjected to hubby/ID approval!!). Pictures of the construction of the new door. The blank grey wall is where the new door is. The hacking done in half a day. I guess it will be some plastering works n installation of door within next few days. Works r expected to complete this Saturday.