adidaem

Thanks for the info. Wow, that's huge for a 5 room flat. Almost as big as the last batch of exec apt (144 sqm).

What a unique layout for your balcony. May I know how big is your place with/without the recess area? First time I see a point block with a layout like yours. And outstanding (and unblocked) views too. Superb! I hear that it's hard to buy the recess area nowadays, so your parents have great foresight to buy over the (huge) recess area. Congrats on your lovely new (old) home. P.S. We seem to have many similarly branded appliances. P.P.S Is your MBR door opening outwards? Seems like potential for the middle bedroom person to walk into the door.

Ha, personally I wouldn't 'move' twice. Pure laziness and security concerns aside, I'll be very concerned about careless movers damaging my new place/dirtying newly painted walls/scratching grills & doors/etc. Can show your numeric pad lock? Sounds interesting.

If it helps, your older flat is much more spacious. I just did a comparative of the older HDB floor plans/layout vs the latest ones: http://emrenoblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/mystery-of-the-not-shrinking-hdb-flat/ and the bedroom sizes: http://emrenoblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/part-3-comparing-hdb-bedroom-sizes/ Overall size of the flat aside, the 2nd & 3rd bedroom has shrunk 29% for the newer 4 room flats vs the pre-1996 ones. Personally I choose to stay in EM vs condo cos I'll rather have the space & location/convenience. Still loving it. I don't like Lush - not a fan of replicas and we found the quality and pricing to be so-so. Remember that we made a beeline for the exit after we spotted a rusty screw on one of the display items (butterfly stool replica). Could just be that piece but we didn't get the 'I love the place' vibe from Lush unlike some of the other stores we visited. As for Air, we find the 'feel' of the wooden pieces from Air hard to beat, except by the Italian & Japanese brands that costs quite a lot more. The other local brands with wooden stuff tend to feel more rough hewn - e.g. Mountain Teak, Commune, White Woods. Personal preference for smoother finishes. Even the pieces from Grafunkt (that was also started by Nathan Yong) doesn't always have the finishing that we prefer.

Widest blind is the one in the living room at the balcony door - 1.75m wide. Blind supplier: LuvArt, name is Daryl, hp 9871 0111. TANA brand of blinds. I didn't get the psf breakdown and revealing my total cost is pointless since I probably did double the amount of blinds vs most HDB owners. I have day/night blinds, floor to ceiling blinds for 3 walls/doorways (2.5m long), even blinds in my toilets. Just call and ask for the quote if you are interested.

No need to be humble, mine is also really simple. Just bigger. If anything, maybe mine is simpler cos I don't even have a feature wall. I like your kitchen. Looks like one for cooking, big fridge and all. Find the contrast between the bench and the rest of the dining/kitchen a bit outstanding in the pic tho, cos my eyes are unconsciously drawn to the bench. Was it intentional to have the contrast/black for the bench?

Hmm... thanks for not using the same door and gate. Color scheme wise they consistently like white. I think I mentioned before in previous posts about them. Think is an architect thing cos white interiors highlights good architecture. And you've probably notices the extensive use of white in japanese interiors (e.g. via Archdaily). But anyway after living in a white home I realize that I quite like it - for now I think my next home/reno will be white too. I find overly dark interiors depressing based on my fairly extensive hotel stay experience. Umm... I don't really like bi-fold doors too. So I can understand where they are coming from. But it's your place, you will be living in it so just go ahead with stuff that you like. If it helps they couldn't hide their dismay at some of our choices too. Ok lar. Now with MOP and rules around buying pte ppty, you know you have to stay at least 5 years. So reno nicely and be comfortable (and happy!) for the next 5 years. Air Div got sale... did you get anything else from them?

Think of all the pros and cons... for personal and expensive items, I'll think twice given that I don't know how secure the apt is while under renovation (read about burglaries in apartments under renovation - quite common it seems), and there are just too many workers around to keep track if things go missing. Plus dust, plus the multiple moves up and down the stairs that could damage the installations and walls if there are accidental knocks. I don't know how much your rental costs tho, and whether the cost outweighs any cons that I've listed. I'm in the 'genkan' phase after seeing it in another RT-er's reno. Why not just have the front door where the fence is located (is that allowed?) and make the entrance way a 'genkan'? Locking up shoes seems like such a hassle that I'll rather not have to go thru that. But then again, I'm more of the practical sort. Some RT-ers forego the traditional metal gate for a wooden door with electronic lock. Try to finalize the design soon. Last minute changes will probably result in more delays. Jia you!

You can pop by Lightcraft to check. They have a range of motion sensor lights based on my fuzzy memories. Btw, if you move your stuff in before carpentry, be prepared for dust on whatever you have moved in. It can be done - we did move in some stuff before the carpentry was completed but then we had some rooms where very little carpentry work was expected so impact was minimized. Or do you have a storeroom that you can use? When is the expected completion date for your reno?

Agree! I also wanted to shift rooms/kitchens/etc until I started reading all the HDB rules and understood the many restrictions in place. E.g. Like why can't I hack away and re-do the entire stairs since it doesn't affect anyone but me? E.g. Why can't I reconfig the kitchen area so that my study and guest room is conveniently next to the living room, with an attached bathroom and has a balcony view. (SIGH!!) As pointed out earlier, the stair railings and circular fan space in my place is similar to an earlier reno my IDs did (aka the black 'twin'). But I also know it's after we've discussed alternative designs, assessed the costs and decided on the preferred approach for my reno, and is not a blind copy. And some things are simply hard to be unique like the wardrobe location in the MBR - just putting them where it's the most logical place to be. At the end of the dat, to me my place is still unique cos only us (& IDs/contractor) know how much effort we put into the reno. Little things make me happy, like the convenient for our height counters (now I find the normal height counters totally low and weird) and I still love my bathroom wall tiles a lot. I'm sure it's the case for many other owners too. What stuff did they propose that you didn't like? But some things could be based on experience I guess. You have to consider that for them, they have sat through countless hours of design sessions and contractor discussions - sometimes what they propose could be what they think is 'best' based on their experience in the past renos. Anyway they were fairly accommodating to my change requests during my reno. Quite often in my case it was practicality vs design. I think I appreciate their efforts more after I got to know my contractor (aka 'HK') better. HK told me about how some carpentry changes were made after Hari told him that he can't sleep at night (and much later was confirmed by Ai Hwa that Hari really couldn't sleep!).

Hey, as mentioned, I'm here in your thread to ask for more pics! Hope you share the completed/stay in pics with us cos the WIP pics looked nice.

By the way, I finally did my roller shutters a few days ago. Very very dusty, and I think the control switch for the roller shutter could have been much better planned (by my IDs/contractor) if we had included the roller shutter during our reno. It's a lesson learnt for me, and a note out to any EM owners doing their reno. Of course, we were **** broke during reno, so not like we made the choice for fun. I think we have completed 50% of our intended "Phase 2" reno with the addition of cabinets in the living room niche under the windows, and the roller shutters for the balcony. Now just left with the dishwasher and water filtration system to consider...

I think true design 'fans' will want to own something that belongs uniquely to them, and not just copy blindly. Thanks Chibibotto - yeah saw the hanger at Howards @ Harbourfront too. It's huge huh? Luckily I didn't get it cos I use my dryer all the time. Plus I was quite taken aback by the size when I saw it in real life. I take the sunken cost to the extreme that even my roller blinds are included. Incomplete due to? Are you doing more stuff in your place? Based on your dining table, I assume you spent quite a bit on the furniture too? I shall go over to your blog and request for completed pics.

For those in JW, avoid those units facing the expressway. Really noisy at all hours of the day. Get a North South facing unit - not as hot and windier.

She did try. I declined being featured since I have no wish to be "exposed" for having an expensive reno. Think not so easy to find an owner willing to share their reno cost AND to be featured only cos of the cost.

No problems with the hood (or laminates) so far. And yeah, we hardly fry stuff. So far still liking the white kitchen cos it really brightens up the space. If you are worried about the hood colour, chrome and white works well together so you can consider a chrome/silver hood. Most welcome and congrats to you for your double happiness!

Why don't you say which estate you are interested in? The west got so many EMs, surely you don't expect owners from all the estates to respond to this generic request? Plus the units will be built at different times by different contractors so I would think that only info from the estate you are interested in will be useful.

Just to clarify (and to be fair to my IDs and contractor) - my 6 figs sum includes ALL sunken costs. So it's not just the reno/contracted amount but EVERYTHING that I cannot move away next time. That means: - lights - fans - kitchen stuff like oven, hob, hood, sink, sink mixer - bathroom stuff like taps, showers, WC, sinks - aircon Without the above items, it is a high 5 figs (what did I say about expensive fixtures earlier... ) I think most of the quotations mentioned by RT-ers do not include the sunken costs that I've mentioned, but I've always considered them part of the reno costs since it's not like I can pluck my mixer out of the sink and cart it to my next place unlike my loose furniture.

Thought this may be interesting for some: $110k reno: http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Story/A1Story20120604-350442.html

Maybe I can explain. I have not even told my parents (or in-laws) the exact cost. If you want to consider ALL the costs, including aircon & fixtures (bathrooms & kitchen), don't think my IDs know either. We are very hush-hush about it one reason being that I don't think many people spend a six fig sum on reno, and I don't want to be the subject of speculation/gossip cos of the amount we spent to get our dream home (dream home for now anyway). We/I even refused a newspaper feature simply cos I wasn't comfortable revealing my reno cost on national news(paper). TNP: http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Story/A1Story20120604-350442.html Second reason being that the extend of works we did means the cost is definitely much higher than the norm... it may not look like it with the fairly minimalist interiors, but some examples of where the higher costs were incurred: - We hacked 4 walls - Replaced all the level 1 flooring - Rebuilt one with a glass partition (between kitchen & study room) - Partly replaced one with glass walls/door (2BR toilet) - Used a full-height wooden sliding partition and stairs railing for another (LEGO room) - Bestview windows and all new doors and windows (including balcony) (and laminates for the bdrm doors) - Full electrical, including LAN points, numerous power sockets, numerous down lights, and mostly concealed wiring - Fairly expensive Grohe & Toto bathroom fixtures, including two thermostatic shower mixers - 6 aircon blowers/2 compressors, fully concealed pipes and ducts - Concealed pipes (kitchen & bathrooms) - Numerous roller blinds - extra for the living room balcony door and along 3 out of 4 walls for the study room The place was in bad shape when we got it so the only things we kept from the original flat were 1. The upstairs parquet floor that were repaired, sanded down and varnished, and 2. A funny light in the store room. So honestly, I don't think my reno cost is representative if that's the only reason to know the cost. A third reason is that we used IDs for the reno, as in real IDs and not renovators or contractors... (read for diff between ID/renovator/contractor: http://twentyseventhmay.wordpress.com/2012/02/22/choosing-the-right-interior-designerrenovatorcontractor/). IDs also have to be paid design fees... The only thing my parents know is that I spent more than 6 figs (and was totally broke before/after reno). Then again, my dad didn't even blink. He just told me that yeah, his friend spent more than $150k on an EM reno a few years ago. You can ask your buddy to check this thread: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4853&st=3920 Agree with thedottyness - generally, you get what you pay for - she can browse the various renoblogs to see the extent of work and design. A few more thoughts: 1. The condition of the flat matters a lot - most importantly being the flooring IMO, followed by stairs. If the flooring can be retained, that is at least $10K. If the stairs can be retained, at least another $4K to 10K less (depending on the material used for the new stairs railing/steps). For EMs, I think the extra cost vs 5 room flats would mostly come from (i) 1 extra toilet (maybe $3K?), (ii) balcony (including doors/roofing), (iii) extra room, (iv) stairs and (v) aircon. 2. The theme/design will affect the costs. E.g. Industrial theme that doesn't require concealed wiring is cheaper for obvious reasons, and ornate baroque theme that requires cornices, wooden trimmings, chandeliers, etc would cost more. 3. Materials used makes a huge diff - examples of materials that will cost a dent: marble flooring, italian tiles, quartz/silestone kitchen counters, branded fixtures (e.g. Haiku vs KDK fans), expensive lighting.

PM'ed you re: meetup. I like Zinio, and have subscribed to loads of mags (both local and foreign) on the iPad. Dwell Asia is available too, and is at GSS price of $17.38 for 6 issues (55% off) - really really cheap compared to Kinokuniya price. Links here: http://emrenoblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/local-home-decor-mags-available-on-ipad/ Also have free Dwell Kitchens here: http://emrenoblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/free-dwell-presents-100-kitchens-we-love/ Or you can read the mag when you come over lor.

I am not comfortable telling the exact amount. To you and anyone else who wants to know (quotations included), pls stop asking. Frankly I am curious why you are asking. Newbies who would like some comparative quotes/get an idea of the cost I can completely understand. You recently completed your reno and it's not even like you renovated a place with the same layout as mine - so really why are you asking?

Erm... ya agree that atas Japanese style doesn't come cheap. I spent that amount but also don't have a place that looks like the atas pics so I think you did a good job with the budget you had. Think it's not just about beautification/tidying the place. Camera is important too. I think professional photographers tend to use wide angle lenses that makes the place look more spacious. Plus some color tweaking etc to get the mood/effect wanted. So us amateurs can never get the same effect with iPhone/point n shoot cameras. I'm sure the pics of your place will turn out much nicer using a professional camera. Plus some professional eye for good angles. Oh we got Space to reposition the lamp height. I think they gave me the middle config when they 1st installed it but I kept bumping into the lamp. So they came back a 2nd time to change to the highest setting. I just manage clear the lamp now, but anyone taller will bump into it. So the elephant is also there to prevent people from stepping under the lamp. But my hubby and I are used to the lamp by now, so no more bumping of heads. What a waste about your bin! Maybe can use to put recyclables? Those clean type? Actually same for my Brabantia. We use the Bin Bin all the type tho. http://emrenoblog.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/our-bin-bin-waste-bins/ I have to give credit to you for making me think seriously about having a genkan! On my 'want' list in my next place.

Don't worry, I did the mail re-direction before and you can only direct by applicants (with IC numbers), not the the entire address/mailbox. http://www.singpost.com/index/45-receiveorganise-mail.html Application form: http://www.singpost.com/downloads/mailredirection.pdf Don't let them spoil your mood!

Oh I know which one! Yeah nice console. Not sure if higher legs can be fixed to the console? But yeah, I like the finishing on the Grafunkt one. Did you get it in the end? My contractor does not do simple carpentry projects, so I won't be sharing his contact. You may want to look for others who did engage carpenters for their reno.