adidaem

We just finished our thank you dinner/drinks for our IDs n contractors. It was fun chatting with them and teasing them about the whole process now that we can look back at it. Guess that's as happy an ending as it can get?

Thanks Mae-jie and newnyew!

To be honest based on what I see in my apartment, if you don't let your ID do your carpentry, it's really hard for her to conceal the switches and pipes. It's just not possible cos of how things have to be planned. I'm not sure if you can get the deposit back... have to look at your contract but my gut feel is probably not...

Thanks frigginfuchsia! It will be the study/guest room. We intend to get a sofa bed and a study table. So when the bed is not opened up, we can use the sofa... ok, probably not cos the living room is way nicer. View-wise it can't beat the Forfar or Duxton Plains ones, but we are contented with the relatively unblocked view and privacy. Thanks! Yeah man, really gives a totally different feel. Gives a feel like the living room is an extension of the balcony from certain angles. Gotta take pics of that to show you guys. Really love it!

Hi Jon, thanks for your compliment. Lemme see if I can answer some of your questions: 1. Ac trunkings: (i) the position of the blowers was extensively discussed between my IDs, the ac contractor and main contractor to minimise pipes/trunks. (ii) The ac truckings are mostly concealed in the false ceiling. According to my contractor, the ac trunking must be run at a gradient so it's not so easy to plan the config/layout. I dunno anything more than that but it can be done cos mine is all concealed. 2. Electrical outlets and switches: Where possible, my contractor hid them in carpentry or false/constructed walls. We have quite a few of those false walls around, eg where the shoe rack is. Carpentry the best example is probably in the 2BR where the switches are in the wardrobe for easy access from the bed. Your ID is right that switches/trunking cannot be concealed in HDB walls, but there are work-arounds to that. For reference do read Reiki's T-Blog. 3. Water pipes and heaters: They are boxed up or hidden in false ceilings. Again, my IDs noted where the ugly big pipes are and then planned the design around them so that they can be hidden. The ones in my black toilets, where they cannot be hidden are painted over. Your ID is not wrong to say that it should not be done... I run the risk that if there are leaks I'll tear down the walls. But to be honest, all condos and new HDBs conceal the pipes too so I dunno why we can't do that. Mabbe it's worth forfeiting your deposit to save you the heartache of looking at a reno result that you'll hate, which sounds likely to be the case now? Maybe you can share your scary ID's name/company to help others. My IDs are Atelier M+A: http://www.atelier-ma.com/en/ We had many design discussion sessions with Ai Hwa & Hari before finalising the layout. Think that should be the way cos how else to decide on a layout that you'll like right? Btw for tiles 1st time we went together to look at tiles. Once my SO and I were comfortable with their selection criteria (basically they were pickier than us), we told them to go ahead and pick the tiles for us. But before the order was placed they still show us the tiles they selected for our final decision.

You have such a good and filial son. You must be really happy. Congrats. I'm sure the mooncakes taste even yummier than the usual ones.

Wow, really looks prepped up for a house party. Any more pics of your pretty bedroom?

Such an eventful day... the plumbing in the MBR loo has problems... hot n cold water pipes switched and to solve that tiles had to be hacked, contractor had to go down n get more tiles and all this in the midst of rushing about for really important wedding preps for both us and our contractor. Did I also mention the electrical box thingy had a problem and we were also outta electricity for a while? Luckily I was feeling quite zen about the whole ROM thing, so apart from difficulties in putting on make-up in the black toilet, having to use bottled water to wash my face and brush my teeth and not being able to use the loo, I was just feeling bemused. At least it's memorable. So the MBR shower is out of action (till Friday I think) cos we have to wait for Grohe people have to come down and calibrate both the thermostatic mixers (plumber dunno how to do it), silicon and paint touch-ups are still on-going, hopefully kitchen backsplash and hood will be up tomorrow, realised that we can't open the fridge door fully cos of a protruding electrical point, and the smaller KDK fans are making noises at high speed, and the aircon drainage in my room makes a loud drippy noise in the toilet, and the stupid balcony doors by Pang Giap still irritates the h*** out of me cos we can't close them properly... Grrr... But... to put things into perspective, amidst all this reno stuff the house is still so beautiful and we are both happy to be living here. Guess that just puts me in a good mood.

They'll be happy to hear that. Haha, no thanks to my bad photography. I'll show my bro's pics next time.

One thing not obvious from the pics... given that this is an old HDB and we have 6 aircon units, the (almost) lack of obvious trunking is nothing short of amazing. According to my contractor (ha, been chatting with him while he's supervising the workers), my IDs & him spent a lot of time planning the ac trunkings and wirings so that they are all neatly hidden in the false ceiling, or pelmets, etc... so except for the exposed ones going up to the compressor, I actually can't find any obvious ac trunking anywhere in the house. This is even tho we actually sourced for the ac ourselves (Aircon Designs) but they were still willing to work with our ac contractor. Ditto for most of the bathroom pipes and the 2 storage heaters hidden in the false ceilings. So people who come over so far have commented that the place doesn't feel like a HDB. I think the hidden trunkings have a large part to play. Of course, the place is not perfect and we are definitely finding imperfections now that we are staying in the house. But for a reno that started on 4 Jul and with HDB giving a hard time... we think our contractor has been a miracle worker.

Thanks! Haha, ya we are happy to have moved in. The stairs needs some getting used to tho! Now everytime I leave something upstairs, mentally I go... "arggggh". Lazy! For that, I need some help from my fellow AFOLs. Gonna send out an SOS signal soon for help with unpacking the LEGO! Thanks JS! Yep, the railings turned out nicer than I'd thought. All credits to my IDs of course. Even my contractor's boss praised the window grills that they'd designed. As for decor, it's now so minimalist I'm afraid to put stuff up on the walls! Need some time to get over that I guess. For now I'm happy with the way the place looks. Soooo lazy to unpack... procrastinate a bit more.

Ok, that concludes the pics for now. Perhaps more this weekend after unpacking and when the kitchen is done. Outstanding stuff... - Gadgets for the door: much as I love the cute little wooden wedges my contractor got for us as door stoppers, we hv asked for magnetic stoppers along with door bolt and door chain. - Kitchen backsplash, hood and reinstallation of the electrical outlets. Kitchen gas turn-on. - Balcony doors: Handle from Pang Giap and pelmet(?) from my contractor to hide the uneven door frame that was installed (arghh... everytime I think abt the doors I feel so irritated with Pang Giap). - MBR bathroom ledge (which my SO is a little upset abt since it's one of the few things he asked for in his toilet (compared to mine) and it was overlooked). - Touch-ups everywhere... think I wait for my IDs to list... the filling of gaps and holes and patchy paintworks that I now avert my eyes from... - Door number plate: We've asked our IDs to think of something nice... Since we moved in we've gotten: - KDK to re-balance the living room fan and adjust the facing of all the fan support trunks so that the nicer side faces the doors... - Bosch to come back to install the stacking kit and set-up the dryer. We are both really tired (physically) from the move and I guess unpacking will take while. One funny thing that we realise... the sofa we got is super comfy for naps... an unexpected bonus!

Nope it's just looped so that the hose don't get in the way. Thanks for pointing out tho.

2BR toilet is very hip hotelish I think... More pics of 2BR can be viewed HERE.

2nd bedroom, or 2BR in short... I gave my IDs a hard time during the design phase I think... want more wardrobe space, think with glass wall will look more hotel-style, want more lighting, etc... but I think the end result looks good. Also something a bit different cos you walk thru the wardrobe to go into the room... More pics of 2BR can be viewed HERE.

Master bedroom toilet has full glass door – very yuppie huh? We do have venetian blinds at the window to block the sunlight for sleeping in… Due to space constraints and loads of pipes not much we could do in terms of design, but IDs managed to hide all the pipes and they also designed a narrow vanity with the sink so that it doesn’t look even more cramped.

On with the master bedroom... The MBR looks bigger than I remember it to be. Headboard designed by my ID with walnut veneer, with the lights the room looks really bright at night. The headboard has drawers and a flap down panel.

The LEGO room looks horribly packed like a storeroom now unfortunately… Feel so bad for my IDs, they must be so upset that we have moved in and destroyed the beauty of the place. Was gorgeous when we 1st got it. Love the sliding panel doors which moves really well/smoothly, well aligned, etc. According to my contractor, the carpenters who did the doors are really experienced and skilled 江湖老将 as he calls them. He mentioned that not many carpenters in Singapore are able to do such a good job. Such a contrast to the horrid sliding doors installed by Pang Giap in my balcony. Do not use Pang Giap! I cant even close one of my balcony doors properly now and the other one is so difficult to close too. Grrrrr… so upset I dont even want touch those doors. Ok, back to the nice stuff, the parquet flooring which we retained due to budget n time constraints turned out really well too. Matt finishing even my property agent who saw the original unit with us thought the floor was new cos she remembered it as looking really really awful (bright orangey colourish). A bit of patchiness which weve asked our contractor to look at he said it might be cos the wood was like that in the 1st place cos he did not re-stain it, just grinded and I think clear coated. More pics of LEGO room can be viewed HERE.

Moving up the stairs... Newly laid parquet flooring, mild steel rails in paint finish designed by IDs, vetted by engineer as required by HDB cos we whacked away one bedroom wall and had rails installed there instead. My IDs had suggested really minimalist railings but we wanted something a bit more kids friendly. And I didn't want glass both for ease of cleaning and irrational fear of shattered glass. My contractor has repeatedly apologised for the stairs finishing btw. He said touch-ups will be made later this week. Think he was a bit embarrassed that the pics show up the patchy finishing so badly. The wall lamp is the Flos Pochette Up/Down in Chrome. We chose the fluoroscent version for energy saving and durability of bulb tho I suspect the halogen ones will give a warmer lighting feel. More pics of stairs can be viewed HERE.

Mmmm ya, the mix of wood, chrome n white works well. Very classic combi I think. My contractor said the place will probably look just as contemporary 10 years later. Yes both Grafunkt n Air Division have similar ones, but not wall hung which does make a diff to the aesthetics I think... If not I think the Grafunkt one is not bad. Edit: But I still think mine is nicer cos got cantilever top. Haha. Thanks & PM sent. Blinds are TANA branded btw. Don't think I mentioned before. Thanks Frigginfuchsia. Thanks! So far the contractors who come by say that the place is very nice. I even gave my gas contractor an impromptu house tour yesterday. Yes, my house is designed by Hari & Ai Hwa from Atelier M+A. Unfortunately their website is facing some technical difficulties so the nice pics n description that I was looking forward to reading cannot be seen yet. Website: http://www.atelier-ma.com/en/ They have very clean aesthetics that my contractor also praised. And full credit to them for little touches like the angled false ceiling edge that adds to the look and feel of the house. They have very very clean and minimalist design tho, so if you are into loud colours then they may not be suitable for you. But as u can see from the pics (hopefully, despite my crappy photos), the white sets off my furnture well and if I do have nice paintings next time, I think it's easy to put up rather than worrying if the painting will match the wall colour. More pics later today. Will move up the stairs to level 2 since the study, kitchen n balcony are not ready yet.

Guest toilet: All black n moody...

Hi I hv 6 ac units 3 on each floor. Only kitchen has no ac. My blk has upgraded electrical so allowed to hv 2 compressors. Thanks everyone for ur compliments. Hv just moved in n no Internet for netbook. Not sure how to PM on iPhone. Pls be patient if I dun reply immediately I will do so n post more pics after I've settled down.

Havent seen any. Think u may hv to custom make if u want wall-hung. My contractor did mention it's not easy to make.

Designed by IDs, made by contractor. Finishing n quality looks good. The front panel can open. (flips down) Grills are so that the remote control signals can pass thru. Made to hang to give a lighter effect? M guessing my IDs can explain in a more poetic way. Air Division has a similar one but cannot be wall hung tho. Does the place look Japanese btw since one of my ID is from Japan?

My nose is nearly raw from the sneezing and blow cos of dust! Anyway taking a break from packing so here are some pics: - Living room. Sorry abt the pic quality again. No time for touch-ups or colour correction.