adidaem

I don't remember the bedrooms being so spacious, is the walking space sufficient (for the MBR with two wardrobe corridors)? Since you are getting scale drawings from IDs, I guess she will outline the beds in scale so that you can assess. Do you plan to have kids? The rooms are fully occupied or knocked down, so it may be a problem in a few years. Like the windows idea - will help to bring ventilation to the living room and light to the staircase. Believe the end result will be nice. Do share pics when available ya?

I'll go for function over form. The not flush shelf may bother you for a couple of months, but the high maintenance open shelves will always be a pain to clean. Just my 2 cents.

Yay. Congrats and more pics pls. You will give us a room by room photo tour right? Am especially curious how you partitioned the maid's room & store room using the study.

Woah, thanks. I wish I am as knowledgeable as you make me sound. Am still learning lots from the folks on the forum and am definitely not as hands on as those who engaged contractors. Like the other day was reading Jumbopanther's guide to cutting tiles. (http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=49834&view=findpost&p=758071) Would never have thought of such things lor...

Quite a few of us started the reno journey 6 figs behind, so your cash component is considered really good! Have a smooth reno.

Thanks but I didn't actually do any study/analysis on the blowers, features, etc unlike some of the other owners in RT who did (e.g. http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=51576). Anyway for BTU requirement we just went to the aircon specialist we engaged with the floor plan and got them to compute for us. Only thing is that I was discouraged (by the ac guy) from installing aircon in the kitchen, much to my hubby's relief.

Hehe, really ah? Always wondered if my blog has influenced anyone (whether in a big or small way) to buy an EM. So nice to finally 'meet' someone! I was also inspired by other EM owners, so it's nice to be able to spread the 'love'. Btw it takes a while to get used to the stairs hor. Think it took me abt 3 months to go up/down-stairs without mentally grumbling.

Dps on how many rooms you intend to install blowers in and in which rooms. In theory the sum of the blowers BTU should be less than or equal to the compressor BTU. So e.g. if you have 9k BTUx3 + 18k BTU, then you need a compressor that can supply 45k BTU to all the blowers at the same time. So a system 3 that is underpowered means that your rooms may not be cold if all the blowers are switched on at the same time. Don't just look at System 3/4 etc, look at the BTU to compare. Different brands have different compressors BTU. Some have more max BTU than others. Don't think there is a common brand. Btw you also need to decide: - r22 or 410 coolant - inverter or not - which installer to get the aircon from (skill of installer is really important IMO) Just for reference, my open concept living/kitchen is 20K BTU plus another 17K for the dining so that L1 will be cool enough during parties. Rooms are 12K for MBR, 8.5/9K each for study, BR2 & LEGO room. FYI think I read horror stories from users of all the brands on the internet... gets a bit confusing after a while so I went along with what I was comfortable with (and could afford).

Ah, I understand. Don't worry the pain goes away after a while. And it really does wonders to your mood when you back to a gorgeous home. Does seem like reno costs have gone up quite a bit over the past year? Looking back my reno is relatively cheap compared to the recent ones by you, summersann, etc. But at the time I did mine, I was actually quite embarrassed to mention the cost.

Congrats on the low COV. Means more $ for reno?

Do you have a 5 room or EM?

Wow does $150k include VO?

So the loft bed is 'level' with the air-con compressor? And the entire area will be enclosed with windows? Not feasible. The compressor cannot operate in an enclosed area (I experimented with my ac switched on and my roller shutters down and the balcony became extremely warm). Plus not very humane to put the maid with the air-con compressor. The noise and heat will be quite unbearable IMO. If this is a Gen 2 layout, the poor maid is literally sleeping outside 2 toilets and just outside the MBR (which may have a side window like my layout). Quite gross (humidity, toilet smells & no privacy in the toilets) and also no privacy for you and your partner in the MBR.

Not allowed and have to dismantle when you sell? Via: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=28601&view=findpost&p=567061 Quite interesting huh? Question1: Where do you plan to put the aircon compressors? Question2: What is your budget? Suspect carpentry won't be cheap.

Marquis can get for 7-ish k. Don't find Lushx2 comfortable.

FYI:

Agree with ur ID. Should hv shelf. The void looks odd.

Are you referring to this? From alvin11's t-blog: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=47577&view=findpost&p=698089

Uhhh, thanks but my place is usually a mess lar. We only do the massive clean up when people come over. The spaciousness comes with the whiteness and open space, so thankfully no change for that. Oh ya, and my kitchen has too many gadgets now... Sous Vide machine, vacuum sealer, ice cream maker... all over the counters so lesson learnt is that we really shd have planned for gadgets space. Also still hate the pail and mops in the guest loo (not that we use it often but still...) so a decent sized utility area is really important too. Well we try to confine most of our mess to the study and LEGO room, but still struggle with daily mess. So yeah, Potatoes is right, storage is really really important.

I learnt abt genkan from kirinshibori's t-blog on RT. It's a japanese foyer. http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=48242&view=findpost&p=705481 Very practical idea. After a year, my place still looks clean, spacious, clutter free... only after a massive clean up exercise. LOL. I don't have kids, so the only ones who messes up the place is me (& hubby).

Congrats on your new place. Love corner units. I have seen this layout before, can't rem from where tho. Based on living in an EM for a year-ish... 1. Main entrance balcony --> convert to 'genkan' so I can just kick off my shoes instead of having to pick them up n place on shoe rack. Mabbe get a small stool (not enough space for bench?) to sit and wear shoes. 2. Living room --> Use a bit of space for shoe cabinet (space depends on how many pairs of shoes to cater for... or possibly put shoe rack in entrance balcony) 3. Living room stays as living room 4. Balcony stays as double height balcony (where will fur-kid sleep btw?) 5. Dining/study --> part convert to dry kitchen/bar (area outside study), part keep as dining, keep room as guest/study room but possibly from dining room depending on layout 6. Storeroom --> create one using either study or dining room space 7. Kitchen --> open concept, and make sure stove is not under either toilet bowl upstairs. 8. Utility (dryer/washer/ironing/pails/mops) --> create from kitchen 9. BR2&3 --> hack, combine into MBR and WIW 10. WC2 --> use as MBR toilet 11. WC1 --> use as 2nd toilet 12. MBR --> keep empty as future kid/s room Above of course really depends on external view (e.g. face another block or unblocked), sun direction & personal needs. All subject to approval from FSM. Notable things I've learnt from staying in my place: - Hate to keep shoes, so genkan is a must (am super lazy lar) - Storage very very important. Silly store under stairs is not enough. - Utility area needs to be bigger to cater for washer/dryer, ironing board, pails, mops, brooms, etc else the mess spills to the guest WC/outside which is unsightly. - Guest room very impt (ppl automatically assume you have space since you stay in a relatively larger space without understanding that all that space has been converted for other uses) Looking forward to the before and after pics.

Why don't you just ask Teoalida? You can ask on his blog and I believe he uses another nick on this forum. Anyway 3 is a simplification that fits most of the floor plans. If you wanna go into details you can count the Bt Batok ones, Sunset Way, Sin Ming, Bishan etc. These hv been shared on RT before.

Think Spikedoll has a unit in Bishan.

If you really want to get decent data, I suggest you consider a few parameters to include (or not): 1. Number of air-conditioning (and whether there is full re-piping) 2. Doors and metal grill (full replacement, partial or re-conditioning) 3. Windows and window grills (full replacement and type of windows e.g. casement, sliding, louvre, Bestview, invisible grills, aluminium grills) 4. Floor area (even between 4 room flats, it can range from 90 sqm to 110 sqm) 5. Age of property 6. Electrical re-wiring (full or partial) 7. Flooring (full replacement, re-conditioning only, type of materials used e.g. marble, homogeneous tiles, parquet, laminates, vinyl, concrete/cement screed) 8. Timing of renovation (or when reno completed) - yearly inflation makes a diff to cost. And as Potatoes said, does it include fixtures (lightings, bathroom, kitchen hood/hob, fans, sink, etc)? My fixtures cost is over 10k. Can make a huge difference.

Are you a serious wine drinker? Maybe you can consider having a built in wine chiller instead of open shelves? Maintains the wine better. Less dusty too.