ejszaka

I can identify with you. Patience .... and the wait will be worthwhile. Make sure you create a t-blog too, and all posted about your reno plans. It's most exciting sharing in the 'joy'.

Thanks for the reminder Reiki. Am actually very worried about the tiling, both the gradient, orientation and the workmanship. Gotta eye like a hawk, but very time consuming. As for the bedroom, I think might use a dark grey or even black wall paper on just one wall, so won't have too many colours. But at this point, my plans are still fluid. I think of shopping for paintings, I shack liao.

Gorgeous combination. Are you overseeing the whole reno process yourself? Any rough sketches, etc for the end product?

I like your layout. It's 4NG? Will you be tearing down one bedroom to get an extended space for the living room? It would be very nice and spacious.

Hi mitchteo, interesting layout you've got there. Didn't know the older style HDBs had odd shaped toilets, bathrooms and living rooms. Based on your floor plan, which is your dining area and which is your TV area? Can't wait to see your reno.

As mentioned earlier, I am using the Alumix pole system for my wardrobe. Turns out the choice of colours and laminates available for the doors are quite limited. They've got lots of frosted glass stuff which I am not keen on. Got my ID to re-do the 3D. Opted for a plain off white door with a horizontal black stripe running through. To add some texture to the door, I've opted for a PU material (to resemble leather) with an interesting and understated design. So here are the revised 3Ds.... The colour of the bedroom has become very muted. I've requested that my ID add a dash of texture or colour to something in the room. Perhaps even wallpaper, to break the monotony of the whole theme.

Saw it. Very nice. Looks like you have a thing for horizontal lines. Saw your orange striped bathroom also.

Renovation officially begins today. DAY 1 Went up to the flat over lunch time to see how the hacking is getting on. It's really a warzone up there. Since it is a small flat, I am expecting it to finish on schedule (or even earlier). The hall and rooms .... Kitchen destruction ....

I know there's one beam in the kitchen. Not too sure about the hall until the hacking is done, when I get to see the unadulterated version of the flat. There's a 3-panel full height glass partition at the kitchen entrance, so the air-conditioning will be confined to the entire extended living room and the bedroom.

My pleasure. Always good to get to know more pals who are doing their reno.

Hmmm.... that is true. Now I have to decide on which is the lesser of the two evils. Thanks for bringing it up, rayfox.

Congrats, Yuki&Jason. I can totally identify with the waiting and anticipation. Looking forward to seeing your reno. Where is your flat located, btw?

Thanks everyone, for the inputs on the old tv antennae outlet.

Thanks, Reiki. I hope it turns out comfy as well too. Yes, the WC area is indeed cozy, but I hope I don't have to spend too much time in there. Very valid considerations you brought up there. Not too sure why the previous owner sealed up the toilet door instead of the bathroom door, anyways, have to live with it, unless I wanna spend even more $$ moving the door. Another constraint is that I am building a cabinet with sink on the otherwise of the wall. Will have to live with it, rely on the expert tiler to lay the gradient of bathroom tiles such as water drains away into the floor trap quickly.

Hey, potatoes, I don't quite get you. Horizontal as in? You refering to the toilet tiles ya? Leopard spots leh, how to make horizontal or vertical?

My ID noticed a trunking for the TV antennae in my flat and says it's inhenrent in many old HDB resale flats. He mentioned that as a result, only the parts shaded in red can be hacked off, leaving a shallow pillar that ends where the thick red line is. He says touching the trunking will affect TV reception of other residents in the same stack (upstairs and downstairs). Does anyone know if that is correct?

No 3D drawings for the bathroom and toilet. Not much can be done in a HDB toilet, given that most smaller water pipings cannot be hidden, and I am not in favour of boxing up and hiding everything in there, nor creating glass partitions for the shower area due to the shortage of space. Will probably not change the layout created by the previous owner. i.e. the actual entrance of the toilet has been sealed up, and access into the bathroom/toilet area is via the bathroom door, with a opening linking the two areas. I will only box up the main large pipes and have a shower curtain that prevents the water from splashing into the toilet area. Floor will be black homogenous tiles while most of the walls plain white. I will however have a black feature wall of sorts on one side of the shower, and behind the toilet bowl. Chose these tiles from Hafary the other day with my ID. I love the spotted design for the toilet wall tiles, which will adorn one wall of the shower, and behind the toilet bowl. The kitchen floor and wall tiles have vertical lines (very faint for the white wall tiles). They will be orientated to run parallel to the length of the kitchen, and hopefully give the illusion that the kitchen is longer than it really is.

BEDROOM An L-shaped Alumix pole system wardrobe will be built in the corner of my remaining bedroom to maximise storage space. The shorter side will have 2 sliding panels while the shorter side wil have a bi-fold door for easy access of the wardrobe's dead space in the corner. I won't be tearing down the wall in the bedroom to access the bathroom, as I don't have an issue walking through the kitchen (even in the middle of the night) to go to the toilet. This saves wall space where I will construct a shallow full height cabinet that will function as a vanity cupboard. Yes, all the hair gels, SK-IIs, hair-dryer, toiletries, and what not will all go in there.

Here are some the 3D drawings rendered. KITCHEN I've opted for a predominantly white theme, with dashes of red to break the monotony. Black floor tiles for the lazy bachelor that I am, so dirt on the floor will not obvious. LIVING ROOM The walls to one of the bedrooms will be torn down to make way for an extended living room. That means the bedroom effectively becomes my living area with the TV. A raised wooden platform separates the TV/sofa area from the dining/storage area. I am constructing in a wall full of storage space as this flat doesn't have the luxury of a storeroom. Space within the cabinetry will be configured to my exact needs to stow away my ironing board, vacuum cleaner, stools, CDs, shoes, files and books. The display cabinet space shown in this 3D will be changed to storage cabinets instead to maximise storage space. Instead of a dining table, a bar top will be constructed to serve its dual purpose as a dining table or working area.

The HDB resale process was painfully long for me, as the current unit was tenanted, and the seller was in negotiation with the tenants to terminate the tenancy early. Thankfully they managed to find a place to move to, and I was able to take over the flat early to commence renovations. Otherwise, I would only be able to start renovating after 31 Dec. During this time, I spent time as constructively as I could looking for an ID, meeting numerous times to discuss ideas, to-ing and fro-ing on the quotations, space planning, refining the 3D drawings. Shopping for the household items was the chore that took the steam out of me. The amount of online browsing, physical window shopping, short listing, and finally puchasing the required items was more daunting then I anticipated it to be. No detail was spared, right down to how many light switches I wanted, how many gang, one or two way, etc, etc. By and large, the biggest challenge so far was securing an earlier enough appointment for OpenNet to relocate my termination point such that none of cabling runs on the surface. (And that should be a separate t-blog altogether.. hehe). My instruction to the ID was that nothing is to be exposed if it can be hidden.

Hacking will start tomorrow. Met my ID over lunch today to 'hand over' the flat to him. He came by with a big fat permanent marker which he mercilessly used to put crosses on walls and fixtures, demarcating them for hacking by the skilful hands (hopefully) of the hackers. Like in sculptures, with destruction comes creation. So I am praying this whole process of detroying and creating goes well over the next 6-7 weeks. A friend of mine also told me to ensure that the immediate neighbours are notified of the hacking, lest they get a shock tomorrow morning and march into my flat to complaint.

Bathroom Toilet .. which is connected to the bathroom as the current owner combined them both

More pictures..... Main Bedroom Other Bedroom

It's been a while since I last posted. It'll be slightly more than a week before my HDB completion appointment, but I have informally received the keys to the flat, thanks to the seller's agent. The current owner has also kindly allowed me to apply for a renovation permit under his name, as long as I indemnify him. Here are some pictures of the unit. Living Room Another living room shot from the kitchen entrance Kitchen (from two vantage points)

Aegis, very nice layout. I saw your initial photos, so lucky no need to hack kitchen cabinets. One less hassle. Make sure you eye the aircon installation guys like a hawk, to ensure they get the right gradient for the water trunking. My contractor friend says any cxxx-up there and got eyes cry no tears.