Edlyn

hi Jass, Is your electrical cabling concealed originally. It is neatly done as shown in pic...... i thought old flat must use surface mount casing, right? You are amazing. DIY everything yourself.... where did u find so much time? Your carpentry work quite well done, can PM me the carpenter. tks.

Hi Jass, you have so many lobang buying from taobao. Keep us updated if the switches, LED and other stuff reliable or not.

Dear Calliecats, Has been busy and have no time to come in the last week or so and notice there are quite a bit of new photos. Your house is really cool, lots of thought and planning must have been done before your reno started and I dont think many contractor or ID have so much time to go through all these details, you are very lucky to have a good contractor to work with you to realise your dream. I would have graded my contractor a 7 as compared to yours. Your Walk In Wardrobe is really really nice and the space usage and planning is done up very well. You deserve a lot of credit for the entire reno, your planning and colour coordination is probably among the best I have seen. The mirror hiding off the aircon access is really a very smart move, REALLY 1 STONE 2 BIRDS, nicely concealing up the window and cab be used as full mirror for dressing up. I think your contractor deserve a good meal from you LOL hahaha It is so nice of you to share all these nice photo and the reno process with all of us, hope I can start posting mine too...If I have the time..... Are you very into this home theatre stuff? Not easy to configure if you are not technically trained to do it, it is amazing.

Dear Ode, I can understand your confusion and I suppose everybody goes through the similar process. Just a word of caution "Cheapest is not necessarily good". If contractor give cheap price but deliver lousy quality products and services, that is expected as you can read many bad experiences. Expensive good designer providing good quality work is expected since so much has been paid but personally I feel that you should consider contractor who are dedicated, give reasonable price but provide good quality finishing and service. I call this value for money. I consider my contractor value for money but in terms of the planning & details, I think it pales in comparison to what i have seen from calliecat blog. Is the price difference so much to take the risk is something you should consider. All the best Let me know if you need my contractor contact, can PM you.

Dear Callie, Nice look, very classy. Your kitchen cabinet do look like floating with the led lights used. Saw your bomb shelter with the mirror as a door to cover up the original door. I thought of using a mirror to cover up my store too but did not go ahead as I heard that it will sag after a while and if you open/close it often, the tic tac mechanism might not work well......... So far, any problem with that for you? Looking forward to see your bedrooms.....

Dear Lynzie, You are moving very fast and making purchases pretty decisively. It is good idea not to discuss about pricing since time is not on your side. I am not sure if you have already done your budgeting. You can actually do up a budgeting list for furnishing and from there work on the budget you are willing to spend before going out to shop. In the end, you can avoid overspending and balance the various needs & wants. Previously, when my contractor did the costing for me, he did advise me to do it and i find it very useful and avoid unnecessary argument with our partner....hehehe My friend does building project and so recommended me some LED bulbs.and strips.. it is a little technical but if you are interested..... i can PM you his contact. Will be good to discuss on the electrical cabling required base on where you want to replace the led....... some led can replace the chandelier bulb which help to save electricity bill. If you have not got your blind, you can actually try spotlight which has ocassional sales + VIP discount which makes it pretty affordable too. I did replaster at my place too and do remember to do a final check after everything is in because there are bound to be knocks and scratches due to many sub con working in the same place...must ask your ID to do final touch up. Also, remember to make sure that your painter add a layer of sealer before painting the color. Good to be around to check it when they are doing the sealer ....it works to act as a layer to protect the plaster from moisture as well as help to make it easier for paint to stick and last longer... Hope it helps.....All the best.

hi Callie, I think it is a good move to use wood backing....... especially when your mirror is quite big. I remember my previous discussion with my contractor also talk about it and I vaguely remember him saying direct mounting is possible if you want to save cost and if mirror size is small and wall is flat, some use partition for backing to save cost but not really recommended. I suppose if you plan to stay there for a long time, it s better to use wood. Looking forward to see more pic on your kitchen and living room area. Love your crystal chandaliar...but be careful of the high consumption from those energy sucking halogen which is 50w per bulb. Must remember to maintain the crystal .....otherwise when dust collects, it will lose the sparkle.... Hope to start my own blog too to share but I am too lazy to load all the photos......

Wa, your unit is super original condition and really badly maintained. Going to be a big transformation ya. All the best. Wa, you very gunho.....it took me months to decide on ID/contractor and eventually went w a contractor that is a friend's friend after approval from wifey(who prefer ID with nice 3d dawing). Sometimes, it makes it easier when you know them so can be a little flexible....and not so calculative. I consider myself lucky cos my contractor handles 1-2 job every time..... he say can focus better.... hahaha maybe no business, who knows....so far responsive and pretty knowledgeable....... LED is not really expensive as what many ppl thought..... i got my LED MR16 downlight for $19, it is CE & ROhs approved and it is wide angle too, about 280lumens and running at 4W. I also replace some of the halogen bulb chandaliar that is 50w each with the 4.5w ones, imagine having 3 x 50w running, gosh it hurts my pocket every month. My 5m LED strip single color is only $60 and the RGB type is $90 with remote..... so far, i prefer the rgb type because it is brighter and more flexible. Looking forward to see more pic.......

Hi Callie, Beautiful, are these ideas yours or from your ID/contractor? I thought your contractor trying to cut cost by not providing you with the glass door...hahaha. We all learn from mistakes la. Like your mirror and bomb shelter camouflage, you use any backing, partition/plywood. Your contractor quite honest ya...... seem like you are quite happy with their work. You are very lucky. Looking forward to more photo.

All the best to your reno. It is good to do your groundwork way early so as to avoid overpaying for contractor charging ridiculuous price. Your existing unit looks really old and it will make a big difference after the reno. A lot of time, it is good to be establish good communication with your ID/contractor so that misunderstanding could be avoided along the way.

Dear Haven, If kitchen cabinet still in good condition, you can ask hacker to protect the kitchen cabinet with cardboard before hacking start, as for wall paper it could be protected but depends on the condition. My sister did her EM recently and hacked some wall and floor tiles, the contractor used protection cardboard to cover up the entire cabinet and fortunately no damage to the cabinet. Base on your scenario, I will recommend that you stick with existing aircon and replace the existing aircon remote with universal remote which you could purchase it easily at any hardware/electronic shops, provided the aircon are still in working condition. You can also request from existing owner if they still have some spare wallpaper which you could use to replace any damaged ones at the bottom portion of the wall instead of relaying a brand new one. That will save a lot too. Hope it helps. Cheers

Dear Haven, Congrats on your new home. I think ultimately whether you change the air con or use contractor vs ID, it boils down to your budget. A lot of time, we are so focused on the entire renovation of the home and forgot about the furnishing cost which could be quite substantial. It is a little tedious but if you have the time, you should come out with your own budgeting which list down things you want to do, things you need to buy and get the entire costing budget to see how much loan you can get, how much to use for reno and how much for furnishing. While I only did my reno budget, my contractor friend did assist me in listing down things that I need to purchase(lightings, switches, LED, furnitures such as sofa, dining table, beds, aircon, cusrtain, blinds, wall paper, fans, sanitary stuff, hob, hood, microwave oven, fridge, washing machine, electronics like LED TV, amplifier, hifi, cooffee table, paintings, mirrors..... etc etc) so that I can control my budget It is true that changing aircon will be troublesome after finishing your reno so I think you should get a good technician to do a thorough check. Also, how often are you going to use your aircon? If you are planning to turn on everynight, a new one will be better but if you plan to turn on 2hrs a night to cool the room before you sleep and turn on fan, might not be necessary to change it especially if existing unit is in working condition and already inverter type. From many of my friends' experience, many ID do not know and though they show you nice 3d design, a lot of time, the ideas come from the owner themselves. A lot of problem arise when ID take up too many orders and have no time to go on site to view and monitor site progress. If you have the time to monitor the job yourself, you can try to engage individual contractor, provided you have the technical know how to do it. There are many technical coordination to consider. Looking at things you want to do, you need hacker, tiler, supplier of material for sand, cement, haulage, clearing debris, plumbing, applying for permit, painter and maybe electrician. All the best to your new home reno. Cheers.

Hi callie, Love your master bathroom, looks like a hotel bathroom and the glass used. Cool, the glass must be exp right? The design of both your bathrooms are very contrasting. Like the tiles you choose, very classic and elegant. You did not add a door to your shower screen, wouldn't the floor get wet when sowering? Looking foward to more pic. Niceee

Arowana: Thank you for your advice, my ceiling also quite low but not planning to have false ceiling cos it will make it even shorter. Actually planning to have L box around living and dining. Wish to get those 5W LED downlight to put up on the L box and LED strip to run along the side of the L box If I use T5, it means I have to have false ceiling up to 6", wa..... so much space taken up ya. Let me reconsider and think over it again Wow, u got a good price ya... does tt already include shipping and taxes. Can show some pic of your lED cove light when u hv the time to download pics. Thank you for all the info and all the best to your new home

Good technical info arowana. I understand a reasonable brightness is about 500-600 lumen if you are working in office. I suppose LED light can work as a support light/secondary light... when watching TV or relaxing. Btw, I chance upon a E27 LED that is 5W but pretty powerful compare to those energy saving CFL type. I have asked my friend to get ma 1 and will try it out on exisitng home chandaliar to share with you guys my findings... definitely much cheaper than those philips one and it comes with UL/CE approval..... lets see if this works.... if it does...my new home will be using all these LED downlight as well as LED strip...... Thank you guys for sharing the info.....hope to hear more soon.

ya, receive some quote for abt $50 bucks. That is almost the same price as the 5M led for $60/- which already comes with the transformer. Let me try to nego w my contractor further.....wish me luck ya.... Anyone offering cheaper than what I have source so far, please PM me ya..... looking for following spec and cheaper than indicated price..hihi 5M LED strip light warm white c/w 12vdc power supply/ transformer & 3M double side tape but not water proof type $60. Led used is 3528 5M LED strip RGB c/w 12vdc power supply, 12 channel remote controller & 3M double side tape but not waterproof type $90

HI Callie: Wa, you are quite daring huh....using black tiles......most of time ppl choose lighter tiles to make it look bigger but I suppose this is very subjective la.......just be careful with contractors you choose... it must be responsive......my sister use a lousy contractor that do not respond and not very professional.... that is why I am scared too...still have not decided on mine yet..went around sourcing for the furnishing stuff first ..hehehe... keep me posted of yours ya.... Good luck .....Cheers!!

wow, beautiful house u have done up, what is the damage like.... in the process of sourcing for contractor too but heard lots of scary story...n bad experience from my friends.. what is your advice.... after this reno process.... gotta feedback to my wify....I think i will just take care of the technical stuff...

hi Callie, you are welcome.....learnt a lot from these blogs so i think its time to give back....hopefully we can all achieve our dream home without overspending..... already PM you the lock contact, need to bargain ya...the sofa pic looks beautiful...what is the damage.. decided on your contractor already?? it is hard ya hi angel butterfly: saw your home pic, it is nice.... can u ask hubby if gateman is better... how much he paid for Hi Blooie : Sorry for late reply..already PM you ya....

Arowana, thank you for the contact. Price quite reasonable too.....Do you know where to purchase the power cos i think it is mainly for the car decor purpose so not accompanied with the power supply or transformer.....headache....

Gotta be careful when choosing those electric ones..... grill using electric will incur high electric bills...tt is why i decided on a gas Rinnai hood & hob even though i was tempted to go for induction cooker....better think of the long term cost. Just my 2 cents worth

Hihi everyone, unfortunately I can't join you on group buy cos I have just confirmed it with my friend's contact. Dear Callie.... any new updates on your reno progress Finally, after much research and asking around.I decided to go for Samsung SHS5230... I have compared among many vendors and finally decided to go for someone I am familar with and most importantly the cheapest without the hassle of buying separately and looking for another installer.....hihi a little lazy to do all the coordination. The reason why I choose this model is the flexibility to use either pin or finger print, this means that I do not need to bring any card with me. The model is upgradable when I decide to link it to my home automation. After much haggling, this is what I got - $699/- for samsung SHS 5230 including installation and demo on programming So looking foward to it. Btw, anyone here using those energy saving LED strip light Looking into LED lights too for my new flat...and really hoping to make my home an environmental friendly one...went sim lim and price there is ok/reasonable at about $20 per meter..and according to shop attendent, it does not generate any heat as it it DC operated..quite impressed and almost going to confirm with them but luckily I did not. Just attended a housewarming ... and saw the LED strip lights used in my friend's place too, they place it below kitchen cabinet and in their master bedroom.... very impressive.......managed to get the contact of the supplier(hurray)...... Spoke to the contractor and understand they have the different types of waterproofing IP code depending on where I am going to place it. Every LED strip needs a power adapter/transformer... and some has RGB type like mood lights. Confused with so many different types.... anyway ask for a quotation and this is what he quoted me and please share if this is reasonable price. 5M LED strip light warm white c/w power supply/ transformer & 3M double side tape but not water proof type $60 5M LED strip RGB c/w power supply, remote controller & 3M double side tape but not waterproof type $90 Not inclusive of installation... cos he said the electrical contractor just need to link the power cable and it will work already... just need to lay the LED strip to where I want and take out the double side tape... sounds easy ya. the LED all running at 12vdc. The warm white ones are 3528 model running 60 LED per meter. He highlighted that there are cheaper ones that run at 30 LED per meter. The led type/size is 3528 The rgb ones using 5050 led and c/w 12vdc transformer, IR transmitter for 12 channel(12 different colours) and wireless receiver. It has 60 LED per meter too which means 300LED for 5 meters. DO u think the price is reasonable for the specifications stated? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Your cove light is nice, why is it that not many consider using LED for downlights too Looking into LED lights too for my new flat...and really hoping to make my home an environmental friendly one...went sim lim and price there is ok/reasonable at about $20 per meter..and according to shop attendent, it does not generate any heat as it it DC operated..quite impressed and almost going to confirm with them but luckily I did not. Just attended a housewarming ... and saw the LED strip lights used in my friend's place too, they place it below kitchen cabinet and in their master bedroom.... very impressive.......managed to get the contact of the supplier(hurray)...... Spoke to the contractor and understand they have the different types of waterproofing IP code depending on where I am going to place it. Every LED strip needs a power adapter/transformer... and some has RGB type like mood lights. Confused with so many different types.... anyway ask for a quotation and this is what he quoted me and please share if this is reasonable price. 5M LED strip light warm white c/w power supply/ transformer & 3M double side tape but not water proof type $60 5M LED strip RGB c/w power supply, remote controller & 3M double side tape but not waterproof type $90 Not inclusive of installation... cos he said the electrical contractor just need to link the power cable and it will work already... just need to lay the LED strip to where I want and take out the double side tape... sounds easy ya. the LED all running at 12vdc. The warm white ones are 3528 model running 60 LED per meter. He highlighted that there are cheaper ones that run at 30 LED per meter. The led type/size is 3528 The rgb ones using 5050 led and c/w 12vdc transformer, IR transmitter for 12 channel(12 different colours) and wireless receiver. It has 60 LED per meter too which means 300LED for 5 meters. DO u think the price is reasonable for the specifications stated? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Just checked and found out from contractor/supplier tt the LED all running at 12vdc. The warm white ones are 3528 model running 60 LED per meter. He highlighted that there are cheaper ones that run at 30 LED per meter. The led type/size is 3528 The rgb ones using 5050 led and c/w 12vdc transformer, IR transmitter for 12 channel(12 different colours) and wireless receiver. It has 60 LED per meter too which means 300LED for 5 meters. DO u think the price is reasonable for the specifications stated? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, rov. PM you to request for some details and hope to hear from you soon.