Pirvan

Hi Aya, we are going to be top mounting the blanco sink thou.. so can't help with anything regarding undermount. Any particular reasons why you'd want to go down the undermount route? LOve the mixer !

Getzski, you **** fast! i was about to post that when you replied already Facial Foam spotted too! you guys are getting ready to move in liao! How about all the white goods and stuff, coming in soon?

Yean man. We both love how he has this attitude of adopting the place as his own and does many creative hands on little things around the house. Slowly but surely, the place is coming along nicely. But to be really honest..both of us are starting to tire coming round the bend onto the final stretch. And to think we are only involve in our project. Can't imagine all the IDs/contractors who have to juggle a few projects at the same time. Kudos to all of them (the responsible ones of cos!) PIctures to come from Choco84! Stay tuned!

Its Sunday!! All the best for the 'talk' with your contractor! Else just burn his shop down! muahahaha

Hi Aya, good choice on the blanco sink and mixer combo. Same one we are using for our place as well. And you are soooooo right that every sunday is shopping day! We've been either running around buying things or researching or just plan talking house, i'm sure you're beginnin to feel it now. Most importantly, enjoy the process and try to take some time off from the house to have some private time with each other. It'll help keep both of you sane and will probably let you guys last longer through the reno process. Otherwise, your reno is coming along very nicely! cant wait to see your kitchen design!

Muahahahah are we still talking about house reno here or something else?.... Muahahah

Long day! Today was basically spent running around like mad. Morning and afternoon was spent at the new place with Donny. Carpentry started at the same time and Donny was there the whole day to supervise the carpenter. At the time of this report, we are quite happy with the quality of their work! Late afternoon we rushed over to HoeKee Genting to complete our purchases of some stainless steel items and pick up the Blanco sink so the carpenter can measure and cut the holes for installation. Finally in the evening, Donny, Choco84 and myself had dinner in Ikea and bought lotsa last min stuffs like bookshelves and a sofa that we've been eyeing (but it was on sale and going for a song! sweeetttt!). Pictures before bed! Carpenter at work. This is barely 2 hours in. they work fast! Our table top waiting for the Marble peeps to come measure. Donny rolling up his sleeves and jeans to help us with some of our DIY projects And finally! a glamour shot for Mr Donny :) To be honest thou, up to now, Donny hasn't disappointed us. He's being there every step of the way, guiding us along and best of all (knowing we are on a budget) does whatever he can to help us save money. To the extent of bargaining on our behalf when we are shopping (be it granite, sanitary wares or lightings). So Kudos to him!

Hi thedottyness! thanks for the advise. As of now, we are thinking of a compromise too. Volakas marble for the table top and black galaxy granite for the worktops. fingers cross!

WAHAHAHAAH then your 'Bargaining chip' very big. LOL!

yeah yeah.. but don't be goondu like me. Was so excited about checking tiles, started checking using my knuckles... halfway thru one room.. all bruised liao.. then i saw my other half calmly walking ard with her high heel shoe tapping away while whistling.... fail! LOL

yeah man NeoBy, shouldn't let things slide if you find things you are not satisfied with in regards to the carpentry. Witholding the last payment is your only bargaining chip, once pay liao don't think they will readily rectify any complaints after that. go kick some *beep*!

MJ table is a must! lol you've definately got your priorities correct! Hacking work looks to be complete liao? moving along nicely!

Roadblock! The initial plan was to use Granite (black galaxy) for our table top and work surfaces as the price quoted to me was very very close to the price of mid range solid surface(s). Today, popped over to BMS @ Ang Mo Kio with Donny and James to to have a look at their granite samples. We were smitten by the look of Volakas white marble (i think thats what it was called.. was still salivating when Donny started bargaining with the owner). He managed to bring the price for my table top down to within 100 bucks difference when compared to the granite! Brought a sample back so i can show Choco84. Fingers crossed that she'll like it. But choosing the marble for my table top opens up a whole new can of worms thou...zzz 1. White table top and black granite for the work surfaces? hmmm would prefer things to have a uniform color scheme.. wonder how this would look. Alternative would be to choose white solid surface for the work tops to match it somewhat. ORRRRRR marbles for the work top toooo!! Anyone using Marble for work surface with reviews/advise? 2. As our table top would be 2.4mx90cm, the boss says it would be highly (still crossing fingers) UNLIKELY that he can fit the whole piece into normal HDB lifts. So his suggestion would be to cut it into 3 pieces. 2 smaller sections at both ends, with the centre retaining a larger portion. To be confirmed after they come down for the actual measurements. Pleassssee leett ittttt fit!! Otherwise.. today was a day spent retifying small issues all over the house... plastering not even, wall paint not even blah blah.. phew! Final stretch!

Hi Ayazumi! don't worry too much about creating the perfect 'triangle'. Just picture yourself going thru the typical workflow of preparing food and/or baking. If the flow seems correct without toooo much shuffling of your feet, you're in the ballpark! Then imagine moving food thru its cooking process : defrosting-->cleaning-->prep(chopping/marinating)-->consolidating before stove-->cooking @ stove-->landing area for hot food/pots and if the flow doesn't cut into each other's space, then wooot! you've done it

Lol Beluga! I'll remember your advise the next time i am in there doing my business :) Regarding cleaning the craftstones... yeah i guess it will be a real pain in the behind to clean, thats why we've only restricted the placement to above and below the mirror pelmet. Hopefully this will reduce the area we have to clean... or maybe we're just lying to convince ourselves.. muahahahahah

Hi Terrain, i believe the brand of the laminate is EDI. Hope that helps!

Sneak Preview of our MBR toilet! Stay tuned!!

Okie Dokes! Too much talk..picture time! Many things happened during the time i was away. So i shall try and catch up with all the pictures Donny sent to me via whatsapp everyday. FLOORING! Evorich Resilient Flooring. We were deciding between laminate, engineered wood or this. In the end, we took the less hassle choice and went this way. Hopefully it will still be able to give us that woodsie feel we were trying to go for. Rustic color for the future study room Durban ash or something like that for the storeroom The color of our living - dining - part of kitchen. And finally, a dark daaarkkk color for the MBR + WIW and walkway to toilet. Finger crossed it won't make everything too dark at night!

Hey Ayazumi! All the best for your renovation. Hope everything goes smoothly for you guys! I am like your hubby too. LOL, popping over to the place as and when even if there are no progress. Can't stand being awaaaayyyy

Holaa Ayazumi, hey hey! the hacking in your house is coming along nicely! Regarding the 90cm rule.. well.. maybe its a misnomer calling it a rule. More like a guideline i guess... i trrrriieeeddd to implement the triangle in my kitchen.. turned out to be more like... hexigonal!.. muahahahaha

Phewww! finally home after 11 long days away in freezing cold Moscow. As you can see from Choco84's postings, she took up the slack caused by my absence and made sure the renovation ticked along smoothly. I must say thou, I bought Donny a big meal upon my return as he made an extra effort to guide Choco84 along PLUS became her driver for the duration of my trip... hmmmm... maybe i should have stayed away a little longer Anyway, we would like to come up with a short review for a particular salesman from Harvey Norman/Parkway Parade. Sometime back whilst digging thru Tblogs, we noticed the name Mr Ashok Kumar come up a few time. We just happened to meet him whilst doing our white goods shopping probably 2 months back. On first contact, we mentioned that we will not be getting our keys so soon hence won't be making any purchases soon, yet he still spent about an hour plus walking us thru the various goods, explaining pros and cons of brands, types etc. 2 months down the road and we've just completed most of our white goods purchases thru him at HN. I know we could probably get a better price at neighbourhood shops, but we were kindda surprised when we went to him with these prices, and he did whatever he could to close the gap between HN and neighbourhood prices. Not exactly matching, but healthly discounts Buying from the neighbourhood shops would most certainly have saved us sayyyy 200-300 bucks for all the things we bought, but there were certain things we wanted extended warranty for, and to be honest.. i'm lazzzyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! lol Anyway, he was patient to complete noobs like us, and very understanding regarding our budget. 2 days after we settled the bill, he gave us a call and told us he could get us another $50 bucks off our fridge... i seriously can't see another salesman going out of his way like that. So... YUP! thumbs up to Mr ASHOK KUMAR from PARKWAY PARADE HN. Signing off! from humid singapore.........

Neoby, expensive doens't mean will end up good. To me, yours is shaping up very very nicely!

Hi SCE, ahh so you are the one that Donny is talking about. All the best for your reno!

Hi Aqua, thanks for dropping by Those woody looking flooring are actually tiles and not laminates

Hey Getzski! Yeah man i've been reading your blog but didn't realise ours are the same 'cept for the placement of the main door. Exact same idea for the relocation of the MBR and long WIW I notice you initially had the idea of creating an opening for window in one of the common rooms, didnt like the idea in the end? Currently still mulling over the number/selection of lights. not an easy task