barcadibreezer

My colleague just renovating his pte apartment and he is doing the coordinating work himself. Heard that he got a carpenter from Malaysia, not bad though. If you want, I can PM you only after 1st Oct as he is on business travel now. Ya, pls share the carpentry contact in Msia... Many thx!

Hi cookies, Can share which main con and carpenter are u using? Is their workmanship good? Pls pm me the contact, thx!

Hi, Mrs. Loo, my completion also in end oct, now shortlisted my ID, have been talking to Orand Cxxx, R&R and Summit Design. Last week went to expo, given my floor plan to unimax for quotation too. Anyway, I'm wondering should I just deal with contractor directly, do u have any good carpenter to recommend?

HI, This solid teak dining is really nice, may i know how do you match with the dining chair? Did you purchase the bench? I love this table but don't think bench is suitable for my family...

Hi gakuseisean, I've get many inspiration from your blog but still a bit uncertain about my theme. Most ID that I spoke to will propose me with Modern Contemporary or minimalist concept, however, I prefer something more modern tropical and resort style deco. I took the quiz and my result is 50% Zen concept. My resale flat has white and grey marble flooring in the living and dining hall, my FS master advice to have more wood furniture in the house and add a water feature at a corner of my living room. I do like solid wood furniture but I'm worried Zen looked will be using too much dark wood color furniture and make my house look very dark and cramp. Can you give me some advice how to have Zen/ resort style design and yet with some modern element that make the house warm and cozy but not dark? I like the solid teak dining from Motto and suar wood sculpture from Ovas, but it's a bit pricey, do u have other recommendation where to get the similar furniture?

Hi kenjo, Nice sink u have! May I know where u get it from and how much? Your counter top using solid surface? The color really 100% matching?

Hi matrix0405, 1. My house is low floor, not very bright, need to switch on the light in dining and kitchen even during daytime. I'll consider your advice to make a low tv wall, or probably half glass? Will need to check with some Id or contractor for opinion, or just to ignore the beam, push the sofa nearner to the balcony so that my tv wall won't be so awkward. 2. You mean the open kitchen using mosaic tiles while the wet kitchen after my glass sliding door will be another material? My current kitchen tiles is very old fashion and ugly one, won't keep them. I'm thinking whether can lay the new marble at the dry kitchen area and polish the old marble to make the color as close as possible. Or, to lay a homogenous that very close design with my marble so that it won't look very obvious. Hdb definitely won't allow to change the balcony grill, I'll lay the woody tiles on the floor at the balcony only.

Hi eekenji, Thanks for the compliment, I not only feel proud and fun but don't feel it's worth to pay so much to the ID to draw the layout plan for me... Now, even my 7 yo girl is designing her own dream house now using floor planner. Ya, I prefer design 1 too, look more spacious, as for the advice to swap the tv and sofa, I did consider it before but the problem will be, ppl can see us lying on the sofa from my main door, my house is just next to the lift, sitting in front of the main door is definitely worse than looking at the passageway right? Haiz... Headache, maybe have to follow your advice, not to sit too long under the beam. Anyway, I'm doing false ceiling to box up the beam, after boxing up, it will not look like sitting under the beam, only psychologically you'll feel so.

Thanks for sharing, I spent whole afternoon to sketch my floorplan, and finally it's up! I have 2 layout plan in mind, hope you guys can give some comments. My FSM advice that my aquarium must place at the top left corner of my dining, so this can't be changed. And there must be a water feature at the top right corner or living, I used a round table to mark in the layout plan as can't find any image to represent it... I'm so happy that I can squeeze it the little balcony in the hall, but I've yet to check with my ID how much will it cost to add the sliding door... My main issue with my layout is: 1. There is a beam (from balcony) that is 170cm from the window, so my sofa can't place below the beam, have to place it after the 170cm mark and hence the tv feature will be at the middle of the passageway. 2. Since the tv is in the middle of the hall, I need to demolish the wall of the kitchen to make it look more spacious, I don't mind this as I open concept kitchen with island top. The problem is, I'll keep the existing marble in the hall but relay the kitchen tiles, there are some part in the kitchen that I might need to cover with marble and discoloration will be an issue. Design 1 is my own as it give a bigger space in between the hall and kitchen: Design 2 is my ID's suggestion, the pro is the countertop will help to cover the imperfection on the floor, con is it make the walk way very narrow. I still haven't decide which theme to use for my furnishing, initially my ID proposed modern contemporary with many built in cabinet and feature walls in the hall and dining, I kind of don't like it cause built it is fixed and inflexible. I personally like balinese, modern tropical feel, I like to decorate my house with some water features and plants.

Wow, very impressive drawing, I'll explore the idea of keeping the existing balcony to make it as a planter, I'll hack away my current marble and use timber strip or ceramic tiles with wood grains to lay the floor. My FSM said must put a water feature at the corner so I think it's better to make it as outdoor rather than putting the water feature in the hall, what do u think? My only concern is my hall is very small, if i put back the balcony, my sofa have to place at the middle of the hall way.. by the way, from your drawing, I noticed your balcony is only 400mm, it's rather narrow right? I think 500mm or 600mm will be better for a human to stand there. And, have you spoken to contractor about adding the sliding door at balcony? Your reno is quite major, a lot of hacking, how can you still keep it at $50k, I wish I can do as much as yours with the same budget as well, but seems like most ID telling me my budget too low... May I know where u get the sofa from? is it from the same shop as u bought the dining? Is it a fabric sofa? can make to order to special size?

Hi eekenji, I only talk to 2 ID, basically their design is abt the same, just base on what I told them, I feel that I don't really need an ID. Can u share the contractors contact with me please? I'woule like to engage the main contractor directly. Thanks in advance!

Bingo! you know exactly which unit I bought, haha.. same as u, I view almost all listings available there, but my criteria is very simple, i want low COV, actually I no need to view the house can offer straight away, I think my COV (below $15k, I offered $10k without viewing) is so far the lowest in the market coz mine is low floor and lousy condition, since I intend to renovate myself, I dont mind run down unit. I hv shortlisted the 'Oraxxx Cxbx" to renovate my place, their quatation is ard $50k now, still trying to cut down the cost as I prefer to spend more in quality furniture and display item rather than the carpentry works where you can't move it away when u sell your flat. I'm very impressed with your drawing and design, I don't hv much idea in mind, what I want is modern contemporary... will share more 3d drawings here once it's ready, any good contractor to recommend?

Hi, I think I probably know which unit u bought at blk 7xx, I bought one unit there in July too, my 1st appmt also in Sept. I too love the layout there and there are only 2 cluttered in Tampines has got this type of 'condo' layout, one is at blk 497/ 498 and another area is the blk 7xx series. My girl studying in Poi Ching, so 700 series is my top priority. We can share our renovation idea here as I'm currently scratching my head for the cost, it's unexpectedly over my budget now! Just to share, my layout is similar to yours but slightly smaller, your living and dining area are bigger, I hv to convert my study to dining in order to have a proper dining area. My store room is at the end of the passageway to rooms, while yours in the kitchen. I intend to hack away the storeroom to fit my walk in wardrobe as well. For the balcony grill, I have the same thought with u, the blue grill done by HDB is super ugly, my previous owner has covered it with glass cube kind of thingy, but I feel that it's blocking the wind, maybe will remove it as well but no idea how to make it look nicer. I'm trying to upload my layout plan but dunno how to do it...