Apple1

http://renotalk.com/forum/uploads/gallery_54302_33_69632.jpg http://renotalk.com/forum/uploads/gallery_54302_33_40201.jpg I would not do that because I just experience an extremely scary incident. My 18 months old glass panel just shattered without any reason last week. My teenage son and dog were at home then so you can imagine my fear when I received the phone call from my son. I researched on sudden shattered glass and found out that it was apparently quite normal. If I am to do it again, I will not install any glass in my house anymore. Just my view.

I had a similar kitchen light at my previous flat but I super regret it. Because the cover of the light make it so that only a certain area in the kitchen is lighted up, it made my kitchen dark even if it was lighted. In the end, I took out the cover and just had the bulb. You might want to take that into consideration.

I had similar problem before. My neighbour was in the corner unit and we are along the corridor unit. Their entrance has a very small outside area and they took to hanging their laundry right outside their main door which means right outside my corridor window - all I can see from that window was their wet laundry - not pretty. I managed to talk to the wife very nicely that it was not a good sight especially those women lingerie. She was very embarrassed about it (especially the fact that I told her my husband can see all her undies). I think it will be worth the while to tell them nicely and see if they response back the same as we will be seeing each other very frequent since we are living directly next to each other. Definitely make life easier and would be very nice and important to have our neighbour keeping an eye out for each other's unit. All the best!

I understand your constraint and also the maid's desire to have her own personal space. All my previous maids would prefer to have their own space, regardless of how small the area is, to unwind and relax. I believe all of us would like that after work and not face our employers 24hrs a day. If your maid want that space and that is the only area where you could crave out of your house, truly ventilation is an important factor. Troublemaker has a good point there. Look into opening up the upper area with open brick or ventilation fan or aircon? It is going to smell as well with a person staying there without much ventilation. 1 suggestion - One of my friend installed a folding wall/door in her daughter's bedroom. As her daughter sleep in aircon room and the maid doesn't like aircon, the area created for the maid is right next to the windows in the daughter's room. During daytime, the folded doors are flip all the way open creating 1 big open space. At night, the maid closes it to create her own space. It was such a very neat arrangement that we did not know there's 2 areas until she showed me.

Ive been using Fisher & Paykel exact same model for the pass 15 years. We like it that the design is simple and it's working fine for us. Their service is also very good. My first F & P last me 13 years and in the 13 years I got it repaired once thru F & P. The second time I called their repair service, the man who came down to check the fridge advised me not to repair as it's too expensive and I got a $80 (tat I paid the serviceman) off if I buy another F & P fridge direct and without transportation fee. I checked with courts and F & P offer was cheaper than courts so I got direct from them. Now I'm still using my 2nd F & P fridge - exact same model again. Washing machine - Front load does save on water. It's great that the washed clothes has much lesser wrinkles than the top load. The only complain I have is front load machine is bad for my back as I have to bend up and down as I load & unload my clothes. I'm using Samsung. One of my friend had a very bad experience with his LG washing machine. So much so that he changed it after only 2 years. You may want to do a review online before making a decision.

I bought my queen size storage bed & mattress from Maxcoil, Bukit Merah branch. Love it!

Wall paint - Not sure what kind of paint your contractor used. My white walls are doing fine after 1 year. Gate - Definitely not acceptable. Should get him to rectify the problem. Tiles - I do discover that certain tiles leaves water marks more than others. The "HDB" tiles in the toilets of my last 3 flats all leave water marks and it kills me trying to clean it. Not sure why. Maybe it's the choice of tiles you make? All the best to you.

Can spend on bedsheets cause can use for a veryyyyy looooong time. If you can wait, end May and June will have sales - Great Singapore Sales, bedsheets will have very good discounts. Like Vct wrote, Akemi is a good brand, very shiok.

Oh... once I saw your grilles, first thing that come to my mind is what a waste to cover up with grilles, partially blocking the beautiful view you have. But you do have to consider the safety of your children. Still, what I would do to have that balcony of yours...hahaha...

TV/Entertainment area - Let me think (I'm not at home now), I have the TV, DVD, 2 xboxes, mio gateway, fiber optic modem, mio tv box and sound system controller. Hope this help.

Agree with OceanEleven on more plugs at feature wall. I have 4 plugs and still need to use extension. I should have gone for 5 or 6. Kitchen - doesn't you intend to put any plugs on the other side of the cabinet? I dedicate fridge, oven, microwave, water kettle , coffee maker and toaster to permanent plugs. Have 2 spare ones for other electrical items like rice cooker & pressure cooker. If your tall unit also house electric items than u need plugs there. My tall unit house oven and microwave so there are 2 plugs inside. Kitchen very important - u need to see what electrical items you use everyday (dedicate permanent plug to them) and which items u use occasionally.

White PVC for me too. I've so much stuff I don't see much of the pvc anyway. Secondly, if its dark internal laminate, I can't see a cockroach right away!

I used the Helping Hands. The men were very fast, very professional & the best I were they dismantled my bed & then set up my bed nicely again at my new place (asked me to check to confirm). I "rent" the carton boxes - meaning that when I return back the boxes, they refunded me the full sum of money I deposit.

1. Used Teka hood & hob for 15 years in previous flat - no problem even with the lighter "thingy". Change to Techno when I move flat (cut cost lor, thought not much different) - after only usage of 6months, need to change battery for the lighter thingy. Small thing but very irritating. Wish I had use back Teka. Lazy to change batteries, so now using that lighter gun thingy. 2. Samsung - so far that's the best WM i've used. Really like it - Only con is I need to bend down to take out the clothes, front loading (back ache) 3. No Dryer cause Mother nature bestow wind and sun 4. Love Fisher & Parykel fridge. Reason - Always use them. The last one last me 17 years. Bought the same one after that die of old age.

I have the same washer.... after 1 year, am still very happy with it I prefer the grey sofa. More "lasting" - look at it for another few years also not sian type.

I believe it's how you take care of the carpentry. My previous kitchen was wood carpentry with solid top around sink and stove area, no problem for 14 years. Heavy cooking done. Need to keep them as dry as possible after usage though.

PM you

Beautiful place you have there! Ya, we will never have enough kitchen table top

Mine is a five room flat, keep all the flooring except the 2 toilets (overlay), carpentry to kitchen/laundry, 3 bedrooms and living room, re-wiring, blinds, glass works (shower screens, backsplash, kitchen glass doors), bedroom doors, plumbing, painting, aircon & purchase of lightings, fittings & kitchen/toilet wares. My budget hit 45k. I bring all my old furniture with me. I think you may have to increase your budget, seeing that yours is a EM. Look at the quotes carefully, I discovered that sometimes small little things are excluded that you need to add in later.... for example, after the aircon ran the piping to the bathroom, I asked my contractor if he is going to cover the long pipe going towards the drainage with tiles, he said "sure, can, $100" All the best!

Basic tiling is on post #43. Difficult to split up the bill cause of plumbing, electric, accessaries, shower screen vanity top....etc.

THE reason I used different contractors is to save cost. I have a main contractor that do the hacking, tiling, ceiling, plastering, painting and carpentry. I went direct to a glass company to fix all my glass doors, backsplash, shower screens. For doors, I also went direct to the factory of the door company. Aircon and electrician are also direct. Lastly is the window company tat fix up my blinds. What I did was to get an overall quotation from a main contractor then I look into individual details on how I could save if I go direct. There was no ID involved. I did save quite a neat sum. However, for this, we had to compromise by being more directly involved in the whole reno process. Of all the contractors we work with, the best has to be the electrician and window treatment... awesome service & quick response.

I searched for mine for more than 4 months and finally settle on MaxCoil storage bed frame. We bought it at the Bukit Merah branch during sales. The sales lady even gives us lots of freebies. We bought 2 bed frames and 2 mattresses and she gave us 3 pillows and 3 bolsters and 2 mattress protectors. Blk 161, Bukit Merah Central, #01-3709, Singapore 150161 Tel : (65) 6276 4642 Fax : (65) 6276 4643