zihui

Your stamp of approval really puts my mind at ease. My HTB and I will be getting our ceiling fan from him too!

Welcome! I think your existing flooring looks to be in decent condition - are you planning to hack it or retain it?

Unfortunately not anywhere near JEM hahahaha but yeah, we've been to JEM it really is the best heartland shopping mall in the west - by far.

This is a really cool idea! I would really love to see how the entire thing turns out. I'm sure it'll be unique and amazing! I actually think a Milo tin might be better hahahahaha Regarding G.O.D, I agree - their items are quite expensive! The only thing we have from there is the coffee mug that my HTB uses in his office. It's the 'Delay No More' mug which had my HTB in sniggers when he saw it. *roll eyes* Boys will be boys

hahhaahha redder, actually there's loads of wonderful stuff in Bali too. Apart from the fact that you're going to have an absolutely amazing time in Bali (relaxation to the max!), if you're going for the Balinese / Javanese look in your house with certain strategically placed pieces, I can't think of a better place for interior shopping. My HTB absolutely adores Bali. He's very proud of the fact that he's managed to buy 3 art pieces from Bali. He's given 2 pieces away to friends as housewarming presents, but he's kept the largest piece of art for our own house. We intend to hang it in our living room behind our sofa in the new place. If you enjoy buying this kind of stuff, do check out the awesome art galleries at Ubud and in Sanur. Seminyak too! One place that my HTB swears by is Muji Art Family gallery. He makes it a point to go there everytime he's in Bali. http://www.baliartpaintingsale.com/overview.html Actually, another RT forummer whom I greatly admire knows Bali like the back of her hand. She might be a better person to give you advice regarding Bali. She even brought back a gorgeous hammock from Bali and says that it's become quite the feature piece in her house

That's great, thanks Pokz1981. As of now, we're still torn but we've decided to take our time. After all, I don't think we'll be changing the bed anytime soon, unlike certain other pieces of furniture so we want to make sure it's one that we can both enjoy for a long time to come

Thanks potatoes! Thanks oldskool! My HTB is thrilled with this purchase to be honest. Funny story - we were at Suvarnabhumi Airport and were checking in the grass carpet. As we were slowly checking in our items in at the check-in counter, the Thai ground staff sitting at the next counter suddenly asked us, "Where did you get this from?" After hearing that it was from Chatuchak, his next question was "Tao rai?" (How much?) When he heard that we only paid ha roi baht, his expression was priceless - he exclaimed loudly that he had paid THB1,300 for almost exactly the same thing and requested to touch it. He even called another colleague over to touch it as well and to repeat the entire story indignantly to her. Being the typical Singaporean, my HTB initially was just 'ok' about the grass carpet. But realising from the Thais that he got a good deal, now he absolutely adores the grass carpet. I mean, he bought it so naturally he liked it, but he didn't like it THIS MUCH. Now he keeps grinning whenever he thinks of that Thai guy's expression.

cookiegal, HIGH FIVE! after reading what ucypmas said, we also decided not to be rushed into a decision. This is Singapore - sales occur non stop. Right now, it's the Hari Raya and National Day sales. I'm sure there will be other on going promotions for us! *sigh* I understand your point lala81, but we started our mattress hunt too late. the GSS officially ended on the 31st of July and we only started hunting on the 30th of July That's why with only one day left to decide, we finally agreed not to rush into a purchase. Hopefully this doesn't backfire. But since this was a decision that we reached after much discussion and taking into account the advice from other forummers, i don't think we'll regret it. So which brand did you get in the end?

Hi juxtapose and hapigal, thanks for taking the time and effort to chime in. Maxcoil is still one of the brands that we're considering (although the man of the house keeps going on about Serta) We were at Toa Payoh Courts today and there were several good deals for Maxcoil mattresses. Talk about being spoilt for choice! hahahhaha

They will honour the price? WONDERFUL! this is definitely something that we'll use while bargaining with the sales staff so which brand did you go for in the end?

Wow, thanks for the advice ucypmas! We're not interested in the storage feature so hopefully that'll save us a bit of money. I agree 100% with you - we refused to buy into this 'promotion is over' thing so we havn't gotten our mattress as yet. We've decided to heed all the useful advice from here and are going to slowly hunt for our bed. Wow, thanks Emerald! Pity I didn't know about this place earlier! I don't think we'll be going to BKK until after the reno and wedding but when we go to BKK, i'll be sure to check this place out. Will take loads of photos too! tee hee the HTB is heading to Chennai next week so I've instructed him to keep a lookout for anything interesting that he can bring back for the house

That's good advice... thanks eddy! The durability of the mattress is something that we'll have to bear in mind. After all, it's probably going to be the most used piece of furniture in the entire house so this is the one purchase that we're not willing to scrimp on.

Hi potatoes, you're right. My mistake! I'm now on my way to the HDB for our first appt and am looking at the valuation report. The size of the unit is 139 sq m. Thanks!

I agree with potatoes With your budget, you can definitely do a complete makeover of your place! so envious hahahahahah

That is what i've been told as well Looking forward to starting the process soon!

Westside rules! quite a number of us stay in the West - which part of the west will you guys be living at?

hahhahhaha Blast from the past! you guys really are retro lovers! I think you'll end up going to Goods Of Desire quite often to get their quirky old school items right? Am looking forward to following your blog through the process!

hahaha we're going to be staying quite near each other! my new place is going to be at Jurong East too... to be honest, I've stayed in the East all my life while my HTB has stayed in the West all of his life so someone has to compromise (especially when we can't afford a place in Central Singapore hahahahha) Hopefully, the houses will really appreciate due to the developments in this area like you said. Am looking forward to watching the magic unfold!

HI! Welcome to the masionette club! I see so many similarities between the current condition of your place and mine! hahahahahhah did they use the same contractor back then? i'm really excited about following your progress especially since your reno process will start before mine (my first appt with HDB is tomorrow and expect to complete the process in Sept) Mind if I ask what your estimated budget for reno (excluding furnishing) is?

Sorry for the late reply! I can't really remember... but based on my memory, I think it's 149 sq m.

Hi guys, need your advice again. My HTB heard that the promotions for most mattress / bedding shops will end by tomorrow so we decided to head down to IMM after work today. True enough, the sales staff from all 4 of the major bedding companies told us (without us asking) that the promotion will end on the 31st of July and they don't know when the next promotion will be. One sales staff from S***y even told us that prices are going to increase starting from Aug as they're clearing out old stock. Now, we know that this is a sales tactic but should we decide on a mattress now? After all, we'll need delivery latest by the end of Oct '13 and quite a number of people have told us that we need to give them around 8 weeks or so because they may not have stock for the headboard. We are already planning another trip back to IMM tmr evening after work. Should we just place a deposit already? Second question - I need your advice and opinions from fellow forummers who have bought from them before. Which of the following will you recommend - 1) Max Koil - King sized mattress with headboard, bed frame, 1 normal Latex pillow, 1 contour pillow, mattress protector, no GST and no delivery charge. Priced at $2,199. But we don't like the free headboard designs. For the one that we like (or rather I like), we need to top up $600. 2) Serta - King sized mattress with no headboard, no bed frame, 2 free Serta pillows, free mattress protector, free Serta soft toy (hahahha) and free bench in front of the bed. Priced at $2,420. If we want their headboard and bed frame, we need to top up $799. The sales staff told us to buy the headboard and bed frame from outside instead. No GST and no delivery charge. 3) Simmons - King sized mattress with headboard and bedframe. 2 free pillows and free mattress protector. No GST and no delivery charge. Free $200 Lee Hwa voucher. $2,969. But once again, I'm not keen on their headboard and bed frame to be honest. 4) Sealy - King sized mattress with headboard and bedframe. No GST, no delivery. $2,989. What do you guys think? If it was up to you, which one would you go for? We've tried the mattresses and we like them all (amateurs). My HTB likes the Serta one but that means we'll have to source for our own headboard and bed frame (where should we source for such items from??). I personally prefer Sealy. However, we both know that the rational choice should be Max Koil, given our limited budget... Advice needed please...

Hi Freakerz, Thanks for the heads up! Yeah, we know. It is now quite a distance away from where we were, that's why we didn't go down to Talad Rot Fai. Just our luck... We were there in May this year and went drinking there too. Initially planned to visit there again for shopping and drinks last Saturday... Didn't think they would move in June. Luckily my HTB found out about the relocation from his friends in Bangkok. Freakerz, do you head over to Thailand often too?

i second that! am gonna pick up a copy after gym tonight!

Hi lawrenceke, Very nice house!!!! I particularly like the decal so will be contacting Andy soon!

Seriously, I've been Bangkok and Chatuchak at least 10 times but this is the first time that I've gone there intentionally keeping a look-out for household items, knick knacks etc (like any other female, I spend almost all of my time and money at places like Platinum Mall, Pratunam etc) so it came as a pleasant surprise that there was such a wide array of knick knacks and household items available. The best part is, the stall owners all made such an effort to do up their shops nicely! Some of the shops really looked out of place at Chatuchak! Some photos - 1) Attracted by the gorgeous bowls and utensils but didn't buy any because HTB says that I'm crazy for buying such stuff even before we start the Reno 2) We bought a lot of stuff from this shop 3) Can you believe how gorgeous this shop was? It wouldn't seem out of place at Siam Paragon or any Singapore shopping market yet there it was in a tiny alley at Chatuchak (my photo doesn't do it justice - it's actually even more gorgeous in real life) The HTB has promised me another weekend trip back to Bangkok AFTER our Reno & Wedding issues have all been settled. This time, he wants to head over to his favourite Talad Rot Fai to get the knick knacks and decorative items that caught his eye on our previous trip. Such a pity that we didn't have time on this trip to check it out.