zihui

I know! we're in the same boat, lala81 maybe you can try selling it? i've sold off my kitchen faucet & mixer to a fellow Renotalker who read about my TB woes and offered to buy it

hahahaha yea, that's why we had box after box of LED downlights I can't wait to see how they'll look as well! Am gonna rush down to the unit after work to check out the installed lights and the newly-varnished Burmese teakwood parquet floors

Hi yixipixie, Congrats on the commencement of your reno journey!! It's going to be unforgettable. Do share the journey with the fellow Renotalkers. I've learnt so much from them and they're all so friendly! Are you referring to the cove lights on my staircase or the living room's cove lights? Naturally, the ones at the staircase are a lot easier to clean *grin* However, the ones at the living room are a lot harder. Thankfully, these are things that we don't have to clean every week *shhhhhh* The HTB is quite tall so he's going to stand a chair and he'll be able to reach them. A simple wet cloth would suffice

Thanks soonliew! Another week or so to go... Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.

(cont'd updates) - Here's the layout of the LED downlights in the room that'll be converted into my walk-in wardrobe: As mentioned above, bro Eric delivered and installed our Fanco ceiling fan yesterday. While it may not be as prestigious as a Haiku ceiling fan, we're happy enough with the selected fan - and boy, is it strong! Here's a close up of the installed ceiling fan - We're loving it, so thanks bro Eric! Another satisfied Renotalk customer added to your list! *grin* I know that the priority should have been the installation of the LED downlights on the 2nd storey so that the teakwood parquet team can carry out their grinding and varnishing works today.... but I couldn't resist. I made a special request to JT for the electrical team to install the bright LED downlights for the living room as well as the warm cove lights (living room) first so that we don't have to fumble around in the dark whenever we visit the apartment after knocking off. He acceded to my request and well.... LET THERE BE LIGHT! Here's how the living room's false ceiling looks like when we just turn on the LED downlights (bright light): And here's another shot if we just opt to turn on the cove lights (warm light): And what does it look like if we are in dire need of brightness and choose to turn on both types of lights at the same time? Well, I'm glad you asked - It's been an incredibly busy day and things are really going full steam ahead right now. We've got more busy days ahead of us and I cannot wait to rush down to the unit after work today. By right, all of the lights should have been installed for the entire house, the grinding and varnishing of all the Burmese teakwood parquet surfaces should be complete. Can't wait to see how it'll look like by the end of the day!

(cont'd updates): While one worker is in charge of cutting out the required sizes and shapes in the false ceiling, another worker is running the required wires within the false ceiling so that the LED downlights can be installed - Here's a shot of them working in the MBR bathroom under the watchful eye of the ID (and the first ever photo of the elusive JT!) - They also had to lay out a mock up of my walk in wardrobe (the wire trunking laid out on the floor) to ensure that the placements of the LED downlights are accurate and that the measurements are precise - AND.... OUR LED DOWNLIGHTS ARE INSTALLED! (some of them at least hahahaha) Here's a photo of the LED Downlights in the MBR (please kindly excuse the mess - I did say that the entire apartment resembles a warzone right now): And a photo of the LED downlights in the MBR toilet - Sorry, all photos were taken using my iphone so they don't really do it justice. Warm LED downlights were used, so they look much better in real life *beam*

Further updates (that's what happens when you're on leave and spend the whole day at the unit): The intended cove lights at the staircase have been boxed up, awaiting the installation of the light fittings by today. As the grinding and varnishing of all the Burmese teakwood parquet surfaces will be taking place this afternoon, all the works and light fitting installations for the staircase and the 2nd storey have to be completed before the commencement of the grinding. Here's how the cove lights currently look (without the installation of the LED tubes and without the exterior paint) - I also took the chance yesterday to take photos of the Tom Dixon beat lights which I purchased from TB (totally forgot to take photos of them last weekend) - All securely wrapped up and nicely boxed up: Unwrapping one of them to check out the exterior condition: And I am LOVING how they look on the inside as well. They'll be installed at the dining area by today so I can only imagine how gorgeous the lights will look this evening... As mentioned earlier, the most exciting part of yesterday's progress was the fact that the lights installation has begun! Due to the need to make room for the teakwood parquet team to work this afternoon, it was imperative for the lights to be installed in all 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and the cove light at the staircase to be completed by this morning. So the electrical team got to work yesterday afternoon. Here's a photo of the workers measuring, painstakingly drawing and manually cutting out the holes in the false ceilings so that they can run the wires and install the downlights accordingly -

I was on leave yesterday so I spent the day at the unit watching the workers in action and taking photos. As we enter the final lap of the renovation works, things are moving very quickly with separate teams working on different parts of the house at the same time. Therefore the entire place really resembles a war zone at times with everyone moving around haphazardly at a hectic pace. When I was there yesterday, there were 3 teams working on different areas simultaneously (four teams, if you count bro Eric as well who came down to deliver and install the ceiling fan). Some quick photo updates - 1) The ground floor common toilet is more or less complete (the installation of the light fittings will take place today). WCs have been installed for all 3 toilets but the basins have not been installed for the toilets on the 2nd floor as we'll be making vanity tops and storage cabinets for the toilets upstairs. No such thing for the ground floor common toilet so all the necessary installations were carried out there first - WC also installed in the common toilet upstairs - the installation of the basins will take place on Friday after the vanity tops and storage cabinets have been delivered and installed - Our rainshower sets & mixers have also been installed for the 2 toilet/bathrooms on the 2nd storey - and I must say that I'm very pleased with the quality of the sets that we purchased from TB. Here's a shot of the rainshower set that's installed in the 2nd storey common toilet - The door frame has also been completed as per our FSM's precise instructions. Now all that's missing is the main door which will be delivered and installed within this week. If you look at the photo, you can still see the masking tape which the FSM left on the floor to depict the precise angle at which the main door has to be tilted to - Also complete is the painting of the exterior walls above the balcony. I know that I neglected to take a photo of the previous state the wall was in, but trust me when I say that it was extremely worn out, dirty and peeling. As we're on the top floor, our balcony's ceiling is extremely high. The painting team was initially hesitant to paint the exterior of the block for us because they claim that it's the responsibility of the HDB / Town Council to maintain the outlook of the block's exterior. However, JT managed to convince them to do so - which resulted in several workers leaning precariously out of our 2nd floor windows manipulating paint rollers that were attached to several bamboo poles tied together. I kept wondering if they would smack me if I snuck up behind them and yelled, "BOO!" just to see their reaction. I'm thrilled with the final smooth, clean and pristine result -

Thanks for the kind words greg - and I agree with you, thankfully faucets and mixers can be replaced reasonably easily, thanks to the power of TB! Anyway, in the end, JT was able to work around the basin tap issues so we can use the toilet taps that we bought from TB. The kitchen tap is, unfortunately, a different story however - it's still too tall for my kitchen. Therefore our ID went out yesterday morning to get us a replacement kitchen tap - a functional one with the right height. *sigh* Thankfully, a fellow Renotalker has already contacted me and offered to buy our kitchen faucet & mixer from us, so at least our gorgeous piece won't go to waste. *phew*

hahahaha you're right! i've already made my facial, mani & pedi appointments so since i'm busy with these appointments, guess who has to continue cleaning on his own? *wink*

i don't know what to hope for honestly. Lovely taps normally come at a price. Functional, cheap taps normally aren't lovely. That's why I find myself in a quandary now - which am I secretly hoping for? That he bought us lovely substitutable taps/faucets that will drive our budget into overdrive? Or that he bought us cheap taps/faucets which serve their purpose but certainly don't look as nice as the ones we'll have to sacrifice..... All to be answered by tonight. Guess I'll only discover what I'm secretly hoping for when I see the replacement taps and feel either disappointment / relief.

hahhahaha not to mention the cozy gathering point at your balcony! I'm sure you have many friends scrambling at the chance to first enjoy your cooking, then kick back and chill out in such a cozy house over a bottle (or several) of wine.

Oh my goodness.. your friends' cases with the king-sized bed and the wrong fridge dimension are such horror tales (and a little bit funny to imagine) I think if it were me, I'll bag my head.... Thanks for making me feel better Actually he's not the one coercing me into believing that nothing can be done. I'm the one who personally feels that having only half of the top row of kitchen cabinets on the short side of the kitchen looks very ugly Thanks for all of the advice and the kind words. The funny thing is that in terms of timing, schedule and cost, I really don't have much room left to play with. Tentative handover date is the 30th of Oct - to accomodate our requests, not his. Cost - we were embarking on mission impossible to begin with, so really, we came into this process mentally prepared that we'll have to forego certain design elements / items in order to keep to a relative budget. As sad as this makes me, the cheaper alternative really would be to use a normal kitchen tap instead of the nice one that we purchased.

JT is quite adamant that we shouldn't be shortening the top row because it'll look very ugly. The HTB was away in Bangkok so we couldn't have a proper discussion. He only arrived back in Singapore very late last night. Actually, my kitchen is split into 2 segments as follows: On the left side (the shorter side), the FSM was adamant that the stove and the kitchen basin be positioned there. As you can see, it's a very cramped, small space. Initially, we will have a top row of cabinets on the top, above the stove and the basin. If we cut off part of the top row to accomodate the kitchen faucet mixer, we've got a very odd half remaining above the stove. If it were on the opposite side (the right side of the photo which is much longer), then it would be different. I could do a cut-out / repositioning of the cabinets / dish racks as per Vanessa's photo above so as to make space for the oversized kitchen tap. *sigh* In addition, JT just messaged me to tell me that he's bought the new taps already.

I know, I just saw! I AM ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH YOUR KITCHEN! I admire what you've managed to do with the lighting - like you said, it's bright and airy in the day but cool and cozy at night. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record but it's absolutely gorgeous! I have a very small, functional kitchen which after the FSM's tinkering, has a weird layout to it. *sad*

Your friend and I considered hiring a professional clean up crew to clean up the house post reno, especially since we need to bring our brothers & sisters down to the new house for some Chinese customs on the day of the wedding. however, one look at our bank accounts and we've decided to take leave and clean the house ourselves.

Oh no.... sorry to hear that The hello kitty light looks so cute! pity about the brightness....

*sob* I kept asking JT if there's a way we can salvage the situation and still get to use the kitchen faucet mixer because this is something that HTB and I really want (with substantial savings no less - if we buy the same thing from Singapore, the price will be VERY much higher). I even got desperate enough to ask him to cut the kitchen cabinet's top row into half so that there's nothing above the kitchen sink and I can continue to use my purchased kitchen tap. He just looked at me incredulously.... he probably thinks I'm out of my mind.

Thanks soonliew. I initially wanted a chandelier as the staircase light, but my ID raised a valid point - because we're on the top floor, our ceiling is higher than normal. In the future when the light bulb burns out or if a replacement is required, we will need to bring in someone to get this simple task done. Due to the height, the handyman is going to charge us a bomb simply to carry out what in theory is an easy task. Therefore JT (our ID / contractor) came up with the idea of a 12 ft long cove light with LED tubes (my memory is horrible, oh my god.... I think we bought 6 led tubes for the staircase cove light?) there so that it'll look better and we can easily change the tube if ever required. Will certainly be posting photos as we go along. It's the final stretch!

Actually... I'm a very shy person. EXTREMELY shy. So the hen's party was a bit of a torture for me... I had get hugs, kisses etc from strangers - and the stipulated rule from my gals is that I can only get them from gorgeous strangers, quality control to be done by them. I was so embarrassed!!! I can't wait to see detailed photos of your kitchen. It really is the centerpiece of your house. If your house already looks this good, I can only imagine how much nicer it'll look when your taobao loots arrive. I assume this order will be made up of decorative items?

Unfortunately, the path to reno completion NEVER runs smooth. Needless to say, we were expecting some form of hiccup since we're buying so many things from Taobao - what we didn't expect was the magnitude of the hiccup as well as that it'll not be TB's fault, nor Peeka's fault - but of our own accord. WE BOUGHT THE WRONG SIZED TAPS! *groan* This means that we'll have to sell away all the taps that we bought from Taobao and buy brand new ones from Singapore. Here's the photos of the taps that we've bought and now are unable to use - 1) Here's a photo of the Sellena kitchen sink which we LOVE. Sturdy and solid, I look forward to using this in our kitchen in the future - However, that's where the happiness ends. Imagine my pain and heartache when JT delivered the bad news to us - our kitchen sink tap was too big to be used. It arrived in perfect condition, but when we placed the order SIX weeks ago, as the reno newbies and idiots that we were, we totally forgot that there'll be kitchen cabinets (that are currently enter the final round of constructions and will be delivered on... Wednesday I think, if my memory serves me right) sitting above the kitchen sink. Which means that there's a height limit for the kitchen tap... and our kitchen tap is too tall. When we opened this particular box, I was eager to check the thing to make sure that it arrives in perfect condition etc. Then I noticed that JT was silent and giving it skeptical looks. Finally he piped up - "I think you guys bought the wrong size. It looks too big to me." Then he took it out of the box into the kitchen to measure - and he was right.... *heartbreak* We can't even install the tap due to its height and the presence of cabinets above the sink. Since the kitchen carpentry is almost complete and about to be delivered, the only option left is to buy another tap from Singapore and sell away this one. AND THAT'S NOT ALL FOLKS! We also bought the wrong taps for the toilets. We were so pre-occupied with choosing nice designs that we liked (which fitted into our very tight budget) that we entirely forgot about functionality - this time the height is fine, but the nozzle isn't long enough for the tap to be used with our selected toilet basins. according to JT's measurements and mock up, the water will end up hitting the side of the basin and splashing onto the ground instead of nicely into the basin - Conclusion? We are idiots and we've brought these problems onto ourselves, simply because we were so focused on buying nice things at a decent price and totally forgot about the importance of measurements and functionality. Worst thing is, JT's plumbers are coming in tomorrow to install everything already. Therefore, we now have no choice - JT has already called me up this morning - he'll drive down personally to buy the taps for the toilets and the kitchen this afternoon to make sure that the sizes are correct and that they'll be ready and waiting for the plumber's installation tomorrow. *facepalm* Hopefully those reading this can learn from my mistakes and not commit the same errors that I did. Anyone interested in a brand new, gorgeous kitchen tap? *sad*

Yup, we really bought a LOT of downlights, all according to JT's calculations and dimensions. *fingers crossed* really hoping that the final stretch goes smoothly.... We've had our fair share of hiccups and unexpected developments along the way. hahahahahaha Had a great hen party, thanks to my girlfriends. Was forced to do MANY embarrassing things at Clarke Quay.... nonetheless, great memories *beam*

In addition to our lights, our bathroom accessories were also delivered so the plumber can commence with the installation of the bathroom fittings tomorrow - 1) Our rainshower set and mixer (sorry, this photo was taken before we unwrapped the actual item to check on the quality) - 2) Our toilet basins are also here. Here's a couple of photos of the basins and JT carrying one of them to the toilet on the 2nd storey to ensure that the size of the basin is acceptable - 3) The bath towel holders, arrived in shiny, gleaming conditions: 4) Here's a shot of the toiletries rack for both the toilets on the 2nd storey. 5) Other misc accessories like the hand-towel rail were also delivered -

So on Saturday, our long-awaited delivery from Peeka finally arrived. JT initially wanted the delivery guys to place all the items on the 2nd floor, but they weren't willing to do so, saying that their duty is to safely deliver the items to the unit. Fair enough, so all the Taobao loots were just temporarily placed on the ground floor, awaiting the necessary installation works to be carried out. All of the crates & boxes placed in the living room - As we'll be using LED downlights all throughout the house (even in the toilets), naturally a huge portion of the purchased items were our LED downlights (both bright and warm lights) - Even more LED downlights - Apart from LED downlights, we also purchased some simple lights to be used in places like the storage cabinet and the shoe cabinet (storeroom). Here's one of the square ones - as well as one of the round ones - Apart from the functional lights, the HTB also wanted a whimsical one for the Recreation Room so he got the following standing lamp - We also bought Tom Dixon beat lights for the dining table and track lights for the kitchen to showcase the wall decal, but in my excitement, I somehow managed to forget to take photos of them. Will post more photos of the lights after they've been installed and consigned to their firm locations.

Thanks for the kind words, Vanessa! All credit has to JT and his team, not to me. Honestly, if my house can look half as nice as yours looks (and I'm not saying this to flatter you), I will be absolutely thrilled.