cynthiazen

Thanks! The darker grey is from Dulux ICI "Granite"

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PM sent =) Yup, we paint after reno almost done. Edmund will actually let us know when is suitable to paint, he will leave the corrugated paper behind so as to protect the flooring from paint stain. Initially, we were really doubtful about painting ourselves as well. LOL. We were afraid the result will not turn out to be what we wanted, and i did mentioned earlier that i'm such noob in painting. Hehe.. But after seeing the painted walls, we were like "wah!" efforts pay off! =) Moreover the cost of painting ourselves is only about $500+ including tools. Happy painting!

Painting! Pretty headache when choosing colors.. We knew what we wanted, but grey? So many kinds! We started with the cornices first which was pretty easy , then the walls. Our fave corner and effect (Pardon the mess and painter's tape)! Walkway: 1 side of MBR: Living room: WIW wall color was not decided yet, as i wanted pink initially then i wanted nude then i wanted turquoise after that (too many choices), well, i guess woman are all like that. For bedroom 2, will be using as entertainment room in future (I wanna get XBox! LOL) but for now, it will be hubby's work room. No pics (selfish me, not taking pictures), but 1 side of the wall is that dark grey as well. The kitchen untouched as i think is more airy and spacious that way.

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For a noob painter like me, LOL, cant remember how many times i have read on Pinterest about "How to paint". Hehe. We went around many hardware shops, searching for the best price on paint. We went to this place at Aljunied, i think the place is called J-Power Trading? Or you can also visit www.estore.com.sg . They sell paint the cheapest among the shops that i went to. Met this sales lady ( i think her name is Susan or Suzanna), super helpful & friendly! She told us, for dark colours go for ICI & light colors go for Nippon. Most importantly, get good brushes & rollers. We spent about 80-100 for just painting tools alone, which i think we have bought too much, some un-used (too kiasu, LOL). I definitely must share this! Highly raved & recommended by hubby: Wonderful roller that saves paint =)

Yup, it will be even cheaper if i didn't have laminate floorings in 2 bedrooms =) I only have glass shower screen in my MBR toilet as the common bathroom is not ideal. In fact, me and my hubby don't use the common toilet for showers at all. So, we could save some money there too =) Stay tuned! =)

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It's a 2 door where you can open both of them. Yes! It's actually less then 20k in total includes plumbing works and some electrical works =) Tap is working great! No problem with my rain shower as well =)

While bz-ing with all the purchases, Edmund WA us and told us that his workers accidentally cover up 1 of the bomb shelter ventilation hole. To cover up was never our intention so as to save cost.. Edmund says his worker is too kpo, LOL. It will be free if we decide to keep it that way. Of course we kept it that way. Hehe, i told him hopefully his workers can be more kpo, i can get more things free!

When it comes to choosing laminates.. I had a big time choosing them as i think light colour will suit my theme better, but i kinda worried about 'maintaining' it. LOL. So obviously, i went for the conservative choice. Chestnut. Hehe. Oh ya, my platform in MBR is done up too! Meanwhile, plumber did the taps. My taps are from taobao too!

Yup! A simple one though =) Hi freshberrie! i used peeka, this is the link http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a2106.m861.1000384.25.7UXFfH&id=14165966923&scm=1029.newlist-0.1.50094976&ppath=8014574:29933&sku=8014574:29933 Exact shipping not so sure as i have a mixture of big and small items. But usually i estimate about additional 20-30% on top of the item to get a rough guide on the shipping charges and see if its worth getting it in TB. But for this dressing table, absolutely worth it.

Edmund updated me via whatsapp that the granite worktop and glass works are up! Glass top for my vanity (free upgrade by Edmund) :

Thanks Makanology! While pending for reno to be done, my taobao huge purchases arrived! Mainly lightings for the whole house! It feels really good to unwrap "presents"!

Carpentry is up and my walk in wardrobe door! )))

Kitchen sink shopping at Hoe Kee And we chose volcanic black Air con shopping.. Due to the budget contrain, we chose a system 2 from Midea at Gaincity. We have decided on citygas for our heater. Pretty cool!

We have some really serious shopping.. Burning weekends browsing all the furniture shops, everyday surfing Taobao. And i saw this bench in Hock Siong FB: I immediately called hubby to make a trip down to have a look since they close at 5.30pm on weekdays. We needed 2 of them as our dinning bench. They were selling at $80 per piece and after much bargaining, we manage to get both for $130 Cash & carry, LOL:

When we told Edmund we wanted crown mouldings instead of L box or cove lightings, he was like "not much people do this liao leh". LOL. Due to the lack of popularity of it, we chose the simple one. AC313 Work started pretty fast

Lack of updates due to extremely busy-ness Didn't expect Edmund to furnish us with 3D pic of the kitchen, kinda surprise when he whatsapp us the pic of our kitchen! Initially, we chose Sandstone for the kitchen, but since our theme is country french, we change it to all white with a black granite top.

Edmund says he will be updating us via whatsapp. Here's the very first pic he sent! Reno started Hacking was done 2 days later, no PE required! Kerbs in toilet also done!

After site seeing, official quotation came in 2 days later. Both quotations work out to be quite similar. In the end, we chose DX as reviews mainly were good compare to Defong. Renovation only started in August due to some problems in the renovation loan and Edmund is extremely patience with us During the long 2 months wait, hubby and I tried to order from taobao. I ordered a dressing table for a start to get a feel of how MIC furnitures are. Here's the pics! Came in a crate, packaging was superb.

Hi harlocarlos, my theme is French & country. I'm doing the following: - crown molding (cornice) for living room, the walkway, MBR & BR2. - Extend TV wall as the wall is too short - top+ bottom kitchen cabinets + glass backing for kitchen - swinging glass kitchen door - windows only for service yard - laminate flooring for MBR and BR2, - platform for MBR (as platform bed) - Hack one of the wall in MBR to install a pair of French doors + seal original BR2 door - shower screen for MBR - vanity for MBR - misc works + electrical works + plumbing works Hope it helps

Yup, 4 room BTO. We went to 8 IDs/Contractors before deciding on the 'one'. Had a tight budget to work with and hopefully everything we wanted can keep it under 20k. We know exactly what we wanna do, some hacking for my WIW , kitchen, laminate flooring and those essentials. Being the typical Singaporean, gotta compare and compare and compare. LOL. Here's the list of the companies we went to (Mostly read thru RT and know about them):- 1) Id*** House - Didn't met up with the famous boss K. Met this lady, Y*****, new in the company but not in this industry. Showed us her work that was featured in magazines like Square rooms etc. We first liase via emails, giving her a list what we wanted to do. When we finally meet up, she already prepared the quotation. Price came up to be 23k excluding GST and she offered free 3D with no obligation. 2) Defong Interior Met the boss. To me, I found him quite down to earth, friendly, no hard-selling, no GST. Don't expect creativity, he will quote you based on whatever u wanna do. Promised to email us quotation 2 days later and he really did. To me, this is pretty important. 3) N*D D***gn Met the boss. Young man, pretty creative. But if you want something different from what he proposed, he will say not nice blah blah blah. And his quote is a whopping more than 34K . Many items are way over budget. And they are very persistent in follow up calls and sms. One word, irritating. 4) One St** Bui*ders Met the boss, super new company. They are more like a contractor rather than ID, prices are not too ex but they will charge you for 600 for a design fee? 5) CO*s D***** Met a guy, E***. Should be the boss? Shortest meetup time, 30mins? Kept everything short and sweet. Had very good impression of him, he kept giving ideas on how to save money, what we should do and what we shouldn't spend money on. In the end, quotation he missed out a lot of things and priced at 24k. 6) Carp****** This company has their own factory and they has been around for many many years. Met up this interesting guy, A******* but prices over our budget even they have their own factory. 7) Sun H** Met tis lady, P******. Super friendly. Gave us a lot of tips on Fengshui as well, LOL. But when she said to email us quotation 2 days later, the email did not came in. I have to keep text her to ask for it, eventually delayed and only email me few days later. Too busy or forgetful? Anyway price over our budget but prices stated is very transparent. Stated everything including electrical works. 8) DX Interior Intro by my fellow neighbour, she met him and seen his works at other projects. Met the boss. The first time we met him, he gave me that kind of PCK feel. LOL. But really nice and friendly guy. Discussion was short and simple. Read his reviews, after sales service was superb . Promised to email quotation 2 days later. In the end, we shortlisted Jeremy from Defong & Edmund from DX. Mainly because reviews, chemistry was good and most importantly price also good . Met them for site-seeing, Jeremy was late half an hour .

Thank you Soonliew. After collection of keys, we went to our new place right away! Here's some pics of the empty house Pretty shocked to see the living room & kitchen is quite small. Common toilet. Don't know y HDB build it this way, shower head is at the door side. How to build shower screen? MBR toilet. Cramped.

Hi all! Waited for 3 years and we finally got our keys in 12th June 2013 at Punggol Crest. I have always love the French, shabby & country style/furniture, hence the topic title 'Frest' came about. Currently, reno is going halfway now, I'm gonna share the journey and our experience with finding IDs & contractors. I guess what everyone first did was to upload the floor plan. So here it is !