koori

Is the skirting made of tile? Can try using a 'scrapper'...I hope I got the correct name....coz I always hear it called in Hokkien, no idea for the english name. My dad paints like this too...but note we scraped it off tiles. If your skirting isn't tile...better try on small un-noticeable area first...the scrapper is flat, but i dunno if it will scratch certain surfaces. Oh. found a link. It is called a 'paint scrapper'... hope this helps. http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-paint-scrapper-putty-knife-image17535654

Just my opinion....but I am thinking the white letters on white background makes the clock 'unreadable' once it is hanged on the wall as it will be a distance away.....Or maybe I have bad eyes. LOL... Saw something similar at taobao. Haven't bought anything from this seller yet though, I have some other clock in my 'to buy' list, but haven't decided.... http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=2013.1.0.0.gu8BZt&id=15163510675&

Hi....with regards to the 'color' of the rubbish chute, I think it is a sticker. My mum just changed her rubbish chute and it's yellow. I took a closer look yesterday and saw an edge peeling off the right corner already. I guess you can peel it off. Mom's 'babying' the new rubbish chute and didn't want to peel off the sticker yet though. haha....

Your unit must be very high up the block....the other blocks in the view look so short in comparison.

Master bathroom wall tile : Black and white with geometric circles...will be used in combi. Problem is, not enough stock when I went tiles selecting a month ago. Not sure if they will get enough stocks by the time I start reno... This is the more 'Boring" option 2 in case the geometric circles are not available. This one looks almost like plain old black and white...the design on the tile is very subtle and probably can only be seen if it's one big wall. Kind of like scribbles. Heh.... Master bathroom flooring :

Sorry if the colors are a bit off...I just used my phone camera, can't adjust white balance, exposure, bla bla bla....[not that I know how to.] Kitchen / Service Balcony/ common bathroom wall tile. It is actually a greyish white, with white streaks. Contractor called it '象牙色'. [ivory] Kitchen floor: Sink & Stove Support Noob me do not understand this. Was told to pick any tile as it will be hidden from view once the support is done, so colors don't matter... Think it's probably for the internal part of the sink and stove support. common bathroom wall tile : same series as the ivory tile, this one is in black with brown streaks. will be used in combi with the ivory color. Common bathroom floor tile :

Ya, i think I'm saving a nice chunk from the flooring... Not keeping the cabinets...these are about 15 years old, give or take. Most of the casement doors are creaking badly. The internal PVC boards are all yellow and are probably giving way sooner or later. There is one sliding door wardrobe in the MBR which I was considering to keep...but the doors are sort of stuck. Need to apply considerable force to get it to open / close...so decided against it too.

The clueless just discovered the unit has piped gas supply yesterday late evening when applying for the utilities account. Called up contractor and was advised to arrange to stop the gas supply while renovating.... Called up citygas...they advise the same thing as I'm knocking down the wall tiles. Will need to go to unit and wait for the citygas person to stop supply and remove the pipes tomorrow.....There goes another $60. For the clueless like me....for SP Services accounts (water/electricity) application : 1. Option of going personally to their counter - there is one right at HDB's resale dept, extreme left hand corner (or right hand corner, depending on where you are facing - hiding behind the escalator). 2. Apply online : http://www.singaporepower.com.sg/irj/portal/ourservices Depending on where your meters are, you may not need to be there. Meters for my unit were outside the house, so SP services can just take readings the next day after my application. Numbers before are the prior owners, numbers from that day onwards are mine. For gas application, I'm not too sure. My previous owner just happened to have already have piped gas, so I 'took over' the account without needing to re-apply. Was all in one form together with the SP services water and electricity application. Note, as I mentioned above, there is a $60 charge for temp. stopping supply - the Citygas guy will come take down the gas meter and some pipes in the unit. Better to time the gas supply if you are renovating your kitchen to avoid that extra charge.

Hi Makanology! Yes, quite a lot to work on. Major works will be in the kitchen and 2 bathrooms. Not doing much to the rooms / living room area. I'm keeping the marble flooring in the rooms - it probably is 'out of fashion' at the moment...but I like the 'cold' stone feel on my feet... LOL. Contractor told me this is 'good' marble [i dunno how to differentiate though. I only liked the color when i viewed the unit], hopefully should look nice after polishing.

Thanks for the help.

Master bedroom A lot of built in cabinets cramping up the master bedroom. Unable to get a good photo, there is simply no space in here.... This is the view from the doorway. View from beside the bed frame. Master bathroom

Bedroom 2 Whole row of cabinets from doorway Bedroom 3 more cabinets!

Kitchen Service Balcony Common bathroom

Updates with the photos of the existing condition : The living room The built in display cabinets at the kitchen entrance. I will be taking these down. Not my taste.

Haha...I probably will not be doing a lot of cooking...not planning to air condition the living area. So ya. Open concept kitchen it is.

Hi, do you mind letting me know where you got the dining table and chairs? I'm looking for something similar. Thanks!

I don't have pictures of the current state of the place, I was too paiseh to ask for permission to take photos when viewing the flat. Will start taking photos once I get my hands on the keys Monday. Below is the proposed layout: Considerations : 1. Storeroom wanted. 2. Keeping the existing marble flooring in the living room and bedrooms so wanted to minimize the knocking down of walls - which will likely affect the flooring. 3. Wanted to change the common bathroom's entrance so that it isn't the first thing I see when I step into the kitchen. There is no wall separating the kitchen with the living room, the line seen on the floorplan is just to show the separation of the areas, there isn't a solid wall on this line. I am pretty much 'stuck' with an open-concept kitchen unless I wanted to spend money building walls. Contractor suggested full height glass doors....but as usual - 'high maintenance alert! '....haha.... I'm not sure if my impression is correct - I always see the office cleaner lady spending a lot of time cleaning my office's main entrance full height glass doors....so it looks like a lot of work to me.... Anybody have full height glass doors separating their kitchen from their living area who can advise on the maintenance? If my impression is wrong, I will be considering glass doors! Haha....

Hehheh...no lah, not singles only corner. Everyone welcome. Probably my tittle says 'single' so all the singles came in. Me too, have been reading for the past few mths.

didn't know there were so many of us. Had been a silent reader and see a lot of blogs on BTO flats...so difficult to 'copy'. Hahah...Hoping to see more singles put up stuff leh... I totally clueless coz been staying with parents all along, and when they did reno, I was too young to remember.

Thanks. All the best to your reno too. Yah, pocket now sporting a big hole after the cash payment on the flat, and there are still a long list of stuff to buy besides the reno. Thank you! Wishing you all the best on your flat too. Mine is a corridor unit too....first unit beside lift lobby - so all my neighbours on that lane will need to pass by to reach their units...seemed pretty quiet in the 4 times I went there, so hope that's the normal state of things....

Thank you! Have been a silent reader at your blog. Thanks! Haha....thanks for confirming. At first, I started feeling I was rude to ignore calls since I was the one who put up the request. After rejecting a few more, no feeling liao. Thank you! Have been a silent reader at your blog too.

HI~ checked out your blog after seeing your comments in mine. Sorry not of help though...total newbie at reno, Haven't heard of Eight Design.

Selection of contractors / IDs : Started asking around in December. Every contractor / ID seemed to be very busy during that period. Heard from at least 2 ID / Contractors that it would be best to avoid Chinese New Year season. Workers are stretched thinner during this period, and more mistakes tend to occur. [?] I have no idea if this is true. It's a moot point for me because my resale flat's paperwork will only complete in Feb 2014. Early renovation is not an option as the existing owners has a relative staying in the flat and did not agree to the indemnity form to release the flat for renovation. The Contractors / ID I talked to : 1. Contractor 1 : recommended by relative. Has some suggestions, he can tell you what HDB is likely to approve or reject. Or maybe the ID firms can do that too, but won't offer information until you ask? No 3D. Pricing wise slightly lower than IDs. 2. ID firm #1 : contacts via renotalk. Came to my place to meet in person for discussion. Has some ideas that I liked, would probably have gone with him if Contractor 1 didn't reply. 3. ID firm #2 : contacts via renotalk. Also came in person for discussion. Did not like the space planning proposed...I think he can tell I wasn't keen too. No follow up at all since his meeting me in Dec13 till today. 4. ID firm #3 & 4 : only communicated via email. 5. ID firm #5 - did not call me...but sent me a quote via email. Based on the furniture placed in the floorplan, they seem to have assume flat is for a married couple plus 2 kids. The renotalk request is pretty overwhelming. The firms started blurring together after the 4th call. I can't differentiate who is who...the first firm who called me asked me to their showroom to discuss...but to me, that means I have to take annual leave to visit the showroom, so I just went 'let's see if I have time', and forgot about them. I started ignoring calls after the 5th firm. After the whole day of speaking about the same thing over the phone over and over again, it's tiring....plus I was working overtime that day. No mood to talk anymore when you are still stuck in the office at 8pm.... I am not naming the ID firms. Basically nothing that super 'chop carrots' show up in the quotes.Some charges a bit more on this item, some charges a bit more on that item...no one is consistently cheaper than others across the board. I decided to go with the contractor instead of an ID because : 1. I have zero custom carpentry, only the kitchen cabinets will be custom. And I want only bottom cabinets. 2. I do not want cove lights/L-Box 3. I have no theme. If you really want me to talk about it, my theme is = simple and easy to maintain. 4. this contractor is still slightly cheaper than the ID, though no 3D will be provided. With the limited scope of custom made stuff I have, I probably don't need 3D to know what it would look like anyways.

Clueless single lady who only started looking at renovation blogs after the first OTP in Nov13. Currently still awaiting the completion appointment - it's next Monday after a long wait... Not too sure if I will have time to update this regularly, but wanted to record my first house's renovation. For a resale flat that is around 16 years old, place is in pretty good condition. COV wasn't too exorbitant as well. Original Floor plan purchased from HDB as below : The current owner had knocked down the store and combined it with bedroom 2. The original Master bedroom entrance has been sealed up and moved to bedroom 2 area. Picture not to scale, but the floor plan looks like the below now. {sorry for bad drawing, i just used paintbrush and drew some lines} I believe all the walls done up were hollow block bricks as they gave pretty solid sounding thunks when you knock on it with your fist. Notes added : Place is in Woodlands. [i just realised I never said where my place was located after so many posts.] Area is 106 sqm.

Hi, please help quote for airconditioning system 3. For master bedroom + 2 bedrooms - for HDB flat. 1. Toshiba 2. Mitsubishi thank you!