kaisermisaki

Why don't you talk to your ID about it? If you keep thinking about it means you liked it! I am not sure what your other furniture in the room may be. If everything is metal, maybe too much of it? I am not an expert but just my own thoughts. Some times different materials may make the room stand out more. Talk to your ID, see if you can play around with the different materials.

Some thoughts about the entire reno process/experience. To be honest, I never thought I would ever purchase my own home. I had been looking around, but was just looking, nothing extremely serious. I nearly bought another unit in the same block in Feb 2014, but someone out bid me in terms of the price. Was quite disappointed at that time. When I saw this place in Oct 2014, it was a very fast decision. Issued a cheque right away. Everything went so fast. Best of all I didn't have an agent. I did all the paperwork etc myself. Had to call HDB, CPF almost everyday to ask them what to do next, but thankfully they were very helpful. As I mentioned, I looked for an ID in Nov 2014. Such a tiring process. Even though I only went to 3 firms, I felt like a broken record, repeating myself to all 3 IDs. HA! Anyway, renovating a resale, I would think, is a bit different from BTO. I have never stayed in a BTO before. I have always lived in an older HDB flat. Having a resale has it's advantages and disadvantages. Of course for BTO some items are already there, like toilet bowls, tiles etc. If you don't mind them, you save a bit of money. For me I have to hacked away all the tiles, toilet bowls and doors etc. Thus that will add up to the cost. The other thing is I had to change all the water pipes and electrical wiring. All these are not concealed. Thus if you worry about the exposed pipes and electrical wiring trunking, you have to think about the position carefully. Some people has use that as a design feature. The other thing about renovating a resale is your neighbours. One tip, before you start your renovation, visit your neighbour's flat directly below your unit with your contractor or ID. Why? To say hello to them and also to make sure that the condition of their ceiling. Not just for kitchen and bathrooms, also the entire house. The thing about older flat (in my case it is 31 years old), is that you do not know the condition of the waterproofing for the bathrooms and kitchen. Make sure you take photos of their ceiling, including the bedrooms and living room. Point out to your neighbours if there are areas that are already peeled off etc. Best if you make it as a black and white thing and get them to acknowledge it. This became a bit of a stressful issue for me. I do not want to say bad things about my neighbours. But they did complain a bit to me and my ID during the renovation process. Dusty is one thing. Their ceiling started to peel off (in the kitchen area). Not that we didn't want to touch up for them (we did say we would touch up for them right from the start), but it became a bit of an issue and HDB was called in to take a look. When my parents renovated their place recently, their neighbours downstairs wanted the ID to replaster and repaint the entire ceiling. Oh well! But in the end my issue was settled peacefully. So do take note on this. My other worry is that water proofing for bathrooms needed to be done correctly and good. I won't know until perhaps years later. We did do a water test, seems ok at that time. Actually other than that, I didn't have much major issues with the reno. It went quite well, and it was on time. My reno was slightly longer, as there was the CNY holidays. So the workers took about 10 days break. There were some small issues here and there of course, but were settled quite quickly with my ID and we moved on quickly. I will write a quick review of my ID in my next post! I think she is great!

hello! did you upload your layout plan for your house? Perhaps I missed it. Curious how your layout looks like!

The wood one of course. But it is a personal taste. Need to go well with you deco at the end of the day

I knew it! You sprayed the mirror! HA! becos I have the same mirror as you, but in white!

Wah! Looking awesome! Did you repaint the mirror in the bathroom? Nice Batman poster too

Great that people are making friends and visiting each other!

well I do have not one but two Blu-Ray DVD player. One is free when I purchased my TV! Not tested it using Blu Ray DVD yet though. So not sure the out come would be? But am using Starhub. HD seems alright to the naked eye.

I have a 65in curved Samsung TV. It is great for movies! 4K too, Run full HD movies on it. It has no visible pixels. I am curious about the Sony Android curved TV though.

Will share when I find out more!

Hey! I guess they could have gotten their honey from one of the licencee. It seems that the licensed companies are all in NZ or Australia. I have to go do some research! As for healthy lifestyle. I try. I used to jog a bit, but have a knee problem now. Also try to avoid fast food or deep fried food.

Hey there! Wow! Your eyes are very sharp! Yes they are Manuka Honey and I buy them from Honey World. Robinsons do sell Honey World honey, but I think the promo at Honey World stores are better. I buy 2 big bottles of the UMF 15+ and I get the small UMF 15+ free. Also if you use Citibank card to pay, there is rebates, you can off set for you next purchase. Well this is a bit off topic, but I have been drinking manuka honey for a few years. It is really good. Boost your immune system. I feel that I don't get sick that often now! Cheers!

Hello! HAHA! I do have a lot of shoes. Anyway the original entrance was at the end of the cabinet, just beside the entrance to the kitchen. So where the shoe cabinet and the main entrance is now, used to be a corridor. As the previous owner bought the corridor, I decided to move the main entrance out.

Hehe! It is what I call a cute grey. Goes well with that room and the laminates there.

Hey there! Thanks! Not sure if you can see from the photos, the hex tiles gets lesser as it goes up to the ceiling. It is a design proposed by my ID.

Hello! Yes I love the greys! Nope my ceiling is all white. Forgot to mention it in my post. I guess if it is a very light grey for the ceiling it may be alright. Not sure if it is a darker grey. Stylish Grey, which is what I used is dark. So if you use it for the ceiling it maybe oppressive. Talk to your ID about it.

So these are my choices for wall paint colours. I like grey a lot, as I found it to be a neutral colour. So most of the walls are in various shades of grey. I use Nippon Paint. So because my wall paint and tiles are quite neutral colours, I use a lot of colours in my furniture.

I really love cats! They are very independent. But just feels that if I am not home and the cat needs me....... True that the house feels more alive with pets.

Awww thanks! I like them a lot too!

So cute! The carpet looks very comfy! I am thinking if I should get a cat. Have a family cat. She now lives with my parents' place. Problem is I am not home most of the time due to work, and I feel might not be fair to the cat! Hehe....

Hi all! Realized maybe I have more things to post here! I forgot to mention that I installed two data points in my home. One in the living room (just beside the fiber point) and it runs to the walk-in wardrobe/study area. This was proposed by the electrical contractor, and I went with it. Thank goodness I did! I bought a new router (as from my experience, the free router given by Starhub wasn't very good), but the WIFI signal was quite weak in my bedroom. The router is placed in the living room beside the TV. I nearly went to buy home-plugs to boost the signal. But I remember reading that you can connect two WIFI routers together. So I went to google it, and connected the free Starhub router using the data point I installed. Below is the website: http://www.wikihow.com/Connect-Two-Routers I connected it using LAN to LAN connection. I am sure there are various ways to help boost the WIFI signals to the house. For example getting a WIFI repeater. I am not extremely well-versed with tech stuff, but method this works for me, and the free router didn't go to waste. If you have various data points in the house, this could be a way. I had home-plugs in my previous house before, as I didn't have any data points (old house). It works ok. Although some times I do need to reset the home-plugs (not sure why). Anyway, I will also post the paint color choice for my house in my next post. It is mainly grey.... 50 Shades of it! HA!

I apologise if I sounded arrogant or anything like that. When I said I agreed to the list, it is cos I do see more and more people using those products or styles. I didn't mean to put anyone down or upset anyone etc. Even though brick walls are not for me, I do see some stunning homes here with brick walls or Scandinavian theme houses. If it fits your theme and house, and you like it. Why not? For modern classic, I do see that more people are liking that design. That is why I used the word trend. Don't get me wrong either. I love modern classic design. Just to share. When my family renovated our previous house (that was like more than 20 years ago), I was quite involved with the process. That time, trends were very different. Laminates were limited choice, kitchen tops too etc. Who also knew that track lights, which are used in those days in museums or stores would be used in homes now. More 10 years ago, my family renovated their current home. We also engaged an ID. I don't think there were Renotalk forums yet? And again we went with what the ID chose for us. Right now with Renotalk and social media etc, more people are sharing their beautiful homes and tips. It was through Renotalk that I know of Kompacplus. I must say it is an alternative to the usual materials. If it fits the look of the house, why not? It is also through Renotalk I know of quartz material, which I use for my kitchen. Else I would only know solid surface and granite. Also a little joke. My parents (who are in their late 60s), often say "au meh ka". They are referring to laminates. I always wondered what they meant. Only till recently I found out, they meant Formica! Which is the brand of laminates widely used many years back. I believe at that time they were the market leader. Now more people (I think) uses Lamitak. I am glad that many people shared their renovation process here. I got a lot of tips from here, so that I would not make the same mistakes etc. Many people buy from TB. I also didn't know how to use it, until quite recently, and I bought two retro looking fans from there. Am quite happy with it, as I was looking for something a bit retro looking. Like I said trends change, becos people taste will change and also technology will advance. New types of building materials will emerge and more people will start using them. Like LED lights, Kompacplus etc. I am also amazed by the array of laminates now. Even my dad said that there were scratches on my wardrobe. Actually it is the design of the laminates! HA! I also use Blum, Hansgrohe. I also have a cage light. It is because right now it is quite common in the market. Who knows maybe in 10 to 20 years time there might be another brand that will emerge and a lot of people will use that brand. Like Lamitak. The company was started in 2001. I decided recently to also start my own t-blog. Not to boast about my house etc. But to give back to the community and share my experiences. Hopefully some people will find it useful and use the tips in their own house. Yes keep sharing all your renovation process and photos. I am still reading most of them (when I have the time), as I am still learning and want to know more! Thank you all for sharing.

Yes, as long as one is happy with their home that's the most important. Everyone's taste is different. We can all learn and share from this website.

I must say I do agree with you to some points. When the Scandinavian theme first appeared, I quite liked it. Then more and more people decided to renovate their house to that theme, it became very repetitive. Especially the brick wall. I guess the rest of it is just trends. At some point the trend will fade away, and something else will emerge. I believe right now modern classic is the trend. As for Blum and Hansgrohe, I have to admit I am guilty of it. Of course there are other brands out there, but these two brands are the popular ones and perhaps perceived as reliable. Again.... Is that a trend too? Unless something else comes along.....

Thanks guys for the kind words. Will post two more photos before I do a sort of review of my entire experience and also ID. I bought this Ariston Inox 40L heater to share for both my common and my MBR toilets. I have been using Ariston for years and I find them reliable. Also this soap dispenser is from the John Lewis range from Robinsons.