mrslee07

Sorry, wanted to ask also... why did you choose Aliexpress over TB? just a noob question... as i'm very new to this whole online-shopping area... so keen to find out about your experiences. Cheers

Hihi, my husband just bought the exact same-looking kitchen mixer from TB! Haven't receive the item yet though. So http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.0.0.ubYAP9&id=5813177631

Thanks Songz... hubby and I are not decided yet about TV and we still some way to go so i don't think we can make a decision on that yet. Thanks for the offer... why don't you consider putting your TV up for sale on forum? Think there's a section for buy and sell items yea? For hob, my preferred brand is Bosch, which has a good rep also... already eyeing one model already. As for Hood, am eyeing the Delizia Tabla Cap model. Not as well-known around the forum but i saw it and loved it immediately. haha. Another thing we are thinking about now is the Home Theatre sound system. Not sure if we should go for brands like Philips/Samsung/Sony kind or the more professional brands like Onkyo/Denon/Yamaha. We found that a 5.1 set up for the entry levels of Onkyo/Denon/Yamaha is not that expensive as well. But the AV receiver is so bulky looking... as compared to the slim and slick soundbar or those players that come with wifi/blueray etc with...

Thanks plainsharon. Hmm I'm quite reluctant to drill because hubby feels that it will fixate the area for hanging pictures... So wondering if the 3m hooks can do the work since we are likely hanging smaller Picture frames on the wall

Some updates... since the weekend came and went! Hubby and I did a lot of window shopping and shopping this weekend for furniture and kitchen stuffs. We've settled on our sofa and dining set from Living Solutions at Sungei Kadut. Hubby actually stumbled upon this place at the Northstar showroom and we decided to check out their sungei kadut showroom which is bigger. We also bought our coffee table from Xclusive Home. Regarding kitchen stuffs... we have decided on the Blanco Pleon 9 granite kitchen sink from Hoe Kee... it's such a super power-house!! i just love it compared to the stainless steel types. Glad that hubby is on board with this as well. We're due to meet our ID again this coming Saturday to select laminates and to discuss on the 3D drawings etc. I'm wondering if we should go for a modern-look kitchen, which will mean likely bolder colours... or should we go for a more simple wood/white kind of look? Someone did highlight to me before that a modern-looking kitchen sometimes doesn't withstand the passing of time and I might grow tired of the colours chosen... whereas a simpler/classic kitchen look will be more timeless. Options, options... decisions.... We were also looking around for our preferred kitchen hood, hob and oven... and it's quite funny because it looks likely that we will end up buying different brands for each of them. Hubby is basically leaving it entirely to me to choose the brands/models I like regarding these items in the kitchen... hehe, which is good. Don't think it's necessary for us to settle on the same brand since i'm looking at for design and functionalities more than just a blanket branding preference. For these items though, we won't be buying so soon as the neighbourhood-type shops also prefer us to just order and deliver within a week. The TV is giving us a headache now. We were initially thinking of just getting a LED SMART TV (likely 55inch or 60inch) but over the weekend we were introduced to this 4K technology... and the salesman we met at Courts was trying to convince us of buying the newer technology especially when we are considering having a big tv. Hubby said he did notice some difference in resolution and 'lag-time' of the motion pictures... obviously 4K is the better BUT the more expensive one here. We still have time so will do abit more research and thinking... welcome feedback and thoughts on TV options too if anyone is happy to contribute! And in other news, it's 1st April!! Which means i'm expecting to collect keys this month (if all goes to plan)... woohoo can't wait!!

Is Posh Home a registered renovation contractor by HDB? hmm... i don't see them on the HDB list leh... how to tackle this new ruling come 1st Apr 2014? http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10324p.nsf/w/HomeRenoApplyPermit?OpenDocument

Hihi, How did you mount the picture on your brick wall? Did you have to drill a hole or use 3M hooks?

HI please PM me the online lighting shop as well... many thanks!

is there a 'grey' area other than what's stated there by HDB? hmm... not sure...

I mentioned in my earlier post about this declaration that home owners need to make from 1st Apr 2014 onwards... regarding engaging a HDB registered contractor/ID. The link from HDB is here http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10324p.nsf/w/HomeRenoApplyPermit?OpenDocument

Thanks Songz for the intel!

Thanks shockwave! How long more before handing over for your flat reno completion? Looking forward to seeing completed pics (and more feedback on our ID) hehe

Nowadays my window-shopping time and focus is spent on household appliances more than anything else! It's quite funny,.. fancy talking about brands of hobs and hoods and ovens instead of shoes and bags and dresses etc. Haha. Anyway, hubby and I were at HV for lunch yesterday and walked into Parisilk to check out their prices. Wow, just when we thought Goh Ah Bee has already one of the lowest prices around.... Parisilk surprised us at their even more competitive pricing!! Think we're likely going to get some stuffs from them. But we'll probably get down to buying it when we get the keys... don't think they can hold stock as long as those bigger dept stores. The salesman also told us not to worry, just buy only when it's time because the prices aren't going to fluctuate. No hard-selling, very good. Love it when we discover a good deal!! A place to consider for those who are looking around for houshold appliances... heh heh.

Some people claim that Evorich has no smell after installation as compared to other brands.... hmm any thoughts on that?

Hi guojiawen, Thanks! Read your tblog and saw that you and your hubby have done/bought a lot of things in preparation for key collection... very cool! we still have some way to go... haha

Thanks VincentWangZx! Saw on your tblog, Your place is starting to come together nicely... cool! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, here's the post on our ID-hunting experience. So we spent 5 months in total to look around and meet with different IDs.... the whole experience was really tiring - but fun to a certain extent. Somehow it was quite interesting to be sitting as a customer and have all these ID try to pitch for business to me and hubby. Lol... 1. The first ID we met. Can't remember his name... I think he contacted hubby via a forum (or was it renotalk here itself?) when hubby posted to get quotes from ID. Talked all about how interior design is about 'feel'.... and yadah yadah... 2. Second ID... is currently a ID from a pretty well-known ID firm in renotalk. SXXXXX Design Due to his sensitive situation right now I shall not name him publicly (but feel free to PM me if you would like to know) I quite like him from the start because also of the positive reviews about him here. He was in the midst of branching out on his own and wanted to sign us up with his own newly set up firm instead of under the current ID firm which he is working at. Sigh, big mistake. We found out that his new ID firm is not HDB approved... and felt this whole working on the side while still an actively employed ID at another interior firm too dodgy and complicating for us. Despite meeting him several times, and liking his humble disposition (and reasonable price quotes)... we decided not to take the risk and dropped him recently. He was the first few ID we met, and the last 2 in the running. I felt bad towards him in a way... but it just doesn't feel right so no choice, went with our gut. 3. Third ID - CXXX Interior This ID actually recently jump ship from Weiken.XXX to CXXX Interior, and was recommended to hubby by his friend. He does have an eye for design and came across more like a designer as compared to the rest of the IDs i meet (that is good)... but his pricing was really expensive. Easily $10k more than the ID i chose. I guess choosing an ID from a big company has its price tag.... and we were not keen to pay that price tag, unfortunately. So we had to drop him recently too. 4. Fourth ID - Inspire by Dtrenzo Had a good impression of this ID right from the start, maybe because he was extremely confident and open when talking to us. No hard-selling and able to give advise from a design and practical point of view. Talked alot about having a 2-way relationship with his clients on give and take, and trusting each other. Went to their showflat and were quite happy to see their works, although hubby did point out some areas of improvements on the painting works. 5. RenoXXX Nick - met him upon recommendation by Forummers here... unfortunately felt that we were not on the same wavelength as him and were not comfortable to proceed further, despite his relatively reasonable quote. 6. AbsolXXX Interior - again another up and coming ID firm, with a lot of buzz on facebook and forums. Felt that the ID assigned to us was too junior with little experience... and a little too presumptuous in some of his thoughts and ideas. Hubby dropped them when they made us wait 2 hours for our appointment without being more sensitive or apologetic about having made us waste our precious weekend waiting around 2 hours for them. 7. mX design - again a recommendation by hubby's friend. A female ID this time. She was very detailed and we could tell that she would have been a very meticulous ID whom we can trust. However, her pricing was also on the high side and she didn't follow up as closely despite us mentioning that we were collecting keys soon, which was quite strange. 8. UniXXX Creative - recommended by my sis (although she didn't choose them in the end) for cheap pricing. Hubby contacted the lady ID and was put off by the way she communicated with him, made him felt like he was having a major communication breakdown with her even on simple things like when to meet etc. She gave us an estimated price quote (which was super cheap) but hubby detected that she left out on kitchen carpentry works totally. Felt that it was too much of a hassle to meet her to describe what we wanted... and also by then we had more or less decided to take the plunge and sign up with ID number 4... And apparently, by 1st Apr 2014 this year, all home owners need to sign a declaration before reno works begin that your contractor/ID is HDB registered, otherwise the home owners and the non-HDB registered company will face penalty charges! And on HDB website there is now a link to check if your contractor or ID is indeed HDB registered as well. So... probably best to play safe and sign up with HDB approved IDs and contractors from now on guys!

hello! saw that you are with Russell as well - my husband and I also recently signed up with him as our ID. collecting our keys next month hopefully! so you guys chose Evorich HERF? We're still thinking... because Russell was recommending Krono-O-floors to us as well, although my initial preference is Evorich. What made you guys choose Evorich can I ask? it's been known that they are expensive in the market...

Hi myzticalz and bert7332, Thanks! Nice to find new home owners in the same season of life. What have you guys done so far in preparation?

Hi guys, Decided to start a tblog! My hubby and I are awaiting to collect our keys (5 room BTO) in April 2014, and currently have gone out and about looking for suitable furniture, appliances, home fittings etc. We've confirmed our ID and paid the deposit... looking forward to seeing the 3D drawings materialise bit by bit in the next week. A bit of a background:- Hubby and I started looking out for a suitable ID in Nov 2013... and we took about 5 months (and many meetings with different IDs) before we had a clear idea of what we want and who we feel comfortable engaging to work on our house. We understand that perhaps hiring a contractor and doing things the 'ala-carte' way for our house may be more cost-efficient... but since this is our first home and we had no clue as to what we wanted, we were happy to splurge a little more to have someone (the ID) do more thinking and planning for us. Hope the ID we chose will be able to fulfil what we envision... anyway, we will be sure to give the praises and reference should the firm deserve it, but will also not hesitate to name and shame if the end result is not what we want. Of course, hopefully all goes well *crosses fingers* It's still early days.... At the end of the day, we chose this ID because we felt comfortable with his pricing and also because the communication has been pretty open with this ID - doesn't seem like he has anything to hide. One more personal preference was that this ID we engaged is the managing director of the firm, who can exercise a lot more influence and decision should anything comes up out of the ordinary. We both felt that's pretty important... rather than choosing someone who always tells us 'sorry but i need to check with my boss etc' Perhaps i will dedicate another post next to talk about the whole process of ID-hunting... heh. So far, hubby and I have bought:- - aircon (Mitsubishi Starmex Inverter sys 4) - storage bedframe (Englander) - mattress (King-sized Simmons) More furniture and furnishings to come soon... but i suppose these will take place when we finally collect our keys next month. That's all for now! till the next update... Cheers, Mrs Lee