MrsKhoo

Hey Songz & mummychua Thanks for the kind advice. I agree that floor laminate is easier to replace than laminate but after discussing with our contractor, she told me of the cost difference in using floor laminate. So.... In the end, decided to still go with the normal laminate coz I know my husband sure will shoot down the idea to use floor laminate if he knows that he got to top up for it..

And... Finally! Our 3D drawings! Display cum shoe cabinet (located outside the study room) There will be a minor change to the laminate.. Too much white for me i feel.. Changing the laminate at the bottom row to be the same as the display area. Kitchen Also some changes here.. Extending the top cabinets all the way to the fridge and changing the hood to a chimney hood. The colour of the kompactop will also be change to another colour. MBR Got changes here as well. Changing the colour of the platform to a darker colour. Hmm.. By the way, anyone of you have any idea if it is better to use laminate (that means the same kind of laminate for our wardrobe) for the platform or should we use laminate flooring for the platform? Our contractor L said that both also can use. If use laminate flooring, you may not get a uniform look as they can't use laminate flooring for the door to the storage portion of the platform. What they will do is that they will use laminate to match to the colour of the laminate flooring. I think I'm more inclined to using laminate throughout for that more uniformed look.

Just want to share some clearer photos of the tiles in my common washroom.. Loving the tiles... Can see from the bottom that the piping is already done.. Change all to stainless steel piping.

Yeah! Agreed.. Been following yr blog... Place looking good! Really dig yr gate & door combi! Can I ask how much is that? Hee... Thanks bianzi! Haha.. Songz.. Actually, I did cast some doubts on my own taste after I chose the tiles. Was abit worried that the washroom will look 'dirty'.. Kekeke.. My contractor commented that it was a very daring choice of tiles. But she did approve the choice too so I proceeded. After looking at the completed tiling, I kinda secretly feeling very pleased with myself... hahahaha! So shameless..

Cont'd from the earlier post.... Seems like our worries are for nothing.. The reno at our place had started more than a week ago and the progress have been smooth so far. L told us that the tiling will be completed by this week and we will be meeting up with her this Saturday to discuss on the lighting points and the aircon. On their first day of work, they already completed the hacking of the tiles in both the bathrooms and the kitchen. Including the removal of the cabinets in the kitchen and the MBR. So last week, they have already started with the tiling and we went to take some photos of their work. They have completed the tiling for the common bathroom and partial for the bathroom in the MBR. So here are some photos of their progress. Resolution may not be clear as photos were taken during the evening time. Common Bathroom OMG... I'm loving the wall tiles of the common bathroom!! Looks good... MBR Bathroom Nothing much to show for the kitchen since the screeding and the tiling is yet completed. I think that's all for today... Will update again after we meet up with our contractor this Saturday.... Have a good week ahead!

Good Day Everyone!! Its back to work as usual after the long weekend.. *Cough Cough*.. Didnt get to enjoy the weekends as was sick and spent most of my time sleeping.. So very sianz that we didnt get to go out to hunt for the sanitary items as per what we had planned earlier. Ok.. Enough of the small talk.. Hee.. I just want to show you guys the tiles that we had chosen for our kitchen and the bathrooms.. We had actually went to choose the tiles much earlier but didnt have the time to post here. We went to Hafary at Balestier to choose the tiles. Met up with our contractor, L there. Wow... Seems like there are alot of choices.. The quote given by L actually stated that we can choose tiles up to $2.80/ sq ft but L did not actually limit us when we were there. She say that we can choose what we like and if the difference is not big, she can absorb the price for us. So we chose the following tiles for our bathrooms and kitchen. Common bathroom Wall tiles Floor tiles MBR Bathroom Wall tiles & feature wall For the bathroom in the MBR, we had chosen this wooden plank-look alike (the tiles at the back) for the feature wall at the shower area and the price for this is about $10+ per sq ft (cant remb the exact price). For the rest of the bathroom, we will be using the one that is in the front. For the feature wall, our contractor did tell us that we may have to top up about $300 for this since it is quite pricey. We decided to KIV the feature wall but it is really nice! Floor tiles As for the kitchen, hmm.. I wanted a rustic look to the kitchen and at the same time, I wanted to have a kitchen that requires little maintenance so I thought of having wall tiles that mimic the concrete look which will still allow me to clean the wall easily so I told L that I am looking for cement screed-looking tiles and she suggested that we just cement screed the walls to achieve the look. Okay.. Suggestion accepted! We didnt really think much on the cost savings that we will now have since we chose to cement screed instead of wall tiles for the kitchen walls. So when L said to us that because of this, she will absorb the cost of the $300 for the feature wall of our MBR bathroom and on top of that she will include false ceiling for us for the kitchen too! We were like WOW! I am thinking this contractor is really honest! She can actually keep quiet and not tell us about the cost savings but she didnt and on top of that she is willing to suggest further on the false ceiling in the kitchen that she will also throw in for us. THUMBS UP for L! In addition, we also chose black metro tiles for the walls between the top and the bottom cabinets and concrete-like floor tiles for the kitchen with the rest of the walls cement screed. We are keeping the existing tiles and laminate flooring for the living room and bedrooms so we wont be doing any tiling for these areas. We are very eager to see how the kitchen and bathrooms will turn out.. Hahaha.. At the same time, quite worried on the choice of our tiles for the bathrooms...

Hi Songz, thanks for the offer. Very kind of u! We actually have found a few workshops and are comparing the prices now. The problem is with the gearbox and that is why it'll cost us a couple of thousands to repair it. Nowadays, the car prices so sky-high so want to change car also cannot. Its either we give up the car or continue to keep it. Judging from our needs and travel patterns, think continuing to keep it seems a better way for us.

Thanks TengLiJun.. The house is big for the 2 of us for now but I have always prefer a bigger house so that we have the extra space for guests and stuff. DarkWingZ, Thanks! Yes, it looks like we have alot of space to play with.. Can play hide and seek worr.. LOL.. Hi Songz, I have been following your blog before I started mine. Nice to see you here! Ya.. I think is due to the odd shape of the service yard and the kitchen that may have some problems but we are only doing the kitchen for now.. We'll just leave the service yard as it is except to repaint it. We'll see how the living area turns out.. Dwinsplace, thanks! Has been a very hectic time for both my husband and I. Finally settle the wedding and thought can concentrate on our renovation when our car starts to give us problems. Super sianz again coz we may have to spend a couple of thousands to fix the problem.. Arghhh.... Just hope that after the checks, it'll turn out to a less serious problem.. Wish us luck too on the car ya!

Cont'd from the earlier post.. Well, the previous owners had kept the house in quite a good condition except for some wear and tear over the years. We just feel that we have to renovate the kitchen, both toilets, 1 of the common room and the masterbedroom (since the previous owner had hacked the wall to connect both the rooms together). We wont be touching the tv console thou as the condition seems to be okay. The quote given by the contractor comes to slightly less than $33k. The details of the work to be carried out are as follows: - Kitchen 1. Hacking of kitchen wall and floor tiles, 2. Supply & lay heavy-duty homogenous flooring & full height designers' wall tiles. 3. Applicaton of waterproofing membrane 4. Supply labour & material to change stainless steel piping for kitchen 5. Supply labout & matertial to run washing machine inlet/outlet pipe 6. Supply & construct kitchen cabinet base c/w tiles finishing 7. Desing & fabricate top & bottom kitchen cabinet in laminate finish c/w ABS trimming solid ply doors 8. Supply & install 2 pcs galss panels. 9. Supply & install stainless steel dish rack 10. Custom made KompacPlus for kitchen worktop in single profile 11. Supply & install 1 sets bamboo stick holder Living, Dining Hall & Study Room 1. Supply labout & tools to dismantle existing display cabinet & feature wall at entrance 2. Supply & install double leaf non fire-rated soild nyatohply door to main entrance 3. Design & fabricate full ht shoe cabinet cum display cabinet in laminate finish c/w swing door Master Bedroom 1. Supply labour & tools to dismantle existing walk-in wardrobe 2. Design & fabricate full ht sliding wardrobe in laminate finish c/w all custom fittings 3. Design & fabricate full ht feature wall backing for wardrobe in laminate finish 4. Design & fabricate storage platform in different step in laminate finish c/w light pelmet 5. Supply & install fibrous plaster false ceiling to master bedroom Bedroom 2 1. Supply & install wooden door frame for new entrance 2. Design & fabricate full ht casement wardrobe in laminate finish Bathrooms 1. Hacking of bathroom wall and floor tiles 2. Supply & lay heavy-duty homogenous flooring & full height designers' wall tiles. 3. Applicaton of waterproofing membrane 4. Supply labour & material to change stainless steel piping for both bathroom 5. Supply labour to install 2 sets pedestal pans and wash basins 6. Supply & install 2 white powdered coated aluminium bi-fold doors 7. Design & fabricate top & bottom mirror & vanity cabinet in laminate finish for master bathroom 8. Custom made kompacplus for vanity top in single profile for master bathroom 9. Supply & install clear tempered glass shower screen for master bathroom Miscellaneous works 1. Supply labour to install whole house necesary accessories 2. Supply labour & material to do painting for the whole house using ICI/ Nippon paint c/w (5+1) colour including all door frame, door and piping 3. Haulage & debris removal fees 4. Supply & install 3 solid nyatohply door for 3 bedrooms 5. Supply & install 3 hot water point for both bathrooms 6. Supply & install matching skirting for existing homogenous tiles 7. Sliding door track for master bedroom Well, that's all for this post for now. Will try to update as soon as I can. See ya...

Finally got some time to update the blog... Ok.. Without saying much, I have attached pictures to share on the original condition of the house before we start the renovation.

Halo! It has been a long break for me since my last post. Finally completed my zhong shen da si and now can start to focus on the renovation.. We are so lucky (actually is lazy la) to be able to find a contractor for our renovation. I have actually started asking around my friends to recommend me their id or contractors and one of my colleagues recommended her contractor to us. My colleague is very pleased with this contractor for her house so I got the number and started off with a simple SMS to this contractor (I should refer this contractor as L). L then called me to chat slightly. I then emailed her my floor plan and some photos of the house. I also told her what we wanted to do. She said that better to go to the house to take a look and so we did. During the visit, she advise us on what need to be done and what not. We felt comfortable in talking to her and also agree with my colleague that L gave very honest opinions on the renovation. Well, I cant say that she is the best (since we don't have any to compare with coz too lazy to find others) but L is good enough for us. The quote given is quite reasonable and L has been very responsive to our queries and thus, we agreed to just engage her. Another thing that we like about L is that she is a very easy-going person and not calculative. I'll share more along the way so that you guys know what I meant by this. In the meantime, I think I will not share the details about L till my house is fully renovated so that I can give a more complete review about her. The renovation for my house has just started 2 days back and I will share some before-photos of the house in my next post. We have also met up with L to select tiles for our house and I will also share some photos of the tiles we selected in the next couple of posts. Got to rush off again now.. Tata!