lovescandi

Last week while I was out for a meeting, I chanced upon a shop in Lavender called WINLY PAINTS PTE LTD. Realised their nippon paints, everything you needed for painting a house are like 10%-25% off other hardware shops so I was exhilarated! E.g. Nippon Odourless / Easywash 5 litre paint is only at $60+ instead of the $80-90++ other shops quoted me. I saw many contractors pulling over their shop along the main road to buy their paint so figured they must be one of the lowest around! If you're looking for paint + accessories, you can check them out! Today, I took a plunge and ordered $4,000 worth of stuff from Taobao. It sounds really crazy because even my freight forwarder also called me to confirm I indeed made such a big purchase. Fingers crossed everything comes intact! Anyway, I made an excel sheet with each individual item + price in RMB + price in SGD + quantity + URL to organize the orders. Thanks to a friend, I also managed to alias with all the sellers using china's version of MSN and negotiated for price and shipping. For items with power point plugs, I made sure they changed it to Singapore's 3 pin plug because previously I ordered a vacuum cleaner and the plug was a huge headache. Can't wait to share my taobao purchases!!

Thanks for sharing this! Am gonna get one!

Love the laminate you chose!

Hi Songz, thanks for dropping by! I do hope all my good sub contractors are of similar standard to the electrician I met yesterday!! Thanks for your compliments!

Hi Dwinsplace, thank you for your compliments! Not sure if we're really meticulous but its our first home so we try to pick everything in detail while infusing the design and functionality aspects of the product. My contractor I have shortlisted, let me name him Contractor J, seems to grasp what we have in mind so thank God we're in good hands, I hope! Thanks Kelhy, look forward! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Today Updates: Electrician came over today to plan our electrical wiring. Apparently they work very closely with this Malaysian electrician which IS SO PROFESSIONAL. He's extremely meticulous and experienced even though he looks quite young (30+ years old) and planned out our electrical wiring so well ultimately. Im gonna get his number the next time he comes so I can call him directly in the future if I need electrical assistance As we are using tracking lights for the scandinavian look, there was some hiccups to the electrical wiring layout which we thought was fine until the electrician pointed out the problem and how to 'clean' up the look on the ceiling so there won't be too many conduit all over. He also shared the best ways to do certain lighting points and electric points in the entire house and kitchen. Am very confident to be in safe hands for my electrical wiring even though he's not started yet. Anyway he mentioned he'd come in to start with our wiring on Thursday! Yay!

Spent the long weekend cleaning up some vintage sewing machines my dad and aunties bought for me! Guess where these vintage sewing machines are going to be? Anyway these are the before images. They were really rusty and dirty but we managed to clean them up! How it looks like after cleaning it up and removing all the rust, dirt. Using different chemicals (thank God I have a very handy husband) How do you think it looks?

One of the big ticket items that was difficult to get was actually the correct bedframe. Most bedframes are PVC and standard colours however I wanted to stick with my colour schemes and give our MBR a softer look playing with shades of grey and oak wood. After visiting almost every bed showroom u can imagine the past 4-6 months including TilamKing, Poshbeds, all the big branded bed companies in the entire Singapore, we finally purchased a bedframe from Hommage (http://www.hommagelifestyle.com/) - thanks to renotalk buddies who shared their experience at hommage. Their pemimpin showroom is the place to go if you ask me compared to their thomson plaza outlet. The showroom is huge and carefully selected. As I wanted to choose my own fabric for the headboard and my customised design, Eric (the boss whom humbly claim he is not), shared with me his expertise over the decades on selecting the right bedframe. I wanted 100% german hydraulic system for storage to maximise space instead of china-made hydraulic system to last over time and finally got it a reasonable price. Eric told me if I could get the exact same one for lower than him, I could always come back to tell him because he is that confident his hand-made bedframe is good in terms of quality and design. I went over to their thomson branch to make payment yesterday and realised OCBC was offering 5% off which was awesome since the bedframe is a four digit figure. And finally, for those who are thinking of getting your bedframes from fortytwo.sg - they are really really dirt cheap and even though its stated its made of german hydraulic I suspect it is made-in-china non-lasting german hydraulic. After looking at the price, I've emailed them, commented on their FB page, PM-ed them on Facebook to ask if its China or authentic German hydraulic and they either never replied or deleted my comments. I believe in paying a little more for certain items that would last over time Here's an idea of how my bedframe looks like, except that the headboard is in squares instead of diagonals and in tweed grey colour

Hi Bianzi, I know what you mean, it was a tough decision! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anyway, I've finally decided, chosen and paid my deposit to the contractor after discussing with my hubby because apart from the few thousand dollar difference, I feel very much more comfortable with the contractor as he's very honest, sincere and accommodating. I guess apart from the price, we really need weigh how comfortable we would be in terms of working together. To be fair, here are some IDs I shortlisted and met in the past which left an impression on me however I actually met more IDs than those listed here. Contractor K- As mentioned previously, nice contractor but price was on par with ID or more expensive than some IDs. Chew Interior (Derrick) - Walked in casually and was served by him. One of the most ridiculous IDs such that my hubby and I wouldn't forget. After sharing our needs and design, he proceeded to show us a whole lot of 'scandinavian' designs which he thought was scandinavian but it was actually modern and resort like. Didnt have any idea of what he was doing at all and uttered so much rubbish I had to excuse myself and told hubby we had to leave. Thereafter he called us non-stop to tell us he's so excited to do our project and would like to meet us again. After calling us for several weeks and us outright refusing him, he finally stopped calling. Very persistent. Dots & Tots (Javerson) - Only decided to make an apptmt to meet him after my BTO's facebook fanpage was raving about him and the company. Many of my neighbours in the estate signed with him before I met him. He was indeed really nice, like contractor K, patient and his company is actually known to have affordable packages e.g. Premium BTO 4-rm package @ $9,999 etc but as usual like other packages ID firms, the moment you add in extra carpentry in the kitchen, wardrobes, craftstone wall (which is what I'm doing), the price quoted per foot was on the expensive side. During their 1st year birthday, they gave out 20 sets of blum drawers and hinges which drew many people but we thought it was just dangling a very small carrot compared to the final price you have to pay. Free Space Intent (Raymond) - Came across his portfolio 1-2 years ago on square rooms on one of the BTOs he did and he was actually the 1st ID I met when I started looking one year ago. Extremely nice person, very fluid / versatile designs, indeed catering to balance design + spaces. I really really liked him as being the most honest, sincere IDs we met to date because we realised along the way there was so many IDs that tried to smoke their way through telling us that this and that but Raymond was none like that at all. Even my hubby agreed Raymond was a fabulous ID and we decided to go back to him again recently. However, after revising his quote, we realised they increased prices across for everything from the 1st quote but to be fair, it was really a 12-month time period. The final quotation came to be way above our budget for reno including the fact we need to give ourselves extra 10% for any additions. Sadly, we had to drop him. Icon Interior (Wayne) - This was the ID we were weighing VS the contractor. Came across this ID firm several months ago on http://hdb-interiors.tumblr.com/ - intrigued me with one of their home designs and went on to their website to take a look. Eventually we met up with him and found him to be extremely focussed, hard-working, efficient and helpful. He wasn't like other IDs that didnt include certain items like acid wash + re-grouting and included all those necessary - sharing what we see is what we pay, it wouldn't increase unless we really wanted to add on carpentry or big ticket works. Everytime I called/msged him, he would most immediately pick them up or return my call. I feel pity that we had to drop him in the end actually but life is about choices right. THE CONTRACTOR WE PICKED (Let's call him Contractor J) - Visited my cousin house in Punggol and found her house's workmanship especially in the kitchen to be very very good. The problem with this contractor is, he's not into scandinavian and does what homeowners want usually like the common resort look. Like a typical contractor but very patient, nice, helpful, kind, prompt. Apart from this, he has no history in renotalk thus no reviews about him however after inspecting my cousin's house, we realised this could be the potential contractor like how Pinkwhale etc found Contractor K. Hubby and I was very comfortable with him and he was very flexible however, I think people should only go to contractors if they know exactly the design they want because without a strict and firm design/look, contractors may veer away from the original theme sometimes. He's given us alot of 'technical' reno understanding, and suggests how we can use spaces however in terms of design, I'm extremely fussy and told him he has to go according to my designs infusing his skills + workmanship and he was more than happy! Quite glad I found this contractor and can't wait to do a review on him. Most importantly, price is extremely reasonable and yesterday after signing with him and giving him the deposit, when he realised that I wanted drawers on all the kitchen which initially he said he would only give me 3 Blum drawers FOC (which is extra charge per drawer e.g. Blum $40-$50+), he shared that he'll throw in drawers for me FOC humbly which was really nice. I would have imagined if I decided I wanted drawers after signing with other IDs they would open their lion mouth to charge me for every single drawer. Apart from this, before leaving my house, he told me actually I should include one more lighting point to make the design nicer and said he would do it for me FOC again. Its not alot but we really appreciate such small gesture that he's not out to make us pay more and more along the way of the renovation. I also shared that I wouldn't be rushing him to completing the house within 1-1.5 months since I dont need to move in immediately so I gave him an allowance of 2-2.5months to ensure good workmanship. I don't dare to say too much about the contractor and the very reasonable price we signed for but decided to let the outcome say for itself when its completed. Really exciting and I can't wait!

Thanks for your input! Both provides same level of workmanship (in terms of material such as solid plywood instead of chipboard wood and giving blum drawers/hinges) Am still considering will decide this couple of days! Hi Songz, thanks for your thoughts and sharing your opinion, appreciate it! Hi Arnold, received your message, thanks for sharing!!

Need advice from experienced renotalk-ers The shortlisted IDs (electrical wiring not included) and contractors (also same as ID as they do everything INCLUDING electrical wiring) have been coming up my place to measure and do a quotation. I'm down to shortlisting my last two companies - one is an big ID firm that do everything very nicely include 3D drawing but the down side is that he's quote got no electrical wiring (he ask me to get myself or use his which will be more expensive) and he also charge me for minor things like installing toilet/room accessories. The other one is a contractor, but he also acts like an ID - do everything including electrical wiring (he quoted me $1250 for whole house fixing of all approx 12 lights, ceiling fans, move 3 light points etc) and free installation of all accessories. Only problem with him is there's no 3D drawing and it costs a few thousand dollars cheaper. I am very comfortable with both and have a clear idea of how my house will turn out to be actually so 3D drawing is not really an issue. Also how much on average is a 4-room electrical wiring without moving much points on average can someone share with me? Appreciate your help! I have until tomorrow to decide Do share with me which you'll take and why?

Have been extremely busy the past 3 days going in and out checking on defects. You really have to have an eye for detail to spot defects. Honestly to be fair, there were no major defects. Mainly defects were holes at the timbre skirtings / holes beneath 3 room's window frame, scratches on window frame and service yard doors which was efficiently patched up by BSC. However due to patching of holes on wall, they've yet to repaint it so I hope they do otherwise I need to inform them my walls are of different colours. MBR Toilet Vanity Top was slightly slanted but no issues to me as I'm gonna remove both vanity sinks because they are pathetic. Toilet floor tiles had slight uneven tiling on some pieces and living hall porcelaine tiles also had some uneven tiling done. So far they've done up all the defects except for uneven flooring tile where BSC informed that they can only come in next week. Here's a photo of my very pathetic 40cm #worsethanpublictoilet vanity sink they gave us Here's the defects of uneven/ sharp tiling in the toilet Some updates today as well - Today my dad's good friend who owns a big air-conditioning company came in to view my flat and planned out the shortest and most 'sightly' way of routing the aircons and pipings. He told my dad he actually doesn't go down when his aircon men does their job but came down specially today just for me He instructed his aircon men to use better materials etc and go by the shortest route so my pipings wont be exposed as I have yet to have any intention to box up the aircon pipings. Previously at my other houses, those designs that boxed up the aircon trunking leaked after 8-10years and my family had to get contractor sometimes to tear down the boxing to fix the trunking so I decided not to box them up even though it might look abit nicer. Also, he shared that he will do the trunking and hacking this Friday (before the 7th month starts) and come in again to fix the aircons when my reno is almost done (so that workers don't turn on aircon when they are working etc) Anyway, I will be using Mitsubishi Starmex System 4 (18K BTU and 9K BTU for rooms) - will review on this company's services after its done and his 'route' for the aircon trunking as I think many BTOs these days have the same floorplan

Aww great!! I've heard so many good reviews of KDK, glad to have made this purchase!

Purchased the KDK fan on the left of this photo - SG selling $189 (on discount) but I bought it half price in Malaysia

Your most welcomed! Anyway, today I visited Heritage Bathroom and am very satisfied with my purchases. I walked several shops comparing prices before finally settling down at Heritage and indeed their prices are not only cheaper than Jalan Besar & Balestier shops, but also cheaper than all the other shops selling Fujioh Hood + Hob and Carysil Granite Sink! So here's what I bought: The different models of Carysil Granite Sink (Pls note prices indicated is not the actual price) In the end I only paid SGD$190 for the Big Bowl Black Granite Sink - super cheap cause they are having 40%-60% discount ends end July so I quickly went down! Top mount single bowl granite sink! Steal price cause in Jalan Besar other shops quoted min of $300+ Apart from this, I also purchased Fujioh FG772SVGL (2 burner, glass top) and Fujioh Hood FX900 F/V as well as an Ariston Oven 52litres @$550. Do note that these prices I purchased INCLUDES GST. There were other shops they quote me same or more expensive prices but when they are invoicing, they added another 7% GST which means prices were not nett. At Heritage, the salesgirl Sherrine who served me was really really nice, patient and helpful. She gave me all prices including GST and discounted further when I bought more + followed up with me via Whatsapp. If you go before July, you should ask Sherrine to serve you! (By the way beside Heritage got a shop selling exactly the same thing and their shop size is x2 and after an Auntie served (feels like the boss) me say their price is the best etc etc but when I went over to Heritage I realised the Auntie wasn't being competitive with the price even though she seemed to give me a lot of discount) Thankfully I compared before going Heritage!

Hi OceanEleven, Nope I haven't confirmed with any ID/contractor however I've done up a moodboard on my own and has a clear idea of exactly how it would turn out to be so I hope this would help in my purchases. So far I've only purchased my fans in the house. I'm planning to go get my hood/hob/sinks today at Heritage Bathroom Gallery because my neighbour shared they are having 40% off storewide (except hood/hob) until end of July! Good for those people who need to buy because after comparing the prices, Heritage Bathroom is cheaper than Adamas Bathroom @ Jalan Besar. Just to share: Heritage Bathroom Add: 718 Geylang Road Geylang Conservation Area Singapore 389630 Tel:+65 68460148 Will review on Heritage after I get my stuff there!

Hi Ebo, I declared GST at customs upon coming back Hi Hellonub, the model of 3 blade fan is elmark and i bought that! Its about 1180ringgit if I rem correctly Hi Bianzi, the 25litres was 500ringgit

Additional unexpected purchase was Joven water storage heater which I got at RM500, $40 cheaper than Singapore. And Ventos Fino Fan for my bedrooms at RM580 only, half price of Singapore’s price Conclusion: Yes, the 30 min drive up was worth it to purchase your ceiling fans, standing fans and bag home your Joven water heater