owlNbear

Not an eyesore at all! I love the word that fatcat used. It's made of pure decadence Aaaand check out those wistful longing eyes. Or is it sian 1/2 eyes. Can't really tell....hahaha

Hurray for a solution I love that swing too (prefer the black one with chains), so glad that it's doable for you afterall And your kitchen looks so cozy The backsplash on its own looks kinda cold, but when it's paired with the rest of the kitchen with warm lights shining on it, it actually compliments the whole look really well

The layout for your kitchen is super interesting! Props to you guys for not sticking to the usual cookiecutter layout, and trying something unconventional and unique

Thank you! *does a happy dance* Actually, I just realized that if the qiangqiang is on the walls, we won't be able to see it as well Thank you so much lux! You make me feel so happy But the toilet is tiny even after combining Lucky we're both quite slim. A really big person wouldn't be able to get into the shower once the sink and vanity is up. Awesome!! We're kitchen floor twins Love this look, like something from an old classic movie

Sure will PM in a bit. @matchalatte yep! He was introduced to me by a friend who's also an ID. I like his stuff too, but you've got to make sure that you have pictures of all the items that you want on hand before sending him the brief.

Hi cat! So clever! Yes it's bevelled subway tiles Ya, he didn't check because he doesn't know the actual tile pattern. We just gave him the order form and he ordered based on that. It's still the bevelled subway tiles, at the wall above the lower cabinet. And white plastered walls for the rest.

It took us two trips to Lian Seng Hin to finalize our tiles. Our second visit was to confirm the tiles that we had selected previously. We also learnt that it is a must to have 30 x 30 tiles at the shower (or wet) area. This is so that the floor can be sloped, thus helping with water drainage. The tiles were up shortly after the plastering, and masonry works are still in progress. I estimate it to be just about 60-70% complete. Also, I realized that what might seem easy, really isn't, and I've developed a newfound respect for the tilers. These tiles come with around 9-10 different patterns, that the tilers mixed and matched themselves. I wanted to match them myself, but after our last few interactions with the head tiler, we decided that we could place some faith in him. Love how its turned out Best thing is, if the walls were to ever grow algae one day, nobody would realize. Lolol. I wanted to have a dark floor at the shower area, but the sales lady at LSH stressed repeatedly that it would stain very noticeably, and would be a b**** to maintain, so we decided not to. Also, I have a paranoid fear that a xiaoqiang would appear on the floor, and I wouldn't be able to see it. Haha! Also, notice the curved corner? That corner is a jerk. The head tiler (who has been really helpful and informative, and regularly goes out of his way to explain things) spent a long time discussing the tile layout with us. We wanted a 工字型 (running bond pattern) layout for the tiles, but there were some areas where this couldn't be done. Like that corner for example, so its done using a stack bond instead. Not the first incident where it has caused much inconvenience. Still, it didn't turn out so bad after all. Here's our kitchen, and the tilers, meticulously laying out the tiles. I find it especially tedious because some of the tiles have to be cut and trimmed down to size in order to fit the area. The head tiler (the topless guy), we found, is really knowledgeable even though he looks pretty young. And from one particular incident, we realized that he genuinely takes great pride in his work. More about that below. So, here's a wall full of subway tiles that no longer exists, and has a little story behind it. After one of our visits, I was reviewing the photos when I realized that we had made a major booboo with the tiles and LSH had delivered the wrong subway tiles. So Bear rushed down immediately and informed the tiler, who actually lost his temper and blew up at our contractor (but he still managed to remain polite to Bear). In order to compensate, we offered to do away with another wall that had to be tiled. Head tiler then explained to us that it really wasn't about the amount of work to be done. He just couldn't help but take it personally, because it was his work, something that he had taken great pains to cut, plaster and lay. And now he had to take it down again. Hearing that, we felt really bad. But it also left a pretty good impression. To us, that really speaks volumes about the pride that he takes in his work. Anyway, enough of stories. Things are starting to take shape now, and we're really excited! Next up, a meeting with the plumber and the electrician!

Thanks for the votes guys! Penguin, I can't change the glass cos it's an off-the-shelf door (from doctordoors), but I guess this is good enough

Yaaaaa...if it fits the kitchen, then it won't fit the bathroom. And vice versa lol. Hence my dilemma But I should really look into plain frosted glass too...how much do your doors cost?

Hi Chang! Nope, but behind it is the fridge, washer and dryer, and a row of top cabinets. But the hacking the whole kitchen entrance wall would make the door super wide and heavy, so we decided to leave that wall intact.

I've considered frosted glass doors, but I can't really reconcile frosted glass with the raw kind of look that we're going for, I guess it's more suitable for Scandi designs. Here's a door I've shortlisted. Actually, tomorrow gotta decide. I hope it's matching! Any opinions?

Thank you so much! Your bathroom accent wall looks really good. It's still nice to have clean white bathroom, won't feel so claustrophobic. As for me, I'm having some trouble matching the doors now, because we geh kiang use different concepts. Hahah!

How's the hunt coming along? Managed to find something? I'm still rooting for your marbled feature wall beauty

Yeah I read about your hood and hob woes. How did you settle it eventually? It looks aligned now to me. (Sorry if you mentioned earlier, I kind of zone out when it comes to technical matters, haha!)

We NEED to have a cat lovers thread in this forum. Lol. That's a shame to hear though Will you be getting another?

Omg so atas looking! That's an excellent choice of tiles you've got And that view outside your window is totally droolworthy. Added incentive to do the dishes eh

Thanks cat Last we spoke to the tilers, they said that they're planning to wrap up this project so they can go off for their NY. They're really efficient and hardworking. Everytime we drop by to 'spot check,', we don't see anybody slacking off, or loafing around. So I guess that's why they're able to complete everything quite quickly. That's just for the tilers though, I don't know about the rest. But we've already given our contractor permission to resume work after CNY if need be lah. Hopefully nobody will rush to finish anything. Nope, it's a sliding door with a top track I think glass casement doors are really pretty too! But I don't want to keep changing my mind, or else really no end to it

Sure I'll PM you in a bit. B has very affordable charges. It was only until I asked for a final quotation revision to include hacking off all wall and floor tiles, then the quotation went skyhigh lol We both (us and Mr B) felt quite sian after that. For different reasons of our own of course, haha. I do believe he was trying very hard to keep everything within our budget. Oh, I just saw in your first post that you had already met some contractors from renotalk, but they weren't really ideal. My bad! Just to give you an example of my contractor's quotation (not trying to haolian, he has many flaws and bad points as well): $850 for all plumbing works (inclusive of repiping, and installing all bathroom and kitchen ware)Supply and lay floor tiles for both bathroom is $900 (Mr B comes close).

Hey dadajunior! I bought all my lights from taobao too Are you going to have a few separate 1 meter long tracks, or will you be joining them together to form a longer track? My electrician told me today that I should have just bought a very long track, (but I've never come across one before!!). Made me feel like such an idiot

Moving along very nicely! And very pretty sockets. They go so well with the wood-textured feature wall

Heya! Are you open to shopping on taobao? Because they have quite a nice selection at very affordable prices. https://s.taobao.com/search?q=loft+%E5%90%8A%E7%81%AF&imgfile=&commend=all&ssid=s5-e&search_type=item&sourceId=tb.index&spm=a21bo.7724922.8452-taobao-item.1&ie=utf8&initiative_id=tbindexz_20160124

Had a not-so-good day with my electrician and contractor as well Anyway lets talk about that red beast of a hood. I am in love! There I was, thinking I knew all there was to know about your colour scheme, and suddenly BOOM. Seriously, I love sudden and unexpected twists like these Keeps things very interesting and fresh. Nice one! Haha!

HI alprakas! Oh wow 20. I met 8-9, and never want to talk to another one again There are quite a few famous contractors on renotalk. You'll find them if you do a quick search I have a small list in my blog too. RE the 3D design: the colours might be random, but I that cute little 3D is going to come in very very handy All the best for your reno! Hope to see more updates soon

Day 1-2, Hacking On the first day, we made a trip down at night with my cousins to discuss how the pipes and other electrical wiring should be run, and saw that the entire place was already torn down! 2 bathroom doors taken down in the kitchen, 2 sinks removed, even the WC. We initially wanted to retain the WC because it was a brand new one, but realized that it isn't possible when the bathroom floor is being hacked. It was an uneventful trip, but still exciting nonetheless. There wasn't much to see except for a pile of rubble. I did note that after hacking down the kitchen entrance wall, the entire place seems much roomier and spacious! Anyone noticed the orbs in the picture? Hahaha. I was a little freaked out by them. But everyone else tells me that it's just dust (how boring is that!). Day 3-6, Plastering The next day, we met the masonry dudes (two Malaysian dudes) for the first time! And found that they had sealed the wrong bathroom entrance in the kitchen BUT these guys work really fast. The next day, the correct entrances were already sealed and hacked respectively. Much respect for them. This incident, however, cemented into us (no pun intended) the importance for us, as owners, to do our due dilligence and carry out checks as often as possible. You never know what might go wrong, and even a difference of one day could potentially cost you, especially as the renovation progresses. Holes were drilled into the wall to prepare for the craftstone bricks. The rubble had already been cleared, and cement works were in progress. Chop chop currypok. View of the kitchen from the bathroom. That's some massive, massive cementing going on! Stacks of material (premixed cement screed?) used for the cementing. Anyone able to identify what exactly they are? The workers slap on the cement, and then smoothen everything out with these long metal rods. This chap (excuse the semi-nakedness) is the swift and silent kind. The entire time we were there, he worked endlessly, wordlessly and tirelessly, slapping and smoothening the entire bathroom, all by himself. Respect!

Here are the 3D drawings that we engaged another ID to create (because our contractor doesn't offer them). Even though we had a rough gist of what everything would be like, we were still having a difficult time visualizing the final product. These 3Ds (although less polished than most 3Ds and not entirely close to what we had in mind), were very crucial. They provided assurance that we were moving in the right direction, and also revealed many design 'flaws'. This made it much easier for us to finalize everything, and progress on to actual execution of our plans. Living Room Kitchen Master Bedroom Bathroom