hoWL

Problem fixed.

Slight Problem Original idea was to have a dining table that extends out from the kitchen cabinets to make it look as a whole. After assembly and all, alamak, no space to put the refrigerator. Will have to redo the table and house the fridge next to the oven and then the dining table after.

Craftstone brickwall is 5mm, subway tiles is 1mm.

Thank you Songz. Bought dining chairs and a sofa bed from Ezbuy, hope they arrive like the picture.

Some updates. My empty living room with craftstone brickwall and mirrored wall on the opposite side. Kitchen - I like that my grey sink blends well with the counter top. And my main bedroom with my big TV and soundbar below for cinematic experience..... haha

Hi taufeek I have a similar 3 room layout as yours, except that my storeroom is in the centre of both bedrooms. Was, in fact, as I have hacked away the storeroom wall to make my main bedroom bigger. My bathroom is equally tiny so I can understand how you feel. You can erect a partition wall and extend the main bedroom toilet by a bit like the picture below.

Slight delay with the carpentry as my ID discovered that the carpentry was one inch short from his drawings, so they had to redo. Aircon is up tho.

Hi @Pooroldman Sorry for the late reply. No it did not come with a pre-drilled tap hole. My contractor helped me drill a hole. I probably should have asked seller to do it as I am sure he can if I had informed him. Cheers

Thanks for the advise, will check them when they arrive. Didn't want to buy expensive lights for the same reason. Yes, buying from tabao saves me half the cost of getting them in Singapore, and that saving is including shipping costs! I saw your blog, good luck with your reno.

My TaoBao Purchases Craftstone Bricks https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?ft=t&id=524749643776&toSite=main Subway Tiles https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?ft=t&id=39272419640&toSite=main Bathroom Tiles https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?ft=t&id=525394299562&toSite=main Bathroom Mosaic One side of the wall will be with this mosaic. https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?ft=t&id=547814400836&toSite=main Master Bedroom Bathroom Lamp I think this light will go well with the ‘bling bling’ mosaic tiles in the bathroom. https://world.tmall.com/item/20120507431.htm?id=20120507431&_ezgpid=20000000205956 Bathroom Vanity Counter incl Washbasin https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?ft=t&id=544815431371&toSite=main Grey Sink for Kitchen https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=532043610493&toSite=main White Tracklights https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=44067193325&toSite=main Toothbrush Holder https://ezbuy.sg/product/6391663.html Bathroom Accessories https://world.tmall.com/item/536715091726.htm?id=536715091726&_ezgpid=20000004008532 Bedside Lamp https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?ft=t&id=551122551832&toSite=mainp Kitchen Lamp https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?ft=t&id=523299830615&toSite=main

Hey bro, was busy with other stuff this couple of days. Sorry didnt have time to take pictures but the house vinyl flooring is done and first coat of paint yesterday. Partition for my master bedroom bathroom wall is also up and waiting for kitchen cabinet to be ready. Will also update my taobao purchases later this week.

Can I please have the contact for vendor 1? Thanks in advance

What was the deal? How much?

Hi @GraceLikeWaves Hope you liked the pictures. I figure pictures can explain about the reno better than words. My kitchen has just started the reno works and kitchen cabinet has not even been measured so I am unable to comment on this ID nor their workmanship yet. If you are interested to shortlist him, I'll be happy to forward his contact for your consideration. Cheers

Not much update other than the electrical rewiring and craftstone brickwall are in progress too. Some of the TB craftstone bricks that arrived in the box were much darker than some of the others. Was supposed to be all white though. Anyhow, told the tiler to mix and match them when laying them and the outcome has a natural cave-like look. Turned out to be okay in the end. Phew.....

Thank you. Here is the link https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?ft=t&id=39272419640&toSite=main I considered a couple of forwarding agents, Sgshop, Oops and Peeka. Eventually, I went with Peeka because although slightly more expensive, their service includes inspection, which helps to reduce the chances of getting damaged tiles. In this current shipment, all the tiles arrived in good condition. Hence, even though I bought extra, being the kiasu me, the tiler didnt have to open the reserve boxes. I would also recommend Oops if you are budget conscious.

@spooky I got the beveled tiles, each measuring 100 x 200mm. One box of 50 tiles cost S$13 and I bought 20 boxes which add up to 1,000 subway tiles at S$260. Adding shipping and all, it cost me about $0.70 per tile. I have surplus to do the same for my kitchen cabinet backsplash as well.

Tiles from Tabao arrived and so the works started! Living room craftstone brickwall

Work in progress...

@izong bro, oredi started hacking on Monday ....

Present condition of the house. LIVING ROOM BEDROOM KITCHEN Time to do some online shopping!

Ikr..... gonna knock down the kitchen walls and have wide open space.

Hi esc Will not be forwarding out his contact until reno is almost complete. Atm, not sure how it will turn out. Hope you understand.

MY ID ADVENTURE In my search for the ONE ID, I had met up with a total of 9 IDs but I shall not detail every single encounter and here are the notable ones. H from I*** - Arranged for the appointment at 11.30am at his office and he was late for 20 minutes. Not very impressed at that moment. However, as we sat down and discussed my renovation plan, he was very patient and listened to my ideas and gave good suggestions. His Senior Project Manager/ID, J was very accommodative and gave her frank opinion on my intended layout as well. Me being a novice at this whole renovation thing and it being my very first ID meeting, it was pretty assuring and a very good introduction on what to expect. Quotation came back after a week but was above my budget and thus was dropped. Emailed her to reject her proposal and she replied back with thank you note still. J from I********* - Although J did not sound eloquent over the phone when setting up an appointment, but when we met at his office, it was like on 'home-turf' and he suddenly became a well-oiled salesman with his sleek presentation and selling tactics. He tried to understand my lifestyle and my rationale for having certain features. On the spot, he drew on my floorplan to help visualize my overall direction. Showed me several of the materials that I can consider up to a point I was overwhelmed with the amount of choices. He also did a rough estimation on the total cost and told me confidently that he can meet my budget of 20k due to the huge savings I can get from the flooring expense. All my ideas were possible and he even added a few of his suggestions too. Was almost convinced that I can end the ID search and that this is the ONE even though he was only the second ID I’ve met. Spending almost 2 hours in his office and J really thought of many details and emphasize a lot on workmanship. Definitely gonna shortlist this one, I thought to myself. Just when I was about to bid my goodbye, he stopped me and asked me to sign a contract with a deposit. This is because his flooring promotion is exclusively for that one day only. If I do not take the advantage of this offer and chose to come back another day, there will be no more promotion and I will have to pay full price for the floor tiles. WHAT?! All the good feelings I had for this ID suddenly vanished. If the flooring was going to be at full price, I can always find another contractor to do the floor separately. Seeing that I was adamant about not signing a contract that day, J relented and further explained that unlike other ID firms, the deposit was just so that they can present a 3D drawing on our next meeting. It will be later absorbed into the contract once it is signed. I shortlisted him anyway and had a second meeting with J. His first quotation was nowhere near my budget and I decided to take out some of the good-to-have items. But to make the long story short, eventually his quotation was still one of the highest so I dropped him. So much for being the ONE. Jo from I*** - Jo was referred to from Qantvas and he texted me to meet him at his office. Granted that It was a rainy afternoon for our meeting, but the timing was set by him and he was still late. Nevertheless, we had a fairly long session discussing my vision for the house and Jo gave practical advice about my idea of using track lightings in the living room. Showed him pictures on the condition of the house as well as my mood board and he said they are do-able. Just when we were wrapping up, his partner came and joined in the discussion. Had neutral feelings after this meeting but was hoping that their quotation would meet my budget. No news from this ID until one month later, Jo called to ask when can he visit my flat. When told that I was waiting for his quotation first, he claimed during the meeting, he mentioned that he would only quote after viewing my place so as to give a more accurate amount. Granted that he wanted to give an accurate quotation, but it took him one month to follow up on our last meeting gave me the impression that I am not on his top priority to do. Dropped. O from A**** - He was the first ID to suggest meeting on site which was refreshing. But on the day of our meeting, he was late (because of traffic). Is it me or is it that most IDs cannot tell time. Back to the ID, O was very experienced on site and was very helpful to pinpoint certain can-do and cannot do works. I actually learned a few things from O on site and he gave me a clearer view of what I had wanted to do. Was anticipating his quotation but it came back slightly above my budget and missing a few items we talked about at the house. That is the problem when you do not take notes. Dropped because I did not want to waste more time going back and forth with O as by the time I met O, I was already discussing second meetings with my shortlisted IDs. R from D** - Was highly recommended on this forum and saw pictures of his projects. Convinced that this guy has high workmanship standard. So, I emailed him with the list of items I wanted for my reno as well as my floor plan. Quotation came back fairly fast and the price was reasonable. But there was no follow-up and I was busy then to contact him to arrange for a meeting. No fate, I guess. Dropped. Z from T****** - One of the rare IDs who was punctual for our meeting. Yay! And he took down notes, scribbling down my must-haves and he was not pushy. My outrageous idea of having full length mirror across the hallway did not get shot down. Gave his feedback on my platform bed and offered ideas to enlarge my master bedroom toilet. Did not disapprove of me getting my materials (craftstone bricks, subway tiles, sink, shower, lights etc) online. Quotation came back after one week of meeting and was within my budget. Met him again to go through his 1st quotation and was impressed with his attention to details. Had a general good feeling about Z and was confident that he can bring my vision to life. And so, Z became the CHOSEN ONE.

That's a very beautiful home, totally came into life from your vision. Well done!