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Everyone dreams is to make our living room more beautiful and stylish. Specially, we will take more care about your bedroom. Doors are playing a major role on making your bedroom even more stylish. There are some common bedroom door types available in Singapore, like Laminate door, Two-Tone Design, Barn Door, Classic Door, Nyatoh Door and Veneer Door. We are customizing these doors with stainless steel, grove line, glass view and so on.,

Brand New Elba Chimney Hood (Made in Italy) - S$250 Perfect for free standing cookers, kitchen with no top cabinets, industrial/retro/vintage themed kitchens. Brand new, unused. Still in box. Delivery included. Whatsapp @ 93885035 F0 S4 90 - 90cm Chimney Hood - Suction Power: 800m3/hr - Control: Soft Push Button 4 Speeds - Lamps: 2x20W - Washable Metal Grease Filters - Charcoal Filters for Recirculation Mode Option - Colour : Stainless Steel - Dimension : For Recircualtion: W900 x H710-985 x D440 mm For Extraction: W900 x H655-925 x D440 mm

Found a electrical shop call Kim San Electrical Engineering. Blk 9004 #01-112 Tampines Industrial Park A st 93. S528838. They sell lights from the 70s. Unused yet vintage. Crystal lights from Europe, copper chandelier lights from Thailand, old clocks etc. Fascinating if you are a retro lover. They also do re-wiring and electrical services. contact number 67847226.

Negotiable for serious buyers!!! Let me know your price. Gorgeous vintage chic teakwood sofa set - three seater + 2x one seater Three seater - 162cm length x 80cm depth One seater - 63cm length x 80cm depth With handcrafted wood detailing - curved sofa legs and handles Newly upholstered in a beautiful teal colour fabric. Sofa cushions are brand new and refitted. Upcycled piece with wood having been painstakingly sanded down and revarnished Sofa frame and upholstery is in really good condition - less than 1 year old in our home In a pet and smoke free environment. Negotiable for serious buyers!!! If purchasing individual items: One seater - $125 each Three seater - $400 Entire set - $650 Note: Throw cushions - not included

We have just started our renovation recently, and decided that we should start a blog to document our Renovation Journey, so we could one day look back at our experience =) There are like so so so many tiny details that one should keep in mind during renovation. So many tricks, tips & pointers to look out for. Hopefully by sharing our humble experience, fellow renotalkers can also learn something from our renovation process as well. Nothing fanciful here, but I guess I shall start off with some pointers on ID/ Contractor Selection Process, my ideal steps as follow: 1) Get your floor plan (the above is ours). You can email HDB and they will send the hard copy to you by slow mail. Then photocopy a few copies of your floor plan, for future usage (e.g. to give to potential ids/contractors). When to start finding? It depends, we started like 3 or 2 months before we get our keys. However, if you know you are finding someone popular, then you might want to check his/her schedule earlier. 2) Brainstorm & write down in details what you would like to do for your house. Be specific. Don't just say Wardrobe in the Master Bedroom, say instead, 6ft length wardrobe in laminated finish, and whether you want casement or sliding doors. Number of drawers may matter too. Soft-closing and what brand also must say. Your ceiling height matters too (normally they do until 2.4m or 2.5m high only... extra height must top up). Whether you want the insides to be internal colour PVC finish or the standard white colour (which may turn yellow after many years..) also affects the price. Choice of external laminates matters too as some laminates can be more expensive than others. Sometimes even mirror or any fanciful design or material can affect the price, so be specific on your requirements. *EDITED ON 26 JUN 2016* 3) After having written down your specific requirements, do meet up with at least 5 Ids / Contractors to get your quotation (bring your floor plan too). Doing this will allow you to: a) compare the various quotations on the SAME job that is being done. b) observe the person to see if it's someone you can "click" with.. His/her attitude and design sense, etc. c) collect ideas. a good id/contractor may also point out impracticality of your design and explain stuffs to you why it's not good & propose better solutions. Do note that engaging ids will cost more than contractors (duh....the obvious), usually at least $2k to $5k+ more... it depends. You may consider getting an id if you have the budget + if you don't know what design you want, etc. If you already have a sense of direction what kind of design you want, then perhaps a contractor may suffice. Some contractors have designers to draw 3D drawings for them, so you can better conceptualise the design. The cheapest option, however, is to outsource EVERYTHING (e.g. find your own carpenter, tiler, electrician, etc). But that would require a lot of time & coordination on your side, and it could be quite stressful too.. *EDITED ON 26 JUN 2016* 4) Find out all the hidden costs, and also determine which items are worth outsourcing to make the overall renovation cost cheaper. Here are just some areas you can look into: a) Haulage & Debris Removal Service - Should you really pay $800-$1200 for haulage & debris removal service to your id/contractor? Or will it be cheaper if you call the HDB appointed Haulage Service contractor (his contact will be pasted near your BTO lift), and then ask your id/contractor to liaise with him instead? Haulage service is basically carrying the heavy stuffs for you, such as Tiles (if your flooring is not done yet), and debris removal is where they help you clear any debris from your renovation. I'm not sure if those who have no hacking & tiling works still need this service or not...as it may seem rather redundant unless you need to do kitchen mortar base, washing machine & fridge kerb then maybe need some labour need to carry the required materials such as prepacked cement, etc (this may probably cost you about $250?). For us, we have to hack some walls & do flooring... so we need this service. The amount of works done (hacking/flooring works) & the size of your flat (if do flooring) will determine the cost of this service. Some ids/contractors will ask you to get this service yourself and they will not include this in the quotation..., some may absorb this cost for you and provide it "free" (while jacking up the prices of other items maybe?), and some others will include this in the quotation as $800 to $1200++ and say it will be better if you engage from them as it is their own workers doing the service directly, so there will not be any miscommunication or delays. I later realised that this is kind of not true.. The HDB appointed Haulage Contractor for our BTO is "Mr Tan", and he says the service would cost $600 if got hacking + tiling works for 4 room (I'm not sure if other HDB appointed private contractors from other areas have different pricing or not..). I told my contractor (let's called him Uncle S) about it and he says he actually knows him coz they sometimes need to work together. He also remarked that he charge me cheaper than him too (Mr Tan charges Uncle S $700 for haulage/debris removal services)! So anyway, I passed Uncle S the money, he help me pay and get the receipt from Mr Tan. And from there onwards they work together no need me to call or arrange any appointments with Mr Tan at all. I never even met Mr Tan myself, only phoned & texted him to negotiate the cost of service only. Thus, it's not as troublesome as you may think if you engage Haulage service yourself, the point is whether your id/contractor is willing to help you liaise with the Haulage Contractor or not. So far everything seems okay. My walls have been hacked with debris cleared. Floor tiles are already in our house & tiling works are progressing, might be finishing by end of next week b) Window Grilles & Doors - It's usually cheaper to outsource these to those companies that do these works as their primary focus. I will update again the contacts once I am in that stage of installing these. It is better to install them at a later stage in the renovation (e.g. as doors may hinder movement or get scratched unless you protect them with cardboards and stuff). Uncle S says he will help me supervise the installation when the day comes (I hope ). c) Electrical, Plumbing Works & Aircon Works - These are usually not included in the quotation. You may choose to find your own electrician, plumber & aircon installer, or use the ones that your id/contractor works with. d) 3D Drawings - Do the 3D drawings come with unlimited edits? Or each re-draw/change of a 3D drawing (to see another design) will cost extra $$$? Stay away from those ids/contractors whereby 3D Drawings will cost exorbitant price like $500 each per change, as this will only limit/force you to proceed with the current design they proposed to you, which may not be what you really want. e) Internal Color PVC (example above) - As mentioned earlier, this is for the insides of the Cabinets/Drawers. The "default" is usually white color, but it may turn yellow after some years. If you want it to be internal Color PVC (non-white, there are a few colors & patterns to choose from..), then you have to top up. Do note that this is NOT the same as normal laminate, which is used for the OUTSIDE / EXTERNAL of the carpentry works. So, in terms of price, Internal White PVC < Internal Color PVC < Laminate. f) Full-height Carpentry works - If you are staying with higher ceiling height, full-height carpentry works will cost more. ** 5) Create an excel file to break-down and compare the quotations. Copy & paste the various jobs you have written in Step 2. Now, add in the quotations you have collected in Step 3. It may take awhile, but this step is very useful in helping you see the differences between the different ids/contractors quotation. It also allows you to calculate your costs easier as compared to writing these in word document. This means you will have 1 Column of Items, and X number of other Columns representing the X number of IDs/contractors you've seen. Additional Items & freebies can leave it to the last rows, do it in whatever format that you are comfortable with. Example, Requirements ID A ID B ID C Item 1: 7ft Brick Feature wall in Craftstone finish. $800 $1000 $900 Item 2: 6ft Wardrobe, sliding doors, height 2.6m, color internal PVC, with 1 mirror, 3 drawers, external laminates can choose $75 and below, etc (write whatever specific details) $1300 $1200 $1050 Item X: Window Grilles? (FREE = $0) $0 $900 $800 Basically you can use any method you want, no need to follow exactly the format here. The point is, to break up the quotations so you can weigh the pricing differences for the various works. 6) After comparing the quotes, and having a rough sense of who is more "reliable" or "comfortable" to you... you may then approach them again to further discuss & revise the quotes. Revise the quote? Well, remember the comparison you did in Step 5? You may approach the id/contractor you like and say so and so ID charged me cheaper for this item, do you think you can match his price? If you are lucky, the price can be matched, or a slight discount if the price difference is too big. 7) Ask to visit his current project sites to see the workmanship. Basically to see if the workmanship is good. Are the cabinet doors misaligned? Do they close properly? Is the floor grouting too wide? Etc. 8) Request for a site survey at your new house. The purpose is for a more accurate quotation... those with high ceiling height may have to top up more $$ on full-height carpentry works. It could also tell you how keen the person is in taking up your job (those not keen will say after sign contract then come...) 9) Ask lots & lots of questions if in doubt. Questions regarding the different materials, design solutions, costs, etc. Double check their facts. Do not take their answers for granted if possible. For example, recently TV got show some unfortunate couple got conned by a "contractor/ID" that claimed to be Case Trust & Radac. However, the CaseTrust website do not have the id/contractor company inside. The "contractor/id" has since disappeared and never to be found. You can also check Casetrust banned list here. If the company is not case trust, then do a google or search renotalk on their reviews. Sometimes you can find a lot of bad reviews about that company, and it may be safer if you avoid them. 10) Check check & check the contract before you sign. For example, on hindsight, it may be better for your contractor/id to charge you just for the labour for laying the tiles, instead of Labour + Price of tiles. Why do I say that? Think about it, say your id states that Bedroom tiles you can choose $2.50 to $4psf, before GST. If the Bedrooms are about 450 sqft in total, it would mean that a $2.50psf tile would cost 450 x $2.50 = $1,125. If you choose a $4psf tile, then it would be 450 x $4 = $1,800. That's a difference of $675 between the 2!! T_T And no... that will not be refunded if you have opted for the cheaper tiles. Thus, if we had taken out tiles prices in our quotation/contract, we will not have to worry about whether the tiles we are choosing is too cheap or too expensive. We could just choose based on the design. So this ideally should be discuss prior to signing the contract... unless your id/contractor is OKAY with refunding any extra $ if the tiles you choose are too cheap. *EDITED ON 26 JUN 2016* I suddenly remember something that Uncle S told me: If your house is still in initial building phase/not yet fully constructed, and you are absolutely sure that you want an open kitchen concept, you may request for them not to do up the wall that is partitioning the kitchen (if any). Also, if you don't like highlighting tiles, you may also request them not to include them in the toilets or kitchen. Although I'm not sure how true this is because I never personally tried it before (my unit was already constructed).... I suppose there is no harm giving it a try by asking your BTO/housing developer or something. If it works, then this could save you a few hundreds of dollars from wall hacking, wall tiles overlaying, etc. Not sure if I missed out any tips or pointers.. but feel free to comment ^_^

Hello! It's been really interesting reading everyone's journey in renovating their homes. Thank you for sharing all your stories and tips! Now it's our turn, as we have to move to a bigger place. With four young kids, our current home is just too small! We've had our taste in renovating our current HDB, and learnt many lessons along the way. For the new place, we hope to use those lessons, plus be more daring with our use of pattern and colour. Right now, our home is quite a mish-mash of scandinavian and country, with some vintage thrown in, and we're hoping to bring that combination over to the new home too. It's a bit crazy, but I think it's a happy mix, and suits a family with young children. Today we met with the ID that we finally shortlisted, and discussed the quotation. Will share more about him if we find his services good! Anyway, for the kitchen, we're hoping to have a cheery yellow backsplash like in our current place, and pops of colour: (More details in this post on our kitchen) For the dining, we're just planning to shift over the long table and these "vintage" posters. But I hope to change the pendant lights. Perhaps to the cage-like ones, for a change? (Anyone has recommendations to where to get these at an affordable price?) (More details in this post about our dining room.) Ok, that's all for now. We'll be tile-hunting and scouting for sanitaryware next!

Where can get this kind of HDB gate design?

Hi Guys! I started visiting RenoTalk last year when I began scouring for news online about Punggol Emerald, my home-to-be in the very near future. It has really been educational and I've learned a lot about the ins and outs of renovating just by browsing the different threads here. I noticed there were very little threads about budget renovating and I got a little worried. But after doing my own research, I realize owning your first home can be a very affordable affair (you see I'm a poor social worker and my wife is pursuing a full-time diploma in Physiotherapy atm). The key is to prioritize the things I want to renovate which would absolutely cause a lot of trouble if I were to do the works after all the furnishing is in. So for this first post I will share what I have prioritized as Phase 1 for our renovation. Another thing is to include as much as you can afford into HDB loan; if you can afford a DBSS, most furnishings and fittings come with the price of your flat; you have lesser you need to pay by cash. In our case, the previous bidder helped us out by opting in for HDB to do the flooring. As we are not picky with the look of our floor, we saved a lot. Just a little background; we bought this flat (Blk 266C) during a Sales of Balance Flat exercise in March 2012 right after I proposed to my wife. Fast forward to when we are about to collect our keys on the 28 January 2014, we look back and are thankful for how things have fallen in place one after another beautifully (if possible I will share it in another post). We will be meeting our contractor on the 11th Feb (CNY break; thus that's the earliest), submit approval for hacking, and begin the other renovation works from the 18th Feb onwards. Hopefully we'll be done by end of March for Phase 1! We think of our renovation in two phases; Phase 1 for the major works, Phase 2 for fittings and furnishings and other DIY projects. Here's what Phase 1 includes: 1. Hack off existing wall at bedroom 2 and install new 10mm tempered glass approx. 1500mm (L) x 900mm (H). Quoted Estimate: 1,800. 2. Laminated Flooring for all three bedrooms @ $4 psf. (this is a little pricey. There is another company who can do it @ $2.80 psf). 3. 2 sets of 10mm tempered swing shower glass door to bathroom. Quoted Estimate: 1,200 ea. The kerb costs an extra $450 / set. 4. Dismantle existing wash basin and replace new ones. Quoted Estimate: $90 ea. 5. Labor to install owner's light fitting: Quoted at $12 / no. 6. New PD door to bathroom. Depending on design, lowest quoted at $450 / no. Phase 1's total estimated cost: + 7800 As you can see, it's really basic but necessary. Once this is in place, it's in a pretty much liveable condition, minus the furnishing. Our furnishing inclusive of installation of air-con and ceiling fans is expected to cost another 7,000 or so. My wife felt that if it was affordable to hack off the wall in the living room (bedroom 2), it would be a very unique feature that adds character to the home. If you were to leave that out, you save another $1,800 dollars. Alright, that's it for the first post. The subsequent posts will have more pics I promise. It will talk about Phase 2, and also update about how our reno has been doing, in real-time. =) Plus, feel free to let me know if you have lobang which can do the above at a cheaper price kthxbye!

WTS: Old GE standing fan Fan: S$100 Black antique standing fan, about 100cm tall, not working anymore, need service. Brand: GE, heavy: Solid, 7 to 8kg at least Self collect at Buona Vista Area. call/sms 9 seven nine 1, 0 two 5 two. tks

1960-70s teak wardrobe. Typical pencil-leg furniture of that era. In excellent condition. 93.5 (L) x 53.5 (D) x 175cm (H) Email: kmj9000@yahoo.com SMS/Whatsapp: 9 three 46 One 828

A 1950-60s gas stove/cooker of "Economain" brand. It is mentioned in UK museum listing (http://collections.falkirk.gov.uk/search.do;jsessionid=B6FD746209D98F858F2F574D13D9DDD2?id=109764&db=object&view=label&mode=1) This is a collectors' items for the discerning. Still functional and can also be used as a prop in a cafe. Price negotiable. Email: kmj9000@yahoo.com SMS/Whatsapp: 9 three 46 One 828

A pair of 1960s vintage retro plastic stools. In green and pink as shown. $25 neg. Cash and carry. Email: kmj9000@yahoo.com SMS/Whatsapp: 9 three 46 One 828