Search the Community

I’m baaaacccckkkk! I was last here five years ago when I was documenting my renovation journey and eventual move to a condo in the east. You can read about that adventure in my signature below. My latest reno adventure all started from a remark made by a potential buyer of my house (I’ll get to that bit in a little while). The wifey said my house needed a lot of work so I need to lower my asking price. I was quite incensed by that remark . I take a lot of pride in my home. It’s clean and fairly well-maintained, so for her to criticise it, I took it very personally. Then I took a long, hard look at the apartment and realized that yes, some parts of it do need work. The whole place could benefit from a paint job which I’m planning to do anyway before we thought of selling it. The parquet floor in one of my girls’ bedroom is faded out. The laminates of the built-in bedroom set in the other bedroom is peeling. The white gloss on my kitchen cabinets has turned a yucky yellow colour, same goes for the toilet seat covers etc etc. But these were minor stuff and the new buyers are probably going to replace them anyway, so it shouldn’t matter. I think the couple was just finding excuses to justify their pitiful offer, which we initially rejected but then reconsidered and counter-offered. But the deal fell through, and though the apartment is still being listed, in my heart, I’ve kind of given up trying to sell it. Apart from the kitchen (which I hate) and some bits of the bathrooms (poorly designed), I love our house. It’s in a fantastic location! It’s on a high floor! It’s unblocked! Why would I want to move? This was a question my kids asked me – which they also asked five years ago when we decided to uproot from Queenstown to move here. (I’m still 80-20 on that decision. 80% of me think it was a wise decision, 20% of me wished we hadn’t moved. But, bygones!) Why do I want to sell the apartment if it’s so great? Several reasons – to cash out on the capital gains, to move to a bigger place where I can go all out and reno to my heart’s content, and to reduce our housing loan payments so we have a bit more CPF when my husband and I retire. Sound decisions on paper. But when you put in the emotional attachment, all the hard work my hubby and I had to put in to get this apartment in the first place, then it’s not so simple anymore. We started listing the property sometime in July/August. Apart from that one firm offer, it’s been a disappointing nine months. I blame the gahmen of course for introducing the cooling measures but I think a Higher Authority is telling me I should stay put and enjoy what I have. And so children, this is how my reno story begins.

Hi everyone! I would like to share my renovation journey with you guys so that we can exchange ideas and advice to build our dream home together Let me start off by sharing my floor plan :