Search the Community

Hello renotalkers! I have benefited from this forum immensely and it's about time for me to pay it forward. I bought a resale apartment and obtained the keys only in late July. It's a 1 BR, only 52 sq metres (560 sq ft) in size. I was drawn to this space as it was relatively square-ish, not many bay-windows, no balcony, 2.9m ceiling height and floor to ceiling windows in the living room. Knowing that size was a limitation, my challenge is to make the space feel bigger than it is. The original floor plan (ignore the PES - the apartment does not have any PES) This was how I envisioned the new layout Red lines indicate the walls which I wanted to knock-down Blue line is where I would like the new wall to be erected Yellow lines is where I envisioned a concrete plaster appearance Besides the challenge of opening up the space, I wanted to keep the budget low and time-line relatively short, yet achieve a specific industrial look. I'll be dedicating quite a bit of my blog on how I kept costs low while maintaining decent quality. That means I will describe my thought process for contractor selection, material selection, purchasing from taobao etc Hope new home owners that plan to renovate will benefit from my blog. I shall post the before pics soon and some interim pics as reno is currently on-going. Happy reno-talking! EDIT: I realise that it is very cumbersome to go through an entire thread without a contents page. So I have compiled the links here 1. My thoughts on ID vs contractor. All home owners struggle with this question and meeting IDs/contractors can consume a lot of time and effort. 2. How I shortlisted and chose a contractor. The key considerations which led me to chose among the shortlisted contractors. 3. My taobao shopping list. With all the links from taobao sellers which I bought from. 4. My before pics. Demolition pics if you're into that sort of thing. 5. General Info on shipment of bulky taobao items to Singapore. 6. Since it's very difficult to estimate how many cubic metres each item is and the shipping charge is based on cubic metre, I came up with a way to estimate total cost of the bulky taobao item based on my first shipment when I purchase through peeka. 7. Some chinese keywords for shopping on taobao. Although taobao is cheap and therefore tempting, there may be instances of dissatisfaction. To provide a balanced view, Another poster's negative experience with taobao items. How I minimize risk of purchasing low quality items on taobao. 8. Info on the fibreglass concrete panels in my living room. 9. A guide on choosing paint colours for your wall. 10. Kompactop final pics 11. Info on artificial turf for balconies/planter/baywindows 12. Final pics - after 6 months of living in my place, this is more or less the final look of my place, though it tends to evolve with time (and clutter). To be included at some point.

I am 75% done with my reno works at my new bto. I must say I am quite pleased with my contractor (Jeff). Everything very well taken care off, very efficient in answering queries and doubts. Keen on giving feedback and suggestions.To be honest, i had my doubts and was quite skeptical if he was like some contractors who are out to cheat us He's not an Interior Designer, but did provide 3D drawings before work starts to show how the layout will be like. Most of the input from me of course after looking at countless photos and ideas. I am happy with his overall service, he goes down everyday to make sure everything is in order. Anywhere I not too happy about, he try his best to accommodate. I am writing this post to promote his services and am willing to share with anyone who may be interested in getting a quote. I'm in no hurry to move in as my newborn is only 5 months old and wife just went back to work. so need help from my parents with my boy. SO agreed to let him use my place as a showflat for awhile. So if you just got your keys there, feel free to drop by. PM me and I will share his contact. Here are some of the stuff i did.One side feature wall with brick-like tiles aka Craftstone.Whole house tiled with wood-like tiles. really look like parquet but better lasting, wont scratch and very low maintenance.Hack 2 walls. Kitchen side hack half den add glass. Make kitchen brighter and look spacious. #rd bedroom hack half wall, also add glass so can look out to the living room. Got that classy feel.Full kitchen cabinets on both sides of kitchen, full length shoe racks, toilet mirror cabinets, 2 bedroom wardrobes, 2 tv consoles.Whole living and dining room false ceiling. Installed cove lights, down lights and 2 ceiling fans even though i have AC. Super afraid of the heat.Tempered glass shower screens in both toiletsService yard install windows to prevent rain entering.Box up alot of unsightly AC pipes.Whole house fresh coat of paint. Literally whole house.Grills installed also for safety,Lightings: Whole house LED lights. Jus get from Qoo10 or taobao. Very cheap and good. Aircon: I got the LG mirror one. Looks cool at the showroom but havnt seen it in action yet. Heard LG alot better than 3 years back. Now all made in Korea. I got it from Best Tech Katong. **** good their service. Even the installation crew also not bad. Usual BTO 4pm can finish already mine they only done at 6pm. Also no complaints. Cause my position of the aircon very unique due to the hacking of my wall. Kitchen Applainces: All got SMEG ones. Have lobang. Heater, kitchen sink and toilet stuff. All go Hoe Kee to get. Wont go wrong. So many generations people all go there to get. Their service and saleperson top notch. Will continue recommending people there. Total slightly more than 30K. I find it reasonable as i compare around, no one can beat this quote. Ok tired already. Have qns ask me. If you gonna stay at Macpherson Residency, rmb can drop by my place for a look. THese few days while i was there already have some curious aunty and uncles walk in to see. I dont get any commission but i do feel that if people give good service, must promote them abit.

Hi guys, really have to recommend In-Lookz Home for their work and effort. Felt ashamed to write only about 2yrs+ after my home is beautifully done up by them at high quality but low price. I can say high quality because at the start when relatives/friends/neighbours visited my home they were already commending on the attention paid to carpentry work finishes and quality/practicality of work and materials and now as I mentioned it has been 2yrs+ already and most carpentry, kitchen, toiletry and electrical works still running fine. It was only until recently 1 of the kitchen soft-closing mechanism spoilt, I couldn't find it outside so I gave the owner of In-Lookz Home, Dorothy, a call and she instantly delivered a few of them down to me FOC! Not only was this incident touching my heart to write this topic, previously for twice my dining hanging light got faulty and I called Dorothy, for twice she asked her electrician down and although the electrician, Bobby did not solve the issue for me but he did troubleshoot the actual problem and advised on which parts to replace! And again when Bobby the electrician came, it was 1yr+ down the road after home reno completion. During the reno process they were also able to complete the reno works in slightly less than a month as promised and the coordination and communication was crystal clear and comfortable. Oh ya, mine's a new 3-room flat at Telok Blangah Towers, did quite a number of stuffs and it was below 20k. Well done In-Lookz Home and thank you very much Dorothy! Jayden Zheng