Am I Expecting Too Much

[summerholiday 2]

agree with apple too.. the additional money really can buy more things, esp the more design u get the more things you need to keep dust free and clean.. my house so simple still i need to clean to drop dead..

unless u hav extra to engage a part time maid, else cleaning and workin at the sametime is really no easy work or ur parents or in laws movin in with u.. else housework.. never easy lo.. i need money and not to work so hard when i spending them

[jaCKY777 0]

First, you must realise there is no exam, certification or licensing needed to be an ID, unlike architects or PE's. In other words, every tom, dick or harry can call himself an ID.

Their first question is always, did you bring your floor plan? Not what is your lifestyle, what type of person are you, what are your hobbies, what type of influences have shaped you, etc.

They can instantly pull out standard templates for "balinese", "zen", "tropical resort", "contemporary", "minimalist", etc. But if you ask them why things are done in a certain way, you'll get a blank. If you ask them to innovate, you'll get nothing-- all they can do is ape what they see in the magazines.

If you read my blog you'll understand why. Most ID's have no training in fine arts at all! I would be surprised if any of them have a Masters in Fine Arts qualification.

2nd, you must realise that most ID companies are really renovation companies in sheep's clothing. They call themselves ID firms to move up the value chain, but their business models have not really evolved.

3rd, if you want a real ID, you must be prepared to pay. A lot. Then you'll get someone who understands design, form and function, and who will spend time to understand how to make things work for you. You probably need someone who does high-end condos and landed, and someone who has no interest in doing the reno per se-- in other words, he's independent of the renovation firm, and he bills you for the design drawings only, not for the renovation work.

Unfortunately, the Singapore market is dominated by HDB owners whose budgets are usually not so high as to afford a professional ID, hence it's really hard to find a genuine ID, even at well-known firms.

Should you go to your second shortlisted ID? Well, ask if they have an MFA before you go. Or lower your expectations.

Wai Leong

Hey waileong,

jus read yor blog. i would say its very well written.

Unfornately, yet 2 complete

It serve as a very useful info 4 those who noe nuts abt reno matters & wat our SG IDs & contractors r all abt.

i think, it would b good 2 pin-up, make it sticky, make it a 'orientation & introduction to renovation in SG' 'must read' for newbie who jus join e renotalk forum (like mi. )

[NiVleK 0]

First, you must realise there is no exam, certification or licensing needed to be an ID, unlike architects or PE's. In other words, every tom, dick or harry can call himself an ID.

Their first question is always, did you bring your floor plan? Not what is your lifestyle, what type of person are you, what are your hobbies, what type of influences have shaped you, etc.

They can instantly pull out standard templates for "balinese", "zen", "tropical resort", "contemporary", "minimalist", etc. But if you ask them why things are done in a certain way, you'll get a blank. If you ask them to innovate, you'll get nothing-- all they can do is ape what they see in the magazines.

If you read my blog you'll understand why. Most ID's have no training in fine arts at all! I would be surprised if any of them have a Masters in Fine Arts qualification.

2nd, you must realise that most ID companies are really renovation companies in sheep's clothing. They call themselves ID firms to move up the value chain, but their business models have not really evolved.

3rd, if you want a real ID, you must be prepared to pay. A lot. Then you'll get someone who understands design, form and function, and who will spend time to understand how to make things work for you. You probably need someone who does high-end condos and landed, and someone who has no interest in doing the reno per se-- in other words, he's independent of the renovation firm, and he bills you for the design drawings only, not for the renovation work.

Unfortunately, the Singapore market is dominated by HDB owners whose budgets are usually not so high as to afford a professional ID, hence it's really hard to find a genuine ID, even at well-known firms.

Should you go to your second shortlisted ID? Well, ask if they have an MFA before you go. Or lower your expectations.

Wai Leong

Wow. That about sums up what ID is really doing in Singapore. And the last part is totally true. Few of us have the budget or rather, are willing to fork out that amount of money just for design drawings.

But still, I guess the drawings and services that those "IDs" provide are still ok.

[zirhk3355 1]

Sorry to say this, but I have to say yes, you are expecting alittle too much from our neighbourhood IDs.

People who are professional enough to qualify as a true-blue 'interior designer' (notwithstanding paper qualifications) would not charge the same way like your neighbourhood IDs. There would be a set of fees for the designs/drawings itself, which usually comes up to few tens of thousands. This is even before anything is done to your house yet!

As such, most people would not pay for such price-tags, simply because the cost does not add-value/justify for our pigeon holes (and equally small pte homes); eg would you pay $120K to renovate your $300K+ HDB flat? Would you pay $400K to renovate your $1mil apt? Yes that is the kind of cost for such professional IDs.

Furthermore, as the market could not accept such price-tags, the professional IDs had developed to such an extend that they might not want to spend the kind of energy on small projects anymore, not that they had became 'atas', but simply because its no longer cost-effective.

The amount of work done for designing one small home is equivalent to a templated layout, but no prize for guessing which one can they charge more. Furthermore, they can charge for retro-fitting the template to each unit of a condo block, but for one small home, they can only charge once.

Put yourself in the shoes of these professional IDs; would you want to spend time/manpower on one small home and charge a one-time $120K, or would you want to spend time to for a tender project of a big developer, charge $300K for the template, $50K for each retro-fitting to every unit in the project, and the potential of becoming famous with design awards, etc?

Back to home renovation; that the project is after all our own home, thus it is inevitable for us to be a major input when comes to designing it. Trust me, you can have the most famous ID to do up your home, but there are definitely some things you do not like about it. Try going to showflats and showhouses during the weekends and you will know what I meant. So why spend that kind of money, when a simple contractor (okok, neighbourhood ID) would do the job?

In brief: You do not have to lower your expectations of your dream home, esp when you have the budget for the quality materials and furnishings, but you should lower your expectations of the professionalism of the IDs.

Edited December 26, 2007 by zirhk3355

[Red_Devils 0]

personally, i believe that an Interior Designer should be someone who designs the unit into something that suits the occupiers

that's the reason why i decided to go for a contractor afterall

if i'm going to pay 10% of my renovation cost so that I tell THEM what to do, i might as well save the money and use it to buy other things

agree with the saving of 10%..

my point of view is similar to u. Think its not very right to get an ID firm to design and build your new house at the price of a contractor. its only fair that if you wanna engage a designer then be prepared to pay more, but of cos it shouldnt be too much.

Cheers and wish everyone A HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR

[Cantona7 0]

I wish to say there are still some good IDs in our neighbourhood.

They do provide good space planning, design and lobang to us. (Don think contractor will advise accordingly)

Let put it this way, if u are tight on budget, have ur own ideas on wat to display and have plenty of patience and reno kowledge then get a contractor.

If u have a bit of budget, need some practical advise or design (Diff from others), don wan to deal with all the contractors (Eg.Air-con, Plumber & Electrician) then get an ID, he will co-ordinate and supervise the time schedule and u ONLY deal with one person save alot of hassel.

Good Luck to you and Happy New Year!

[kajua 1]

been going through quotes recently

ID and Contractor prices are fairly close these days.....so actually not much difference whether you hire contractor or ID ...IMHO

Edited December 26, 2007 by kajua

[h4happy 1]

Remember, look for hidden cost and view their units, not one unit but a few.

Also, remember what materials they use.

been going through quotes recently

ID and Contractor prices are fairly close these days.....so actually not much difference whether you hire contractor or ID ...IMHO

[applefreak 1]

getting a main contractor and an ID is almost the same

except the main contractor does the renovation work without design

however, most contractors will advice according to their experience

e.g. my contractor who gave me loads of practical advices

he helped me change all my switches to legrand big rocker ones at $150

even my air-con, he told me to get it myself coz he don't have lobang and the price i've gotten is better than his

check out chunky_monkey's t-blog, she's using a contractor instead of an ID

really good 8|

[Yang Guo 7]

been going through quotes recently

ID and Contractor prices are fairly close these days.....so actually not much difference whether you hire contractor or ID ...IMHO

agree with u..

3years ago,my mum engaged a contractor to do her hse. After her hse is done, my mum decided to add a few feature walls on the hse. Mum asked the contractor to do but the contractor was unable to do due to limited resource. He say he will source out the work to other pple, but in the end the contractor didnt get back to my mum.

dont ask me why the contractor cant do the feature wall..i also want to know the answer also

the feature wall my mum requested is normal type, not difficult design. my mum is giving the contractor extra business to do but he didnt get back to her eventually

my conclusion is that, "some" contractor only provide basic reno. they cant do much for u if u want them to do more carpentry. so.. ID = more carpentry. contractor=basic reno. IMHO

nowadays ID and contractor's price is quite competitive..

[applefreak 1]

or it could be the same case as my contractor - simply too much business

he had to turn down customers, be it full renovation or just add-on items

nowadays more people are going for contractors as they realise that most IDs are not 'true' IDs