Our Cosy Country Home

[countrylover 0]

Hi CountryLover,

I love the cabinets you had made by Forestwood for your study and dining room. So much so that I went down today to get a quotation from them. I'm looking to re-do my current MBR wardrobe, plus another 2 wardrobes for my 2 gals' bedrooms. Should also be adding in the study units for their bedrooms. So far the quote seems kinda ex.

P/s: when I went to their showroom, BOOM! I fell in love with their blue and white kitchen set. So nice! Now dunno whether wanna redo my kitchen cabinets as well.

Hi KittyJems

Thanks, I'm very pleased with their service and workmanship....glad that you are considering them as your ID too!

Yeah, though I admit their quote is more ex than other IDs, it's really worth every cent I spent, cos quality is excellent, unlike other carpenters who use normal plywood.

I love their French blue kitchen cabinets too! If I remember correctly, that set is on promotion, so you may want to ask them to quote you too. Frankly, if you are already doing reno for your MBR and girls' rooms, then might as well consider doing the kitchen too at one go...to save you the trouble of having to do reno again at a later date. Too bad my kitchen cabinets are still very new (I first reno 3 yrs ago), so no excuse to have a new kitchen cabinet.

Btw, whom are you liaising with from Forest? I liaised with Helen, who's the Manager. She's very nice and easy going and gave me quite a lot of discounts. Tell her you are my friend (my name's Vivien)...see if she can give u further discounts.

All the best to your reno....pls share photos when it's done!

[bigbag 1]

Hi countrylover,

Ur sage green & vintage white cabinetry looks really unique! What kind of wood is that? how much did it cost (by psf?)

Where's ur girls' bunker beds fr too?

I missed the feature write-up of your place in ST, any1 has a soft copy??

[bigbag 1]

I think I've gotten the ans on the bunker beds,I've seen them at Littlewode.com...very reasonable prices! Yet to visit the showroom though.

Could someone pls recommend a good carpenter pls? Good workmanship and good prices. How do they charge usually?

Thanks again!

[countrylover 0]

Hi countrylover,

Ur sage green & vintage white cabinetry looks really unique! What kind of wood is that? how much did it cost (by psf?)

Where's ur girls' bunker beds fr too?

I missed the feature write-up of your place in ST, any1 has a soft copy??

Hi bigbag

Thanks for your compliments. The wood used for my cabinets is raminply in spray painted colour for the door panels and plywood with maple polyester finishing for the internal construction. Can't remember exactly the cost psf but I paid abt $7350 for the study cabinets. Will check and update here a bit later.

Bought my girls' bunker beds from Littlewode Furniture (http://www.littlewode.net/). Their showroom is at 105 Tampines Road #01-01A Wing Tai Building. Very cottage style and affordable.

I've scanned a copy of the Sun Times feature. Think it's quite small though.

[KittyJems 0]

Hi Countrylover,

Thanks for letting me know your name. Will see if I can find Helen there next time. My designer at Forest is Jessica. She remembers you and another lady that did renos with them when I said that I found out about their company from Renotalk. hehehehe... she even has photos of your study on file to show clients.

Btw, Jessica showed me a sample quality of their wooden doors and I must admit that it feels more solid. I'm also very very tempted to re-do my kitchen cos I want the whole country feel, especially the canopy. Unfortunately, got $$$$ constraints. So if I re-do the kitchen, the most is just change the doors (comes with Blum system).

The main reno works will be for my MBR and 2 bedrooms. Cos my place is a resale condo and I'm already living here for 3-yrs. When I first moved in, already got wardrobes and false ceiling. Now, to maximise space, I need to shift the wardrobes to another wall. Which means need to dismantle and remove current wardrobes + false ceiling. Then need to varnish back the parquet, fix another ceiling then get new wardrobes done up. My initial budget of $15K is nearly busted. Haiz. Besides the wardrobes I still wanna do up my 2 gals study table and cupboards, similar to your design. Hope can re-nego with them and my other contractor to see if can pull some costs down. Else, need to give up certain items neh.

Din know such small job reno can also costs so much $$$.

Edited September 7, 2011 by KittyJems

[techaview 0]

Here's the wall hutch in my dining area. This is the new home for my Precious Moments figurines, Lilliput cottages and other vintage collectibles.

Can i know where you got your hanging light from? thanks

[countrylover 0]

Can i know where you got your hanging light from? thanks

Hi techaview

I had the chandelier shipped over from USA.

[countrylover 0]

Hi Countrylover,

Thanks for letting me know your name. Will see if I can find Helen there next time. My designer at Forest is Jessica. She remembers you and another lady that did renos with them when I said that I found out about their company from Renotalk. hehehehe... she even has photos of your study on file to show clients.

Btw, Jessica showed me a sample quality of their wooden doors and I must admit that it feels more solid. I'm also very very tempted to re-do my kitchen cos I want the whole country feel, especially the canopy. Unfortunately, got $$$$ constraints. So if I re-do the kitchen, the most is just change the doors (comes with Blum system).

The main reno works will be for my MBR and 2 bedrooms. Cos my place is a resale condo and I'm already living here for 3-yrs. When I first moved in, already got wardrobes and false ceiling. Now, to maximise space, I need to shift the wardrobes to another wall. Which means need to dismantle and remove current wardrobes + false ceiling. Then need to varnish back the parquet, fix another ceiling then get new wardrobes done up. My initial budget of $15K is nearly busted. Haiz. Besides the wardrobes I still wanna do up my 2 gals study table and cupboards, similar to your design. Hope can re-nego with them and my other contractor to see if can pull some costs down. Else, need to give up certain items neh.

Din know such small job reno can also costs so much $$$.

Hi KittyJems

Yeah it's true that a small reno project can cost a bomb...especially with IDs like Forest! Haha....mine also cost $9k just for the study room and small dining display. Though they are really quite ex, it's really like 一分钱一分货, cos we are paying a premium price for their good workmanship and quality. Does your $15k budget include the kitchen cabinets? Try to negotiate lah, tell them if they give more discounts, you will recommend more people from Renotalk! hehe....

If they can't meet your budget, then u would need to prioritise, see which are the "die die" must reno items. In my case, the initial quote was almost $10k just for the study! Then we cut down on the full height cabinets and only went with the top and bottom cabinets to reduce the cost. Or instead of wooden doors, replace some with open shelves or glass doors....that would cut down the cost too.

[Enviro 0]

Display hutch in dining area

I've started to display my Precious Moments figurines, Lilliput Lane cottages and other collectibles in the cabinet. Will take some photos and post them up here.

hi country lover,

i love your study area. quite costly.

any ideas if forest do simpler cabinets at a lower cost? (no rope design etc..) going to renovate/refurnish my bedroom.. still staying with parents, so budget constraints..

[KittyJems 0]

Hi Countrylover,

Thanks for all your suggestions. Really helpful. Wow! $9k just for the study. But I must say from your pics, the workmanship and design is really nice.

Yah... my initial budget of $15k includes changing the cabinet doors for the kitchen. After going thru the various quotes I got from other ID's besides Forest, I'm trying to see which are the "die-die" must have items. The pricing of the quotes are quite similar. So far, my hub is thinking of renovating the whole kitchen cos he feels waste of $$$ just to change the cabinet doors. But to re-do the whole kitchen is going to set me back by my whole budget of $15k cos the hacking and re-laying of tiles is expensive. Haiz... now really need to think hard on what needs to be done versus what I would like done cos of our tight budget. Am also thinking of upping my budget to $20k. But that is the ultimate max I can spend. But to do all the stuffs I'm looking at, the amount is closer to $30k. faintz. Never know renovation costs sssooo much nowadays. *scary*

Edited September 18, 2011 by KittyJems

[countrylover 0]

hi country lover,

i love your study area. quite costly.

any ideas if forest do simpler cabinets at a lower cost? (no rope design etc..) going to renovate/refurnish my bedroom.. still staying with parents, so budget constraints..

Hi Enviro

I'm not sure if Forest could do simpler cabinets at a lower price. The rope design was part of the package, I didn't request for it. Seems to me like their designs are quite standard, cos I saw the rope design on most of their cabinets. Maybe u could just get a quotation from Forest? Tell them your budget and ask them to work around it. This is what I did too.

[countrylover 0]

Hi Countrylover,

Thanks for all your suggestions. Really helpful. Wow! $9k just for the study. But I must say from your pics, the workmanship and design is really nice.

Yah... my initial budget of $15k includes changing the cabinet doors for the kitchen. After going thru the various quotes I got from other ID's besides Forest, I'm trying to see which are the "die-die" must have items. The pricing of the quotes are quite similar. So far, my hub is thinking of renovating the whole kitchen cos he feels waste of $$$ just to change the cabinet doors. But to re-do the whole kitchen is going to set me back by my whole budget of $15k cos the hacking and re-laying of tiles is expensive. Haiz... now really need to think hard on what needs to be done versus what I would like done cos of our tight budget. Am also thinking of upping my budget to $20k. But that is the ultimate max I can spend. But to do all the stuffs I'm looking at, the amount is closer to $30k. faintz. Never know renovation costs sssooo much nowadays. *scary*

Hi KittyJems

The $9k includes the display hutch in the dining room...study room alone costs $7k+. Initially my budget for study room is only $5k...haha! Had to stretch my budget a little cos hard to work around with the $5k budget.

Lately I discovered that the spray paint in some parts of my study has started to peel off...alamak!!! I don't even remember any hard knocks in those areas leh. Gonna call Helen soon to feedback and see what could be done, cos I remember her telling me the spray paint could last for many good years. Quite upset, cos it has only been four mths since my reno.

[KittyJems 0]

Oic. Then quite worth the $$$ cos includes the display hutch. Currently I'm comparing quotes from Cottage Crafts and Forest. Both ID's responded promptly and the prices quoted are rather competitive. I have been to Forest showroom already. Will meet Cottage Crafts next weekend and from there, I'll decide which ID to use for my house renos.

hahhaha... me too. Initital budget was only about $10, then to $15k. now may decide to stretch further to a max of $18k. *lolz*

With all the quotations in hand, hub and I have finally decided to renovate the whole kitchen plus some other small jobs like changing vanity cabinets in both bathrooms + painting whole house. The wardrobes will be pushed to phase 2.

Oh dear... how come the paint can chip off so fast? I also remember them telling me that their paint job is good and can last. Agree that you should call Forest fast to rectify the problem asap. I would be upset too and also be heartpain cos the reno $$$ is not small amount lor. Good luck!

Edited September 20, 2011 by KittyJems

[flermodders 0]

Hi countrylover,

I think that the raw wood must be dried properly and

treated chemically to prevent any future problems.

Edited September 21, 2011 by flermodders

[claud302 0]

Hi countrylover,

can give me the contact for the indonesia furniture contact? I am interested to custom make my furniture from there. Thanks in advance