LittleDevil 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 Decided to start a T-blog to record our experience in renovating our own home... To being with, some photos to show the existing condition of the resale flat... Bomb Sheltor Living/Dining Area Walkway Kitchen - Dark with small entrance Some more photos... Master Bedroom Master Toilet Our place is a 5-room resale flat in AMK with a floor area of 110 sqm. here is the floor plan... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantona7 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 First to Spam!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Starscream 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 The existing condition looks good to move-in already. Planning to do major overhaul or keep to a low budget? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
applefreak 1 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 spam chop :dancingqueen: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleDevil 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 The existing condition looks good to move-in already. Planning to do major overhaul or keep to a low budget? Yup, pretty move-in condition. Initially decided to keep the living/dining flooring but hacking off the kitchen and toilets. End up decided to do a major overhaul. Looking forward to live in a whole new place! Budgeted about $45k for renovation. So far,managed to keep within budget still.. =) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantona7 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 Hope to see ur 3D drawing soon. Another Transformer again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleDevil 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 Sharing my experience in sourcing ID firms - extracted from one of my previous entries. - A-Win Basically is a contractor company with not much design input. Quotation very brief and on the high side. - U-Home Recommended by friend. One of our 3 short-listed companies. A friendly and sincere guy with practical experience. Able to point out problems which our design might face in view of the layout. Reasonable quotation. - Fuse Concept Decline our request to meetup to discuss our needs. Send my floorplan and items we intended to do to him via email instead. Get back to us only after 1 month. Requested him to send the quotation to us first via email but to-date still have not received. - IntraDesign One of our 3 short-listed companies. Wow-ed by the design drawings which they showed us on our 2nd visit. No breakdown for quotation but all items are listed in details and overall price is reasonable (esp impressed by the quality of finishes they provide). - Ideal House Approached with high expectation due to positive feedback from forum. Disappointed at the ID assigned to us who is extremely young and inexperience. During our discussion, the ID did not take note of the specific things we want. The result - the quotation is a mess, grossly over-budget with things we did not ask for. - *** First impression quite good. However, ID went overseas during our 2nd appointment without informing us. Can't get through him on his phone the night before the appointment. Terribly late when we did meet up at our new flat to discuss on a rescheduled date. Mentioned going to the wrong address etc. Quotation on the high side. But ID told me can offer better price under another company! Very shady character... - Unimax ID appears very arrogant. Inflexible in adapting the design to our practical need. To date, we have not received their quotation. Guess they can't be bother about small fishes like us... - Plush Living So far our experience with them is good. Lots of sharing of designs and ideas during 1st and 2nd meetings. Reasonable quotation. Chosen as our ID. Seems to have a good balance between design input and practical experience. - Earnest Patient and friendly sales. Not pushy. Less design input. Quotation not cheap. - . Sincere and efficient iD. Appear a bit pushy. Quotation does not include price of tiles. Difficult to do comparison with other iD firms. - Inner View After 1st meeting, to-date we have not received the quotation. Staffs appear to be quite slack in the office. - ***** During the meeting, ID has mentioned their prices will be on the high side. To date, we have not received their quotation so I guess they are not interested. Hope to see ur 3D drawing soon. Another Transformer again. Dun think there will be those pretty 3D perspective drawings... But there will be 3D carpentry drawings. Will post them soon once I finalised the colour of the laminates. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantona7 0 Report post Posted June 24, 2008 Wow Little Devil u went to 12 ID must really Must be veri tired after seeing so many IDs, for me I went to 6 the most cos I hate to repeat what I have to say. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleDevil 0 Report post Posted June 25, 2008 Wow Little Devil u went to 12 ID must really Must be veri tired after seeing so many IDs, for me I went to 6 the most cos I hate to repeat what I have to say. No choice lar. Know nuts about renovation. Need to source around for more quotation to get a sense of fair pricing. also trying to pin down on our space planning and design... speaking to the designers do help a lot! We used two months to source for the right ID firm cause we believe that a good ID will make a great difference to our reno experience! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
babytan 0 Report post Posted June 25, 2008 chop chop can see that your resale flat still in good condition.. me went to about 6-8 IDs and surrender..hahaha too many also very confusing..but i am glad that i made the right choice getting my current ID.. more pictures to drool over Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleDevil 0 Report post Posted June 25, 2008 Actually i quite enjoy talking to the designers... can learn a lot from them. Anyway, attached some photos on the work in progress (taken about 2 weeks ago)... The homo tiles are done but not the skirting... Still waiting for my pebblewash... wonder how it will turn out? The living hall looks so much better just by removing the window grille... Hacked off the kitchen entrance wall to bring in more lights to the otherwise gloomly-looking space. Will be installing a fixed glass panel with glass swing door. Guess there will be alot of wiping to do in future.. Common toilet half done... wondering anyway to make the unsightly piping less obvious? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jessie 0 Report post Posted June 25, 2008 hi littledevil, wow!!!! i like your hse's layout leh.....very nice! seem like the previous keep the hse clean and neat.,.....cos the conditions looks good leh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Starscream 0 Report post Posted June 25, 2008 Either you box-up or paint a really close colour to the tiles behind it. For box-up it is only advisable if you have both wet and dry separation in your bathroom Common toilet half done... wondering anyway to make the unsightly piping less obvious? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleDevil 0 Report post Posted June 25, 2008 hi littledevil, wow!!!! i like your hse's layout leh.....very nice! seem like the previous keep the hse clean and neat.,.....cos the conditions looks good leh. Yup, the reason why we bought the place is because of its square square layout. The condition looks good because it is a 7 year old flat. The previous owner probably stay there about 5 years plus. From far it looks quite clean but actually it is quite dirty with stains on the kitchen countertop and some dirt marks on the floor tiles. But since we wanted a fresh look for the place, we made the decision to do a major overhaul. Either you box-up or paint a really close colour to the tiles behind it. For box-up it is only advisable if you have both wet and dry separation in your bathroom Unlikely to do box-up... will take up too much space. Plus the position of piping in master toilet is worst... it's like everywhere! Most likely will ask ID to paint with similar colour as the tiles. Hope they can blend into the surrounding. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleDevil 0 Report post Posted June 25, 2008 Here is the final space planning for our new home... For Foyer - Pebble wash with slate tiles - 5 ft Full height shoe cabinet - Seatee with drawers (for the socks) - Still looking for a nice foyer light... For Living - Retaining previous owner's bomb shelter feature wall - Raised platform near the window - with laminate finishes - 6ft feature wall with TV console - Aiming at a leather L-shape sofa from Mondi - Still looking for a nice coffee table For Dining - Half height black tinted mirror at the side wall - Aiming at a black tempered glass dining table from Mondi - Bought a set of 3 white acrylic hanging lights.. not sure if the white can match the black? For Kitchen - Fixed glass panel and glass swing door for kitchen entrance - Insist on having two rows of top & bottom cabinet to provide ample storage space but leaving only slighly more than 1m of walking space in between... - Frosted glass backsplash for easy maintenance - Still struggling with choosing the laminates for kitchen cabinet... need to match with my black galaxy granite top and has to be easy maintenance (white). - Ordered small sized kitchen sink (L810mm) and hob (L700mm) to allow larger working space - A tall unit for built-in ovens - Ordered a side-by-side samsung fridge - like its modern look For Common Toilet - Shower kerb with shower curtain (can hide all the unsightly pail behind the curtain.. hehe) - Salad bowl washing basin - Still looking for a mirror vanity box - Door to change to blesglass laminated glass bi-fold door For MBR - 2 x 4.5ft WIW with curtain entrance - A triangular seatee near window (with storage cabinet) - Can only squeeze in a queen size bed - A bedside table for misc items - 7ft TV feature wall with tic tac door to conceal air-con ledge (wallpaper finish... choosing the design this Sat!) - Two-tier laminated ledge for DVD (need to get one wtih compact design) & SCV For Master Toilet - Wall to wall vanity top with suspended cabinet - Shower kerb with shower glass door - Toilet door changed to frosted glass swing door For Study - 7ft built in wardrobe for storage - Ready made furnitures to ensure flexibility of room conversion in future. Plan to have a study table, a display cabinet (for my kitty collection), a two-seater sofa/lounge seat/relax chair For Guest Room - Nothing is planned except the basic (lighting, flooring, electrical, painting) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
