Help! Who Should I Engage?

[wwcookie 0]

Hi

My condo will be TOP-ing soon and it being a condo, I really don't need any major reno. Nor do I need any fancy feature walls. However, I want the look of my place to come off co-ordinated. What I need is professional advice on wall colours, furniture selection and lightings (with construction of false ceilings if necessary), and maybe carpentry work on some custom built furniture if can't find suitable ones off the shelf.

Does anyone know where I can get such service? I figured my project is too small for an interior design firm to take on.

[jacq011023 0]

hmmm...u might wanna give my id a call.

email me at jacq011023@yahoo.com.sg

he mainly deal w condo or hdb de.

might b of help to u

[summerholiday 2]

Mmm.. open up the classified ads.. gav those companies a call.. prepare ur floorplan n the items u need to do.. tak a look at those forums topic with advise my quotation.. read how they put it in paper.. copy those items u need.. those guys will ask u to fax ur floorplan n items to do..

as a first timer.. some points u might miss..

1) wat they hidden cost? eg. labour to install/ to provide n install. these are two different items alred.. read thru e line..

2) pp might not reply u asap.. some might..

3) make a trip down to discuss with them.. judge them one whether they can interpret ur ideas.. eg.. modern/classic/zen/ etc..

4) if u can find nearby ur place, easy for u to look for them, some of them always nt at desk.. easy for u to go down n mak noise.. easy for u to check wat went wrong.. u definately nt going all e way to get 1 popular id in the west when u stay in the other end of east.. transport n time wasted.. ur id also need to travel.. oil is v exp these days..

5) no one is perfect.. so long as the company has strong base.. the id work long.. u don wan to has issue lik company gone/ id run..

6) try to enforce every item promised to do or free in black n white..

7) others unhappy might not be urs unhappy.. likewise other pp happy might not be ur happy.. when u decide, mak sure u are fully confidence tat u will not regret or blame others.. reason:- its not little money that u spend, it's def not $100/ $1000.. its more than $5000 for sure..

its nt easy money.. no one can put a guarentee for ur $5k wisely spend.

personally i believed tat all those companies that survive unitl now sure has their good point to maintain if they had a good enuf profit to survive from the rise in enconomy..

hope u had a gd start.. jus everything has a start don rush to decide.. never sign the moment u get a quotation.. no need to worry about " the price will go out next month"..this sentence don work.. cos they sure calculate their margin alred.. tell them u need o discuss with ur father mother uncle auntie etc.. n go home to hav a goof thinking..

it's ok to get them to change n change n change their quote till u are happy... this can take 1 to 2 months..

[jacq011023 0]

yup, i agree.

i confirm w my id only after meeting him a few times.

dun believe in all those promo tat saids will end by when lah. dun confirm today then no discount or free items lah, bull**** de. esp those expo de.

say offer for this week ba le then end up next fair u see them promo same thing again.

usually i think we'll meet them 1st time to go thru floor plan n items to reno.

2nd time to go thru e quote n initial design.

3rd time to view hse to iron hidden costs.

4th time to view final quote n finalise ba.

[BoonPin85 1]

u can look for this person...Andrew from DG Group, his contact number is 97493006 and pm him for further info and i truly believe that it's worth to give it a try....Good Luck

[Sashay 0]

Totally agree with summerholiday. In the end, just last week, I selected my ID who's just 5mins walking distance from my place. Of course, this is not the only factor for my decision. Will have to cross my fingers and hope my decision is right.

What I find it difficult after deciding on the ID, is how to tell the others they were not selected. In terms of pricing, I could have gone for a cheaper package but couldn't find any info on that firm in this forum. It could be a case pf no news is good news but sometimes you have to based on gut feel and also the situation. In my case, I had to rush my renovation within 4-5 weeks, redoing almost everything to plastering, re-wiring, redoing kitchen and bathrooms, and flooring as well for the rest of the house. So, I wanted a firm who could "promise" to deliver .

Another firm I was in 2 minds about was used by a friend. The boss is a very nice honest man and his pricing is reasonable cos I think he's more contractor than ID. It was a very hard decision not to select him.

[summerholiday 2]

one good thing abt having ur contractor near u.. u had been staying there, u know that company open long or not.. how long had they been there.. no one can keep a company opening for yrs without profit.. u get to know from nearby anyone using them.. esp if its the first time renovating ur house.. we had no experience at all..

little hiccups might occur.. if u had to travel all way to find ur id it's a waste of time.. and it drains our energy too..

when time is an issue.. its never easy..

sashay, congrats on ur new home.. and wish u had a reno free from problems..

[Sashay 0]

Thanks summerholiday, my fingers are still crossed

[BoonPin85 1]

did you try your luck at IMM there ??? or need my recommendations

[wwcookie 0]

Thank you all for your advices and references. You've all been very helpful

[liana 0]

Hi, if your are still interested in engaging the services of an ID then you might want to give my designer a call. Its probably best to use a firm that has an extensive portfolio of clients. I really liked the work I saw on the other residential projects and they had many commercial clients like Parkway Health and The Concourse. You can email Anna at deluxebydesign@hotmail.com for more info on quotes, killiney rd showroom and portfolio. Hope this helps!