Love Nest In Bedok

[wingster 0]

I've been an avid reader of this forum since my house-hunt started early this year, hence it's no surprise that I'm sharing my experience now.

It has been a long and tormenting ordeal deciding on the ideal home. However it all paid off when my lovely wife and I finally saw eye to eye with each other on our home-to-be in Long Vale!

We've planned to find a unit in Bedok (for convenience and of coz, the grant )since my in-laws stay in the area. To my dismay, it is a matured estate and flats are as old as, or older than me! (I'm 28, btw) Hence, we narrowed down our search to Long Vale as the area is significantly newer (ard 7 years).

It was not all smooth-sailing even after we shortlisted Long Vale. The flats there are under DBSS and most of the MBRs have irregular shapes (as shown in the floor plan below) that make space planning hard. The layouts of those with regular shapes are not to my wife's liking. To our delight, we finally found one unit that solves our design dilemma!

The ex-owner converted the MBR into a walk-in wardrobe and BR2 became the MBR instead. And since we do not need all the 3 bedrooms, we were ready to "sacrifice" one of them. The negotiation for the price was pretty tough though as they were unwilling to compromise and we almost missed the deal. Luckily we finally got our much-desired house!!~!

I couldn't hold my excitement during the wait for the handover. Thus with the help of an online design tool, I created a 2D layout for my new house!

Interested parties can come HERE. It requires registration, but it's absolutely free.

We collected our keys on 3rd Dec and renovation will only be carried out next lunar year. Our design concept is "zen", but the concept is at conflict with our "feng shui" in several aspects. Now we'll have to depend on our ID to offer some professional advices.

These are the "raw" footages of my to-be-renovated house before it undergoes a major overhaul.

View from above.

Living room view from main door.

Living room view from balcony.

The kitchen really requires a facelift.

Walk-in corridor to bedrooms.

Main toilet.

Bedroom 3. Couldn't quite get a good angle for the shot. The ex-owner left us a wardrobe which looks totally new. We're comtemplating whether to discard.

The converted MBR (where BR2 used to be). According to the ex-owner, we could get an unobstructed view of the starry, starry sky when we look out of the window from our bed at night. Quite romantic.

The converted walk-in wardrobe (where MBR used to be). It covers up the irregular edge of the room and you can't tell that there's any irregularities unless you refer to the floor plan.

MBR toilet. They left us a bathtub with jacuzzi jets at our disposal. Most probably we will keep it unless we have other plans for the shower area.

Can hardly wait for completion.

Edited December 10, 2008 by wingster

[tower 0]

congrats. looks nice wih minimum reno to be done.

[Angel81 1]

Spam chop and congrates on ur new place! The reno looks simple but well kept.

[pinkpetter 0]

Yes it does look well kept le! the floor looks good also! Can save some on reno!!

Welcome!!

[Qoo4life 0]

Congrats! The place is well kept by the previous owner and the unblocked view.

[applefreak 1]

spam chop

envy leh, can look out the window while washing dishes

i can only stare on the wall

[KPE 0]

House well kept by previous owner, can save on reno. The view outside is nice.

[Starscream 0]

Hey that's a great view there, we are able to see some "mountain" and "sea"

[skywolf 0]

Nice area + existing amenities. Somemore got new PIE exit there.

On wardrobes, perhaps can re-skin them to look new if the condition is ok? Read somewhere in this forum tt it can be done.

If you guys are not hacking the MBR floor tiles, then can consider to keep the tub. If not, may have waterproofing issues?

[morning dew 0]

spam chop.

House condition looks ok but no window grill.

[wingster 0]

Thanks skywolf for ur suggestions! We would most probably heed ur advice in reskining the wardrobes instead of changing them completely. We have intention to have a major overhaul to the house including the toilets and kitchens, hence most likely we will change the floor tiles too.

Contray to what you all see from the picture, our house is blocked by neighbouring flats. We too have to face our neighbour when we do our dishes.

Fortunately, it's on a high floor and ventilation is pretty good! In fact, it can get quite windy even in daytime. Don't think we'll add the window grills as we find that it won't look as nice. Moreover, only both of us will be living in, therefore safety is of little concern unless we have our own child or friends pop by with their kids.

In the meantime before renovation takes off, we've shortlisted some appliances among other purchases that we will make.

We've shortlisted the 40" Samsung 6 series because it is among the cheapest full HD tv. It comes free with a home threatre system too! Moreover, its comparable 5 series does not cost significantly cheaper. Thus, the choice.

I read from reviews that this works great for movies but the same could not be said for music playbacks. But since it's free, we can't afford to be choosy.

I love the sleek design! Not sure of its functionality though, but it scores 3 ticks for energy consumption. Good enuff to save the world.

Likewise, I find it hard not to judge a book by its cover. The design totally appeals to me!

Other than those shortlisted, we've a 26" Samsung LCD tv free by signing up Starhub Max Online during Comex in mid-year.

This will be the main source of entertainment before we tuck in at night.

That's all for the time being!

I would appreciate any feedbacks for the above-mentioned.

Edited December 11, 2008 by wingster

[CareBear 0]

Wa, Your house not bad condition liao... Maybe just a little touch up! Congrats on finding the place of your dreams.

[Qoo4life 0]

Hi wingster, you can ask the contractor to do re-lamination and change new doors with new hinges for the wardrobe. It looks as good as new. I am doing it too..

[wingster 0]

It's been a looooong time since my last post. Our renovation was put off due to some unforeseen circumstances but we're going to start work next Monday!

After multiple times of drafting, we finally agreed on the 3D drawings proposed. Instead of 2 bedrooms as designed by the ex-owners, we intend to return the house to its original 3 bedrooms status. Hence, the design will differ largely from what was originally drafted.

From a zen concept, we decided to haf a resort feel instead. So everyday at home feels like a vacation! We had some hard time agreeing with the design of the TV console and its feature wall, and we're certainly pleased with the final design.

The bomb shelter will be hidden by the feature wall and wall will be placed beside the dinning table to amplify the area. And from point of view of feng shui, the reflection will multiply the food (wealth)!

Initially, we've wanted juz the bottom shelves. However, upon careful consideration of future practicality, we decided to add in the top shelves as well. One negative thing about our kitchen is tt, it is not big enuff to accommodate every likely kitchen ware.

ID suggested mirror on the back of the wardrobe to make the place look bigger, but we feel that we may be intimidated by our own reflections every time we walk into our room. Thus, he created a glossy surface instead.

The bedroom is realli simple and no frills. We dun intend to put any form of electronic entertainment in the bedroom coz according to my friends, it may create "negative ions" (or watever) in the room and it will not be very healthy. I do not exactly concur to their belief, but hafing objects such as tv in the room would potentially cause late nites. And thus our health would adversely be affected due to lack of sleep.

Edited December 7, 2009 by wingster

[wingster 0]

I personally like the toilet. It looks so sleek and clean!

ID told us tt the house will be completed by early Feb. Let's hope tt everything will turn out fine! In the meantime, I'll be updating the progress!