Our 2nd Home In Bishan

[adrian_john 1]

Hi Everyone,

Been surfing this forum for a couple of weeks now and it's certainly been a great help in providing useful information and advice on renovations for the home.

I've just recently purchased a 5-room unit in Bishan (actually its the 3rd unit I'll be moving to in Bishan - Been living in the same area for almost 21 years now) and am really looking forward to getting the upcoming renovation sorted out.

Hope for it to be a cosy home for me, wifey, 2 little boys and my parents. Unit's on a high-floor with a pretty nice view, very windy and bright. Current condition is OK/normal, but we'll most likely be looking at doing a 100% overhaul. My wife and I have been searching around for IDs/Contractors as well as recce-ing and shortlisting the essential household items (air-con, hob, hood, off-the-shelf furniture, toilet accessories etc.). The many recommendations by you forummers have been very helpful indeed.

Most importantly, we're now in the midst of marketing and selling off our present unit, a 4-room unit also in Bishan (Will prob post an ad out once my valuation is out anytime this week). Once this is done, we can more realistically plan the full extent of the renovation. I guess we'll update the progress slowly as we go along.

Here's the floor plan of our new home:

As I mentioned, we're gonna do a full overhaul of the whole place, major works will include:

- Retiling of whole house.

- New Layout Kitchen and Storeroom (Present owner tore it down) - Maybe Open and Glass Concept.

- Shoe Cabinets and Sitting Area at Foyer.

- TV feature Wall **** Area.

- New concept for Balcony: Probably raised platform with glass parapet and casement windows.

- Re-do MBR Toilet with a Vanity Top, Mirror Cabinet and Storage.

- Re-layout MBR with Sliding Wardrobe, Mini Dresser and TV.

- Sliding Wardrobe for Parents' room (Bedroom 2)

- Off-the-shelf configuration for Kids' room and Study (Bedrooms 1 & 3)

Hope everything works out well first with the sale of the current unit, and then appointing the best ID/Contractor for the job. In the meantime, am enjoying and appreciate all the good advice from this forum. Also, a big thanks to all who have kindly shared and recommended the contacts of your ID. Its a great help!

BTW, any other fellow-Bishanites here?

[Angel81 1]

Congrates on ur new home! Wah, that seems to be a major reno, since u'll be retiling the whole place. How's ur search for ur ID/contractor?

[pinkpetter 0]

Wow I love your layout. having all the rooms at one side away from the living area is good!!

Congratulations!

[zonkkie 0]

Congrats! Seems like a lot of Bishaners lately. Big household you got there too, 6 people. What is the floor space? Seems pretty big with 4 bedrooms.

[adrian_john 1]

Hi All,

Thanks for the nice wishes. Looking forward to your advice and hope to share with you what me and my wife hope will be a pleasant renovation without much hiccups.

@Angel81

- The search for the ID/Contractor is ongoing. To date, we've seen 8 and will be meeting up with another 2 more IDs to round up the search.

As for contractors, I've contacted 2 but will need my wife's help with the language. (I quite banana la, can't speak mandarin and hokkien very well).

So far, out of the 8 we've seen, 2 have come up with quite good initial ideas and impressed with their dedication, passion for the job and seemingly personalised service. We're waiting to meet 2 out of the 8 for the 2nd meeting and quote.

@Pet

- Yes, the layout was one of the reasons we decided to get the place. Of course, the other factors was the view and high-floor. The layout to us, was more cosy with every room tucked. From what I hear, this is actually the first DBSS at Bishan and the 'newest' HDB there at 10 years old (Until Natura Loft comes up in 2010) and thus it was built with a more 'condo-style' layout in mind. Wanted to thank you also for your advice and recommendation of Ah Soon.

@Zonkkie

- Glad to know they're Bishaners around. Wonder if there's any from my cluster or anyone who's recently done reno on a similar unit to mine. The floor space for my unit is about 123 sqm. I wouldn't say its very big in size, but in my opinion think the layout helps alot in maximising the space and making the unit look bigger and more spacious. Another unit I considered was a 136 sqm 5A in Bishan, but somehow I didn't seem to feel as big and had odd angled walls (at 80 degrees) for 2 bedrooms.

[pinkpetter 0]

Hi Adrian!! haha I got a shock when I saw your comment to me. I went to check my list and INDEED! I did email you through SGbrides I believe. Have you managed to talk to him? Do rem to give him a call an hour before appt. *wonder if he's one of the two* mm

Now that you mention, I realise that what you say is right! This is a condo layout with a smaller hallway leading to the bedrooms. fantastic.

[guy77 0]

congrats on the new home and welcome to the forum by setting up your reno t-blog chat!

[rierie 0]

heyhey!! woah! i like the layout of your house!

[adrian_john 1]

@ Guy77 & Rierie

- Thanks for the warm welcome! Wifey and I really love the layout too. Look forward to learning and getting good advice from all the forummers.

@Pet

- We haven't spoken to Ah Soon yet. Like I said, I'll need my wife to do the translating and talking on my behalf while I chip in with some broken mandarin.

Right now, me and wifey are rather kan-chiong waiting for the valuation for our current place to be out. We hope that despite the recent announcement of the slight drop in HDB prices, we can still get a good price for our flat. *Fingers crossed*. My current flat is actually very well-renovated and the key selling point is the location as Bishan central (Including Junction 8, Interchange, MRT, Circle Line and all amenities) is just across the road. Just hope can find a buyer soon.

Anyways, for easier visualising, just to share, I've come up with a rough sketch for the living/dining and abit of the kitchen and storeroom area.

Don't mind the disproportion and rough-ness of it all. Not finalised yet, but still open to more ideas as we keep researching from home mags etc.

[adrian_john 1]

Another sketch I drew to visualise the proposed MBR bathroom.

My initial thought was to do it up like what I've seen in some boutique hotels I've stayed in where the bathroom is a full-glass and see through.

I thought it'd be a nice touch to hack down the walls and do a full height glass with a door, especially more so if I cordon that part of my bedroom and integrate it with a WIW so its more private.

But then again, practicality-wise I'm a little afraid of the impact of moisture etc. Wifey also abit conservative so perhaps we may just live with a frosted glass door and walls on the side. Oh well, we'll see ...

[pinkpetter 0]

Wow I love your sketches!! Nice. I'm sure you can go with contractors then. Since you have your own ideas.

MmM As for the toilet idea... well if you have kids then maybe not? hehe

**keeping fingers crossed for your valuation**

[ivy 0]

wow u can do really nice sketches!

[adrian_john 1]

@Pet & Ivy

Thanks for the nice compliments. I'm just trying to do what I can to help myself and wifey visualise, and if I do get a contractor, to show him and help him visualise as well.

Update for Today, I'm abit flu-ey but managed to draw a rough sketch of another idea for the Living Area without using the rotatable TV console wall as per the earlier Dining/Living/Kitchen sketch. This time, tried making use a portion of the reconstructed storeroom wall to be a neatly flushed TV console and at the same time, can have the wires hidden behind at the storeroom extension. To have a more clear view across Living and Dining area, perhaps another alternative is the low height cabinet for storage and acting as a 'divider' of sorts between Living and Dining area.

Also, although I wish I could just have a slightly above waist height full glass parapet wall on its own for the Balcony, but guess for the kids' safety, I'll have to place casment windows.

Feedback and comments welcome. Thanks.

[poseidon_gal 0]

wah.. *envy* you really can draw..... i got an F for my art and craft in sec sch...

[adrian_john 1]

Its been a rather hectic long weekend this week.

With the valuation of my current unit out, my wife and I can somewhat breathe easy a little as it wasn't some scarily low figure we envisioned.

We had a number of couples and families view the unit. Next step is to hope we can secure a buyer and acceptable price.

I'm still rather unwell, after reconvering from flu, suddenly today I started getting some annoying stomach problem (No, I didn't eat Geylang Indian Rojak), so I haven't really been inspired to draw any sketches.

Managed to meet up 1 ID and I took some time to pop by Seng Kwong yesterday as wifey was very interested in finding out more about Kitchen Cabinets, Systems and Wardrobe Systems and of course she had a great time. I get worried when her eyes light up at those systems ... Hahahah, it means more $$$$$. Managed to contact Ah Soon, and in my very limited broken Mandarin and Hokkien managed to secure an appointment for tommorow. Looking forward to that!

Also, tomorrow I'll be popping by the new place to collect the valuation report for my new place. Will take the opportunity to take some pictures and use them to help me in my sketches.

Edited April 13, 2009 by adrian_john