macbart 0 Report post Posted November 28, 2009 Congrates on getting ur lovely new home! Henderson is a good place woh. The tiling looks great. Thanx, yes, we like the place and are starting to discover that we have quite a few friendly neighbours. It seems to be a place where people know each other and talk to each other. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ve_ve 0 Report post Posted November 30, 2009 Thanx, yes, we like the place and are starting to discover that we have quite a few friendly neighbours. It seems to be a place where people know each other and talk to each other. It's really good to have friendly neighbours. good location good neighbours. :yamseng: :yamseng: My block only has 3 families in one floor. yet to meet any. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ossify 1 Report post Posted November 30, 2009 Thank God for provision of your new home Welcome to RT! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macbart 0 Report post Posted December 1, 2009 It's really good to have friendly neighbours. good location good neighbours. :yamseng: :yamseng: My block only has 3 families in one floor. yet to meet any. I suppose you will eventually? And yes, I think it's nice having friendly neighbours. So I hope yours turn out to be friendly too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macbart 0 Report post Posted December 1, 2009 Thank God for provision of your new home Welcome to RT! Hi ossify, thanx for the welcome. Absolutely! We're thanking Him through the whole process of getting it and setting it up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yuene 0 Report post Posted December 2, 2009 Congrats on getting such an ideal home! It's really God's blessing! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macbart 0 Report post Posted December 2, 2009 Congrats on getting such an ideal home! It's really God's blessing! Hi Yuene, thanx. I believe that too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macbart 0 Report post Posted December 3, 2009 In the Beginning… When we signed the option to purchase and exercised the option back in May, we were hoping that we’d have the keys by the end of July and begin and complete renovations in August (or by mid-September) and move in by the end of September. That plan, as you probably know if you’ve read some of my earlier posts, did not work out. On the day of the first appointment with HDB, the sellers asked for a two-month extension. Instead of their initially-stated plan of moving into a relative’s home, they had decided to purchase another flat. And they would need to receive the keys to that place and have it renovated, ready for them to move in. While we had set our hearts on getting our new place and moving in as soon as feasible, we agreed to the extension cos we wanted to make sure there was nothing that would delay (or worse, derail) the completion of the transaction. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macbart 0 Report post Posted December 3, 2009 First Major Purchases My wife and I cheered ourselves up from the disappointment on the day of the first appointment with HDB by making the first major purchase for our new home (we actually bought the first few items for the new place a week earlier, while on our honeymoon in Bali) - a Tempur mattress and bed, which came with two free pillows, a free accessory (my wife chose the lumbar support) and a free mat. Our next major purchase came during Ikea’s sale in July. We decided we should check out the stores to see if there were any furniture bargains (TV console, table, chairs, Billy book cases etc) that we should pick up for our new flat, but ended up buying something we hadn’t even thought of - flooring! Ikea had slashed the price of its Kvist veneered bamboo flooring from $99 to $29 per box (1.39sqm) and the accompanying skirting from $29 to $9 per piece (2m). We did the math before deciding to commit to the purchase. Including the cost of installation by Ikea’s recommended installer (@ $13 per sqm), and adding the required Niva underlay, the total per square-foot price came to about $4. Unlike Tempur, Ikea couldn’t hold on to our purchase till we need it delivered to the new place, so we had little choice but to have it delivered to our present home (where it’s under the bed). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reiki 0 Report post Posted December 3, 2009 .. so we had little choice but to have it delivered to our present home (where it’s under the bed). Congrats on the purchase and happy reno, Macbart. It is always the case - with a new house, our old dwelling will slowly become kinda messy and a storage space for new purchases. It does add to our anxiety but in a good way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macbart 0 Report post Posted December 3, 2009 The Kitchen Right from the beginning (and probably even before that), my wife has wanted an island. I like the idea of having an island too (provided there’s enough space and it’s feasible). We also decided early on that we did not want any wall cabinets and that we wanted to use an induction hob (more about this later). The key obstacle to overcome in planning the layout of our kitchen was to figure out how we could configure it so that it would provide a reasonable stretch of countertop workspace as well as a refrigerator, a tall larder unit and a taller unit to house an oven at “eye-level” (and not under the counter). And there should be space for the washing machine. Our initial plan was to have the larder unit, oven unit, refrigerator and sink in the space against the wall, with the an island parallel to this for the hob and providing workspace. However, after measuring the space, we realised it was only 2500mm and not the 2800mm as indicated on the floor plan. Taking 600mm each for the larder and oven units and the refrigerator, that leaves just 700mm for the sink, which would have meant having to use a small sink in a cramped space next to the tall units. In addition to this, once we leave sufficient space near the kitchen entrance, the island would only be about 1.5m in length. It didn’t make sense to have a tiny sink and little countertop workspace, especially when we’d have to pay more for an island hood. We scratched our heads and tried all sorts of different layout combinations, including one that called for a reduction in the size of the bathroom, with the kitchen taking over that space, and the bathroom vanity cabinet and basin being placed in the kitchen, near the window. In the end, one of the designers we spoke with came up with a solution that we adapted. Her design was to seal up the existing doors to the bathroom and toilet, combine the two into one space, opening up one new entrance to the combined bathroom from the bedroom next to it (half of which would be converted to a walk-in-wardrobe, with the half turning into a storeroom) and another a new entrance from the living room. By doing this, we’d end up with a 3.9m wall in the kitchen, along which we could place kitchen base cabinets, with the tall units along the opposite wall. We have to give her credit for her creativity, but we didn’t really want part of one bedroom turned into a storeroom. Nor did we like the rest of her plan, which included knocking pretty much all the walls down and reconfiguring the layout of the remaining rooms. But the biggest factor against choosing that ID firm was the timeline. It would have till at least the middle of January (assuming everything went smoothly). So now that we have the old doors to the bathroom and toilet sealed up, with a new entrance from the living room, we’ll have a 12-foot run of base cabinets (800mm each for sink and hob, giving 2m of countertop workspace) along this wall and the oven unit, larder unit and refrigerator along the opposite wall. We initially thought we’d have the sink nearer the windows, but after a visit to the Blum showroom and speaking with Caroline, we’ve swapped the locations of the hob and sink. Caroline advised that since my wife and I are both right-handed, it would be easier for us to move in clockwise direction from food storage to sink to the preparation zone, to the hob. The carpenter came over to measure everything last Saturday and I guess they’re fabricating the cabinets (and the one that goes in the bathroom) now. They’re scheduled to install it next week. I hope to have some pix up the weekend that follows. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mickey M 0 Report post Posted December 3, 2009 Looking gd, mates! Will be reading your t=blog. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mrs_Macbart 0 Report post Posted December 3, 2009 Hi Everyone!! I am so excited .... Just to mentioned, I saw the photos that my hubby took of our new place ... with the painted walls, lightings on and also the first view of our bathroom and kitchen flooring after the chemical wash. Its wow .... transformed. abit lost for words (guess its my first time doing renovation so this is really eye opener!) I wish I can zoom down tonite to look at it. But I guess I will have to be patient and wait for Saturday where we have more time. I will let my hubby share about this later. And yes I am happy with the Tempur mattress and bedframe purchase. Its more expensive than a normal mattress but we both figured that if you work it out on the lifespan of the mattress, it works out to a tiny amount per day for quality sleep. And oh, we also needed to use up our $300 Takashimaya vouchers and so we did during their promotion. The Ikea Kvist flooring is really a steal! My jaw dropped when I saw the price drop! I am just blessed to have a hubby who is good at 'handyman' stuff (I mean, he build part of the present kitchen himself and he knows his stuff) ... and when he suggested to get it after doing some quick computation, I was quite confident he knew what he was talking about, so we bought it! OK ... I will leave Mr Macbart to share with you more. It is indeed getting very exciting to see the house transformed. Its worth it. I hope all of you who are doing up your house finds it an exciting journey too. signing out for now .... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macbart 0 Report post Posted December 3, 2009 Congrats on the purchase and happy reno, Macbart. It is always the case - with a new house, our old dwelling will slowly become kinda messy and a storage space for new purchases. It does add to our anxiety but in a good way. Hi Reiki, thanx. Yeah, you're right. It is looking a little messy, especially as we've started packing some of our stuff. We have several boxes piled up along a wall in one room and now a couple more in our bedroom. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
macbart 0 Report post Posted December 3, 2009 Looking gd, mates! Will be reading your t=blog. Hi Mickey, thanx. I've been reading yours too... though I haven't said anything there. I hope everything goes well and you have it looking good and ready soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
