Henderson Makeover

[Mrs_Macbart 0]

Don't think this will happen very often. heh

HUH they don't let you change?? so mean!

full height windows can really add to the ambience of a house.. but if they are as uncoordinated as you described... *urgh* what a headache.

Anyway looking forward to the pictures tomorrow!!

Hey Pinkpetter!

Yea they don't allow. when i was told HDB don't allow, in my mind the long white-windows idea went *POOFF*

but i guess the current bronze looking horizontal ones still does a better job than the previous old windows which looked really mismatched.

Even our contractor, Andy, looked, smiled and shake his head at the funny window combinations in the house.

[alamak 0]

i love your kitchen cabinets!!

[Mrs_Macbart 0]

Hey macbart,

This is what i call a modern kitchen. Factors include high-gloss laminates used, tall unit to show full piece of gloss laminate and no kitchen handle for the cabinets (i believe u will not have it and no handles equal sleek). And the color burgundy is right! If i were u, I would have used burgundy for the whole kitchen. It is bolder and personally, I feel white laminates are not very gloss partly becos it is white in nature. But the choice is always best guided by one's personal taste.

Thumbs up! Nicely done.

Hey Mickey.

Thanks for the compliment!

We actually wanted the handleless and equal drawer sizing look for our cabinets. It helps to make the kitchen look less complicated compared to traditional carpented designs where there are many small drawers, and cabinets dotted along the cabinet stretch.

We went to Parkmall one day to look at the more expensive designs. Not that we were buying anything there but we wanted to know how they do their kitchen designing.

We went to the shop HUGO to see how they manage with small cutlery. The drawers look huge from the outside, something you see on this website: http://www.venetacucine.it

Knowing that most culinary masters have lots of cutlery to work with, we were curious to see how they keep such small items in big drawers.

Had to pluck up the courage to push thru' the doors of HUGO showroom and we went to see and opened almost every single drawer under the worktop, sink, hob and larder.

Even the sales people did not bother to approach us - I guess they knew that we were not intending to get kitchens from them.

But their kitchens were very nice and modern, even the colour selection for the exterior materials.

But after that showroom viewing, we really got more possible ideas for our kitchen designs.

As for our kitchens, the white by itself was quite plain.

Especially when our wall tiles were mainly white too.

The burgundy was a last minute decision to inject more colour and 'appetite' into the kitchen.

As our kitchen entrance was quite open, visually the lower white cabinets on one side of the wall will make it look spacious and clean.

It's only upon entering the kitchen abit that the burgundy comes into play along with the reflection of some light on the laminate from the window.

Putting burgundy in the whole kitchen, might make it look smaller as our floor tiles are dark and our kitchen is not as big in the first place (especially after including the laundry area).

I guess we were looking to 'balance' out the elements.

Have you done up your kitchen? Would love to view the photos when they are done up!

Edited December 12, 2009 by Mrs_Macbart

[macbart 0]

i love your kitchen cabinets!!

Thanx, so do we.

[Mrs_Macbart 0]

Here are more photos to our kitchen ...

View of the white lower cabinets stretch from the kitchen entrance.

We have the inner smaller drawers for cutlery, cover up by the larger drawer so that from the exterior, it looks less complicated

Or course, we will buy the drawer dividers from the Ikea Rationelle range to fit into our drawers.

It was only later that we realise that this design has lesser bones in the structure as there are no multiple small drawers and cabinet shelves (found in traditional kitchen designs)- meaning more actual space to put larger stuff and possible more stuff in the given space.

Edited December 12, 2009 by Mrs_Macbart

[macbart 0]

Hey macbart,

This is what i call a modern kitchen. Factors include high-gloss laminates used, tall unit to show full piece of gloss laminate and no kitchen handle for the cabinets (i believe u will not have it and no handles equal sleek). And the color burgundy is right! If i were u, I would have used burgundy for the whole kitchen. It is bolder and personally, I feel white laminates are not very gloss partly becos it is white in nature. But the choice is always best guided by one's personal taste.

Thumbs up! Nicely done.

Hey Mickey, thanx for the compliment.

Looking at the layout of your whole flat, I guess it's quite obvious that you're willing to go for the "non-traditional" and try something different. I think your place is really gonna stand out. I'm looking forward to seeing the (overdue) pix.

[pinkpetter 0]

WAH... white/black kitchen wall tiles with burgundy/white cabinets. What will the top be like? black? hehe

Very nice! I love the high-gloss burgundy.

Sam seems like a REALLY good carpenter who doesn't mind doing more for customer satisfaction. It would have been much easier to make shallow drawers but he decided to give you more space by making a depression. GREAT!

And your idea of combing the toilets has really paid off. We often trouble about that toilet opening in the kitchen but you got rid of the problem!

Edited December 12, 2009 by pinkpetter

[Mrs_Macbart 0]

your kitchen looks very bright!

some kitchen i come across can be quite dark.

Hey Rondy

Yes the kitchen is quite bright - cos of the 4 windows across and we changed it to clear glass from the old tinted glass.

I think during the morning, there is abit of sun coming in, so probably good for drying laundry, and planting some herbs.

But maybe we might get some bamboo blinds to keep some sun out but enable the wind to get into the kitchen too.

But depend on what hubby thinks.

Maybe the white tiles and white lower cabinets plays a part too?

[macbart 0]

your kitchen looks very bright!

some kitchen i come across can be quite dark.

It used to look really dark. It might have been the dark frames and tinted glass the windows had before they were changed. Or perhaps a combination of that and the layout of the kitchen. The previous owners had a large refrigerator on the left that pretty much blocked whatever light was coming through the windows on the left half of the kitchen. I guess the white tiles and the colour of the cabinet laminate (we picked "high gloss chalk" cos it looked "whiter" than "high gloss white") also contribute to the overall bright feel.

[macbart 0]

WAH... white/black kitchen wall tiles with burgundy/white cabinets. What will the top be like? black? hehe

Very nice! I love the high-gloss burgundy.

It's gonna be "Tundra Quartz" from LG Hi-Macs.

http://www.stockportsolidsurface.co.uk/lg_himac_colours.html

Sam seems like a REALLY good carpenter who doesn't mind doing more for customer satisfaction. It would have been much easier to make shallow drawers but he decided to give you more space by making a depression. GREAT!

And your idea of combing the toilets has really paid off. We often trouble about that toilet opening in the kitchen but you got rid of the problem!

That's right. It's one of the key problems in trying to plan the layout for an HDB kitchen. And yes, Sam has been really good. We're really glad for that.

[Mickey M 0]

Hey Mickey.

Thanks for the compliment!

We actually wanted the handleless and equal drawer sizing look for our cabinets. It helps to make the kitchen look less complicated compared to traditional carpented designs where there are many small drawers, and cabinets dotted along the cabinet stretch.

We went to Parkmall one day to look at the more expensive designs. Not that we were buying anything there but we wanted to know how they do their kitchen designing.

We went to the shop HUGO to see how they manage with small cutlery. The drawers look huge from the outside, something you see on this website: http://www.venetacucine.it

Knowing that most culinary masters have lots of cutlery to work with, we were curious to see how they keep such small items in big drawers.

Had to pluck up the courage to push thru' the doors of HUGO showroom and we went to see and opened almost every single drawer under the worktop, sink, hob and larder.

Even the sales people did not bother to approach us - I guess they knew that we were not intending to get kitchens from them.

But their kitchens were very nice and modern, even the colour selection for the exterior materials.

But after that showroom viewing, we really got more possible ideas for our kitchen designs.

As for our kitchens, the white by itself was quite plain.

Especially when our wall tiles were mainly white too.

The burgundy was a last minute decision to inject more colour and 'appetite' into the kitchen.

As our kitchen entrance was quite open, visually the lower white cabinets on one side of the wall will make it look spacious and clean.

It's only upon entering the kitchen abit that the burgundy comes into play along with the reflection of some light on the laminate from the window.

Putting burgundy in the whole kitchen, might make it look smaller as our floor tiles are dark and our kitchen is not as big in the first place (especially after including the laundry area).

I guess we were looking to 'balance' out the elements.

Have you done up your kitchen? Would love to view the photos when they are done up!

Hey Mickey, thanx for the compliment.

Looking at the layout of your whole flat, I guess it's quite obvious that you're willing to go for the "non-traditional" and try something different. I think your place is really gonna stand out. I'm looking forward to seeing the (overdue) pix.

Hi Mr & Mrs Macbart,

Hugo Kitchen at Parkmall is a gd place to get inspirations for kitchen designs. Same as both of u, wifey and I love to surf the internet for ideas, especially european websites. Wanted to buy a curvy sink at Hugo Kitchen but the price is almost $2k, abit too steep for us. And using tempered glass for the whole kitchen is really different. For us, can't do so as it is more costly to make curvy tempered glass. Yah, agree that white cabinets help a small space to look cleaner and spacious. And that is the main reason why many choose white for their kitchen cabinets I believe. My kitchen is not ready, will upload picture of it in due course. Just to share first, we are doing a full blue kitchen, that why my hob is blue in color too.

Our criteria to IDs are always the same. We want something curvy and round in design and layout wise. I won't say we wanted something different just for the sake of it. Our purpose is to reduce sharp edges in the home, more kids and elder friendly we believe. And my wifey tend to get bruises due to knocking onto sharp edges too. So that how we settled on the criteria for our home reno.

Edited December 12, 2009 by Mickey M

[Mickey M 0]

It's gonna be "Tundra Quartz" from LG Hi-Macs.

http://www.stockportsolidsurface.co.uk/lg_himac_colours.html

Hope you don't mind but I feel the one which you haven't chosen is not very nice, mainly because the brown looks like coffee or soya sauce kind of stain if you know what I mean. Just my 2 cents. But if your choice is quartz, then I think that is the nicest among it.

[macbart 0]

Prep for Flooring

Yesterday was the big clean-up. Well, not the final clean-up (that will come next weekend). But we figured we ought to sweep and mop the floors in preparation for the installation of the veneered flooring tomorrow. So we spent the afternoon moving everything (mainly purchases from Ikea) into the kitchen, then we swept and mopped the living room, bedroom, entertainment room and study floors.

With new glass (changed from frosted to clear) and window grilles installed for our bedroom window a day earlier, the work that remains is:

1. Veneered flooring for living room, bedroom, entertainment room and study - Monday, December 14

2. Solid surface for kitchen and bathroom - Tuesday, December 15

3. Rest of plumbing work (installation of sink and tap, basin and mixer, rain shower) - Wednesday, December 16

4. Rest of electrical work (connection of induction hob and oven, installation of wall fan in kitchen, installation of four more lights) - Wednesday, December 16

5. Painting touch up and rectification of outstanding flaws - hopefully Thursday/Friday

Which means we should be on target for handover on Saturday, December 19.

I hope all goes well this week.

[macbart 0]

The Day the Floors Transformed

On Monday, December 14, I had to be at the new place by 9am to make sure the installers had access to the flat. A few minutes after I'd arrived, opened windows in each room and switched on the ceiling fans (I figured they'd appreciate a bit of a breeze while they work), they walked in through the front door. By the time the fourth one had entered, followed by a fifth and sixth, I was stunned! Having witnessed some of the other "teams" (in quote marks cos some of them were one-man teams) of workers carrying out their tasks, I was expecting two or, at the most, three people.

I soon discovered that one of them would leave for another site after briefing the team. But a team of five installers working on four rooms still exceeded my expectations by some margin. No wonder they were confident they could finish within a day.

This is what they installed - Ikea's Kvist veneered bamboo flooring. We picked it up for a bargain during the sale in July cos it's discontinued.

When I dropped by at lunch time, they were about halfway through the task of laying the floor boards.

By early evening, they'd competed installation of the floorboards, skirting and t-profiles (at door ways), trimmed the front door and were sealing up any gaps and covering the little holes left behind by the nails they had driven in to attach the skirting to the walls. Pretty soon, our floors (and the rooms) took on a whole new look (I'll post pictures in the next post).

[macbart 0]

Day 33 continued

By the evening of Monday, December 14, this was how our new home looked (well, you won't get to see the entire home, just parts of each room).

The bedroom

The entertainment room

The study

The living room

If they look very similar, it's cos (other the living room), you can't see the walls that are painted a different colour (in the bedroom and entertainment room).

Edited December 16, 2009 by macbart