Natural Living

[Umaisarah 2]

I assume her solid wood chair is very very valuable, possibly a custom made from a very good teak wood. Buying a new set to replace them woudl cost a bomb. Hence, she upholstered it.

But like you said, if your bed frame is a standard bedframe frm normal shop, u can consider buying new one.

Correction, correction. My chair not very very valuable lah ....buy cheap, cheap tt's why the wood turn moldy after a few years' use coz they never varnish and dry it up properly. But the wood is still good since it's teak.

Paid $275 per chair to varnish and upholster it. Similar chairs with that kind of upholstery will set me back at least $300 I think.

Edited June 14, 2010 by Umaisarah

[Umaisarah 2]

wah, you managed to not notice the repositioning of the sofa? lol..that's quite a big change..

the dining chairs look so much better after the re-upholstery..good move to do that. you went to laminate the table? or is that a new table?

Heh Heh, was so excited to see the table until didn't notice the sofa is rearranged.

As Ngunadi said, I had the table revarnished and recoloured. Ngunadi also had some varnishing works done by the same place. Show pics quickly leh.....!

Oh, sorry, sorry, just saw the pics. Very nice, so tt D not all hot air lah...he good in his work too

Edited June 14, 2010 by Umaisarah

[ngunadi 2]

Heh Heh, was so excited to see the table until didn't notice the sofa is rearranged.

As Ngunadi said, I had the table revarnished and recoloured. Ngunadi also had some varnishing works done by the same place. Show pics quickly leh.....!

Oh, sorry, sorry, just saw the pics. Very nice, so tt D not all hot air lah...he good in his work too

Well .. D is a bit quirky but he delivers

I sms-ed him on Thursday(?) to ask whether I can collect on Saturday. He nvr replied, then I also forgot abt it.

Then Sat afternoon, he sms-ed me that I can collect the sideboard. I quickly called my mover and swing over to his shop, met his son and collected the sideboard.

Luckily, my mover was available, otherwise, I had to wait til next week.

[gals_mama 0]

You don't need to get those built-in oven.

You can get a stand-alone convection oven. Baby Belling ovens are supposed to be very good for cookies, cakes, muffins etc. Not so sure abt grilling and roasting though.

If you don't hv a microwave oven yet, or intend to upsize your current one, then you consider getting a multi-function oven, which can microwave, grill, bake, roast, etc. Make sure it uses convection heat, rather than microwave for all the other non-microwave functions. I hardly ever use microwave, except to reheat food

Thanks for the info, guess i shall look for a multi function instead.

[Amy Choon 1]

wow, your dining table and chairs really look so nice after the varnishing and upholstering.... it goes so well with your wall..

i'm having a headache with my dining table too. i had this white framed extendable table for 8 years, and i intend to keep it becos it can extend to double it's length and very good for parties. but since it's white frame, the frame already yellowish lor. now we racking our brains how to make it white. hubby said paint not nice and will peel off easily... haiz.

[ngunadi 2]

wow, your dining table and chairs really look so nice after the varnishing and upholstering.... it goes so well with your wall..

i'm having a headache with my dining table too. i had this white framed extendable table for 8 years, and i intend to keep it becos it can extend to double it's length and very good for parties. but since it's white frame, the frame already yellowish lor. now we racking our brains how to make it white. hubby said paint not nice and will peel off easily... haiz.

How about revarnish your dining table to white color?

Or is it laminate?

[gimz63251073 0]

wow, your dining table and chairs really look so nice after the varnishing and upholstering.... it goes so well with your wall..

i'm having a headache with my dining table too. i had this white framed extendable table for 8 years, and i intend to keep it becos it can extend to double it's length and very good for parties. but since it's white frame, the frame already yellowish lor. now we racking our brains how to make it white. hubby said paint not nice and will peel off easily... haiz.

what material is the frame made of?

there is a steel cleaner which i use, can use to wipe off yellowish stuff off plastics, i.e. switches.

[patsy_sg 1]

would it be expensive to upholster? I have a exisiting bedframe which I now worry will not match with my decor. I am thinking to upholster it but if too expensive, I might as well buy a new frame....

Sam, not difficult to DIY the head board, just get new fabric and use a staple gun!! Am planning to re-do my old Ikea stool for my dressing table... just need to get some foam and fabric from spotlight!

[Amy Choon 1]

How about revarnish your dining table to white color?

Or is it laminate?

can revarnish to white one ah? kekeke... i don't know can do that... so where can i go? nope, not laminate.

what material is the frame made of?

there is a steel cleaner which i use, can use to wipe off yellowish stuff off plastics, i.e. switches.

the frame is made of wood.. hubby told me it's veneer lehz, so can use the steel cleaner? if can, then i save the trouble. hubby intended to get someone to spray paint it wor.

Edited June 16, 2010 by merydith

[samgalz 2]

Sam, not difficult to DIY the head board, just get new fabric and use a staple gun!! Am planning to re-do my old Ikea stool for my dressing table... just need to get some foam and fabric from spotlight!

ya I did think of doing DIY, last nite saw gimz and baby's DIY project of spray paint, am gian to have a try at it for the body then do foam and fabric at headboard. got to go think of it and see see look look at spotlight. worse come to worse if DIY fails, I jus buy a cheap cheap one from Hommage. How does the plan sounds?

[england 0]

My dining set is finally here! In all the excitement over AFC, I forgot to post it in my blog

Table turned out beautifully So all that waiting and hand-wrangling was worth the wait

The chairs were unrecognisable but I'm quite scared that it'll dirty easily coz the fabric's white.

Already after less than a week got stain here and there. Part of the joining of the upholstery could have been better but overall I'm happy with the price I paid for the work.

Here are before and after pics!

Hey Man Utd fan! For once, I thought the t-blog has transcended into some cooking blog instead until I saw the pictures above.

Nice job, it's like new.

Cheers.

[gimz63251073 0]

can revarnish to white one ah? kekeke... i don't know can do that... so where can i go? nope, not laminate.

the frame is made of wood.. hubby told me it's veneer lehz, so can use the steel cleaner? if can, then i save the trouble. hubby intended to get someone to spray paint it wor.

uhh veneer is kinda plastic? i never try before....maybe don't try steel cleaner.

spray paint can stick on veneer?

maybe need primer...

[ngunadi 2]

I think need resand the whole table (peel off the veneer)

Then redo the whole process again.

Frankly, if the wood is not valuable, it's not worth the process.

[Umaisarah 2]

Hey Man Utd fan! For once, I thought the t-blog has transcended into some cooking blog instead until I saw the pictures above.

Nice job, it's like new.

Cheers.

Hey England!

For the next few weeks, I am a fan of England but looks like they'll be joining Cameroon soon

[Umaisarah 2]

Been a month and 1 day since I moved in, so I thought I'll give a review of my contractors/vendors/shops that I used for my reno as a way of giving back to all the helpful RT forummers who had helped me in my reno journey.

Disclaimer, hor. Pls don't come after me if the tips and advice I give here don't work for you, ok? Different ppl, different experience, mah?

Let's start with the easy ones, shall we?

1. Serta Mattress, IMM Lvl 2, Salesperson - Kevin

Item Bought: Serta Sierra Hills King-size Mattress

Don't be intimidated by the stories you heard about Serta mattresses being very ex, like I was. Well, they are quite pricey but don't get turned off by the original price which is sometimes 100% more than the final selling price. My personal opinion is that the RPP has never, ever been the serious selling price. It's just there to make their discounts look good. And discounts seems to be a 365-day offer. Bargain hard for freebies if you can't lower the price further. The salesguy - Kevin, if my memory hasn't failed me - is very nice and accommodating. Make friends with him and he can throw you four free pillows The pillows are **** syiok.

Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars, Highly recommended

2. Natural Living, Park Mall & Upper Bt Timah Road

Items Bought: Coffee table and King-Size Bed Frame

Well, I have a 'natural' bias towards them. If you're into affordable resort-theme furniture, my view is that they're a place to seriously check out. Their service is nothing to shout about, but generally I find them very patient and accomodating, especially the one at Park Mall. Negotiate on the price, sometimes they're willing to give good discounts, even on offer items. Don't be afraid to offer a price which is like 30-40% lower. I learn from experience. Delivery is also prompt, and no problems with items upon delivery.

Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars, Highly recommended (if you're into resort themes)

3. Barossa Furniture, River Valley Road

Item Bought: Dining Set

Actually I didn't buy a dining set from them, but I got my existing one varnished and upholstered. Well, what can I say for good ole D? Nice person during the marketing part, but quite rude and nasty after he's sold you his item. Had a bad experience about delivery dates and long silences in between. In the end, he's just a middleman coz the person doing the actual work is another contractor which he deals with. Anyhow, if I can rewind, I would have probably tried my luck with another cheaper (but by not much) vendor. Barossa's quality and workmanship is good though. If you can tahan his quirkiness, and be firm on your demands, you can try this company out for varnishing and upholstering works, especially for wooden furniture. The stuff in his shop is not bad too but you can get equally nice ones over at Dempsey Road.

Verdict: 3 out of 5 stars, Recommended if you're a quirky and eccentric Brit yourself

4. J & S Design Services, Tanjong Katong Complex

Item Bought: Curtain-making services

Oh, if only I knew better, sigh...! I'm not complaining about their quality, workmanship or service. Just their price. Can't believe I paid that much $$ for curtains. It's hard to compare curtains coz it really boils down to your choice of fabrics. Maybe the ones I chose are pricey but then again I don't think there's a cheaper version of the same design/brand elsewhere. They probably charge about the same? Am not sure . Perhaps others more experience can comment. Anyway, in terms of range and variety of fabrics, J & S has an excellent selection but do be careful about the price. They did say the cheapest fabric they had was $28 per metre. Workmanship and mechanisms they use is very good, although I did find the cord for the roller blinds quite flimsy, like can snap any time but the rolling mechanism is very smooth.

Verdict: 3 out of 5 stars, Recommended if you have set aside big budget for your window treatments.

Next up will be the contractors I used.