Our Place At Bishan 4A

[Et209 1]

View of the living room with just warm lights switched on vs with 4xdaylight lamps on.

[GetFuzzy 0]

Thanks ET! Your kitchen looks nice. Love the counter top - marble?

[Et209 1]

Hi getfuzzy, no lah. Just normal postform board. Just that the laminate pattern is somewhat marble like. Don't have the budget. Drooling over those black marble tops. I will change to marble once it wears out.

[Et209 1]

Our new laminate flooring: the story

We planned to keep the original 80s ceramic tiles. I still remember painstakingly redoing the grout. Trying out different trouts too. In the beginning, it looked good and new; however, the grouts were not deep, after a couple of months, they started givIng way.

Frustrated,!we decided to enhance the place with floor laminates. It so happened that I met up with forumer Alvin, who had installed Krono O laminates. After getting his contact, I called up Steven.

Very patiently, he explained, demoed, chit chat, and we finally signed a quote.

We used Castle Oak Kronostep for the livong room because of the unique rustic colors and very nice woody texture. To save cost, we used black oak Castello range for the bedrooms. We also moved all our furnitures, saving $100. We did not hack away our existing skirtings. Installations took 2 days only. The result was stunning IMO

Almost complete

Closeup, you can see the wood details. Also depending on different tome of the day and lights used, the wood effect and colors darkens or lightens.

Other than the wood, you can see my $100+ art pieces, and the dining room table is an expensive rosewood hand me down item.

If you look further, you can see the hacked wall and how small is the existIng store room pn the left.

[sleek 2]

i really really like your floor laminates but my new place has marble flooring so will just be polishing them up as everyone advises. You have done a good job with the L shaped design!

[Gambaru 0]

Hi et209

Can I check with you if your budget of $19+k includes renovating the toilet tiles?

Thanks

[Et209 1]

Hi et209

Can I check with you if your budget of $19+k includes renovating the toilet tiles?

Thanks

Hi Gambaru, no, we did not change the toilet tiles. However, if you refer to our cost above, we include all our furnitures and household appliances and zircon in the $19k. If I exclude these items, then my Reno cost is about $13.5k.

[Et209 1]

i really really like your floor laminates but my new place has marble flooring so will just be polishing them up as everyone advises. You have done a good job with the L shaped design!

Thanks sleek. We really like how the floor turned out. I would had kept the flooring if not for the irritating grout. If I had marble flooring, I would had kept it too. Laminates need a lot of care.

[Et209 1]

The story about this feature wall:

Personally I want to set the mood of the place with this wall. First and foremost, we hacked and removed the 80s ventilation grills at the top of the wall. Once completed,!we have a full flat wall. We painted it choc chip color to keep the brown woody feel.

The painting was a hand me down from my aunt. It's a piece of egyptian canvas. I like how it contrast with the wall. The ikea floating shelf fits perfectly. I have installed spotlights. The chairs are part of the dining room set. I find it too Chinese "chi-na" especially the cushion cover. I may want to get a set that is more "modern".

The center table is filled with more family pictures.

[Et209 1]

Reserved.

Edited May 6, 2011 by Et209

[Errandz 0]

I really am in awe. Your house is lovely.. And the price you have put in to make it so, is amazing. If only I could find some way to turn the house I've gotten to become my home, with the little budget I have.

Also, it clearly shows that time, and the right contacts, helps alot. Congrats on such a great place.

[Et209 1]

Thanks Errandz. We started with a small budget of $10k and through the years, we spent another $10k or so.

Year 1: We did the main essentials first such as re-piping and re-wiring, painting, and finally identify crucial spots to hack, and only redid the kitchen.

Year 2 onwards: The rest of the stuff is trial and error of using existing furnitures. As you can see, we don't have cove lights, wiw, but simple furnitures and lots of ikea stuff. You can do the same thing too!! Owning a home is a long journey; don't rush into things; if you like accessorizing and diy, then you will enjoy it. I also recommend ikea hack website for those that like diy. My next diy projects are to redo the toilets!!

[Et209 1]

A little bit of outdoor feel: enhancing the kitchen flooring.

I did my research and it seems like no one does wooden flooring in the kitchen, which is strange; this is very common in Europe and US. So I've decided to do it with an Asian twist.

I saw these wood tiles selling at ikea for $45 for 9 pieces. Bought 2 packs to try out. I'd need another 4 more packs to cover the entire kitchen floor; cost would be less than $300. I'll also lacquer it later, plus fill the gaps with colored silicon. Finally will dressup the edges with some pebbles and led lightings.

This is the incomplete flooring at the moment:

[Errandz 0]

I had no idea about ikea hacker! I am hooked onto it. (Yes i love the idea of DIY)

SO many many possibilities opening up...!

Thank you so much for this valuable link!

[Et209 1]

Totally agree. I got some of my inspirations from them. Part of my idea was to hack and install plastic shoebox inside the toilet as cupboard!! Some of these ikea hackers are very innovative. This is one of my favorites:

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/04/fireplace-frump-to-fab.html?m=1

There is also another ikea hacker who turned a ribba frame into a backlit wall art. Will try to post it up.