A Bright & Airy Executive Maisonette

[adidaem 6]

Hey, you should also add this to your first post =) As it's quite hard for others to always to find the photos of the completed reno in the whole thread.

It's in my signature... so should be easy to find lar.

Then they make the shelf for what? Washing machine and dryer on top like yours right? Sorry, how ya know they not getting dryer?

Haha, cos now I can see them drying clothes in the balcony. Also cos I saw that they left the bamboo pole holder in the balcony during reno.

Plus if they wanted to stack the dryer on the washer, they couldn't have built the wooden top. So I also conclude that they got a side washer even tho I haven't seen their washer. Amateur sleuth I am... hahahaha.

Edited October 29, 2011 by adidaem

[Redarmy10 0]

Hi how do you hide your tv wire without feature wall?

[adidaem 6]

Slightly over 2 months after moving in, and I've not fully unpacked. Ok, thought to get that confession out of the way... the thought that I need to unpack has been bugging me, but I'm just so lazy... so haven't really invited people over cos feel quite paiseh about the mess.

That aside, I am still enjoying my place and doing little upgrades - one thing I've realised is that the 2 of us have far more books and cds and games than we knew before we moved in... so more storage solutions definitely need to be created.

Those who completed your reno and have books/cds/dvd collections - did you face the same problem or did you plan for all your current AND future needs? Learning point if you are in the midst of reno.

Luckily it's not something so major that a little project can't resolve... more on that in due course when it's firmer.

The study room is also slowly being furnished. We got a chair (classic Emeco Navy chair ) and a mirror (Miniforms Eagle mirror ). Now we just need some more lighting and a table. Taking it slow for that room since there really isn't any hurry, but now that the year-end sales are upon us I guess we ought to take the chance to grab some good buys if we come across any. On that note, Space Furniture (showroom at Bencoolen Street) and Air Division (at Wilkie showroom) have some pieces on special discounts.

I've also just re-potted two of my plants to bigger pots... including addition of soil, fertiliser and those brown round pebble-like stuff which I was told by the Far East Flora staff is good for drainage when used to line the pot bottom, and to keep the soil moist when sprinkled on top. Haven't killed any plants yet. (ok, so I've pretty low expectations of my gardening skills...) 2 are flourishing/healthy and 2 looks a bit down/brown. But I'm hoping this little 'intervention' will help them.

And I realise that I'm also quite excited to celebrate my first christmas in the apartment. Not so much cos of our religious beliefs (I'm a free-thinker, no offense meant to any Christians) but cos I am excited to decorate the place for Christmas. Still undecided on the theme/look I am going for, but given the colours/theme in my place, I'm thinking of either white/silver colours. red/white or the traditional red/green colours. No gold, since my kitchen is mostly silver.

No clear preferences either way... it kinda swings towards the colours used in the most recent inspiration pics I see - anyone has suggestions? For now, I'm heading towards red/white simply cos I think it pops better on the (green) christmas tree. Or red/green & white? Hmm...

So we are going to look for a Christmas tree soon before my SO goes on business trip again. Read that I can find some of the old Concourse stalls at The Verge (ex-Tekka Mall) so that's where we'll head 1st. I do love the Christmas atrium fairs at Centrepoint and Paragon but I remember the prices are so that I think I'll spare myself the heartache. I feel a bit guilty for deciding on an artificial tree (not environmentally friendly)... but I'm not so much into the natural 'pine' smell or shedding twigs or (to be very honest) having to go thru the whole selection, transport and disposal process yearly.

Thanks for following my rambling post if you are still reading. RT-ers love pics right? So here are my latest buys:

Emeco Navy Chair (brushed aluminium finish):

Miniforms Eagle mirror (white):

And finally an alarm clock:

Edited November 5, 2011 by adidaem

[rain 0]

Hi adidaem,

Have been following your blog on your airy EM.

If you are getting a green Christmas tree, red, among your colour choices, would be nice on the tree. The shopping malls usually mix and match it with hot pink so that there's a variety and the different colours also add layers to the tree.

I was trying to decide between silver and gold, and eventually I went with gold. Gold looks luxurious and whimsical especially on pictures. Silver looks like grey on pictures. You can shop for a Christmas tree and decor at the annual Taka Christmas fair at the Square. I had bought ornaments from Concourse and Paragon but feel that the ornaments at Taka are more comprehensive, varied and prettier than these places. Comparatively cheaper than Paragon, and variety prettier than Concourse for the same price!

Taka even sells these rotating stands for certain Christmas trees! But if you do get such a stand, you will need to make sure your Christmas tree has to be fully embellished with ornaments unlike those that stand in a corner which you can leave the part facing the wall boh-tak.

You probably have realised, but just in case you haven't, you need to think about the height, and width of the Christmas tree you want. Usually they come in 5 or 7 feet. Most HDB dwellers get 5-feet trees, but stupid me was so swayed by the sales pitch of the saleslady that I bought a 7-feet tree with a circular 'skirt'. It ends up taking up quite a bit of space (width) because of the circular formation at the bottom.

You will also need to think about the type of leaves you want, but you probably would already have it in mind. There is pine, needle-pine, kodiak and a few others I can't remember. But when I started choosing, I was more or less set on a particular type of leaves ie. I didn't want needle-pine or those that had different tones of green.

It's fun buying a Christmas tree and its ornaments. In fact, I make it a tradition of my own to shop for ornaments at Taka every year. Even when my tree is quite "full" now, I shall head down to Taka still to see if there are any pretty ornaments to get. Some are simply too pretti-licious to let up!

On the note on study, incidentally, I am thinking about how messy my study has become. We didn't do up the study - in fact, we didn't do much to our flat. If I even get a next flat, study storage is definitely THE priority.

And for the suggestion that I offered on Christmas trees, I have the same question as Redarmy10: can you tell me if you have anything to mount your TV on? It looks like a real wall but your wires from the TV are minimum. Cos I am thinking of mounting a TV on a real wall without any feature done.

[Defelio 0]

It's in my signature... so should be easy to find lar.

Haha, cos now I can see them drying clothes in the balcony. Also cos I saw that they left the bamboo pole holder in the balcony during reno.

Plus if they wanted to stack the dryer on the washer, they couldn't have built the wooden top. So I also conclude that they got a side washer even tho I haven't seen their washer. Amateur sleuth I am... hahahaha.

Amateur u say? I promote you to semi-pro! =D

Glad to see that you have green hands unlike me as my plants are sadly going down south.. one of the two of a same type of plant place at different height of the shelf is whitering. Only can shift the withering one to the one that is not withering.

As for your Xmas decorations, I suggest you go mainly with white and silver with a bit of red here and there.

The mirror looks great and nice twist on the alarm clock!!

[Olg 0]

Love the alarm clock! Mind sharing where you got it from? Am also looking for nice huge wall clocks where I can actually read the time clearly!

[adidaem 6]

Love the alarm clock! Mind sharing where you got it from? Am also looking for nice huge wall clocks where I can actually read the time clearly!

I got my alarm clock from Reebonz, but you should be able to find Karlsson clocks at Molecule at Great World City. Molecule isn't cheap tho, perhaps you can explore overseas websites that are willing to ship to Singapore?

You can see the range from here, and then search for decent online stores:

http://www.karlsson-clocks.com

Not sure what is your style, but personally I like the Corona and Georg Jensen ones too:

http://www.connox.com/categories/accessories/clocks.html

For a really 'classic' look, can try Seiko wall clocks (saw in Vivocity and some neighbourhood shops before). Get the smooth movement ones and you'll have a quiet and reliable clock that costs a fraction of those expensive designer types.

[adidaem 6]

Thanks Rain & Defelio for your suggestions on Christmas decor. Did up some simple decoration, will share some pics when I have time to snap some decent shots.

Note that Ikea's stocks for Christmas decorations are running low, with the popular ones all snapped up. Heard that there is no re-stock. Absolutely bad planning man... they should have anticipated the huge demand IMO.

[Redarmy10 0]

hi , mind sharing how do you hide your tv wire without any feature wall? And where can i buy your lovely tv console? Thank you.

[adidaem 6]

hi , mind sharing how do you hide your tv wire without any feature wall? And where can i buy your lovely tv console? Thank you.

Do a partition wall. You can use the same 'trick' to hide all your trunking and switch boxes too.

As for my TV console, it was designed by my IDs. The closest available for sale in the market is the one from Grafunkt.

[adidaem 6]

Hey, for those still looking for reno inspiration, Qeeple is quite fun to browse.

You can just start browsing randomly...

http://www.qeeple.com

Or look at their idea books e.g. this one for bookshelves:

http://www.qeeple.com/qb/51/3491/Homes+for+Books

[Olg 0]

Thanks for the links! You really are the queen of shopping and definitely the right person to go to for advice like this I'll check out molecule as they have a wide range there but I know it's really expensive there too. Sigh! Will see if I can find anything online

[fishponder 0]

Hi Adidaem,

Would you recommend your ID Atelier M+A? Is workmanship (very impt) and service attitude good? Thanks a lot!

[salormoon80 0]

may i know where u did ur blind??

[adidaem 6]

Hi Adidaem,

Would you recommend your ID Atelier M+A? Is workmanship (very impt) and service attitude good? Thanks a lot!

Hi fishponder, I'll do an 'open letter' type of post in case there are others who will ask (and I am lazy to PM everyone)...

*************

My opinion is... M+A are not for those looking for contractor-type of pseudo-IDs. So if your key concern is cost and just want a basic reno/quote comparison, then strike them off your list.

E.g. pls don't go to them and ask for a quote immediately for a (insert apartment type) reno... they are not contractors (I hear they have been approached by people who did that... speechless lor).

They are a design firm, and don't have their own workers, but get a trusted contractor to do the reno work. So workmanship I think really dp on which contractor they use. Mine are ok to my untrained eye. I dunno how they choose/find their contractor tho, or what criteria they use.

My contractor did tell us M+A is finicky over details. e.g. I do know everyone spent a lot of time on my aircon trunking which I am greatful for cos the only visible trunking I have is in the balcony leading to the compressors!

Service attitude wise... they did put up with my pages of 'review notes' on their design, so I think ok bah. They also went on-site at least once a week (could be more, I dint monitor cos I mostly popped by during weekends when no one is around), and gave me nice 3D graphics that made me happy...

Most importantly, did u like what you saw of the end result? Look at the space, aesthetics and lighting. I think so far everyone who has been to my place comments it's 'not like a HDB', which I take to be a compliment bah.

They don't really go shopping with us for furniture tho. Not sure if it's cos we dint request. We trusted them to choose the lightings n tiles for us cos after the first few shopping trips we thought they are even pickier than us.

They really like white btw...

Edited December 9, 2011 by adidaem