My Dream Home - 4 Room In The Central Area

[calliecats 0]

Thought I'd update my blog with some home decorating ideas since I've got some time this weekend.

I'm trying out a few terrariums & these are what I've made. Let me know if you are keen to do your own, I'd be more than happy to share some ideas although I'm new at it too.

My Terrariums

They are supposed to be self sustaining, easy to care for & needs only to be watered once a month. Bring a litle piece of garden into your home even if you live a HDB flat in the concrete jungle!

[HappyBaby 0]

Living Room Before

Living Room After

I didn't want a typical feature wall with long cabinet, as I wanted more walking space. So I just asked for a simple wall mount open shelf in glossy black piano laminate (inside of shelf was later painted black after this pic was taken) to hold my DVD player & AV receiver & some CDs. My TV is 52" Phillips LED TV with ambi lights. The glass you see on the right side is looking into my masterbedroom. More pics later on that area

Hi Calliecats,

Have been following your blog & love your design...& I tink we got the same contractor!kekeke..

Wanted a classic baroque theme but have to settle for something simplier cos I got an active 1 year old & another one on the way. Thinking of doing a blog too but I've been so tired lately.

Anyways, congratulations on your beautiful home & for being an inspiration. You have really good taste.

[clouds00007 1]

Good Sunday Morning everyone!

Here are more pics:

Dining (before & after)

Living/Dining (before & after)

Wallpaper (Living/Dining)

Wow, basically you have almost the entire house up in Wallpaper.

May I ask who you get it from and how much was it?

[calliecats 0]

Wow, basically you have almost the entire house up in Wallpaper.

May I ask who you get it from and how much was it?

Hi clouds,

Yes I did whole house walls in wall paper, except kitchen & bathrooms which are tiled, and guest room.

I got them on a business trip overseas & got my contractor to install them for me.

Are you doing reno for your house & thinking of using wall paper too?

[calliecats 0]

Hi Calliecats,

Have been following your blog & love your design...& I tink we got the same contractor!kekeke..

Wanted a classic baroque theme but have to settle for something simplier cos I got an active 1 year old & another one on the way. Thinking of doing a blog too but I've been so tired lately.

Anyways, congratulations on your beautiful home & for being an inspiration. You have really good taste.

Hi Happy,

Thanks for your compliments. Congrats too on your bundle of joy.

So, you got Ed to do your reno too? That's great. When are you starting your reno?

I think if you have time, do share your pics & experiences so we can all benefit from one another.

Have a great day

[HappyBaby 0]

Hi Happy,

Thanks for your compliments. Congrats too on your bundle of joy.

So, you got Ed to do your reno too? That's great. When are you starting your reno?

I think if you have time, do share your pics & experiences so we can all benefit from one another.

Have a great day

Finally figure out how to upload photos here..kekeke...

Ya, Ed did my reno. Actually, almost didn't get him cos at that time I already got proposals from 2 other contractors. But very confused with the quotations as some of the items listed in one contractor's proposal missing from the other contractor's proposal. And when I asked them about it, they said must additional charge, so the proposal not final. I was quite scared, first time doing reno, don't want to get ripped off. So decided to ask Ed to quote after seeing my friend's house which he did, the quality not bad. His proposal also the most complete compared to the others.

My house super original condition, 35 years old, very dirty & run down. I hated it when hubby brought me to see, seriously wanted to throw up.

Before the reno, this is the condition

After looks like this

It's a simple house, not like yours, so glam.

[casa 0]

Finally figure out how to upload photos here..kekeke...

Ya, Ed did my reno. Actually, almost didn't get him cos at that time I already got proposals from 2 other contractors. But very confused with the quotations as some of the items listed in one contractor's proposal missing from the other contractor's proposal. And when I asked them about it, they said must additional charge, so the proposal not final. I was quite scared, first time doing reno, don't want to get ripped off. So decided to ask Ed to quote after seeing my friend's house which he did, the quality not bad. His proposal also the most complete compared to the others.

My house super original condition, 35 years old, very dirty & run down. I hated it when hubby brought me to see, seriously wanted to throw up.

Before the reno, this is the condition

After looks like this

It's a simple house, not like yours, so glam.

Beautifully done up

Congrats on your new home

[calliecats 0]

Finally figure out how to upload photos here..kekeke...

Ya, Ed did my reno. Actually, almost didn't get him cos at that time I already got proposals from 2 other contractors. But very confused with the quotations as some of the items listed in one contractor's proposal missing from the other contractor's proposal. And when I asked them about it, they said must additional charge, so the proposal not final. I was quite scared, first time doing reno, don't want to get ripped off. So decided to ask Ed to quote after seeing my friend's house which he did, the quality not bad. His proposal also the most complete compared to the others.

My house super original condition, 35 years old, very dirty & run down. I hated it when hubby brought me to see, seriously wanted to throw up.

Before the reno, this is the condition

After looks like this

It's a simple house, not like yours, so glam.

Wow, your house is beautiful! Really very different from mine.

Ed did such a great job for your place too

What a transformation!

I really look forward to you starting your own blog so that you can share more pics. I'm really interested to see how you have done up the rest of the house. So you have moved in already?

Have a great day

[goldenginger 0]

Finally managed to find the time to upload more pics on photobucket. Thank you for your patience

Foyer Before

Foyer After

Household shelter concealed behind tick tack door with mirror panels (when door is open)

Household shelter concealed behind tick tack door with mirror panels (when door is closed)

Hi Calliecats & Happybaby,

Both your reno looks impressive. Wish I can also do it like yours. Can you PM me your contractor's contact? Would you recommend your contractor?

I need someone trustworthy & value for money too. Don't want to have to spend money & have sleepless nights. Thanks alot.

[calliecats 0]

Hi Calliecats & Happybaby,

Both your reno looks impressive. Wish I can also do it like yours. Can you PM me your contractor's contact? Would you recommend your contractor?

I need someone trustworthy & value for money too. Don't want to have to spend money & have sleepless nights. Thanks alot.

Hi goldenginger,

Thanks for your compliments. I've been encouraging Happy to create a blog & post her pics so that we can all admire!

PMed to you the details. Do contact Ed soon, you have to "chope" him as he only handles 1 big project at any 1 time. All the best on your reno.

[clouds00007 1]

Hi clouds,

Yes I did whole house walls in wall paper, except kitchen & bathrooms which are tiled, and guest room.

I got them on a business trip overseas & got my contractor to install them for me.

Are you doing reno for your house & thinking of using wall paper too?

we will be getting our keys on the first week of oct and there will be a few pieces of walls which we are still considering if its needs wallpapering.

[HappyBaby 0]

Hi Happy,

Thanks for your compliments. Congrats too on your bundle of joy.

So, you got Ed to do your reno too? That's great. When are you starting your reno?

I think if you have time, do share your pics & experiences so we can all benefit from one another.

Have a great day

Callie jie,

I started posting le. Thanks for your encouragement!!

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=50727

[haven32 0]

Hi Rayfox,

Thanks for your compliments. I did spend alot of time looking through magazines & of course reading Renotalk for tips! So thanks to all those RTers who opened up their homes to share useful info.

I decided to do this blog partly to document my reno journey & also to give back something to others who are in similar positions & trying their best to create their dream home for themselves & their loved ones. I believe that those who come here hope to do up their ideal abode in the most economical & problem free manner. I just wanted to share an objective view & will not hesitate to give credit where credit is due.

Contrary to popular belief, furnishing need not be expensive to have luxe feel. Many times, it is a matter of putting interesting textures together & layering the colours to create the effect. Colours play a big part of the mood that it creates. I believe the most important thing is that the home should be a reflection of who you are, like a dress or your makeup. You would want your home to be "you" & cater to your needs. For me, my home is an extention of who I am as a person & should be functional to me taking into account my habits, as well as relatively easy to maintain, and yet have the lux feel. I have to travel often for work & live half my time in hotels so perhaps I was influenced by the "hotel" look that many RTers have commented that my home looks like.

Most importantly, I do not believe in following trends. Trends come & go, and in a few years time, a trend popular now might already be dated & it would be easy for people to date your home to a particular time period just looking at it. Go with your heart & create a home that you can feel that you would not want to step out of & you will have a done a successful renovation. Of course having said that, if a particularly popular trend is something that speaks to you, then by all means go with it. Just don't be pressured by your ID/contractor to agree to a home design that you do not think is functional (TO YOU) or you cannot say "I love my home!". A good contractor, for example, should ask you about your daily habits, what activities you have in different parts of the home (for lighting)& how you work in the kitchen etc. He or she can then advice you on what would be a good design FOR YOU.

I have talked to many contractors & IDs who tried to designed my house as if it were their house, with lots of work where I do not need, maybe so that they can charge more for the works. And then there are those who just do what you tell them, and provide no constructive input. Two ends of the extremes both of which could not give me what I needed. I wanted to entrust my home to someone who could be a sounding board to my ideas, especially in the technical aspects which I have no clue, as well as excellent execution of their works with minimal supervision on my part in the reno process.

So to all the RTers still looking for your ideal partner to entrust your reno to, all the very best! If you like my home, drop me a PM if you need to know anything. I'm open to share about any aspect - reno, furnishing, colours, materials, ideas... It's just my way of giving back a little to all that I have gained from RT.

To those who have PMed me, I'm still trying to clear my backlog (haha). Please be patient & I will try my best to get back to you as soon as I can.

Have a great week ahead

Well said. the most un-pretentious comment in this forum. Based on what I saw, you house reno would cost a lot for me. Even though I love the design, it would be a fleeting moment of "hey this is the best look or this is what i want". i went through all the individual blogs here and met some of the contractors here. There is 1 who did not even quote me or responded back. a lot of folks here are asking for his contact but i reckon he is overwhelmed with request than he wishes. To those of you who are reading this, don't get upset if one or more of those contractors/id here who don''t live up to expectation on what you saw in this forum. I would stop giving out contractor contacts, especially those who are so sought after. They are human being and there is a limit to their creative juices.

i am one of those who had zero sense in design. i am not using a ID but a contractor for cost reasons. Today was the first day in hacking. the contractor also have no sense in design gosh !!! well i know that beforehand so it will be a fun journey. however my nerves are getting to me. i needed assurance, mentally. Looking back i would have gone for a younger person who can communicate with me primarily in english and who have some design ideas or concepts. Yeah it will cost more but hey i reckon i can sleep better tonight. i am having a glass of whisky to smooth the soul and boost the confidence.

well done on what you had done on the reno. pls continue to share with us on your journey. meantime, would you be kind to share with me the color of the 'bling bling'gold paint you put on the toilet pipes. many thanks