An Audiophile's Mid Century Home

[Nellynutt 0]

interesting, keep on posting

[petetherock 13]

Today was a mad warzone, as the Ikea, Calligaris, lights, Kotoku fan, painters etc all descended on my place... oh and the bed AaFrenz too....

The nice thing was that the bed people offered to deliver, then fix up the bed on another day, which was great, since I didn't have to put up the padding in the lift and still get my place ready next week.

Great stuff!

[huzc 0]

Very interested in ur console... Looking forward to ur pictures.

Edited November 18, 2011 by huzc

[adidaem 6]

Oh your place will be ready next week? That's fast. Looking forward to pics.

Are you keeping all the rooms and walls as they are?

[petetherock 13]

It's a simple job, the action is mainly in the living / dining area... feature wall, lights, false ceiling etc

The place is about 3 years old or so, so the kitchen, toilets are all fine, so I only added furniture, beds etc... plus a new coat of paint..

I did some interesting things to my Ikea furniture to make it look less Ikea..

Eg, I took the back board of the Billy bookcases, and painted them the same color as the wall ( Dulux Sun Kiss) so it looks like there is no backing.

And they were actually supposed to end today!

But you always factor in some buffer... first gathering at my place is slated for next Friday...

Deliveries continue and I have no more space for all the stuff, as work is still continuing... I have used up most of my bay windows to store items so that when they polish the floor next week, they can do it...

[Nellynutt 0]

It's a simple job, the action is mainly in the living / dining area... feature wall, lights, false ceiling etc

The place is about 3 years old or so, so the kitchen, toilets are all fine, so I only added furniture, beds etc... plus a new coat of paint..

I did some interesting things to my Ikea furniture to make it look less Ikea..

Eg, I took the back board of the Billy bookcases, and painted them the same color as the wall ( Dulux Sun Kiss) so it looks like there is no backing.

And they were actually supposed to end today!

But you always factor in some buffer... first gathering at my place is slated for next Friday...

Deliveries continue and I have no more space for all the stuff, as work is still continuing... I have used up most of my bay windows to store items so that when they polish the floor next week, they can do it...

will there be an opening house for reno fellow?!?!?

[adidaem 6]

Yeah Ikea hacking is fun. Be careful of the dust from polishing. I found brown wood dust in the weirdest places.

[petetherock 13]

The bedrooms are still essentially empty... the bed people were very nice, they offered to deliver, and then assemble after the polishing.

The chair people at Winter were also very nice - Summer - yep, that's his name, lent me some chairs whilst my new ones were being made, so I have them for the gathering.

On the other hand, Lush messed up, the Eames lounge chair was found to be dented and the rest of the stuff will only come in December. I hope it will be before X Mas!

My main concern is that the workers avoid stepping on the Calligaris dining table whilst working on the ceiling!

My study room is painted ICI Marina Blue, and it was very nice, so I took a chance and went for Sun Kiss for the wall adjacent to the dining area, and kept a more safe Picket White for the hall/living area.

But I used Signal Red for the bomb shelter door - since I wasn't going to spend money on hiding it, I might as well make it stand out!

[petetherock 13]

As for invite, let's see, send me a pm, introduce yourself, and maybe when the hi fi aficionados pop over you can join in...

Did our subwoofer test today... we ran a 12 to 80Hz bass sweep to look for vibrations in any of the structures, and all the reinforcements we built into the structures worked. We managed to shake everyone to the core, but only the T5 lighting in the cove shook, as they were not secured yet.

Everything else has plenty of "Maxbond" and silicon sealant to keep things in place. You can hit the feature wall with your fist and nothing will move.

There is an abundant use of rockwool, more than 80kg, plus wooden struts for the ceiling instead of the weaker and vibration prone aluminum ones commonly used. Even the ceiling is stuffed full of rockwool.

[petetherock 13]

Electricals:

I swopped out the existing Chinese made MK wall sockets and switches - they are nice, but the contractor changed the plugs to Legrand Mallia for me.

For the Hi Fi, all switches are MK ones that I sourced which are gold plated and made in UK, and meant to last forever...

[petetherock 13]

Lighting

Since this is a home theatre project too, the hall lighting needs to be adaptable and also variable.

I have various levels of lighting intensity, colors and the environment can be controlled to suit the situation.

COVE LIGHT PROJECT

- L Bar- 125mm down from ceiling, MDF thickness 75mm, sticking out 400mm from the wall, except at the front feature wall (500mm) - that also gives me room for a hidden motorised screen in future

- Power socket at the top for the projector screen

- L bar also to hide cabling for Home theatre cables

LIGHTING:

- down lights - use warm lights - energy saving bulbs - Philips 2 X 14W

- cove lights - T5 for ease of changing them - no dimmer needed – warm white lights – electronic ballast for all lights.

Electronic ballasts are important, as you don’t want that buzzing sound when you turn on the lights from the speakers.

- switches - get different switches for dining area down lights vs living area;

SWITCHES/LIGHTS

Considering Legrand Mallia– firm click feel type

Switch for the cove lights – single switch with relay function – using existing living room switch

Separate ones for down lights for dining and living areas

Additional cove light – dim LED strip light for cinema effect

New switch for the fan

Switch for LED lights in feature wall - to provide ambient light behind the flatscreen TV

Switch for the down light in the console – to be mounted on the wall itself next to the lights - it's important to be able to visualise the back of the home theatre equipment, so there must be lighting and I also installed a mirror to allow me to see the back of the console.

Switch for the low cinema lights running along the bottom of the bay window, to the right of the wall, just like those cinemas...

Switches will be in a series of three gang setups at the side of the console.

- for hallway entrance to living area - continue cove light box, and there will be two down lights

A PH 5 lamp will provide mood and ambient lighting, whilst the warm down lights will illuminate the posters / paintings on the wall, and the warm white cove lights will beef up the hall brightness for a bigger gathering where provide maximum light is the aim.

In the master bedroom, a fanlight from Crestar will have three LED spotlights which will be directly to the head of the bed for reading, whilst one of them provides general illumination. I will add another bedside lamp later on, or an uplight.

Edited November 19, 2011 by petetherock

[petetherock 13]

Finally some lights..

Chengai flooring for the balcony...

This was very well done, and I recommended the installer.

Crestar fanlight

Hook from Ikea

[petetherock 13]

That's my feature wall, stuffed full of rockwool, reinforced to take a 100kg TV, with shelving for Blu Ray discs and DVDs.

Hydraulic upper door, half fold side doors.

20 wall sockets, with 4 dedicated 20amp lines from a new DB.

Fancy 3 in 1 oven/microwave/convection oven etc...

Edited November 20, 2011 by petetherock

[TeD 0]

Electricals:

I swopped out the existing Chinese made MK wall sockets and switches - they are nice, but the contractor changed the plugs to Legrand Mallia for me.

For the Hi Fi, all switches are MK ones that I sourced which are gold plated and made in UK, and meant to last forever...

I am looking for the MK gold plated ones, I need 2 sets, possible to share the source/

Many thanks!

[TeD 0]

Table Matters

With most of the pieces in my new place coming together, the them of a retro place from the 70s is slowing but surely emerging from all the other scattered ideas and concepts.

And as a result, right now the main thing that is taking a whole load of time is my dining table. Apart from the lounge chair, this will be the piece de resistance… I am reluctant to part with a big wad of cash, and the Ikea Bjursta extendable table at $245, makes all the rest look expensive. So being so “cost conscious” doesn’t really help at all.

It means you are getting the real deal based solely on looks and not form. However, as a friend mentioned, if you have got period pieces that cost quite a bit in the living room, using the Ikea does not seem to fit, and perhaps getting something you like and then enjoying it maybe be better?

Furthermore, I have plenty of experience with the Ikea Bjursta, since it is used at a friend’s home for Bible Study every week and I can see that with 15 people sitting around it week in and week out, the wear and tear is evident. The laminate is fraying and the table is showing it’s edge.

So the hunt for an alternative, begins…

Well first, there are replicas of famous pieces at much lower prices, which can be had from Lush Lush, Lorgans and an online website “Studio 1961”. The price varies on them, and the designs are many…

So far the top hits are:

Kawaguchi Table

Hans Wegner Dining table

Calligaris Finland (nonextendable) table

Gers 50s table:

Replicas for them can be had from 1300 upwards.

I also went to Grafunkt, a nice local company with some really nice tables, but they really cost a lot and I was a little embarrassed, with almost everything beyond what I wanted to pay, except for a small “Werk” table that resembled a study table instead of a propery dining one.

Calligaris from Italy makes extendable tables, but the trouble is price price and price. Most of them begin at $1700 and the cheaper ones seem flimsy. Some of them also don’t go with the 50-70s décor anyway. So it’s like I am trying to fit them into my home with a hefty price tag and yet, I may not enjoy them.

However one of them impressed me more:

The Calligaris Baron 130 extendable table in Walnut for $1698.

The version which is specially made for our “mickey mouse” houses in Singapore is a smaller 130cm version which extends to 190cm.

I got a nice deal on a walnut frame version with a dark coffee colored top made of glass – so it’s ‘girl friendly’, since you can’t look through the dark glass…

75cm H x 130-190cm W x 85cm D

http://www.wayfair.co.uk/Calligaris-Baron-Wooden-Extending-Dining-Table-130-190cm-CS-4010-LL-130-CII1819.html

So the price difference and the struggle over the vast difference between the Ikea table and the nicer, fancier ones got me ruminating for a long time…. And it was almost an obsession.

Why pay more?

It’s just a table, one side of my head and some friends said.

Why not?

After all the rest of the décor has been spent on stuff which makes the place look nice so a little more on this table won’t hurt.

I finally decided to splurge on a nicer table after some tough days at work, and when those cases went really well, I decided to reward myself, especially since there was an extra allowance of $500.

So it was down to a Hans Wegner replica CH 327, but I still kept my eye out for the Calligaris ones, even though there was a 4-500$ difference.

What clinched it was the lunch I had at my friend’s home, where I saw the Calligaris in action, and how nice it felt, the solidity of the structures and that it was truly useful in accommodating more guests when required. Plus the fact that there was a shipment arriving within days of my order helped, as ordering any of the others will mean a 1-2 month wait.

I was nevertheless very impressed with Studio 1961 and will try to get something from them.

Footnote:

When we shop, it's imperative that you get the proportions, and measurements right. For example, even though my hall was 3m wide, I found that a 150cm was pretty big already, as you need space for the chairs, for others to walk etc. A table which is too large will be disproportionate, and look overbearing.

The color tone, and scheme should also go with the rest of the chairs used and the living room theme too.

Finally a table needs to be durable. A simple push and shove test will suffice and if the table flexes to the left and right, that's not acceptable at all.

I actually wanted something bigger than the 130 cm version, but it was good that I went to my place and placed a paper of that size there.. Even though the room was close to 3m wide, actually you need space around it to walk around, and if the proportions are wrong, then it will look too overbearing, and with only one PH5 light on top, it is imperative to get the lighting correct too.

Plus, it extends to 190 cm when needed, which will fill up the entire dining area too.

I look forward to seeing how the lighting will be with the PH5, reflecting off dark glass top. Actually, the Baron 130 in walnut is created only for Singapore, all the other model can be bought worldwide, but if you Google for this combination, you wont find it. With only five pieces locally, I guess it's a limited edition then..

On the subject of tables…

I found out with some fortune before Ikea delivers my study table tomorrow (Amon with Vicki legs or something like that) that it was too big for my tiny study, so I went down, found a friendly Ikea man who then simulated my room size by using adjacent tables and cupboards and we found one study table which fitted nicely. And it was on sale at Ikea Tampines, going down from $625 to $399! So I hopped into my car, drove like the wind, and also tried to contact the delivery people and they were very kind, as they helped me contact the Ikea customer service and together, they arranged for me to swop out the older table, get this one in time for the delivery. Kudos!

baron 130... mind sharing where u got them from? was at XZQT but did not see this model?