paloma 1 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 (edited) After a year of waiting for our sale of balance flat, my fiance and I received our keys from HDB in March this year. We spent a month looking for a suitable contractor, and finally decided to go with one recommended by a fellow renotalk member, whose house we were really impressed with! As we had a good idea of how we wanted the house to be, we decided not to engage an interior designer and take on the renovation project on our own - with the contractor's help. At this point, we can't say if it was a smart move or if we were foolhardy, but diving into such a massive project - building your own home - is definitely not for the weak-hearted! There are endless decisions to make (Should we hack the kitchen wall? Where should our light points be? How thick should the brick wall grouting be?) and not having expert knowledge means we have got to do research on almost EVERYTHING. But so far, we are enjoying the process and hopefully will be rewarded with a beautiful home! We have rather ecclectic taste so there's no one style that we are aiming for. But we foresee there'll be a mix of mid-century modern, scandinavian and vintage elements in our home. For those who share similar tastes, we'll love to hear from you and share ideas and deals! Hope all of you will enjoy our future posts! Edited April 14, 2012 by paloma Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paloma 1 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 (edited) Our floor plan:How our house looked like before the renovation:The living roomThe kitchenThe master bedroom Edited April 27, 2012 by paloma Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Punggolfamily 0 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 Hi hi! Congrats on getting started on your reno! Post more pictures k? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paloma 1 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 (edited) Renovation Day 1Our contractor came with a group of subcontractors, armed with their big tools, ready to start work at our place. Soon, our house was turned into a warzone, and we knew it will not be the same again!We must say, the work was done very quickly. Within an hour, two of our walls came tumbling down right before our eyes!Our kitchen wall getting the axe/A worker halving our study room wallDrilling the foundations of our kitchen wallLast bits of the wall before it all came crashing downThis is warzone Edited April 27, 2012 by paloma Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kim76 18 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 Welcome welcome!!!My layout at Sunshine Court is almost the same as yours. I hack away the kitchen walls. Now kitchen looks much bigger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paloma 1 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 Hi hi! Congrats on getting started on your reno! Post more pictures k?Hi thanks, will do! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paloma 1 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 (edited) Day 2 and 3We were surprised to see that the red brick wall in our living room was up by Day 2. We love the exposed brick look, so even though some people may think it's quite overdone these days, we decided to stick to it anyway.By Day 3, the workers started to lay the cement structure for our kitchen counter. We'll be laying white subway tiles over it with black grouting. The brick wall in the living roomA worker laying the cement structure for our kitchen counter Edited April 27, 2012 by paloma Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paloma 1 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 (edited) Day 6-8Our renovation work moves ahead speedily! Over the last few days, we had workers come in to fix our electrical wiring, more work done for our brick walls, and (gasps!) our kitchen counter almost completed!Fixing the wiring for our living room lightsCraftstone in the master bedroom without grouting Edited April 27, 2012 by paloma Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paloma 1 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 (edited) Our kitchen counter almost done without groutingA worker filling the bricks with grout Edited April 27, 2012 by paloma Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paloma 1 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 (edited) Our kitchen appliances, waiting to be installedGoing back to the basics with pen and paper drawings Edited April 27, 2012 by paloma Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paloma 1 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 (edited) Day 9No major changes today but refinements were made to our wall and kitchen cabinets.Filling in the grouting for our master bedroom brickwallInner tiles laid and sink installed Edited April 27, 2012 by paloma Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ayazumi 0 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 Looking at the kitchen countertop reminds of pinkwhale's home renovation. Did you use the same contractor as hers?I like the red brick feature wall. Looks like a firehouse. Cool! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
paloma 1 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 Looking at the kitchen countertop reminds of pinkwhale's home renovation. Did you use the same contractor as hers?I like the red brick feature wall. Looks like a firehouse. Cool!Hi ayazumi, yes we did! She was very kind to share the contact with us. Her kitchen really caught our attention because we wanted to do tiles for our counters. So far, we are very pleased with the workmanship. Thanks for liking our wall, we really like it too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dracwy 0 Report post Posted April 14, 2012 wow, nice brick wall. must be tough designing and deciding. whether to break down walls is always a difficult decision to make. i can understand. was thinking to myself whether i made the right decision when the workers started hacking my bathroom. but i think once the project is nearer completion, u'll realise u've made the right decision Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
revox88 0 Report post Posted April 15, 2012 Your kitchen counter sure goin to last for decades...clean cut designs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
