My Mini Jumbo

[Tigaroo 1]

Looks like ..... got to redo the whole kitchen and bathroom.. take away all the connies, the arches,.. change the zircon.....

The floor tiles can use back since the color looks neutral .

[ck35 0]

These pictures are taking from the marketing agent's property guru website.

The best part of this house is the lights. There are many windows and the whole house is very bright! The owners are malays and they kept the house very clean! Look at the tiles and you'll know what I meant. In fact, I feel a bit 'sayang' to hack away the stuffs but because we want to change the layout we have to do it.

I am thinking to keep the toilet until the hdb does the HIP (home improvement program) which should happen in 2 years time in this cluster. In that case I can make use of the bath tub and decide if I want to install the bath tub later. We know how difficult it is to maintain a bathtub. The cleaning is not easy. My worry is if I renovate the toilets now and when the HIP happens the tiles will be destroyed. I also love the idea of boxing up the pipes but with the HIP coming it's not ideal to box up now and hack them away later so I rather reno the toilets later. Luckily the kitchen pipes are hidden in a corner so I still can do a 'temporary' door to cover that pipes until hdb changes it then I concealed the pipes fully.

[ck35 0]

Hi Tigaroo

Yes, I'm doing whole kitchen and bathroom (still thinking to do bathroom now or later) and keeping the floor tiles. They are in really good condition and I like white. So the floor tiles is up to my taste.

I will replace the cornices with L-box, want to keep it simple. The arches will go

[ck35 0]

This is the floor plan of the house if all the hacking goes as the way it was planned...

[potatoes 0]

I like your new layout .... making the entire place look even more spacious and open.

The place is very well maintained by the previous owner, so you can still keep some things like flooring, windows and doors. The walls in the pics seems smooth to me, u can save quite a bit on plastering too.

Exciting too see how u r going to transfrom the kitchen and living/dining area

Edited June 24, 2012 by potatoes

[jaskel 2]

I was looking at forums for ideas and chanced upon this forum. A member suggested I start a t-Blog and I decided to do it after seeing what others have done. I love seeing how a house is being transformed hence I do not mind sharing mine, except that I've not started working on it

We decided to move from the current 4A flat to a bigger place with 4 bedrooms as the 2 boys are getting older and want their privacy. As our choices were limited (we only want to stay near within walking distance to Tamp MRT) we preferred to buy first before we sell. As fate might have it, when I have given up looking, I saw this jumbo flat for sale. Well, in HDB term it is called 5A but the marketing agent called it a Jumbo. Since it is a 5room flat the price is almost 100-150k cheaper than a EA/EM in the same area. Other 5 room flats in the same area will not give us 4 bedrooms unless we want to move away from the MRT. The flat is a combination of 2 3-rooms. It is not hacked and combined by individual but by the government and are considered 'rare' in the area as only a few units can be found in a few blocks of this cluster of 3 room flats.

I offered to the agent on my very first viewing but it took us 3 days to close the deal. The agent wanted to start a bidding game but I refused. I told her I'm willing to pay slightly more than the asking but I want an immediate confirmation. To me, getting the rare unit is more important than anything else. At most I will sacrifice a few holidays haha.

The owners asked for 50k cov and I offered 55k and got the unit

We are very happy as the unit is only 5 mins away from Tamp MRT. It is really a good deal. The unit cost me 520k + 55k which is so much cheaper than getting a EA/EM!

Keys will be collected in October and renovation should start end Oct/early Nov and I hope to move in by December. We are looking at ideas and will hire a contractor to do instead of an ID as it is so much more economical. We especially love contractor who thinks like an ID.

Hi ck35,

Welcome to Renotalk!

Have a smooth sailing renovation!

Cheers ,

Jaskel

[ck35 0]

I like your new layout .... making the entire place look even more spacious and open.

The place is very well maintained by the previous owner, so you can still keep some things like flooring, windows and doors. The walls in the pics seems smooth to me, u can save quite a bit on plastering too.

Exciting too see how u r going to transfrom the kitchen and living/dining area

The flooring is still very good but the windows I would like to change to casement. Right now it's sliding which blocks off some wind. I like to leave the windows fully opened to allow the breeze to come in...

The walls are old fashion haha...the photos must be too well taken that you can't see. It is one of those rough surface old fashion type so plastering is definitely a must.

I'm very excited too and can't wait to start working on it

[ck35 0]

Hi ck35,

Welcome to Renotalk!

Have a smooth sailing renovation!

Cheers ,

Jaskel

Thanks Jaskel

I'm very glad to chance upon this forum..am enjoying reading all the blogs so far

[adidaem 6]

Hi, do you plan to have a study room as well? Looks like there is space for that or to have a maid's room.

If you plan to hack/erect new walls, note that the existing tiles may be affected. Older tiles may pop. If not I see some RT-ers do up nice mosiacs instead for the area where hacked walls used to be e.g. Paloma's kitchen entrance:

Link: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=48695&view=findpost&p=727533

[ck35 0]

Hi, do you plan to have a study room as well? Looks like there is space for that or to have a maid's room.

If you plan to hack/erect new walls, note that the existing tiles may be affected. Older tiles may pop. If not I see some RT-ers do up nice mosiacs instead for the area where hacked walls used to be e.g. Paloma's kitchen entrance:

Link: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=48695&view=findpost&p=727533

Hello there

Thanks for the tips on the popping tiles. I'll discuss with the hired contractor and see how it goes. If it really will happen looks like I have to spend a lot more

There won't be any live-in maid in the house and I was actually thinking of doing a study area in the balcony area but then I was thinking who will sit there and surf the net when everyone can be in the comfort of their air-conditioned room? So the thought of cosy corner came up and I might even put a swing there if it's not too expensive.

[ck35 0]

We purchased our very first piece of furnishing from our new home, the MAX COIL Posturecare JEWEL...it gave us the same comfort as we lied on the Simmons. The Simmons cost 4.2k while the max coil cost 4k with a King Size Storage bed. I like the quality of the storage bed. It's made of nyatoh wood and it came in one piece instead of the usual two pieces (for king size bed). There is also warranty on the hydraulic. We also asked for the long pillow as free gift.

Before this purchase we were looking out at the top 3S brands but the ones we like are really too expensve (sealy at 6k) and we can't bear to throw that kinda money onto a mattress...my budget is actually 3k so by splurging 4k I'm already 'out of budget.'

Hope maxcoil wont fail us. We heard mixed reviews about this. Will share with you how it is after I slept on it

[clouds00007 1]

wow, u had a better layout then mine.. so envy to be able to re-create such a big kitchen area.

[ck35 0]

wow, u had a better layout then mine.. so envy to be able to re-create such a big kitchen area.

Hey i just looked at your blog. Your layout is better than mine! if I have what you have, i wont even knock down any walls as I need all 4 bedrooms. The reason for me shifting the bedroom 2 to the other side is bec of privacy i need all bedrooms to be together. In your scenerio you have a good living room! no odd shape. I actually prefer yours

Where is your dream home located at? mine is in Tampines, it's two 3i flats comobined into one..a corner and a corridor unit....

[clouds00007 1]

Hey i just looked at your blog. Your layout is better than mine! if I have what you have, i wont even knock down any walls as I need all 4 bedrooms. The reason for me shifting the bedroom 2 to the other side is bec of privacy i need all bedrooms to be together. In your scenerio you have a good living room! no odd shape. I actually prefer yours

Where is your dream home located at? mine is in Tampines, it's two 3i flats comobined into one..a corner and a corridor unit....

Hi CK35,

So sorry for my turtle speed response ^_^ but i suppose late is better than never.

Well, guess grass is really always greener on the other side.

If we have your layout, we would have the perfect open plan kitchen.

Mine is in Yishun, but its not a corner unit though, but its also 2 3rms combined (doors facing each other). not sure if its 3i.

So how is your reno? we are really looking forward to your final transformations

[ck35 0]

Hi CK35,

So sorry for my turtle speed response ^_^ but i suppose late is better than never.

Well, guess grass is really always greener on the other side.

If we have your layout, we would have the perfect open plan kitchen.

Mine is in Yishun, but its not a corner unit though, but its also 2 3rms combined (doors facing each other). not sure if its 3i.

So how is your reno? we are really looking forward to your final transformations

Hello There,

We are only getting keys in End October so renovation will most likely start only in November

Will update here when my renovation starts, right now i'm enjoying everyone's updates here

Chris