Memoirs Of A Princess And Her Geek

[gohlex 0]

Hi Princess,

do you mind sharing contact of Jaskel, Alan and Roy with me? Thanks very much.

[HaiDeChen 0]

Update: Caesarstone 2141 went up~!! chose colour for backsplash glass too >.< (non white or black, hopefully the colour chosen will pay off!), finally finalized the drawings for the toilets as well... but there's a hiccup with the wardrobe cabinetry due to the 'bifold' type of door we wanted.. sigh not sure if we have to forgo it in the end.. wardrobe cabinetry is up as well.. will be taking more pictures to post soon!

Also started hunting for furniture.. went to many places.. and some shops had very nice things~~ My geek n i were sorely tempted to just pay the deposit for some of the sofas, but thankfully didn't commit and came back home to do research first.. Comments as below:

1. Kuka (fell in love with a sofa there (duo toned) with a ottoman to match; unfortunately, reviews of them (previously Montella) were ULTRA bad =( it's all on renotalk ( )

2. Winter International (Wanted to buy a customised sofa there (it was everything we wanted, the softness of the sofa, full leather, high back rest (can be adjusted to hide head rest), duo toned, wooden legs (punggol items tend to rust.. and although sandpapering and the autosol (spelling wrong?) can help, din wan to be rubbing the sofa legs); BUT Winter, Red Apple, Mode Studio are all the same family - VERY BAD reviews... )

3. Cellini (love the caesarstone tables there (the parkmall branch has more range than the branch at furniture mall (plus furniture mall lady has an attitude problem), but design can't seem to match our house... leather sofa wise, din dare to buy from them as we've heard of Cellini sofas peeling within 2 years )

4. Air Division (loooooveeee the items there, but taj sofa has been phased out and we were so depressed we din wan to see other things there.. oh ya, and the price is really expensive as well o.o)

5. Grafunkt (loooooveeee the items there too, but totally can't find our design.. theirs seem more appropriate for scandi/ mid century modern and such.. but ours is leaning more towards modern contemp)

6. Massimmo (took a ultra fast spin and came out, items were nice, but price is totally out...)

7. Lorenzo (items look good, salesperson didn't hard sell, might buy from there eventually)

8. Novena/ Nova/ Vhive (have been hearing horror stories about quality of items there, so decided to skip these even though we did go and shop around in these places.. some items (SOME) looked nice and were reasonabl priced, but.... skipping them)

9. Wynn (first came across them at expo, then at FM, liked their fabric sofas quite a lot, but thinking of maintaining the fabric sofa gives me headache (have to wash the outer covering)

10. Shop at FM (forgot the name) (we were interested in a fabric sofa there, had a *****, but.........fabric....)

11. Hommage Trading (didn't have high expectations, so was very pleasantly surprised.. some items looked good and they had quartz table! (but delivery for the table we wanted is in april 2013 items there were nice though, might buy from there eventually!)

We've been shopping at IMM, FM and Kaki bukit area.. yet to go Sungei Kadut (duno whether should go)

Shout out for help! Anyone knows where we can get quartz table or leather sofas?

Thanks!!!

Hi, you can try Star Furniture/Living just beside Pasir Panjang...go straight to the Jotter section, they have 3 nice sofas.

Nearby at century warehouse (Pasir Panjang 100e) where Lorgan;s is located, on the 8th or 7th floor, there is a shop that sells danish designed sofas..REALLY beautiful but really expensive. Was tempted to get from them, but decided to get from Air Division instead.

[HaiDeChen 0]

You can also make your way to Tan Boon Liat Building along Outram Road, Pomelo, mountain teak, journey east all have really nice pieces.

[yanz 0]

Hi Princess, may I know how much was your budget for ur reno and which contractor are you using for your house? Don't mind can PM me? TIA!

[princessandhergeek 1]

I think mine exceptional case (exceptional bad luck). so dun worry, most people's flooring is fine. there may be some small holes appearing but not supposed to be as extensive as mine. no, they will not charge additional, becos the contractor in the first place suggested redo the grout to solve the uneven grout color. but then after that, he say maybe just partial dapping with acid can make the color more even. so I ok with his suggestion but now do until like this, maybe still have to redo grout...

hi original!

not sure if u r still checking the forums - but so sorry for the late reply! been sooooo busy that i rarely have time to do anything

how's ur reno progress now? moved in yet?

[princessandhergeek 1]

Hee! Hub n my eyes were set on a U shaped sofa from Kuka too!!!! Price isn't cheap.. We saw it from Picket and Rail at IMM.. They're one of e distributor for Kuka oso.. E salesperson there was very nice n not pushy.. She oso advised us to maybe pop by another showroom at ubi to look at e sofa.. But then................. We realized e founder of Kuka is from China n their factories are mainly from China.. So we're pretty confused whether e sofa is from China or like wat e salesperson say, from Germany.. Haa!

yup! kuka is expensive!! I've also heard that kuka is china brand.. just like KG sofas =( so in the end we decided to skip it.. it's not that china made stuff are definitely bad.. but there is a risk there and plus paying 4k for a China sofa which is being touted as a german sofa doesn't sit well with both me n my hubby.. gotta be wise with spending!

[princessandhergeek 1]

I didn't see any but I accidently left food on my dining table yesterday! Bought sardine puffs from the coffee shop downstairs. Blinds r going up today!

hi kenjo!

wonder if u r still reading the forums? anyway - hows ur gate? did u diy paint it in the end?

>.< i tot food is meant to be on the table? hehehehe :sport-smiley-004:

u mean the broadway coffee shop? i find it a bit ex - went to grab a bandung and kopi si peng for 2.50 - dun think this is a common price - either that or the auntie dun like me

hows ur blinds? any recommendations? looking at curtains now lol

[princessandhergeek 1]

Hi! Just wanted to say thank you for sharing so much info! Have been quietly reading the thread for updates... Hope it'll be our turn soon and all these info can come in handy.

Good luck on the remaining stuff!

hi kara! thanx for dropping by! hehe m glad to be able to share - i've been helped a lot by other forummers - so i'd like to be able to give back in the same capacity by sharing.. =D

pay it forward~!

anyway, good luck on ur reno too!! =D just remember - forums are a really good source of info - read up more before committing a buy - that'd save u lots of heartaches and time - but again, u cant foresee everything.. so we just got to do our best and pray that everything will go well =D

[princessandhergeek 1]

I found this lovely shop Dian Sanctuary in Balestier. They do customised sofa, as in... U bring them a pict of the sofa u want... They will match it to a T according to ur preferences. So if u really like Taj, u can consider them. But not cheap though.

On a sidenote, we just got our fabric sofa yesterday! Love love it!

Hi Princess,

We bought our leather 3 plus two from courts megastore 5 years ago and it is still in reasonably good condition.

It is in cream colour, still not torned from everyday usage, the seats are still firm and comfort level is the same.

My girlfriends who come by does not believe it is a five year old sofa. It cost me about 2k back then. Comes with spring support.

Hope this is helpful.

Hi, you can try Star Furniture/Living just beside Pasir Panjang...go straight to the Jotter section, they have 3 nice sofas.

Nearby at century warehouse (Pasir Panjang 100e) where Lorgan;s is located, on the 8th or 7th floor, there is a shop that sells danish designed sofas..REALLY beautiful but really expensive. Was tempted to get from them, but decided to get from Air Division instead.

You can also make your way to Tan Boon Liat Building along Outram Road, Pomelo, mountain teak, journey east all have really nice pieces.

dear all,

thanx so much for responding to the shout out~~~really appreciate >.<

in the end we din have enuf time to do everything (now on retrospect maybe we should have given more thought to it all) but the information u hv shared will be great fodder for future purchases!! will probably collate a list to collect all these info =D

we bought our sofa and dining table from Hommage furniture (turns out that Hommage furniture = hommage trading - got so confused there for a while) - delivery is ultra fast (2 weeks for dining table and a month for sofa).. still waiting for some pieces to come along.. rawr! according to Hommage, as long as u bring them the pictures, they can do it, and they are selling a lot of the pieces seen in the outside showrooms (same supplier?)..

anyway we bought 2 items from them - cultured marble table + dining chairs and sofa based on a picture that he has.. both we chose more based on aesthetic rather than 'softness'.. hope we wun regret it in time to come.....

[princessandhergeek 1]

Hi Princess,

do you mind sharing contact of Jaskel, Alan and Roy with me? Thanks very much.

hi gohlex,

PM'ed u Roy's contact! I do not have Jaskel's or Alan's number though - perhaps you could check the other forummers?

[princessandhergeek 1]

Hi Princess, may I know how much was your budget for ur reno and which contractor are you using for your house? Don't mind can PM me? TIA!

hi yanz, Pm'ed u~~!

happy renoing!!

[chezph 0]

anyway, our favorite light by far is actually the artichoke light - ya - i keep talking about it - haha.. first saw it in lieblingsg's photo (his Tiong bahru SIT flat).. we like the angular frames on the light =D

look at the original! (we took this photo at a shop along balestier road =D

this picture wowed me a lot as it looked exactly like the pictures they have online (i thought they photoshopped it).. unfortunately, two reasons why we wouldn't be getting this original light: a) it's TOO EXPENSIVE for our budget b) this light is 800mm - too big for our house o.o

they have the 600mm version too.. but the price is still a deterrent.. so we set out.. to find the imitation one - though will not be as nice but at least within our budget o.o

they have it in 400mm and 300mm (size is better for our HDB flat - now the unofficial names we gave to all these are 'grandpa choke' (800mm original artichoke), 'papa choke' (600mm original artichoke), 'baby choke' (400mm imitation choke) and 'mini choke' (300mm imitation choke).. there are two shops where we found the imitation artichokes - one along jalan besar and one along balestier - both prices are different though I'm not sure if the materials are different o.o

we have decided to get baby choke for our dining light - but am a bit concerned about it rusting as we are in punggol o.o but i guess we'll be taking the risk and seeing how it turns out to be o.o

Hi princess!

Saw the artichoke at balestier, think its the small one, it's $400 after a 30% disc. It's silver Matt and I really like it! Will be getting it. Saw it some time back, hope it's the same.

Can u let me know how much did u see for this? For 300 or 400mm one..... I didn't see white pc. Only black or silver.

[princessandhergeek 1]

Hi princess!

Saw the artichoke at balestier, think its the small one, it's $400 after a 30% disc. It's silver Matt and I really like it! Will be getting it. Saw it some time back, hope it's the same.

Can u let me know how much did u see for this? For 300 or 400mm one..... I didn't see white pc. Only black or silver.

hi chezph!

by balestier do u mean u saw it at light + form? hmm.. two places are offering the artichoke (imitate) one at balestier (light + form) and one at jalan besar (design light) (these two so far have the nicest imitates - other shops dont do the imitation for the regular artichoke as well........ but between light + form and design light, i would say that light + form is better for 3 reasons:

1)they r upfront and will advise that all metal (including aluminium) will look like there's tarnishing (we were worried about rust cox we're staying in punggol) but this tarnishing does not necessarily mean rust, we just need to polish with autosol or i think inox cleaner might do it too.. anyway, design light will insist that theirs will not rust cox the material is aluminium (but doesn't warn us that tarnishing can still occur)..

2) we bought t5 from design light - they promised to deliver both batches in the same colour, but failed to do so, and has done it to us a few times, each time promising a uniform colour and each tim failing to do so.. design light is giving us SO much trouble ...... (i don't understand what's with us and lights - previously megaman lights (5w ones) were doing the disco dance for us (the 8w ones were fine) and then there's chan huat and their totally rude attitude)

3) the artichoke imitate at the light + form along balestier is closer to the original than the one in design light (design light's imtitate has a longer stem which sticks out and its light bulb will stick out if u bought the smaller one (300 or 400mm) whereas light + form's imitate has a shorter stem (nicer) and it houses the light bulb at the correct position (in the middle) which allows the light to disperse nicely along the panes of the artichoke light

the smallest one at balestier is 480mm though (we were served by joseph - nice guy!) and the next one is at 600mm... whereas design light offers a 300-400 (not sure how big but definitely a notch smaller than the 480mm one)mm and a 480mm one.. price wise, design light is about $100 cheaper than its equivalent at light + form, but u need to live with the bulb hanging out of the light - remember - the light will be positioned in such a way where u can see it from below, and the first thing u see is the bulb - weird.....

in the end we bought the baby choke from light + form for around 450? i think...

silver matt is really gorgeous right?? we got a white marble with matt steel base to match the light too >.< haha

anyway, where did u see urs? i don't recall seeing a black or white one! could u be refering to the discoco light? those have white n black versions =D n i think there are other black n white ones, but the design is a bit different from the regular artichoke?

hehehe.. i wan see pics if u have~~ excited =P

Edited November 21, 2012 by princessandhergeek

[harocarlos 14]

Hi princess,

I just went through your whole t-blog and find it very informative!

I am still waiting for my bto to complete in about a year's time, our layout is very similar and your planned layout is also quite similar to what I've been working on with my wifey~ and we're also going for modern contemporary style...

Appreciate if you can share your ID's contact and reno quotation pls? would help with my planning greatly~

my email is harocarlos@hotmail.com

Edited November 21, 2012 by harocarlos

[harocarlos 14]

princess, btw did Roy give you the 3D of your flat design? Would really like to find out how your masterbedroom look like~ =D