DancingInTheRain 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) Finally, after reading many blogs, I've decided to start one to write down my renovation experience. Now, the description of my blog says "3 boys and a mummy's journey", so, "where is the Daddy?", you may ask. The Daddy is actually one of the boys because sometimes I feel he's still very much like a little boy at heart. He loves to play with remote control cars and it also doesn't help (or should it be "it helps"... Hahahhaa...) that he looks like he's 18. My first boy will be 3 years old this coming Christmas while my 2nd boy was born just a day after renovation starts. As The Daddy has no aesthetic genes in him (I always say choosing me as his wife is his only show of recognising beauty!), the choice of ID/ contractors and renovation works layed fully on me to decide. The Daddy does make his contribution now and then but I always have the last say (in actual fact, hmmm.... I wish this is true!)I am now into the 3rd week of my confinement month. For those who have yet to experience this in your life, my everyday schedule goes something like this:-07 30: Wakes up, say good bye to my first boy and hubby.08 00: Goes back to sleep and wait for the lil baby to wake up for first feed.08 45: Lil baby goes sun-tanning with confinement lady (while I wash up).09 00: Have breakfast. 09 30 to 19 00: Nurse the baby as required, else, just eat, sleep and rot!19 00 to 21 30: The Daddy and first boy comes back. Play and rest.21 30: Sleep.2200 to next day: Nurse the baby as and when required.So you see, my life is pretty much FREE! So I decide I shall start a blog to entertain myself! Edited October 12, 2012 by DancingInTheRain Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
casa 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2012 Congrats to U and your familyWelcome to Clementi Ave1Hope to c your reno pics soon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DancingInTheRain 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) Casa, you are super efficient ah... We have been staying in Clementi Ave 1 since 2008! From not really liking the estate, I have slowly got to know the elder folks and also the (infamous) coffee shop aunties and uncles... hmm... I can only say, never judge a book by its cover. The people here are really nice! Not very inviting and openly friendly but as I got to know them, they are so nice.... When I was expecting, everytime I walk from the bus stop home, there would be some aunties who ask if I need help. Edited August 21, 2012 by DancingInTheRain Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theitsybits 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2012 Congrats! I'm sure it will turn out really great! I want visit!! =D Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DancingInTheRain 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2012 Congrats! I'm sure it will turn out really great! I want visit!! =DAny time, itsybits! Disclaimer: Must be after first week of September coz that's when I GET MY FREEDOM BACK!!Thank you for sharing your home renovations with me along the way too! =) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
casa 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2012 Me and my family stay there for donkey years liao Kopi shop boss"william" anyway I have grown to love this area thou no shopping mall no MRT no bus no nothing but just love it Hope to c your reno pics soon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theitsybits 0 Report post Posted August 21, 2012 Any time, itsybits! Disclaimer: Must be after first week of September coz that's when I GET MY FREEDOM BACK!!Thank you for sharing your home renovations with me along the way too! =)haha no problem..i'm hoping my place will be done by then too.. very fast de la..Aug already ending..by that time your place should be waiting for carpentry le ba.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DancingInTheRain 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2012 (edited) Our First HomeHe proposed in 2007 in a fishing boat in the middle of a storm. There were just the 2 of us and I recall thinking, "If I reject him, maybe he will push me off the edge!" and then laughed at my own silly thoughts. To cut the story short, I accepted the proposal and the whole wedding preparation went into full gear.One of our greatest concerns was The Flat. We thought of staying with his parents, but my FIL rejected it. So, we tried balloting. Luck was not on our side and after some time, we surrendered and decided we shall get a resale flat. We thought, with the super incredibly unreasonable housing price (even higher now!), our best bet would be to buy a unit in town. I grew up in Redhill and naturally that became our (okie... more like my) first choice. We viewed several units there... He disliked most of them as either the estate was really old or that the price was too high by his standard. Finally, we saw a SERS unit that both of us liked in Silat but the COV was... extremely high! We told the housing agent to give us time to consider and by that same night, when we finally called to say that we would pay, the flat was ALREADY SOLD! Bl**dy lot of RICH people in Singapore huh... (DISCLAIMER: We were prepared to eat grass and drink air for the next few years to get that flat. )After that disappointment, the search continued. We saw another 3+2 room SERS flat unit at Henderson that we also liked but that owner wanted $520k. That means, on paper, we would have lost almost $200k if we bought that unit. We couldnt take that too... Just when we decide to take a break from the flat searching (while the search for the perfect bridal gowns, hotel, honeymoon vacation bla bla bla were still on-going), our agent sent me some pictures of this SERS unit in Clementi. The owner is a lawyer and she rented the flat out to some NUS students. Hence, in order to protect the privacy of the tenants, she requested for no viewing of the unit unless the buyers are going to buy the unit (at that time, I was thinking, "You mad ah? I dont see, how to decide? Still say you are a lawyer. No logic leh...").These are the photos forwarded to us... The Living RoomThe KitchenThe Master BedroomThe Other BedroomsThe unit looked promising and The Hubby feels that he could stay in this unit for the short term. So, we asked for the price and viewing. Rejected by the owner. We looked at the photos again and again and decided to give an offer. Rejected by the owner. "Too low.", she said. Freaking yaya papaya this owner! We moved on and went on a holiday to Bali. The agent called me when we came back from Bali and asked if we are still keen on the unit. HAHAHAHA! The ball is back in my court now!! "We want to view the flat first.", I said and he arranged for it. We signed the Option to Purchase immediately after the viewing at the coffee shop opposite. We gave the unit a new coat of paint, did some minor works and bought our first furnitures and finally moved in after our wedding in 2008 and the place has undergone many transformations. This home holds a lot of memories for me... Edited August 29, 2012 by DancingInTheRain Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theitsybits 0 Report post Posted August 30, 2012 wah..that's quite lucky! no renovation pics? Mr K didn't wadsapp anything to you?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DancingInTheRain 0 Report post Posted October 8, 2012 Arh... Haven't posted for a long time coz my quiet sleepy baby changed! He realized the comfort of being carried after a few hours of visit to the hospital... And since then, he wants to be carried to sleep so I've no hands to type. Hahaaa...Anyway, some updates abt my home reno....Shopping @Universal UnionThe Hubby bugged me for the longest time to settle all purchases before giving birth, so about a week before that, we went to Universal Union to buy everything. Knowing The Hubby, he would never have the patience to go around several shops just to get the bestest prices, my strategy for this was to get everything from the same shop. So, I looked around for one that sells the things that I wanted, which areHansgrohe shower faucetsI was deciding between this brand and Grohe and goggled on the two. I liked Grohe because that's the brand I saw everywhere when we were in Europe for our honeymoon. As for Hansgrohe, I did not know when or how that popped into my head. The Hubby and I went to the Grohe shop at IMM to check out the products but was a little put off by the non-chalant staff and the water efficiency ratings. We also went to a couple of shops along the way and somehow, I was sold on the Hansgrohe line coz I really think the children will like the froggy shower head... (Okie... At least I do! )Ariston Kitchen ProductsI knew I must get a built-in oven coz that was my dream since young. Somehow, it just feels different from those that I can put on the counter-top. Ariston coz I always liked this brand.Long long basin for the master bedroom toiletSuper love this from Kohler. We went to the Kohler showroom and think the products are really chio (but the prices also just as chio... Hahaa... This basin costs 1400+SGD. shipping from the States will cost half that price. :dribble: But still, it's way outta our budget so I had to look for alternatives!Haiku Fan in Bamboo CaramelAnother love-at-first-sight item but till now, still not available... Shall continue waiting for good news....Anyway, these are the items that we finally bought at Universal Union. We were served by Emily and she's the most helpful salesperson ever. Sent me specifications of products and tended to my many questions. Super appreciate and satisfied her work! For the Common ToiletMUST have that froggy...For the MBR ToiletMUST have that long long sinkFor the KitchenMUST have the Ariston Built-In Oven (can proof bread too!)For our daily useCan't post pic of the Rheem storage heater (says I posted more pictures than I'm allowed? )This is the one that I can't quite decide... We bought the one that's 25 liters and wonder if it's enough for a family of 4 to shower one after another. Anyone has any idea? Yup... Managed to make one new post! Hope to post up pictures of my other stuff, if the baby cooperates! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DancingInTheRain 0 Report post Posted October 8, 2012 Itsybits, Mr. K seldom sends me pics of my home... Maybe coz he thinks we'll keep going to our new home since we stay so near bah... :o Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DancingInTheRain 0 Report post Posted October 8, 2012 The FlooringThis was the greatest headache that The Hubby and I had. I told him that I would like to have homogenous flooring from the living room to all the rooms coz I don't like to have so many different types of floorings around the home. We were totally sold on having parquet coz both of us like the feel of wood on our feet. But, each time we decided, our little boy will show us how wrong our decision will be. So we looked around for alternatives. Since the theme of our home tends more towards Scandinavian Vintage, we decided (okie... I decided ) that the flooring has to look like wood. Our alternatives were wood tiles or wood laminates. We went to some tile companies to check out the wood tiles. The cheapest was at SBH while the most expensive was Rice (their prices differed by almost 4 folds!). I also went to our friendly neighbor's home to check out the warping that is so common in wood tiles. Arh... Then we decided that tiles is out coz it feels cold on the feet.We drove all the way to the East to check out laminate and vinyl flooring. Again, The Hubby felt the feel on the feet is not right. And so, we rejected this option again...Then one fine night, while everything is quiet and the lil boy was asleep, my hubby and I decided that timber wood flooring is really the way to go. At most, we'll sand and polish the floors 10 years later when the boys are all grown up. Heheee... I was really happy coz in my mind, timber flooring is the only option that I like ( and thinking about it now, I believe it's the same for The Hubby!) And so, I texted Mr. K that our final decision is Timber wood flooring! Double Confirmed! :good: We took 1 MONTH to make this decision. So I went on to think of the layout of the wood strips. I liked the below designs.But after discussing with Mr. K, we decided to scrap the idea coz of the wastage and that coz of the way the wood strips are laid, it's possible that the wood will warp. We finally decided on doing the standard GONG layout. (Ah... As you can see, I writing things that happened some time back and trying to catch up with the current reno process... Haaa...)Anyway, the wood strips arrived one fine day and all of them were laid. Only took them 3 days! POWER lah!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DancingInTheRain 0 Report post Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) The ToiletsArh... Always thought we could have a bath tub in our MBR coz of the dimensions indicated on the floorplan. However, when we saw the actual size, we knew a comfortable bath tub is not possible. Can't help but feel cheated by HDB! Initially, we had only wanted to cover the wall with the ugly tiles (provided by HDB) but when tiling started, we realize the white on the tile that we choose to overlay is different from the white on the original tiles. So, The Hubby and I decided to overlay the whole toilet... Another couple of thousand in... Heartache...And then the infamous Casa toilets that look like coffee shop toilets with double PD doors in the common toilet. It even had a walk through from the bedroom corridor to the service yard! Hahaaa... I decided to seal up the door to the service yard and build a window. Then, the window became another problem. I really loved to have pull-up window for this but calls to different window companies came to nothing. Only 1 company has this product and the lead-time is at least 2 months and it cost a whopping 1600 bucks for ONE window! NO SUCH BUDGET!! Another option was to order from this China company but Mr.K has reservations about the quality. So, haiz, in the end, made do with sliding window...Then came the vanity... Initially wanted to do the normal vanity with solid surface but The Hubby went to a relative's home and was warned about the wood being "koyak" in no time, we changed to the "zao tao" vanity (ching ching... another couple of thousands in...) I had wanted to use all subway tiles on the zao tao, then decided that was too boring. So changed to mosaic on the top... Then came another problem... The edges! With little boys running around, it's super dangerous to have sharp edges! The answer came to me when I looked at my current flat. Just use rounded mosaic lah! Duhz... (Sometimes, the simplest thing becomes so complicated when one is tired.)So so, our toilet became like this...MBR ToiletCommon ToiletHmm... I'm changing the window to only sliding and in aluminum color coz the current window (per picture) actually takes a blue hue which I think totally spoils the look of the toilet. The other day, my brother came over to take a look and mentioned that some of the tiles are slightly protruding... not sure if we should be meow and want Mr. K to change... The black framed mirrors and toilet accessories will come in later... Post up pics when they are all done...Seriously, I never thought I will be so particular about the toilets but once reno start, I just can't help but want to perfect everything, though at times, perfection is not achievable... Well, take it as a learning process lor... Just like playing mahjong... pay to learn... Edited October 10, 2012 by DancingInTheRain Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DancingInTheRain 0 Report post Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) Choosing laminates for the carpentry now... Ahhh... Love white shelves but they discolor quickly. If you were me, with timber wood flooring, would u(1) Go head with white laminate for exterior and wood laminate for the visible interiors,(2) wood laminate exteriors and white for visible interiors,(3) wood laminates for exteriors and visible interiors, white laminate only for the gaps between the doors and the border? Edited October 10, 2012 by DancingInTheRain Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rain 0 Report post Posted October 10, 2012 White 'skin' for interior shelves may turn slightly yellow after some time but white laminates won't. I use glossy white laminates for my kitchen cabinets and they haven't yellowed after six years. I use matte white laminates for my book cabinet and drawers for study table. If it's laminates, go ahead and use white if you want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
