The Experience: Our First Home

[summersann 6]

I don't remember the bedrooms being so spacious, is the walking space sufficient (for the MBR with two wardrobe corridors)? Since you are getting scale drawings from IDs, I guess she will outline the beds in scale so that you can assess. Do you plan to have kids? The rooms are fully occupied or knocked down, so it may be a problem in a few years.

Good point! Need to check the actual dimensions for the "new" walkways in the Master Bedroom, and see just how much space is left. Slipped my mind cuz I was getting too excited about everything else Thank you for reminding us!

And nope, we don't want kids (oops, sorry government). The ID actually left a room for us for "the future", but we specifically asked to remove it, haha

Like the windows idea - will help to bring ventilation to the living room and light to the staircase.

Believe the end result will be nice. Do share pics when available ya?

I hope so too! Now waiting to see the detailed drawings. Will probably not have any to show for a while though! The firm doesn't release designs until after the renovation is done. Maybe I'll ask for some and try my luck

Edited November 21, 2012 by summersann

[summersann 6]

hmm don't be afraid to use grey or cement walls/floors, it may seem cold, but there are warmer shades of grey and i think cement walls can be very cosy too!

We wanted to have cement screed, but decided against it eventually cuz it didn't suit the look we really wanted.

But yes! Cement screed can be rather lovely. If anything, it's very artistic.

[adidaem 6]

Good point! Need to check the actual dimensions for the "new" walkways in the Master Bedroom, and see just how much space is left. Slipped my mind cuz I was getting too excited about everything else Thank you for reminding us!

And nope, we don't want kids (oops, sorry government). The ID actually left a room for us for "the future", but we specifically asked to remove it, haha

I hope so too! Now waiting to see the detailed drawings. Will probably not have any to show for a while though! The firm doesn't release designs until after the renovation is done. Maybe I'll ask for some and try my luck

You may find this useful as reference for estimating walking space:

I kinda did a look thru for my place using the above as guide to make sure that there are no strange cramped walkways and awkward cabinets as I've seen in some reno.

Hmm... if no need to plan for kids, how about a storeroom (really really important to ensure a non-cluttered house) or perhaps a multi-purpose storage in the study for your luggage, christmas tree and decor, toilet paper and other supplies? You can never have too much storage space and the little store under the stairs is vastly inadequate.

Oh, and future maids room I guess... we actually left the study in place for a just-in-case scenario. Plus we thought older folks don't appreciate stairs too.

Other itty storage I wished I'd thought of catering for when I was renovating:

- newspaper/old mags dumping spot/corner (! important !)

- mops and pails, vacuum cleaner (! important !)

- ironing board (ok, did cater for this)

- detergent, laundry bags, etc (ok, did cater for this)

- bulk supplies storage (kitchen towels, mineral water, toilet paper)

- mahjong table

- Christmas and other festive decor

Is your pull-out under the stairs for any of the above?

What are you planning to do for your stairs railing?

[HappyAng 0]

You may find this useful as reference for estimating walking space:

I kinda did a look thru for my place using the above as guide to make sure that there are no strange cramped walkways and awkward cabinets as I've seen in some reno.

Hmm... if no need to plan for kids, how about a storeroom (really really important to ensure a non-cluttered house) or perhaps a multi-purpose storage in the study for your luggage, christmas tree and decor, toilet paper and other supplies? You can never have too much storage space and the little store under the stairs is vastly inadequate.

Oh, and future maids room I guess... we actually left the study in place for a just-in-case scenario. Plus we thought older folks don't appreciate stairs too.

Other itty storage I wished I'd thought of catering for when I was renovating:

- newspaper/old mags dumping spot/corner (! important !)

- mops and pails, vacuum cleaner (! important !)

- ironing board (ok, did cater for this)

- detergent, laundry bags, etc (ok, did cater for this)

- bulk supplies storage (kitchen towels, mineral water, toilet paper)

- mahjong table

- Christmas and other festive decor

Is your pull-out under the stairs for any of the above?

What are you planning to do for your stairs railing?

Useful information of the walking space. Thanx adidaem for sharing..

[summersann 6]

You may find this useful as reference for estimating walking space:

I kinda did a look thru for my place using the above as guide to make sure that there are no strange cramped walkways and awkward cabinets as I've seen in some reno.

This is great! Thanks adidaem!

Hmm... if no need to plan for kids, how about a storeroom (really really important to ensure a non-cluttered house) or perhaps a multi-purpose storage in the study for your luggage, christmas tree and decor, toilet paper and other supplies? You can never have too much storage space and the little store under the stairs is vastly inadequate.

Oh, and future maids room I guess... we actually left the study in place for a just-in-case scenario. Plus we thought older folks don't appreciate stairs too.

Other itty storage I wished I'd thought of catering for when I was renovating:

- newspaper/old mags dumping spot/corner (! important !)

- mops and pails, vacuum cleaner (! important !)

- ironing board (ok, did cater for this)

- detergent, laundry bags, etc (ok, did cater for this)

- bulk supplies storage (kitchen towels, mineral water, toilet paper)

- mahjong table

- Christmas and other festive decor

Is your pull-out under the stairs for any of the above?

Our ID included a tall unit for our mops, pails, vacuum cleaner, ladder (tall things). Half of the space below the stairs is pull-out storage for smaller items that need storage. The other half is going to be left empty for bigger items like luggages, our pet food, stuff.

ID is also suggesting a laundry storage area in the service yard, so that all our laundry supplies (including ironing board) go there.

Somewhat like these:

Our kitchen cabinets will probably also be used to store some dry goods and stuff because we don't cook that much and don't have that much stuff in our current kitchen cabinets anyway (my current place's kitchen cabinets are used to store really silly things like countless plastic containers from packing food. quite a waste of space ).

There'll also be a cabinet for shoe storage behind the wall at the main entrance. ID included that so that besides the area where we can slot our everyday shoes, there'll be somewhere for us to store fancier shoes or shoeboxes. We'll keep the cabinet cuz it's good for storage, but again, we don't have that many pairs of shoes (I only have 7 pairs of shoes ), so half of that cabinet could be used for storage (maybe newspapers and magazines!).

We also have a huge wardrobe in our bedroom right now (when we don't even have that much clothes ), so there's a possibility of using some of that wardrobe space as storage.

The good thing is our ID is very big on space planning, so she always reminds us about storage. Shall remember to ask her for more details to check that the current plan has enough!

What are you planning to do for your stairs railing?

We're retaining our current railing because it's actually quite vintage and nice. Goes with our concept well. The ID suggested painting over the rails and varnishing the wood handle on top

[summersann 6]

Met with the designers and decided on the hacking and reconstruction plan. ID will be applying for the permit and we'll hear from HDB in a few days (we hope!).

Meanwhile, here are some key areas that I'm concerned about (as adidaem previously pointed out as well).

Mom's bedroom

Am concerned that the area will look cramped with the wardrobe and short wall erected (with a dry vanity on the other side) for the door to rest on.

First floor

Am concerned that the place will look cluttered upon entering the house, with the small shoe area on the left and the island on the right.

Suggestions or opinions welcomed!

[ultimax 2]

Mom's bedroom

Am concerned that the area will look cramped with the wardrobe and short wall erected (with a dry vanity on the other side) for the door to rest on.

I think it's OK as there's depth to the room as the distance from the wall to the wardrobe is shorter than the distance from the door to the window.

But if you want to open the space up more, consider having an L shaped wardrobe so you have a wider passage way to the bathroom. Unless there's a window which prevents that. The current configuration renders that bit of the wall dead space. You can only put a mirror or mount wall art.

As for the short wall, as long as the door is open, whatever you do with it is irrevelant as the door will block it from most angles. It's only visible when the door is closed. I also think that if you have an L shaped wardrobe, the wider passage will open the room up sufficiently, even with the door and wall in its current configuration.

But you wanna play around with the door and wall, here are some ideas. May not be feasible, but that's the whole point of brain-storming right

1. Have the door swing open outwards? That way you won't have the door block in the door. There are practical considerations here, of course.

2. Sliding door? What you're trying to do is minimise the profile of the door so that it visually occupies as little space as possible.

3. Consider having a suspended vanity counter between 2 columns, instead of the current solid wall with vanity behind it. The gaps at the top and bottom of vanity will make the place less clutter. Allows more light into that part of the room too.

First floor

Am concerned that the place will look cluttered upon entering the house, with the small shoe area on the left and the island on the right.

I think this layout will look stunning visually. Our entrance is sort of like this, though without the island, and being able to look 5+m into the home from the main door makes the place look a heck of a lot bigger than it really is.

The main issue is practicality. Some people may find having food preparation areas so close to a shoe cabinet or the door gross as the island's right next to an area where people walk around with their shoes as they enter or leave the house. I don't think this necessarily makes the area more dirty, though.

If you entertain around that area, it may feel a bit cluttered, especially if guests bring their shoes in. I can imagine it being a bit of squeeze if people are standing around.

For daily living, I don't think this will be an issue. BUT I find one seems to need more space to put on their shoes and get ready to leave the house than you really use. It's like there's enough space to do all that without banging into things, but you still feel the place is too small. Maybe it's because of all the movement, and the space the main door requires to open and close. There's always a bit of manoeuvering which needs to be done. Especially when there's a door closer installed, and your hands are full!

You also need to figure out where you're going to sit when you put your shoes on. Will there be a bench? Or will one of the stools around the island serve that function? Or is that little black rectangle next to the door a bench?

I would suggest going down to the unit and figuring out how much space you'd like at the entrance. Bring a tape measure and even masking tape to tape out the distances if possible to get an accurate sense of the space

As an aside, try to have as much space between the hob and the sink. I personally find that having the main food preparation area between the sink and hob makes cooking that much easier as it really minimises movement.

[angmoh 0]

I hope you are not a heavy cooker... otherwise you will be having a hard time to clean your house

For practical consideration, i would shift the hob and sink closer to the windows.

[adidaem 6]

Met with the designers and decided on the hacking and reconstruction plan. ID will be applying for the permit and we'll hear from HDB in a few days (we hope!).

Meanwhile, here are some key areas that I'm concerned about (as adidaem previously pointed out as well).

Mom's bedroom

Am concerned that the area will look cramped with the wardrobe and short wall erected (with a dry vanity on the other side) for the door to rest on.

My concern re: your mum's bdrm is that the design essentially turns what used to be a very spacious and bright bedroom to one that is partitioned into 2 areas. I can appreciate the design concept behind this idea, but I don't like it cos the entire wardrobe passageway is now one long dark corridor and the dry vanity will always require a light. I appreciate that the design is probably to allow the other side of the wardrobe to mount TV, etc, but I would rather use the longer wall near the stairs for slightly more wardrobe space, and have the reading corner near the window instead. The door can then either swing on the other side, and the short wall does not have to be erected. The dry vanity can be shifted to the wall. So basically when you walk into the room you really feel the space.

First floor

Am concerned that the place will look cluttered upon entering the house, with the small shoe area on the left and the island on the right.

Suggestions or opinions welcomed!

I checked my plan and my counter-top to kitchen cabinet is supposed to be 1.1m:

It doesn't feel cramped when I walk thru the 1.1m walkway. But if hubby is standing there, then yeah a bit squeezy to go thru. So imagine if you have stools/chairs around the counter... I'll imagine that it will feel clustered, and probably the stove, etc cannot be used at the same time. Oh, and the sharp corner of the island that is facing the doorway disturbs me. Using my place as a proxy, I stood at the corner (near the wall in the pic above) to gauge the space/view upon entry, and that's my thought. I'll feel very disturbed if that's facing me each time I open the door.

[summersann 6]

I think it's OK as there's depth to the room as the distance from the wall to the wardrobe is shorter than the distance from the door to the window.

But if you want to open the space up more, consider having an L shaped wardrobe so you have a wider passage way to the bathroom. Unless there's a window which prevents that. The current configuration renders that bit of the wall dead space. You can only put a mirror or mount wall art.

As for the short wall, as long as the door is open, whatever you do with it is irrevelant as the door will block it from most angles. It's only visible when the door is closed. I also think that if you have an L shaped wardrobe, the wider passage will open the room up sufficiently, even with the door and wall in its current configuration.

But you wanna play around with the door and wall, here are some ideas. May not be feasible, but that's the whole point of brain-storming right

1. Have the door swing open outwards? That way you won't have the door block in the door. There are practical considerations here, of course.

2. Sliding door? What you're trying to do is minimise the profile of the door so that it visually occupies as little space as possible.

3. Consider having a suspended vanity counter between 2 columns, instead of the current solid wall with vanity behind it. The gaps at the top and bottom of vanity will make the place less clutter. Allows more light into that part of the room too.

I think this layout will look stunning visually. Our entrance is sort of like this, though without the island, and being able to look 5+m into the home from the main door makes the place look a heck of a lot bigger than it really is.

The main issue is practicality. Some people may find having food preparation areas so close to a shoe cabinet or the door gross as the island's right next to an area where people walk around with their shoes as they enter or leave the house. I don't think this necessarily makes the area more dirty, though.

If you entertain around that area, it may feel a bit cluttered, especially if guests bring their shoes in. I can imagine it being a bit of squeeze if people are standing around.

For daily living, I don't think this will be an issue. BUT I find one seems to need more space to put on their shoes and get ready to leave the house than you really use. It's like there's enough space to do all that without banging into things, but you still feel the place is too small. Maybe it's because of all the movement, and the space the main door requires to open and close. There's always a bit of manoeuvering which needs to be done. Especially when there's a door closer installed, and your hands are full!

You also need to figure out where you're going to sit when you put your shoes on. Will there be a bench? Or will one of the stools around the island serve that function? Or is that little black rectangle next to the door a bench?

I would suggest going down to the unit and figuring out how much space you'd like at the entrance. Bring a tape measure and even masking tape to tape out the distances if possible to get an accurate sense of the space

As an aside, try to have as much space between the hob and the sink. I personally find that having the main food preparation area between the sink and hob makes cooking that much easier as it really minimises movement.

Thanks for all your ideas ultimax! we just met katy and mark yesterday and discussed further about my mom's room. they showed us the detailed drawing for that room and we've decided that it looks quite interesting visually as compared to the usual layout (wardrobe at the wall next to the bed/at the wall just before the toilet entrance). with this current layout, the pipes and trunkings are also neatly tucked away. if we did it the usual way, there'll be trunkings along the wall for the air-con. so we picked the materials to help make the room look brighter and hopefully less cluttered with this design. fingers crossed!

we've got a plank at my favorite area, which is meant for sitting and putting on shoes i wanted the concave there because I wanted an area to sit and put on shoes, tuck daily shoes under the plank (dressy shoes and less-worn shoes go into the shoe cabinet behind the wall), and hang my bags/jackets.

now it's the headache of making sure we pick the right materials!

[summersann 6]

I hope you are not a heavy cooker... otherwise you will be having a hard time to clean your house

For practical consideration, i would shift the hob and sink closer to the windows.

we're totally not heavy cookers (guilty to say, we eat a lot of take-out)

[summersann 6]

I checked my plan and my counter-top to kitchen cabinet is supposed to be 1.1m:

It doesn't feel cramped when I walk thru the 1.1m walkway. But if hubby is standing there, then yeah a bit squeezy to go thru. So imagine if you have stools/chairs around the counter... I'll imagine that it will feel clustered, and probably the stove, etc cannot be used at the same time. Oh, and the sharp corner of the island that is facing the doorway disturbs me. Using my place as a proxy, I stood at the corner (near the wall in the pic above) to gauge the space/view upon entry, and that's my thought. I'll feel very disturbed if that's facing me each time I open the door.

Thanks for your picture! Helps put things in perspective! Was having a hard time trying to imagine just using the measuring tape

[summersann 6]

Finally, we're down to the last week before key collection. Renovation starts the day after on the 21st. Fingers crossed, everything go well please!

Met the designers to take a look at detailed drawings and pick out materials. No pictures to show for the detailed drawings, but many shots of materials!

With wood skirting.

With wood skirting, but painted white.

Which one is better? For now, we decided on the wood skirting painted white.

The Caesarstones. Osprey was interesting. But we picked Snow in the end for the island.

We're using Caesarstone Haze (close to very light grey) for the kitchen countertop, and Caesarstone Snow (close to cream) for the island countertop. The chipped piece of tile is the tile we're going to use for the half-height backsplash in the kitchen. It's slightly bigger than the original subway tile we were going to use (about 5cm longer and 2cm wider, or something like that), but it's got an interesting gradient down the sides, which makes it look really classy. Designers found it on sale (thank you designers!), so it's $6/psf instead of the smaller subway tile's $16/psf. So, bigger it is!

Question: Dark, or light wood laminates for kitchen cabinets?

Picking the floor tile to go with the wood skirting painted white. Super excited about the floor tile. Designers found this tile (apparently Italian) on sale. Original price somewhere from $8-$10ish/psf, but now it fits our $3.50/psf because of supplier discounts! They're going to place orders for us immediately. This tile doesn't come in the usual 600x600. It's 500x125 (or somewhere around there, can't remember), so it'll turn out parquet-looking in terms of layout. It's also slightly textured, so it won't be slippery. Good for the mom and the dog and cat!

We eventually picked the cream colored tile.

More pictures coming up!

Edited December 14, 2012 by summersann

[summersann 6]

Suppose we pick the light wood laminate for our kitchen cabinets. This is how it'll look like.

Dark wood? Light wood? These decisions are giving me a headache

These colors are keeping me happy

Picking the Accoya decking for our balcony. It's clear which one to choose. Love it when the choices are obvious. Not so for the laminates

The mosaic tile that the designers are suggesting for our bathrooms. We're toying with the idea of removing the panel of leaves and replacing them with these mosaics instead. I'm undecided. Leaves or mosaics?

The laminate for our wardrobe. Goes quite well with our current parquet color.

[summersann 6]

The current leaves motif in the bathrooms.

Change the panel to mosaics?

Totally undecided!

I realize I stopped taking pictures after picking the laminates for our room. Must remember to take pictures of mom's laminates the next time we go down to select the colors for the door and window frames!

Meeting the designers this Saturday to go shopping!

Edited December 14, 2012 by summersann