A House Is Not A Home

[spiffysue 0]

hi everyone!

it's 8th oct and my carpentry is finally coming in tmr.. now that almost all decisions have been made, i can finally find time to breathe and pen down this crazy journey called reno.

i'm not that great with dates, so i'm just gonna sum up the experiences i've had by topics rather than by exact days. haha, i can't even recall the exact order of some stuff.. everything just swooshed by.

ok, time to flashback now

*********************************

it all started with finding the right place. when we started looking for a place, we only had the following criteria:

- high floor

- windy

- lots of natural light

we were very blessed and found an awesome agent that was so on-the-ball that it quite stunned us, really. initially we never even wanted to go through an agent; we were doing all the hunting by ourselves. but when we met this guy by accident, he was so enthusiastic that his energy kinda rubbed off on us, and we decided to just give him a chance. unlike some other 'nua' agents we'd encountered (u know, the kind that says they'll hunt for u but never get back), he got back to us within a few days with almost 20 listings

after seeing countless units, we were almost decided on a particular unit. the price was really good, it was clean and nice, and some walls were alr hacked which would save us some $. but somehow it hadn't quite stolen our hearts. it was okaaaaaaay, but not WAH. our agent said that when you see 'The One', you'd just know it.. so take our time to search. after a few weeks, he got a new listing and asked us to take a look with him. the moment we stepped in, we really KNEW it was the right unit for us. we paid the OTP the very next morning!

the unit fulfilled our 3 criteria, and had other bonus points too:

- corner unit

- 4 bedrooms, instead of 3 [very special & rare!]

- unblocked view

- a huge kitchen - my fiance's dream bcos he has a thing for kitchens/islands

- new MRT station being 5 min away

i'd post my floorplan now.. but i can't seem to do it??? i'm a tech idiot. can someone kindly tell me how to post a photo? i hosted a photo on flickr but when insert the URL, only the URL shows. . help!

[spiffysue 0]

managed to figure it out! here's my floorplan:

i'll be back to post more!

Edited October 8, 2012 by spiffysue

[multi888 1]

Welcome and indeed your 5I is very special...

[tortoisesg 0]

Wow, Congrats!

How big is that? I'm guessing about 135-140sqm?

You can definitely have a kitchen island in there.

Also, where is this located?

[May_dream1 14]

very nice big 5 room! and each of the room windows are huge as well...... Congrats!! Tell us the location please?

[spiffysue 0]

thanks everyone!!

it's at Tampines and approx 1550 sqf.

yup the windows were a huge draw.. i especially loved the 3/4 length windows in the bedrooms, 'cos they are a bit cottage-y. i'll post more photos tonight

[May_dream1 14]

thanks everyone!!

it's at Tampines and approx 1550 sqf.

yup the windows were a huge draw.. i especially loved the 3/4 length windows in the bedrooms, 'cos they are a bit cottage-y. i'll post more photos tonight

really really big 5 room... 1550 sqf! i am so envious of all big big flat.

[ck35 0]

I love your house !! I bought my house because I needed 4 bdrm as well but I need it near to the MRT hence my choice is limited

Can I know which part of Tampines is your house at?

[casa 0]

Congrats and remem to post pics to share

[spiffysue 0]

I love your house !! I bought my house because I needed 4 bdrm as well but I need it near to the MRT hence my choice is limited

Can I know which part of Tampines is your house at?

thanks! we love it too, and didn't know there's such a thing as 4 bedrooms for HDB.. it was a pleasant surprise! where did u buy in the end?

it's at blk 400+ in Tampines, near the new Tampines East MRT (have to wait till 2016 tho.....)

Edited October 9, 2012 by spiffysue

[spiffysue 0]

really really big 5 room... 1550 sqf! i am so envious of all big big flat.

i knowww.. but in the end, big does have its cons. we had to reno SO MUCH.. omg, really wanna vomit blood. but more on that later.. haha

[May_dream1 14]

i knowww.. but in the end, big does have its cons. we had to reno SO MUCH.. omg, really wanna vomit blood. but more on that later.. haha

Well, you reno all at one go then can stay for long long time without worrying abt upgrading. Especially mrt going to be nearby.

Show pic, ya??

[ck35 0]

thanks! we love it too, and didn't know there's such a thing as 4 bedrooms for HDB.. it was a pleasant surprise! where did u buy in the end?

it's at blk 400+ in Tampines, near the new Tampines East MRT (have to wait till 2016 tho.....)

I bought opposite the library. Also 400+

Mine is also under the 5room category (5A) but it's 2 units of 3 rooms hacked into one (by government) so I get 4 bdrms as well

[spiffysue 0]

here's the pics of the house in its original condition:

the balcony + shoe cabinets.

we decided to keep the shoe cabinets and re-paint them ourselves, our own DIY proj.

kitchen is on the left.. you can see a little 'window' that the previous owner did.. quite cute.

living area:

kitchen:

one of the bedrooms:

master toilet (horrific condition):

can see the amount of work that was needed!!

Edited October 10, 2012 by spiffysue

[spiffysue 0]

Themes & ID/Contractor-hunting

I've always like the Manhattan look - exposed bricks, subway tiles, lots of sunlight and clean lines. Long before we even purchased the house, i always pictured my house to look that way I use 'my' here loosely, because fiance is a super 'anything also ok' kind of person. [i.e. i made all the aesthetic decisions] Not 'loft' because that tends to be quite industrial.

I was quite sure of what i wanted, so we were very torn between getting an ID or contractor.

Here's the list of pro/cons that I've concluded.

IDs:

- usually a little more expensive

- can be stifling - they try and dissuade you about certain design decisions. some can be quite egoistic and get offended when you don't agree with their taste

- cookie-cutter designs

- can advise you on certain design decisions such as colour palette, etc. things you may not have considered

- if you can find one that is on the same page as you, it could be a great partnership

Contractors:

- hard to communicate a-typical designs to them

- may overlook finer details that could spoil an entire look

- usually less expensive

- more technical experience + more practical

******************8

We met with about 5-6 IDs/Contractors.

Some were downright absurd. I realize the younger IDs tend to be very impractical. They suggest crazy designs that do nothing functionally. We had 1 ID (young!! i think younger than us even) who quoted us $80k -____-" his design included a brick chimney in the middle of my kitchen. WTF - chimney in SG??? lol. needless to say, we didn't engage him.

The contractors we met were recommended on renotalk and i'm sure they are really responsible + good workmanship. but they were too bz to take our project up.

In the end, we went with an ID. We were afraid that being first-time renovators, we wouldn't be able to properly communicate with a contractor on finer details.

The ID company we went with is quite known. We chose them because they don't do the usual designs - quite adventurous and open to new concepts. My ID 'T' is also older and experienced; i like that he didn't propose any absurd designs and everything he suggested was practical. In retrospect though, this ''older and experienced'' thing is a double-edged sword. I will review them in detail at the end .. anyway, my reno is still ongoing and there's been a fair share of tension/hiccups. but i shall not comment on them till the final handover. let's see if they buck-up in the next 2 weeks. BTW. my reno started in mid-july so it's been very long already. sigh.