Myshoeboxx At Serangoon

[ashleyspace 1]

ooh you got the maskros! ! ! love it, especially the photo inspiration and how all the scandinavian houses seem to have made use of it. especially like the patterns on the wall when you switch it on! was really considering getting it for my place, but it wouldn't fit plus i was quite afraid of cleaning the dust... haha. i think if you give it a good shake out the window every now and then, should be ok ba. lol.

love the wood + maskros idea. can't wait to see how it turns out too. (:

we've also been spending the past few weeks assembling ikea furniture.. still got 2 mother bookcases to go.

Oh yes!! We have been thinking of either buying the ratan ball pendant light or the Maskros. Glad to find another maskros fans! Haha.... We love the pattern on the wall also, and also this light will look good even when it's not on. What a nice decor.... Like a large dandelion in the house. Finally give in a little impractical things like this. I think a pendant is still ok if it turns out hard to maintain. Maybe after 2-3 years, if it really become too dirty to clean-up, can just buy another pendant light to replace it. Shouldn't be too hard to replace I think. I'm lover for pendant light, I think it make the mood of the house so much different!! :-O

Here is the raten light that had been considered:-

This week, our house will be going through chemical wash to clean-up minor stains on wall and floor tiles! After this, would be getting some furniture. We would be getting most of the furniture from Ikea also because I love their design. Most of the item we are getting will be in "white" color.

[ashleyspace 1]

Possible to share more pix of your new home?

I would like to. Our renovation hasn't complete yet, so the house is still a little messy. Here is some sneak peek of our living:-

Cove light is installed! house looks more cosy now. We are using warm white T9 light for the cove lighting. Then we asked our wiring electrical contractor, Ah Kun on how to clean-up because small insects tend to accumulate in the cove light hole. He jokingly told us that the cove light hole is so big, even if small insects accumulated, also took many years to fill up entire area.. Haha... Maybe true also la, and more-ever it's up there, probably won't bother also because cannot see :-P

Edited January 11, 2013 by ashleyspace

[ashleyspace 1]

We had bought the master bedroom bed from Courts, and it's the Maxcoil Storage Bed. Storage bed is a necessity for us because space is limited and we want to fully utilized all areas, especially for hidden areas like under the bed.

This is the storage bed bought, $1499 storage bed + individual pocketed spring mattress:

There are other option to fully utilize storage under the bed, e.g. building a raised platform with storage compartment for placing the mattress. I had saw some video in YouTube on Interior Design in Hong Kong, and seems that it's a big trend to build platform with storage!! This idea is so suitable for Hong Kong, which apartment is getting smaller size due to the ever increasing property price with limited land area. I think the same could apply to Singapore as well, whereby apartment size are shrinking and land are equally limited. Maybe later I can share some links on the Interior Design Video so that you can get some inspiration also.

Here is my take on platform bed vs storage bed:

- Storage bed is more flexible to be re-arranged if want to change how furniture is placed in the room. Probably cost less and can move along if moving house. Total storage area less, limit to bed area, but still a good amount of space to utilize. Probably won't last as long as the built-in platform.

- Platform bed is built-in therefore layout is fixed for the room. Looks nice, can customized laminate color to suit the room decorative theme, therefore looks more integrated. The total storage area can be a lot, because storage=~room area. For HDB which is having lower ceiling height in comparison with private condominium, might not be suitable because raised floor means ceiling height will further reduced.

By the way, I measured the ceiling height, it is 255cm. This height is just nice, and would be low if want to add platform or plaster ceiling. Therefore design of the HDB should take this into consideration. E.g. avoid large area of false ceiling, and L-box is a better choice. I think the newer HDB has higher ceiling height nowadays?

Edited January 10, 2013 by ashleyspace

[ashleyspace 1]

Anyway we choose Maxcoil storage bed because they offer 10-year warranty on the hydraulic spring to lift up the bed. I think this is necessary because once the spring is spoilt, it would take a lot of strength to pull it up. There are other side reasons to choose this bed:

(1) The underneath of the bed can be lift up for cleaning. Good because hair and dirt will accumulate over time under the bed and there's a way to clean it.

(2) The underneath is fully covered, so that insect e.g. roaches won't crawl into the storage area...

(3) There is no divider so more flexible space for storage and according to maxcoil sales, they have re-inforce the bed slate so able to support well even without central divider.

Bed arrived this week:

Bed head:

Assembly-ing the bed, looks so easy and effortless, probably easier than assembly an Ikea bedframe. Put the pieces together, tighten few screws, done deal... :-P

Finished product:

Edited January 17, 2013 by ashleyspace

[ashleyspace 1]

My wish lists for a good mattress is soft plushy top with good support for the spine.

Tried the Englanders Hotel series mattress and it's seems to be the type of comfort-ness that I'm looking for, but a hefty price tag of course. The lower range of Englander's mattress seems to be quite firm, and would prefer softer mattress. Of the mattress within the affordable range, found the Max Coil mattress to be quite comfortable, quite satisfy with the buy so far. :-)

More pictures:

Little diamond on bed head.

Edited January 21, 2013 by ashleyspace

[jus4fun 4]

Sorry I'm still not sure what is rainbow blind. Did took pictures from the shop, here is the blind we are quoted $12psf and it's made of pvc. It looks just like the timber blind except material different. Is this the rainbow blind?

Hi, just ventured upon ur blog! welcomed to the 3-roomer club! looks like ur hse is coming along well ready for the CNY? Haha!

Got ur curtains & blinds already? but just to share, this is raindow blinds i used for my plc. it's alternate opaque and see-thru blinds so u can hv the flexibility of allowing light to come in or not or partially by pulling the blinds up or down. when i did my hse last Apr-May, there wasn't many print choices recently got more in the mkt liao..

Rainbow blinds

Edited January 21, 2013 by jus4fun

[ashleyspace 1]

Hi, just ventured upon ur blog! welcomed to the 3-roomer club! looks like ur hse is coming along well ready for the CNY? Haha!

Got ur curtains & blinds already? but just to share, this is raindow blinds i used for my plc. it's alternate opaque and see-thru blinds so u can hv the flexibility of allowing light to come in or not or partially by pulling the blinds up or down. when i did my hse last Apr-May, there wasn't many print choices recently got more in the mkt liao..

Rainbow blinds

Oh wow your house very nicely done up! :-) Is this the common room?? Oh I had saw this in curtain shop before, but didn't know this is the rainbow blind. The blind that was quoted $12 psf isn't this one.... How much is yours?

Yups the house should be ready by CNY. Now left minor touch-up and glass backing for the kitchen only.

[ashleyspace 1]

We had moved into the house because the renovation schedule had slipped past the agreed 8 weeks and still haven't complete. After moved in, we prefer to be present in the house when installing stuff coz not feel comfortable for anyone to just enter the house with the common renovation key. So it's become quite troublesome quite some time, but it's necessary also for some touch-up work because we are fussy about the small little things to be fixed by them.

Not sure why there is lots of hiccups, but the delay now is still due to the kitchen solid surface color that we had chosen now out of stock:-

We had chosen different color for the kitchen top and the bar counter top. Still like the color we had chosen so decide to wait for it.

Kitchen top: White color with stone (out of stock)

Bar Counter Top: White color with silver particle

Others color that available for choosing....

Darker colors~ Black looks good too, but solid surface is too prone to scratches and ID not recommend us to take black. When scratched, the lines will be white so will be very obvious.

[ashleyspace 1]

Actually after moved in, had been quite more lazy to update the posts, mainly be too busy to clean-up and packing stuff etc. Whenever there is some work done, electrical, plumbing that involves drilling... The floor will be all over with dust again, sigh... So we had mopped the floor (especially at the laundry area) for many times and still not feel clean enough. The black color tiles are actually quite hard to be maintained as opposed what we thought initially! Haha... Coz dust appear to be white on floor and very obvious :-(

Some recent pictures:

Kitchen - top cabinet:

Kitchen - bottom cabinet:

Bar counter:

Kitchen view - note the fridge not unbox yet, hahaa... protect it from dust... so much dust.. :-P

Edited January 22, 2013 by ashleyspace

[ashleyspace 1]

The window grill, no $$ to change anymore, so just use back the original and repaint. Ugly or still acceptable?? Actually wrought iron grill is quite sturdy compared to the aluminium grill nowadays, so keep for practical reason also. I think when cover it with blind it will not be so obvious... :-)

Edited January 21, 2013 by ashleyspace

[ashleyspace 1]

Thanx ashleyspace for the dimension. Yes, I am looking for single bowl sink, but trying to look for about 700mm length.

700mm length sounds like a very long sink. Seems to be hard to find, seldom saw such sink when visited several sanitary/kitchen wares shop. By the way, we bought ours at most of our Bathroom stuff from Bath-Zone in Geylang. There are quite few shops selling sanitary and kitchen wares with nice design and reasonable price along the Geylang road (near Paya Lebar MRT). Visited Bacera, find that their selection is good also and nearly buy from them. At last bought in Bath-zone because the boss is very knowledgeable to recommend us how to choose sanitary wares. Also that time they are having promotion, so no GST. :-) I found that Hoe Kee stuff are priced to sell, but most other shops are actually priced higher than they intend to sell. For Bath-Zone, it's almost 100% higher, so most item has 50% discount. But it doesn't matter la, because after discount it will be a reasonable price anyway... Design wise like the one in Bath-Zone better. Didn't buy branded sanitary wares like those Grohe/Hansgrohe because we are on budget. We bought the package for wash closet (1-piece design- MCM) + wash basin (Crizto) for $230. I think the package is quite worth it as it's the one-piece WC that we like. :-) He also advised us not to choose the China brand, because the weather difference during the manufacturing process so it's prone to hair-line crack after a while and the color is also more yellowish. We did notice the color difference after comparing side by side with other brands, haha!

Edited January 21, 2013 by ashleyspace

[ashleyspace 1]

The HK Interior Design video from Youtube, quite creative... Make a small house to appear larger and comfortable! The designer uses built-in platform with storage below the bed that increase the storage area.

Watch it if you're interested, but it is in Cantonese.. If you can understand :-)

[HappyAng 0]

700mm length sounds like a very long sink. Seems to be hard to find, seldom saw such sink when visited several sanitary/kitchen wares shop. By the way, we bought ours at most of our Bathroom stuff from Bath-Zone in Geylang. There are quite few shops selling sanitary and kitchen wares with nice design and reasonable price along the Geylang road (near Paya Lebar MRT). Visited Bacera, find that their selection is good also and nearly buy from them. At last bought in Bath-zone because the boss is very knowledgeable to recommend us how to choose sanitary wares. Also that time they are having promotion, so no GST. :-) I found that Hoe Kee stuff are priced to sell, but most other shops are actually priced higher than they intend to sell. For Bath-Zone, it's almost 100% higher, so most item has 50% discount. But it doesn't matter la, because after discount it will be a reasonable price anyway... Design wise like the one in Bath-Zone better. Didn't buy branded sanitary wares like those Grohe/Hansgrohe because we are on budget. We bought the package for wash closet (1-piece design- MCM) + wash basin (Crizto) for $230. I think the package is quite worth it as it's the one-piece WC that we like. :-) He also advised us not to choose the China brand, because the weather difference during the manufacturing process so it's prone to hair-line crack after a while and the color is also more yellowish. We did notice the color difference after comparing side by side with other brands, haha!

Hi ashleyspace, we bought Elkay sink (650 x 450 x height approx 220mm) @ $280: (Heard that Elkay is market leader for stainless steel sink) from Poo Joo. We also bought one pice WC from them too. Their price also quite reasonable.

U can go to my T-blog to see the list of item we purchased from them.

Btw, Poo Joo also sell Grohe shower set. We purchased a rain shower from them @ $380.

Our shower set and mixer taps are Grohe. We purchase from interior affair during sales.

I compare the price during sales and normal mixer tap, only slightly higher. Worth buying during interior affair sale.

Edited January 21, 2013 by HappyAng

[jus4fun 4]

Oh wow your house very nicely done up! :-) Is this the common room?? Oh I had saw this in curtain shop before, but didn't know this is the rainbow blind. The blind that was quoted $12 psf isn't this one.... How much is yours?

Yups the house should be ready by CNY. Now left minor touch-up and glass backing for the kitchen only.

10Q 10Q! yah, that is the BR. pic taken jus after reno, so still swee swee.. things getting a little messy by now.. haha!

I'm not sure abt the rate (din ask for breakdwn then). overall $2.5K (w GST) for whole hse: 2 x rainbow blinds for LH (2.8m) and BR (2.2m) + day & night curtains for MBR (2m). thou my windows relatively wider than most 3-rms, this was one item i definitely overspent (kena chopped?) anyway price 9 mths ago; shd b cheaper now as getting more avail in mkt..

My LH blinds

[ashleyspace 1]

10Q 10Q! yah, that is the BR. pic taken jus after reno, so still swee swee.. things getting a little messy by now.. haha!

I'm not sure abt the rate (din ask for breakdwn then). overall $2.5K (w GST) for whole hse: 2 x rainbow blinds for LH (2.8m) and BR (2.2m) + day & night curtains for MBR (2m). thou my windows relatively wider than most 3-rms, this was one item i definitely overspent (kena chopped?) anyway price 9 mths ago; shd b cheaper now as getting more avail in mkt..

My LH blinds

Your house is so spacious, not like the normal 3-room la... Is it a corner unit?? How large is the floor area? Looks good lo. I think house will look good if can keep it neatly, but it's easier said than done! :-P It's quite impossible to keep it like a showroom once live in, haha... I try to plan on things to store when discussing on the cabinet design. But when it's built now, I realize some storage area is too small and not practical to store certain things.

Example:

1. The full height cabinet to hide piping -> Plan to use it to store broom, aluminium poles for hanging clothes, thought there are some shelves above can put little things for laundry (detergent etc)

Reality: 1-feet width, too narrow to even fit in a broom with dustpan, need to consider the cabinet edge, so actual <30cm width :-(

No shelving, so cannot put laundry stuff also :-(

2. The remaining tiles after renovation - especially 60x60cm tiles, not sure whether to put. Try the kitchen lower cabinet, cannot fit 60x60cm....

Any suggestion how you organize these things?

For your curtain and blind, can't justify by just total amount coz your window does look big! Haha... Depend on $$ psf, can see whether is reasonable or not, no break down hard to calculate liao. If can last, then I think worth the money la. You seems to have a lot of built-in cabinet. Does that cost a lot to build? Can know roughly how much you spent on the reno alone (excluding wiring etc)?