My Humble Abode

[lawrenceke 0]

June 2009

Gotten my new BTO flat in fernvale in year 2009. It was a great year where I got my new job, new car, got married and got a new BTO flat.

Located at the western edge of Sengkang estate, it is very close to the famous stretch of eating houses along Jalan Kayu famous for serving prata around the clock. Although Sengkang estate is relatively mature, the western edge is relatively untouched and is home to many landed homes.

The location of this BTO project is about 4-5 LRT stops from the town centre and Sengkang MRT station. The project will appeal to those working in the North, East or City parts of Singapore. The Nautilus lies 5 minutes away from the TPE and SLE expressway.

Long wait of 44 months begin...

11 Jan 2013

Finally got news about getting my keys.. Took a day off to go down HDB.

Finally gotten my keys after a series of procedures. Being a first time flat owner, it is so exciting yet tiring plus time-consuming!

I didn't opt for flooring and doors done by HDB. So I only have keys for my postbox, gate and main door.

Edited April 9, 2013 by lawrenceke

[lawrenceke 0]

My flat layout. Yes, it is a 4RM flat and most area got eaten up by the passageway and best part is that the toilet entrance is so weird and space outside the toilet is not even enough to create a big wardrobe.

Well, this is one of the biggest headache when you got your new flat and realised some of your initial designs does not fit in to your new flat as the dimensions are way off logical to add or remove.

23 Feb 2013

My Aircon Installation Day!! Because of CNY, I have to wait for a month before I can arrange the AC guys to install the aircon unit. I have gotten this system 4 Panasonic Inverter Aircon from Gain City during the Great Gain city Expo Fair. It came with 5 years warranty and free upgrade of insulation pipe. However, the deal only comes with 1 installation and if you need them to come down another day, you have to pay $80. Being a newbie of home reno, I choose not to add another installation day. Not sure if I will regret this after my reno.

2 Guys came early in the morning to shift all their materials up.

My free upgraded insulation!

Work starts!

Edited April 9, 2013 by lawrenceke

[lawrenceke 0]

I choose to have truckings inside the rooms instead of passageway so that I can have my truckings covered by wardrobes and not have them exposed in the passageway.

The installation took 6 hours for the 2 guys to finish. I am quite satisfied with their workmanship as most of the truckings are being touched up properly and holes are sealed nicely with white cement.

There is a minor hipcup due to the design of the master bedroom toilet. Yes, the weird entrance! Because of the location, my AC piping needs to make a big round in the bathroom to allow water to seep out. Thanks to my ID for having a brilliant suggestion to have it under my toilet doorway, then partially covered by tiles.

Not sure if the final product looks good but at least the piping need not be expose everywhere in the toilet.

[lawrenceke 0]

24 Feb 2013

Getting a new flat means getting new stuffs at the same time to beautify the new place. As I am currently staying with my parents, I am not in a rush to move in to my new place. Which means, I can have ample time to shop for my stuffs and also have time to search for my favourite ID.

Spent the entire Sunday to shop for suitable lightings, furnitures, bathroom and kitchen accessories and my home entertainment system.

I went to lightings.com.sg at jalan besar to shop for LED lightings. I intend to have LED downlights and cove lightings for my living room and passageway. Philips seems to be selling a good price in this shop but the warrenty covered is only 1 year.

Found this dining table selling cheap in Full House. Bought it immediately with my CFO approval!

this sofa looks good but it is only half leather. Price is less than 1K, not sure if quality is good in the long run. Colours are limited so I never confirm immediately.

This Samsung HTS caught my eye. It has Bluetooth enabled and I can use my Samsung S3 to connect it and play my favourite music. Price also never burst my wallet.

I was aiming this fridge since last year but because I cannot confirm the date that I am getting my new keys, I dare not purchase this fridge. The promotion last year was free $150 vouchers or a free CTBL coffee maker. This year promotion is even more attractive as it comes with free 39" LED TV!! Finally can get my favourite fridge!!

Edited April 9, 2013 by lawrenceke

[lawrenceke 0]

Saw this Blanco Metra 9 kitchen sink from Hoe Kee. Felt in love with the granite surface. Price abit over budget. Still thinking if I should get it.

Intend to get Tecno Hood and Hob for my kitchen. Went to Mustafa in the late evening around 11pm and got served by a hardworking salesman. I am impressed by the man's sales ethics as I am not going to commit the purchase so soon but he served me to great extend that I got from him immediately. Gotten a free thermo flask from tecno.

[lawrenceke 0]

Finally decided on the ID that we gonna use. She is my colleague's good friend and was featured in Squareroom. To be frank, me and my wife didn't went to look for any other IDs nor contractors as we found this ID creative and honest with our initial renovation budget. I went to several of her creations in Sengkang and the workmanship is not bad and suits our taste without burning our budget. Best part is that this ID stays near my new place too so if something crops up at my place, I can call her to come over immediately

1 Mar 2013

The Day, "Ah Long" came to lock my place with the chain and lock!

I was given a week to pay the deposit and she will prepare my "IOU" (3D drawings).

7 Mar 2013

Layout for the lighting points and false ceiling design up! YES! I will have remote control lights for my living room and master bedroom.

Work starts even before I paid my deposit.

Edited April 9, 2013 by lawrenceke

[lawrenceke 0]

Second Hipcup during the installation of the false ceiling. We wanted the living room design for the cove lightings to be as smooth as possible, no sharp corners or any sharp ends. But the cove design for the dining area end just before it hits my aircon unit. Complained this to my ID and she got it curved instead.

To make the overall feel better, my ID proposed to have the other corner of the cove design facing the living room side to be curved as well.

Hopefully the overall feel is good after painting. At the moment now, it seems that the curve is not smooth as it looks.

[lawrenceke 0]

The rectifications took place immediately after I shown my unhappiness on the workmanship of the false ceiling. The subcontractor accompanied with my ID took down my requirements and proceed with the changes.

Does the curve looks weird? At least it looks better than the initial stage!

Similar curve at the living room corner

The gap between the aircon unit and the ceiling is been reconstructed closer for the master bedroom.

The incident over the false ceiling design left me pondering whether am I too stingy with my ID. But to think of it now, who will not want their flat to be nice when so much $ is involved?

Edited April 9, 2013 by lawrenceke

[lawrenceke 0]

11 Mar 2013

Finally chose the homo tiles that we will be using for the whole house. Got the tiles from Hafary and it cost $3.85 per sq feet. Ouch, the tiles are expensive but still cheaper than marble flooring. Initially wanted to get marble flooring, but the price is really out of my budget and I cannot imagine spending 15K to step everyday in the new house.

Tiles in!

Tiler measuring the difference in height between the kitchen and the living room

Received a shocking sms from my ID. Was been told that the level of the kitchen tiles are not straight with my living room tiles. There is at least a 1cm gap seen between the kitchen tiles and living room after the tiles are layed! Wah piang, what a defect and poor workmanship from the construction company!

Can you notice the gap?

[lawrenceke 0]

Was very furious over this defect. But I cannot do anything about it since reno had started and it is impossible to get HDB to rectify the issue. So I can only get my ID to think of a solution.

The gap is very obvious if you take a closer look.

Meanwhile, the tiling is done in a span of 3 days.

Aircon Pipe covered up by tiles. Neat and Nicely done!

My Main Doorway done up with pebble stones. Swee Swee

[lawrenceke 0]

ID got a solution for my uneven kitchen tiles! She proposed to have pebble stones installed to make the uneven tiles look even between the living room tiles. Something similar to my main doorstep design. Not a bad idea. Save cost and solve the big headache!

Kitchen kerb are constructed as well.

17 Mar 2013

Painters are here to paint the house. Had a hard time deciding the colours as we wanted the house to look bright and painting white is too plain and normal. So we decided to paint yellow for living room and sunshine yellow for my cove design!

For my mum's bedroom, we choose jade green for her.

My Entertainment room is so ...

[lawrenceke 0]

My master bedroom colours designed by my CFO.

Hopefully the colours match the design of the wardrobe and bed frame.

18 Mar 2013

Was told by my ID that the electrician can come down anytime to install the lightings so I decided to get my ceiling fans and LED downlights and stripes immediately to suit the electrician schedule.

Got my Fanco fans & toilet lightings from Alex @ A Lightings through recommendations from renotalk kakis.

While I was window shopping for home furnitures, I bumped into one of my ex bunk mate and to my surprise, he had set up his own business, selling LED Downlights and LED strips for private property and commercial buildings. He also supply downlights to some shops in Singapore.

So I decided to give my good mate business and in fact he offers the most attractive package by having 3 years warranty for all his products.

I got 11 LED Downlights and 15m of LED strips from him at a much discounted price.

[lawrenceke 0]

on the very same day, the electrician came down to do the installation.

I am installing Fan with Lights for my mum's bedroom.

Silver fan for my living room.

LED Downlights are installed as well.

Cove lightings plus Downlights effect

[lawrenceke 0]

More photos of lightings in master bedroom & Living Room

Master Bedroom

Living Room

The lights really make me over the moon.

[lawrenceke 0]

I decided to purchase my chandeliers, kitchen mixer, basin, basin mixer and rain shower from Taobao. It is not the first time that I bought things from China as I have a close friend staying in China so I always got my friend to send me the stuffs that I bought from Taobao.

The chandeliers that I choose for my dining area, passageway and entertainment room cost me slightly more than $400 in total. Plus shipping costs, it added up to be $500. Well, the price I paid for taking the risk is worthwhile. I saw similar chandeliers in lighting shops at jalan besar and balestier road. The price for one chandelier equals to my whole purchase.

The Dining Room Chandelier

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.28-7255283717.5.ImNCee&id=4456497676

I got the 800*220mm version. Comes with LED lights and normal bulbs and remote control.

The Passageway light

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.10.28.sN435r&id=14264869602

Gotten the 40cm version. Cheap and good.

The Entertainment Room Chandelier

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.10.259.zPZBET&id=9075027620

Promotion price.