Mission Impossible

[zihui 7]

After silently lurking here for ages, reading other people's t-Blogs and silently absorbing as much information as possible, it's finally time to take the plunge and set up my own t-Blog so that I can chronicle the entire renovation process.

After settling all the other costs, we have a miniscule budget of only around $40K to do a major overhaul of the entire unit and another $10K for furniture and home appliances. Can we do up a dream home on our shoestring budget? Please refer to the title of my t-Blog.

Nonetheless, we're going to give it our best shot and see if we can stretch our dollar to the max to come up something that closely resembles our dream home.

First things first - the floor plan:

WISH ME LUCK!!

[cleong 1]

Good luck. Its going to be tough. I paid over that amount and didn't do the flooring...

[mark 0]

Looking forwards to it. All the best

[zihui 7]

Some quick photos of the current state of the unit -

1) View from the front door (looking inside the unit)

2) The dining area

3) Kitchen Shot

[zihui 7]

Good luck. Its going to be tough. I paid over that amount and didn't do the flooring...

Thanks for the good wishes cleong... I understand the enormity of the task at hand which is why I'm trying on a daily basis to lower my expectations.

Every single cent counts now

Looking forwards to it. All the best

Thanks mark!

[zihui 7]

4) The ground floor toilet

5) The 2nd floor toilet

6) The storage unit created by the current owners under the staircase

[mrmerry 2]

Wa . Goodluck. Perhaps do the more important parts first ?

[3Dyms 1]

Hi Zihui,

Congrats & welcome again to the EM club! Looking forward to updates on your Reno progress.

Get as much quotes as you can... And I agree with Mrmerry. Discuss with your hubs on the more important parts - Those that are 'must-do' now. Usually I find the major costs of Reno are hacking, electrical and built-in carpentry. Good luck and do post questions here if you not sure. Many reno talkers give great advise.

[cloudsabove 0]

Congrats on owning your EM ! (My dream too )

I worked on a shoestring budget too when I got my BTO flat, we managed I'm sure you can too.

Why don't you let us know what you would like to be done and how many people are staying there, and forumers can put our brains together and give some ideas

[potatoes 0]

Hi Zihui, it's great to see you start your own tblog! Once again congrats on owning an EM. Though you a small budget to work on, I am sure you will be able to work around it. I was also in the same situation as you and I didn't want to take any home loan. My reno was kept simple and nothing fantastic.....just wanted a decent and cosy home, that's all.

Like what 3Dyms and Mrmerry shared, focus on the important things first....cheers!

[summersann 6]

Haha, more welcomes. Welcome to the maisonette group!

Like most others have shared, 40k is going to be really tough. If you plan to do the bathrooms, make sure you get that part done before you move in. My place was undergoing bathroom renovations when we were buying the place from the previous owner, and boy was it messy. It was a nightmare visiting the place during the bathroom upgrading works. Things like air-con, built-in stuff, walls and flooring must be done too.

We overhauled our EM a few months ago. Couldn't keep to the budget at all

All the best!

[mrmerry 2]

Owning a house is at least 10-20year affair. U will have time n u will wanna reno over time to make it into the look n feel u want.

U bought a em, that means u value space much and more importantly, the feel that you are looking to get at your new place.

Never compromise on that final goal!

[zihui 7]

Wa . Goodluck. Perhaps do the more important parts first ?

Hi mrmerry,

you are absolutely correct!

we won't be using an ID in order to save costs. Instead, we'll be using my fiance's contractor uncle who has cleared his entire schedule to make sure that he can oversee his crew during this crucial period to deliver the house by early November so that we can move in after our wedding.

Buying a house, planning a wedding all at the same time on a shoestring budget - hence the title of my t-blog!

[zihui 7]

Hi Zihui,

Congrats & welcome again to the EM club! Looking forward to updates on your Reno progress.

Get as much quotes as you can... And I agree with Mrmerry. Discuss with your hubs on the more important parts - Those that are 'must-do' now. Usually I find the major costs of Reno are hacking, electrical and built-in carpentry. Good luck and do post questions here if you not sure. Many reno talkers give great advise.

Thanks again 3Dyms!

One thing you're definitely right about - reno talkers give outstanding advice and everyone is so welcoming and friendly!!

the problem here is that we have different ideas on what the important parts are hahahaha

however, we understand the limitations of our situation so we're going to have to really prioritize certain portions of the renovation

If we can't make magically transform this into our dream home, then we'll have to slowly finetune it as we go along! *beam*

[mrmerry 2]

well said!