Fat Family's Sweet Sweet Home @punggol Emerald

[illidann 0]

Hello Everybody!

My wife and me would be getting our keys to our BTO flat in Punggol Emerald. The PCD given is 4th quarter of the year. I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog here, share our progress and learn from others.

The floorplan of our plan is identical to the rest of the new BTO flats:

[zihui 7]

Congrats on your new place! Am looking forward to seeing photos of your reno process!

[illidann 0]

We(mainly me) started our ID search way back in May. Met up with a few IDs after 2 months of reading through magazines, forums, asking for friends' recommendations...........

1) A** S*** - Went to an exhibition at Expo and was approached by 2 of their staff. One of them sat us down and proceeded to share with us his portfolio. After about 20 minutes, we decided to leave as we did not like his way of presentation. Boring and could not capture our attention. Not shortlisted.

2) Rhiss Interior - Was approached at the same event at Expo. Designer was pretty experienced and was abit sold by his sales talk. Met up shortly and discussed briefly. Quotation was provided shortly. Considered but not shortlisted after we met up with 5) and 6).

3) Rezt & Relax - Same event at Expo. Sat down with a young designer. She was trying very hard to sell us the promotional package, with freebies thrown in. Managed to wiggle our way out after telling her that we were not ready to sign up at that point in time. Read some very negative reviews on Renotalk. Not shortlisted.

4) Design4Space - Friend's recommendation. Quickly arranged for a meetup when we found that the office was in AMK. Met with a lady and found that she was more of a Sales person. Designer was on leave and could not give any design suggestions. Pretty knowlegeable in the pricing of those renovation items. Tried to get us to put down a deposit to "tie up" the package pricing as she mentioned company would be taking over the other shop's space and prices would be increased. Not shortlisted after consideration.

Edited September 23, 2013 by illidann

[illidann 0]

Congrats on your new place! Am looking forward to seeing photos of your reno process!

Hi Zihui,

Thank you for your welcome. I will post some pics once my ID has ready the second draft.

[illidann 0]

5) BEhome Design Concept - Met up with Ben after reading through the reviews on Vincent Interior Blog. Very friendly and shared with us many child-friendly renovation tips. Knowledgeable and really loved his designs. Shortlisted.

6) Inspire by D'Trenzo - Read some positive reviews about Russell in Renotalk forums. We met up and found that he is actually the MD of the company. Even though he is the MD, he is still very friendly and approachable. He is also knowledgeable and attentive to our needs. His designs are creative and not those run-of-the-mill kind. Shortlisted.

Edited September 24, 2013 by illidann

[illidann 0]

We are stuck between choosing Ben or Russell.

Ben

1) Very knowledgeable. Shared with us alot of tips on renovating the house to be child-friendly.

2) Brought us to one of his projects and we felt that the workmanship were really good. The laminates used in the wardrobe are of a solid feel and do not give a hollow sound.

3) Quotation given is slightly on the high side. Had to remove some works in order to fit our budget.

Russell

1) Very knowledgeable. Gave us alot of practical tips to minimize our spending.

2) Invited us to his showflat and we were impressed by the creative use of colours in his design. However, we felt that the carpentry are slightly inferior to Ben's.

3) Quotation provided is cheaper than Ben's. It is within our budget and covers all the works that we want.

In the end, we chose Russell to be our ID. I bite the bullet and signed on the dotted line shortly. The road to renovating Fat Family's New Home has started!

[gryffindor 2]

Congrats!! My floor plan is the mirror image of yours! By the way, have they written in to ask you to collect the keys?

Edited September 24, 2013 by gryffindor

[illidann 0]

Thanks, gryffindor. What block is yours? Mine is 266B. Under HDB website, it still states 4th quarter of the year.

[gryffindor 2]

Hahaha mine still has a long way to go. Different project.

[illidann 0]

Me and my wife spent countless hours reading through home & decor magazines, squarerooms, expat living, googling, and talking to friends and relatives to decide on theme that we want.

Finally, we settled on this theme: COLOURFUL

We wanted all the rooms to be painted in bright sunny colours! After we gave our input to Russell, he came back with this 1st draft of drawings:

Edited September 25, 2013 by illidann

[angelbaby77 0]

hiya

Your floor plan and mine almost the same!

Can you please give me Russell's contact? We're looking for an ID now too..

Thanks!

[zihui 7]

Wow - very colorful indeed!

I inwardly chuckled when I saw the multi colored rug in the last 3D drawing.

I always love seeing how the 3D drawings slowly come to life!

[illidann 0]

Hi angelbaby77,

I have PM you.

[illidann 0]

Wow - very colorful indeed!

I inwardly chuckled when I saw the multi colored rug in the last 3D drawing.

I always love seeing how the 3D drawings slowly come to life!

Lol...Me and my wife still think that it is not colourful enough....

[Minnielt 0]

So colourful, i like it!

Can PM me the contact and the quotation? Thanks.