Finally A Place To Call Our Home!

[iceage 1]

Hi all,

Have been a silent reader for a few months since we put down our deposit for a place in the North. Decided to give back to the community as a way to say a big big thank you to all the seniors here

Before i start, really wana say BIG thanks to eekenji, vanessa, drunkenchivas, makanology and many more (have read so many blogs till I forgotten the names liao )

My inspiration for my home mainly comes from eekenji's and vanessa's home. Love love love their homes..

Anyway, am truly a newbie as i have never started my blog before. To start off, this is my floor plan!

Will be receiving my keys in mid December and die die must move in before CNY coz returning my current flat to the owner by then..

[iceage 1]

We have sourced for a few IDs and contractors prior to our first appointment and these are our journey in narrowing down to our final selection

1) ID firm #1. Forgotten the name. Was browsing through the internet and chanced upon this ID firm. Saw their designs and loved it. Hubby and I decided to drop by to see their company and when we arrived, we were greeted by a guy who just handed us a brochure with the reno package when he heard we are only renovating the kitchen and toilets. Very lukewarm response. Decided to drop them off

2) ID firm # 2. Was introduced to this ID firm by my agent. Met up with the ID to discuss on what I will like to do. Emailed her my floor plan prior to meeting up and was pleasantly surprised that she did a rough sketch on my floor plan on what she planned to do for my home. Promised to keep to my budget. Shortlisted

3) ID firm # 3. Was browsing through the internet and again saw their designs. Love what they did for one of their customer as the kitchen layout was very similar to mine, although mirror image. Met up and went through my requirements and promised to come back with a quotation to meet my budget. Shortlisted

4) Contractor #1. Was introduced to this contractor by my colleague who has seen their work. The boss is his friend hence he always have a chance to see their work. Have been cautioned though that their prices are not the cheapest but can have a good night's sleep over their workmanship and services. Gave my number to my colleague to be passed to the contractor. The contractor called that night. Was very patient and we chatted over the phone for over half an hour with me giving a rough idea of what I will like to do for my home. The contractor was very open and gave honest (i think ) opinions about what I will like to do for my home. Shortlisted

At this point in time, i was very tired to continue sourcing for IDers and contractors as I am busy with my work and hubby was constantly on business trips. Hence, decided to wait for the quotations from the 2 shortlisted firms

Results

1) ID firm #2. Was very prompt in her quotation and met my budget. However, her quotation was very rough and not detailed. Called to meet up to discuss further on quote and on the day of appointment, i messaged her before leaving my home to remind her on our meeting. No reply

When we reached the place, i messaged her again to informed her we have reached the place. No reply again. Hubby said to give her more time as she may be driving and it is dangerous to text and drive. (Did i mentioned that my hubby is a nag?? )

Half an hour went by and still no reply from her so I called her. To my utmost surprise, she said i did not confirmed my timing with her !!!

Can you imagine my anger?????? i held it in and told her it is fine, will call her if we EVA decide her services

Decided to drop her there and then

2) ID Firm #3. quotation came back and the price is twice of what our budget and did not include some of the things that i said i "die-die" must have. Dropped

3) Our last hope. The contractor introduced by my colleague. Quotation came back and was slightly more than our budget. To be fair, I requested for more things to be added to my To-Do list. Gotten greedier as I saw how beautiful the homes of all the forum-ers here are

A few things that lead us to decide on this contractor.

a) i knew exactly what I wanted for our home. Hubby usually does not give much comments about the ideas. Only whether he likes it or not . So I think it is cheaper to go for a contractor. Can save on ID costs

b) This contractor seemed sincere as he met up with us at least 3 times before we told him we have decided on him (I think more than 3 times but could not remember). Also, I usually made the appointments to meet him quite last minutes and he could meet us and at odd times and places too. Hubby and I felt comfortable with him so we decided to engage him

Edited November 28, 2013 by iceage

[iceage 1]

We went with our first home visit with our contractor. The sellers are very nice to allow us to visit to take measurements as we mentioned we are very tight on schedule and needed to move in asap when we receive the keys.

The kitchen cannot overlay with tiles as the current owner has already overlaid the kitchen with his tiles. More money to be spent! Thankfully the toilets can be overlaid so some costs to be saved there

I made a decision there and then to put laminated flooring for my living as well.. MORE $$ but the current tiles are the small tiles and doesn't go with my theme. I thought the tiles were big homogenous tiles but must have gotten old already....hahaha

[iceage 1]

In the meantime, to share some of the items that I have already bought for our kitchen. Decided to buy Teka products for our kitchen. I cook nearly everyday so decided to invest in our kitchen

Noticed that not many ppl in this forum are buying Teka products. Anyway, these are some of the items that I have bought from Teka

Thankfully our kitchen is big enough to fit in our oven and microwave AND a tall unit.

[iceage 1]

My kitchen hob and hood from Teka as well. Decided to use all from the same brand as the price does not differ too much from other brands.

This is not the exact hood and hob as i cant seem the find the picture of them online. These 2 are the close in designs to what I have bought. Opted for a 2 gas burner as I do not foresee myself using more than 2 at the same time. Cost friendly too. Did not want to change to induction as I already owned a full set of kitchen ware and to change all my pots and pan to suit the induction cooker is too costly for me.

Initially i was not intending to install a hood in my kitchen as I do not use it even now. Usually only stir fry and seldom deep fry stuff. Was thinking it is cumbersome to maintain the cleanliness of the hood as well. However, my contractor convinced me that installing an exhaust fan will not be effective to absorb all the oil and smoke as my window is too far from my kitchen hob.

So, got it as a set. Think the price is pretty reasonable after comparing with the rest in the market

Edited November 28, 2013 by iceage

[redder 2]

Hey iceage, u have a unique layout.. Especially for bedrm 2! What theme are u going for?

I need to get kitchen appliances too and Teka didn't come to mind. Most probably because like what u mentioned, not many forummers use this brand lol! What made u go for Teka? Mind sharing the cost?

[iceage 1]

Hey iceage, u have a unique layout.. Especially for bedrm 2! What theme are u going for?

I need to get kitchen appliances too and Teka didn't come to mind. Most probably because like what u mentioned, not many forummers use this brand lol! What made u go for Teka? Mind sharing the cost?

Hi Redder *waves*

Thanks for dropping by! Have been following your blog too

Erm, am not trained in designs so not familiar with the terms.. I just hope to see lots of wood and white hence i term it woody-white

Yes, was hoping to get some lubang about Teka from this forum but unfortunately it doesnt seem to be popular in this forum. My mom swears by this brand which probably explains my tendency in leaning towards them too

Have pm-ed you!!

[iceage 1]

I got my kitchen appliances from a fair in JB and these are some of the pics to share:

My kitchen faucet

Learnt from a blogger here that she bought her tap in similar design but forgot to measure her cabinets hence had to forgo the tap. So the first thing i did was to tell my contractor I had this type of tap so that he can accommodate it in his design

My kitchen sink.

Saw drunkenchivas kraus sink here and was tempted by it but unfortunately, I do not know how to read chinese so am unable to shop from TB. Hubby was pretty pleased with that fact that i was handicapped from shopping on TB!!

Anyway, did some bringing all these stuff in to Singapore

Edited November 29, 2013 by iceage

[iceage 1]

Were in Hafary with my hubby to select the tiles for our home. Silly me forgot to take pics of my kitchen tiles. However, managed to take down my bathroom tiles

Was pleasantly surprised both my hubby and I were quite fast in choosing our tiles. Envied those customers in Hafary who were with their IDs. Oh well, cant complain much since i was not willing to pay the extra few k in choosing an ID

Common bathroom tiles

Initially wanted to get this for our common bathroom

But the mosaic tiles were WAYYY over the allocated costs that our contractor gave us. So we had to say bye bye to the beautiful mosaic tiles and the inspirational pic below

[iceage 1]

Am torn between the 2 colors for our master bathroom tiles. Appreciate honest feedback from all the bros and sis here

Our selected tiles are the lighter color one with the rough stone-like tile

Second option

This time lighter color stone-like tile.

We are more inclined to take the second option as we feel the first is too dark. what do you think?

[iceage 1]

We need some advice here too with regards to bathroom fixtures. Our contractor will be providing us with the toilet bowls, sinks and faucets but we need to buy the shower system and central heater ourselves. Any lubang or good deals to recommend? am really on very tight budget here so will appreciate any good deals now

[snowy89 12]

Hi iceage, I prefer the second option too, gives the resort kind of feel.

[ahhboi 15]

Hi iceage, I'm also trying to find a contractor for my 4rm resale. I'm only reno my MBR toliet and MBR with a tight budget as well.

Most IDs seems to be ingoring me, haizz.... maybe too small of a project to them.

Care to share your contractor to me? Thanks

[Makanology 29]

Hi hi, agree with you. The lighter color tile seems better. And welcome to RT!

[Makanology 29]

Out of curiosity, is the extra area to the left of your bedroom 2 door big enough for a walk-in wardrobe?