Our Dream Home @ Woodlands Meadow

[Guest CLA]

Hi Jiawen, can share your ID contact details please? My email is cancheng35@hotmail.com

Many thanks!

[guojiawen 101]

Hi Jiawen, can share your ID contact details please? My email is cancheng35@hotmail.com

Many thanks!

Emailed

[guojiawen 101]

Sofa Shopping

And so... today hubby and I went around shopping for sofa at IMM, The Furniture Mall beside IMM and Sungei Kadut. No fabric sofa for us as hubby don't like the feel of fabric sofa and we are afraid of accidental spills when kids come along in the future. I love L shaped sofas, so we set out looking for that.

Didn't really look much around IMM as I had the impression that they should be pricier than the outlets that we'll be visiting. So just walked around looking at designs. Visited Sungei Kadut next (instead of The Furniture Mall just beside IMM as I thought there should be more choices at Kadut area).

Went to the higher end shops at the beginning, looking for full or half leather sofas - Castilla, Star Living Furniture - Lucano, Sanzio - Handson. Saw a somewhat similar sofa as the picture at Castilla and Handson that I was so tempted to get. But they quoted 3k+ and that exceeded our budget. It's a 2.9m sofa with 1.8mm full cowhide leather. They were pretty atas and didn't provide options for half leather though.

So we had to manage our expectations. In the end we decided that we will only be using the sofa for 5 yrs before moving on to a new home and likely won't bring the sofa along. So we headed out to more mass market shops to take a look - Nova, Uninnova, Novena and a few others. Didn't really find anything we like there.

From high end leather sofas to mass market was too much difference I went around poking at sofa to determine the leather thickness, is it real leather and blah blah blah. Only a phrase to conclude - we get what we pay for. I very much prefer the high end leather sofa. But 3k+ was seriously too much

Didn't manage to find anything from Nova, Uninnova and Novena so decided to try Lorenzo at The Furniture Mall (yes, we went all the way back there!). Didn't find anything we like there too. But we still walked around and entered Star Living Furniture.

Saw this full synthetic leather model with a simple and sleek design that we really like! Deliberated back and forth and went to the shop like 3 times before we finally confirmed it. Details in the picture. $1,290 and comes with 1 year warranty for the synthetic leather, 2 years for the mechanical parts and 5 years for the structure I think.

Star Living Furniture says strictly no bargaining across their outlets so no further discount received.

To maximise its life span, we'll shield it from direct heat and sunlight and just cross fingers the sofa can last at least 4 years without cracking or peeling! Guess it should help that our living room won't get direct sunlight + it's not so hot.

P.s. Any tips about how else to maintain full synthetic leather aka PVC / PU leather?

Edited July 16, 2014 by guojiawen

[dashzzz 0]

finally managed to take a photo of my floor plan. as below!

what i like about it is that it is blockish enough with no odd angles. easier to plan for furnitures and no wasted space as well. but then again, i know most new BTOs are also 99% the same floor plan la.

it's a 5 room apartment at 112m sq. Internal area is 110m sq.

Sharing our quotation which I hope is reasonable enough (after all the homework done, i am at least 90% sure). Will not be providing the breakdown though, so if keen, i think it's better to share via PM instead.

Living Room

Est 6 ft - L shape full height cabinet with divider and 14" settee w cushion

Est 6 ft - Feature wall w mirror & tic tac door for bomb shelter

Est 8 ft - Suspended TV console with full height feature wall

Change 4 laminate doors (Covering the circuit breaker)

L box with false ceiling for living, dining & passageway area

Kitchen

Est 41.5 ft - Top & bottom kitchen cabinets including tall unit for oven

Est 17 ft - Granite kitchen top

Tempered glass backing on both sides (between top & bottom kitchen cabinets)

Tempered glass swing door at entrance

Kitchen cabinet, washing machine & fridge base

Toilets

Est 2 ft - Suspended vanity cabinet @ MBR

Est 2 ft - Suspended vanity cabinet @ Common toilet

Est 4 ft - Solid surface top for both toilets

Est 2 ft - Top cabinet with mirror doors @ MBR

Est 2 ft - Mirror with plywood backing @ Common toilet

Shower kerbs for both toilets

Tempered glass shower screen (1 fixed, 1 swing) for both toilets

MBR

Est 3 ft - Two bedside tables

Est 3 ft - Full height make up table with light holder, mirror & drawer

Bedroom beside MBR

Est 13 ft - Full height wardrobe with casement doors, colour internal PVC & 1 panel of mirror

Est 9 ft - Suspended study table with 2 sets of drawers

Est 6 ft - 3 layers of shelving beside study table

Electrical Works

Est 13 lighting points

Est 2 double sockets

Est 2 single socket

Est 20 installation of lights

Est 1 installation of ceiling fan

Air Con

Mitsubishi Starmex Inverter Sys 4

1 x 18k btu

3 x 10k btu

1/2" thick piping

G23 copper pipes

1 year warranty for indoor units

5 year warranty for compressor

Others

Paint whole house w Nippon matex paint (but can change to other Nippon series)

Install piping inlet & outlet for kitchen sink & washing machine

Stainless steel piping for 3 points (City gas hot & cold water points)

Chemical wash & general cleaning upon completion

Haulage & removal of debris

Installation of toilet accessories

Dismantling of existing toilet bowl & basin

Installation of hood & hob

Installation of kitchen sink & tap

Laying of protection cardboard during renovation

Whole house aluminium grills

Aluminium sliding windows at service yard

Total cost of quotation: $30,000 before bargaining & discount

hi.. ur quote looks reasonable... can pm me the details with breakdown if you dont mind, also which id you signed with? TIA!!

[TimothyPeh 0]

Hi Jiawen, could you pm me your ID contact please? Thanks!

[renonewbie 0]

hi, pls pm me your ID details too. thanks!

[guojiawen 101]

hi.. ur quote looks reasonable... can pm me the details with breakdown if you dont mind, also which id you signed with? TIA!!

Hi dashzzz,

I've PM-ed you the contact.

Sorry won't be sharing the breakdown of the quotation to be fair to my ID. You can refer to post #5 for my detailed carpentry works and the approximate cost.

Cheers!

Hi Jiawen, could you pm me your ID contact please? Thanks!

PM-ed

hi, pls pm me your ID details too. thanks!

PM-ed!

[mummychua 4]

Sofa Shopping

And so... today hubby and I went around shopping for sofa at IMM, The Furniture Mall beside IMM and Sungei Kadut. No fabric sofa for us as hubby don't like the feel of fabric sofa and we are afraid of accidental spills when kids come along in the future. I love L shaped sofas, so we set out looking for that.

Didn't really look much around IMM as I had the impression that they should be pricier than the outlets that we'll be visiting. So just walked around looking at designs. Visited Sungei Kadut next (instead of The Furniture Mall just beside IMM as I thought there should be more choices at Kadut area).

Went to the higher end shops at the beginning, looking for full or half leather sofas - Castilla, Star Living Furniture - Lucano, Sanzio - Handson. Saw a somewhat similar sofa as the picture at Castilla and Handson that I was so tempted to get. But they quoted 3k+ and that exceeded our budget. It's a 2.9m sofa with 1.8mm full cowhide leather. They were pretty atas and didn't provide options for half leather though.

So we had to manage our expectations. In the end we decided that we will only be using the sofa for 5 yrs before moving on to a new home and likely won't bring the sofa along. So we headed out to more mass market shops to take a look - Nova, Uninnova, Novena and a few others. Didn't really find anything we like there.

From high end leather sofas to mass market was too much difference I went around poking at sofa to determine the leather thickness, is it real leather and blah blah blah. Only a phrase to conclude - we get what we pay for. I very much prefer the high end leather sofa. But 3k+ was seriously too much

Didn't manage to find anything from Nova, Uninnova and Novena so decided to try Lorenzo at The Furniture Mall (yes, we went all the way back there!). Didn't find anything we like there too. But we still walked around and entered Star Living Furniture.

Saw this full synthetic leather model with a simple and sleek design that we really like! Deliberated back and forth and went to the shop like 3 times before we finally confirmed it. Details in the picture. $1,290 and comes with 1 year warranty for the synthetic leather, 2 years for the mechanical parts and 5 years for the structure I think.

Star Living Furniture says strictly no bargaining across their outlets so no further discount received.

To maximise its life span, we'll shield it from direct heat and sunlight and just cross fingers the sofa can last at least 4 years without cracking or peeling! Guess it should help that our living room won't get direct sunlight + it's not so hot.

P.s. Any tips about how else to maintain full synthetic leather aka PVC / PU leather?

the best tip is not to buy synthetic leather sofa

i got a synthetic leather bench at my old place, last me less than a yr. my friend got a synthetic leather sofa, cracked within a yr too.

maybe you could try those leather care product. not sure if it will be effective.

[Kikixixi 0]

@jiawen

haha no leh. but my future bto is building in e process which is opp your flat.

[Sinlx 0]

Hihi Jiawen.

Can I also have your ID contact? Pls pm me..

Thanks.. =)

[hyperballad 1]

Hi there! Can you pm me your id contact details? Thank you!

[guojiawen 101]

the best tip is not to buy synthetic leather sofa

i got a synthetic leather bench at my old place, last me less than a yr. my friend got a synthetic leather sofa, cracked within a yr too.

maybe you could try those leather care product. not sure if it will be effective.

Will try the leather cream... Still crossing fingers

@jiawen

haha no leh. but my future bto is building in e process which is opp your flat.

Haha okay I know which is it! Welcome to the neighbourhood

[guojiawen 101]

Hihi Jiawen.

Can I also have your ID contact? Pls pm me..

Thanks.. =)

Hi there! Can you pm me your id contact details? Thank you!

PM-ed both!

[bianzi 52]

Ya I really can't accept the joint lines.. That is why u need to avoid using white laminates...

How much did u pay for ur sanus bracket?

More Updates!

Perhaps the only thing I find more glaring in terms of the carpentry work was the joint lines of the laminates. My dad used to work in the carpentry line and said this is normal. But I went around checking out my cousin and friend's house, the joint lines are not that obvious.. Maybe they used brown coloured laminates so it isn't obvious. Unfortunately for my case, white and grey can't hide that brown joint

But I did visit the completed flats of my ID and have seen the joint lines before I signed. It's a clean brown line that is not noticeable from far and doubt people will scrutinise my carpentry work anyway. Showed the pic to my friend and she said it just looks like a design.

Here's a close up of the joint line I am referring to. May be worthy to highlight to your ID if you can't accept it, so they will find solutions for that, perhaps by using a more expensive laminate that can fold over the corner / use a similar colour laminate to cover the line, instead of cutting up the laminate and joining them together at the edges.

Study table with glass top + drawer

Toilet cabinet doors ready to be installed onto the vanity

TV delivered

TV bracket purchased - all ready for mounting

[Troublemaker 31]

Nice! Your house is coming out pretty well!