A Simple Home 4 Me And My Son..

[shir1307 6]

Hey everybody! After reading many of the forums here on Renotalk, I'm extremely pleased to say that it is finally my turn to do my renovation.

My flat: Buangkok Vale @ Buangkok Green

Size: 4 room

A short story on my flat:

Actually keys to the flat were given out in March 2013, but I had just then filed for a divorce with my ex-husband. Finally obtaining my legal documents from the Courts in June, I made an appeal to HDB to retain the flat with my name and my son's name, and after 1 year of struggling with non-responses from HDB, i have just only collected my keys to the flat in early August.

After doing the necessary rites and etc, here are some pics of my flat! (1 year worth of dust on the floor has already been swept and mopped!)

The main hall (ignore unused trash bag)

The view from the window:

Collage of the rooms and corridor:

And one last one of my cheeky happy boy...

More to come on my ID choice next post!

[shir1307 6]

Here is my floor plan, and below are some of the IDs that I have contacted and a summary of them.

Quite a common floor plan, nothing fancy. My budget for the renovation is a low one, just to do up the kitchen cabinets, some wall flushing due to recess area in my son's room and a divider for the main hall, and electrical works etc.

Now for the contractors / IDs that i met up with...

J**k (Contractor from Home 13 Reno)

- Introduced to my colleague/friend who is currently doing her renovation with him in East area.

- J**k is very friendly, chinese-speaking uncle. On telling him my budget, he is very accommodating and mentioned that he will do his best to find ways to help me save money. However, as J**k is a contractor, I was rather worried. Reason being i am very new to the entire renovation process and materials etc, and feel that I may not be able to tell him exactly what i want. However, this put aside, I would have gone with him.

- My friend has updated me that as J**k is a little busy, his reno time may be longer then normal, but for his low price, some may be able to forgive this.

Ta****n (ID from Atelier Concept)

- Received an email from her via a website, either Renotalk or another website.

- She was very prompt on her responses to my requests during the quotation stage, and was always fast to reply via whatsapp. However, the quotation was too pricey for me and exceeded my budge by a few K. Their portfolio was quite nice as well. On meet up, she was friendly (although late for 30 minutes) and followed up with an amended quotation very quickly. Sadly their quotation was just too pricey for me.

I***c (ID from WHST Design)

- Received an email from her via a get quote request through Livnn website

- He was very quick to followup with a quotation, but the quotation was too vague and did not meet my requirements. On meeting up, felt that he was not very experienced and after the meet up, he did not followup with me, perhaps he felt my project was too small?

Kelvin (ID from Design Profession)

- Sent an email to them based on a friend's recommendation

- Kelvin was quick to reply and followup with a quotation that met my requirements. Through our communication, he has always been very responsive in replying fast to my whatsapp inquiries and also to call me directly when he needed to explain something to me. This was even before I had committed to doing the renovation with them. On meeting up, felt that Kelvin was very experienced and able to understand my needs for the reno work. Even though my reno is a small scale project, he still put in the effort to follow up with amendments to the quotations and etc. Hence I have signed up with them to do my reno.

[ANDiLaLaLa 2]

Hi shir1307,

Congrats on getting your home keys.

We'll be getting ours next week, 2nd appt. with the buyers of our current flat tomorrow.

We are also on a small budget...basically will be window grilles & kitchen kabinets.(got flooring oredi)

So far we only contacted 1 guy..recommended here ..if yours if good, perhaps can share with us.

[MrWhiteKnight 10]

Good luck on ur reno! and a wonderful start to a new beginning with ur son.

small budget also can work out something good

[ANDiLaLaLa 2]

oh by the way,

same floor plan! hahahaha.

now we are busy packing all our stuffs...seems we are throwing away more !

[cch93624 6]

Congrats on ur key collection and wish u'll have a smooth reno process!!

[shir1307 6]

Hi shir1307,

Congrats on getting your home keys.

We'll be getting ours next week, 2nd appt. with the buyers of our current flat tomorrow.

We are also on a small budget...basically will be window grilles & kitchen kabinets.(got flooring oredi)

So far we only contacted 1 guy..recommended here ..if yours if good, perhaps can share with us.

Hey ANDIlalala, Thanks! a congrats to you too, definitely will recommend if my ID is good, i can say that so far is good (fingers crossed). Kelvin also promised me a smooth and quick reno, so will let you know if all goes according to plan! Haha, can say that the floor plan nowadays seems pretty similar, even my friend at Tampines has an almost similar floor plan even though hers is a 3 room. Good luck with the packing and throwing! Throw more, move less! haha.

Good luck on ur reno! and a wonderful start to a new beginning with ur son.

small budget also can work out something good

Thanks MrWhiteKnight, yes i agree that small budget also can do something good. I just hope to be able to have a nice, warm and comfy home for myself and my little boy.

Congrats on ur key collection and wish u'll have a smooth reno process!!

Thanks much cch93624! i can say that so far the pre-reno process has been good, tiring but still smooth.

Update more on my reno details tomorrow!

[shir1307 6]

Met up with curtain salespeople today.. Met two sellers,

D****L from Curtain Story

He was recommended by my ID kelvin and was very friendly and sincere when meeting up. He also made alot of good suggestion for my curtains. Unfortunately his quotation is just a little too pricey for me.

Debbie from 11November

Very friendly and quick to followup, she was prompt to provide a quotation and invited me down to her showroom to look at swatches. Her pricing is very reasonable, and she was also good at giving suggestions when i told her my color scheme. Will be shortlisting her to do my curtains and will update on this when she comes to measure and also fix up the final product.

[ANDiLaLaLa 2]

Hi shir1307,

have you started works with Design Profession yet?

kinda curious abt them.

their BTO package seems standard...but i tot a bit less costly than the ones i have so far.

[shir1307 6]

Hi shir1307,

have you started works with Design Profession yet?

kinda curious abt them.

their BTO package seems standard...but i tot a bit less costly than the ones i have so far.

Hey ANDILaLaLa, have signed on with Kelvin from Design Profession but not started reno proper. So far can say is so far so good, but can only give real comments once work start.

[shir1307 6]

Pending reno works starting next week, looking forward to meeting ID this Saturday for lights shopping and viewing of 3d drawings...

Currently having a slight headache from choosing color schemes for the home.. What would you choose?

1) Pink walls in the living room with white and dark furniture

Inspiration:

2) Blue/Mint walls in the living room with white and blue furniture

Inspiration:

[MrWhiteKnight 10]

Pink walls look nice! something refreshing..

if my mum is to see your pics she will surely pester me to give in to her pink fetish =D

I getting my curtains/blinds with EcoHaus at promo price when met the guy at a roadshow last week.

Non-black out blinds at $5/sqm (min.20 sqm to do) Blackout is $10/sqm

Curtains non-black out also $5/sqm. Dim $8/sqm and blackout $10/sqm.

No other cost like installation, workmanship etc as the above price is promo package.

The guy Alex was also quite patient in answering our endless questions.

Maybe u can consider give him a call and see if can get at promo price.

[shir1307 6]

Pink walls look nice! something refreshing..

if my mum is to see your pics she will surely pester me to give in to her pink fetish =D

I getting my curtains/blinds with EcoHaus at promo price when met the guy at a roadshow last week.

Non-black out blinds at $5/sqm (min.20 sqm to do) Blackout is $10/sqm

Curtains non-black out also $5/sqm. Dim $8/sqm and blackout $10/sqm.

No other cost like installation, workmanship etc as the above price is promo package.

The guy Alex was also quite patient in answering our endless questions.

Maybe u can consider give him a call and see if can get at promo price.

Thanks for the recommendation! WIll check it out.

Yes but my worry is that Pink may be abit too girly for my son. haha. Alot of my friends feedback said that it is too sweet. haha

[shir1307 6]

Went down to Jalan Besar to view some lights and toilet accessories just to get a feel of what i like and dont like, as well as a feel of the $$ involved before gng to ID's recommended shop on Saturday. (: saw a few pieces i like for my pendant light at the dining area as well as some ceiling lights for my mbr!

[blackie 4]

Went down to Jalan Besar to view some lights and toilet accessories just to get a feel of what i like and dont like, as well as a feel of the $$ involved before gng to ID's recommended shop on Saturday. (: saw a few pieces i like for my pendant light at the dining area as well as some ceiling lights for my mbr!

Tabao is yr fren if u plan to save some $$.