Home Sweet Home @ Punggol Topaz

[CountryGlow 10]

Hi snowy89,

So impressed with the progress of your renovations so far! Ur ID is really worth recommending! I haven't been online for awhile and I'm impressed to see how much ur flat has transformed into! Very happy for u!!

I love the idea of your seatee...space saving and has storage! Remember I told you have have the exact same layput as u and we didn't want to hack the kitchen walls? After seeing your dining concept, I'm so tempted to do something along this line. But sadly, we can't becoz seatee don't fit the Country style theme we wanted and we already purchased all our furniture that is in french-designed (i.e bulky and definitely not space saving). And to our horror, we realised that we cld actually get from TB at much more savings Too late to retract our orders for now....

But now, I'm inspired by you to grab the lightings and wall paper from TB! At least some savings when we can't get the best of everything.

Can I check with you:

1. How much did u pay for your curtains from Vincent thru Renotalk? (You can PM me if not convenient to share here)

2. I read that your wall paper quality from TB is very good! Any other TB seller to recommend other than yours? And who did u engage to install the wall paper for u?

3. I learnt from one of the shops that storage heater only allows one person to use the hot water one at a time. Means my HUBZ and I can't be bathing with hot water concurrently at both diff bathrooms if we install the storage heater. Is that true? Do u know?

4. Did you have issues fixing the lightings purchased from TB? Eg. voltage problem? Bulbs that TB provides work? I plan to buy a few for the house.

Looking forward to see more updates! Am happy to be your neighbour soon! For us, we are only starting reno after CNY...we can't wait too!

Updates on my living room

All my curtains have arrived. I engaged the popular renotalk Vincent to do up my curtains. The quality of his curtains are top notch. For my WIW, I opted for blinds. My second batch of taobao items have also arrived and we are in the midst of arranging everything. This time I bought over 5cbm of stuffs so shipping is expensive at about $500+.

I have already assembled the living room furniture, namely the coffee table and dining table. So here the pictures!

Spot my happy tree friends in the picture.

My coffee table slots can be pulled out one. So much storage space to put my remote controls etc. The empty portion can be used to put magazines as well. This came in one piece so there is nothing much to be assembled. Only the legs are to be assembled.

The whole piece is very heavy, so I will believe that it is made of solid wood. Quality is decent, the sliding mechanism cannot be compared to blum, but it is still pretty alright.

Link: http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=35093015994

Also, bought a matchy table for my dining area...

This table can be extended from 1.3m --> 1.6m. In this picture, it is at its maximum length which is the 1.6m already. Mechanism is smooth. I bought the one with four chairs. The chair cushion matches my seattee off white colour leather.

Link: http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=39163377256

I haven't put the chairs cos we still asking for rectifications to be done for the grout lines. But what has been assembled cannot be placed anywhere else already, so bo bian. My living room is looking like a home already. My sofa is going to arrive this Saturday. I can't wait for it Today I tried watching the TV on a make shift chair and it is already so comfy. I think I am going to be a couch potato next time along with the man.

[snowy89 12]

Hi snowy89,

So impressed with the progress of your renovations so far! Ur ID is really worth recommending! I haven't been online for awhile and I'm impressed to see how much ur flat has transformed into! Very happy for u!!

I love the idea of your seatee...space saving and has storage! Remember I told you have have the exact same layput as u and we didn't want to hack the kitchen walls? After seeing your dining concept, I'm so tempted to do something along this line. But sadly, we can't becoz seatee don't fit the Country style theme we wanted and we already purchased all our furniture that is in french-designed (i.e bulky and definitely not space saving). And to our horror, we realised that we cld actually get from TB at much more savings Too late to retract our orders for now....

But now, I'm inspired by you to grab the lightings and wall paper from TB! At least some savings when we can't get the best of everything.

Can I check with you:

1. How much did u pay for your curtains from Vincent thru Renotalk? (You can PM me if not convenient to share here)

2. I read that your wall paper quality from TB is very good! Any other TB seller to recommend other than yours? And who did u engage to install the wall paper for u?

3. I learnt from one of the shops that storage heater only allows one person to use the hot water one at a time. Means my HUBZ and I can't be bathing with hot water concurrently at both diff bathrooms if we install the storage heater. Is that true? Do u know?

4. Did you have issues fixing the lightings purchased from TB? Eg. voltage problem? Bulbs that TB provides work? I plan to buy a few for the house.

Looking forward to see more updates! Am happy to be your neighbour soon! For us, we are only starting reno after CNY...we can't wait too!

Hi Countryglow,

I am sure your french furnitures will do well. My french bedroom is almost done. I have just assembled all my loots from taobao, including the princess vanity and side tables. It is just lacking the Queen bed which is still at my old house. So happy that I have at least one french theme in the house too. I feel that my house is like those boutique hotel which has many various themes. Open one door and it feels like you are stepping into another world, should change my thread title to boutique hotel home @ punggol topaz instead.

I'll PM you regarding Vincent's contact. He is cheap, even my ID says outside curtains can never match this pricing and asked me for his contacts. He provides good follow up too. I feel really fortunate to have met so many nice external contractors during my renovation. Not one that will give me headache. As you are doing your renovation after cny, it should be fine because he has no more slots before cny already. He is very popular in renotalk so remember to pre-book him early.

I did not buy from other sellers in taobao so it is hard for me to recommend but if you see any others and read their reviews, go with your gut feel to purchase it. I feel that cannot buy too cheap ones on taobao. You pay abit more really will get better quality ones. Really saved alot, I asked the installers they say if I were to buy the wallpaper in SG, for my MBR easily will cost 4-5k. My wallpaper installer comes from my ID side. She was the one who coordinated for me.

I think you have the wrong conception of storage heater. As long as the storage heater has been heated up, it will and should provide hot water consistently up to the amount (in my case 25L) for all the taps with mixer on it. So both bathrooms can bathe at the same time. I asked my electrician about it and he says his house has been using storage heater also, and in the morning still can have hot water one. My electrician did not have any problems fixing up the lights. All our lightings in SG also come from China one, believe it or not. So just go directly bah. I walk into any lighting shops in SG, i also see all the taobao lightings, albeit 10 times more because they are brick and mortar shop, plus they have to eat somehow.

Even my ID also cannot stand me boasting about how cheap I got my lightings from taobao already.

Plus she knows she don't need ask me where I get this or get that, my answer is always, "From taobao."

[snowy89 12]

Our Masterbedroom

Finally fulfilled one of my dreams - a princess room. I agree with the man that I will not be painting our house pink or any other more girly colour. But, there is always a but.. I will have the french bedroom that I love. In order to fulfill that, I need to buy french furnitures. French furnitures aren't cheap. I went to search for local furnitures, like parisshop online would easily charge $400+ for a bedside table. So I went to taobao, key in french bedroom furnitures @ google translate. Google translate is a lifesaver, seriously and finally selected my furnitures from there. Add it to cart in peeka and submitted it in December.

Four weeks on, my parcels arrived with ALL of the items that I wanted for the house. In the earlier post, I have shown my dining table and coffee table. In this post, I will show what french furnitures I have bought and assembled. It was hard assembling it. There are still some final touches that needs my ID's carpenter to help. Especially the vanity, because the seller did not give the right screws to fix the handles. But it looks almost complete. So I can review on the quality of these furnitures.

First up, my princess vanity. It looks extremely gorgeous. I was so happy when I see it being assembled.

Really looks befitting for a princess hor? Haha, I am so happy that my man is spoiling me with this type of furniture, plus he thinks they look beautiful too. I especially love the rose details. A similar vanity at parisshop online would set me back for around 1.8k. I got this for $500+ including the seattee. Have yet to fix up the handles for the two sides, because the screws given are incompatible so I am awaiting for my carpenters to do something about it. I know it would be fine in the end because they are good at what they do. *crossing my fingers*

Received a couple of compliments from people who visited my unit, primarily the subcontractors and external vendors. Also, I got similar bedside tables from the same seller. This is to ensure that they are both from the same series.

My heart stops every time I stare and look at them. The workmanship is very intricate and absolutely stunning. Costs about $100+ for one, which is a quarter fraction of what I have to pay if I were to buy in Singapore.

Very happy with this buy. Also very heavy, so it spells quality.

Vanity table: http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=38907922634

Bedside table:http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=17934230089

I'm sorry that I can't answer your questions about other sellers because I only buy from this seller. I believe anything that are bought online is difficult to exchange if there is any defects, quality wise could also be dubious. However, it was a risk I was willing to undertake. The price is too good to be true.

Also, bought a french looking bag holder at the same time.

There are some problems assembling this. Because one part of the pole is faulty, so it is not stable. Gonna throw this back to my carpenters. I fully trust them that they will do a good job for me. Not entirely happy with this buy. So buy at your own risk. I probably got a faulty one.

taobao link: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=39237051033

Can't wait to move the rest of the furnitures in to make it look complete soon...

[fjklrc 0]

hi hi,

i m also from topaz but till now still waiting for key collection.

Could u pm me the ID contact & Vincent's contact for curtains.

thanks.

[CountryGlow 10]

Hey babe...I'm really inspired by you and the GORGEOUS bedroom now! I'm looking online for Wallpaper too...We wanted to wall paper our living room but scrap the idea becoz we have too much details in the living and dining room alrdy. So gonna lay wall paper only in the MBR at the same slab of wall as yours.

And yes! You rename ur post to boutique hotel home @ punggol topaz! SO true...I can also imagine the looks on the face of the visitors...Really well done up! But I can't imagine entering a resort style hall in some island then transiting into Europe in the bedroom! IT'S beautifully unique but up to individual liking, that's why we decided to follow the same theme through out - which my Hubbz is loving enough to let me have my desired theme The only part of our dream house that is not Country style is probably the kitchen! Haha...Don't really cook much so decided not to spent too much on it. Didn't know a decently-built kitchen cld cost so much! Talking about kitchen, are your kitchen cabinets gloss laminate? Also, which brand of hood and hob did u buy? I ordered a chimney hood and hob from Bosch but still contemplating which brand is best for extraction of smoke and smell coz we are not fixing a door to close up the kitchen. Need a good one to make the rest of the house feeling as smoke-free as possible...

Anw, thanks for sharing abt the storage heater. No idea why the shop told me another story. That's why I was thinking such concept can't work if u have a bigger family with kids! All queue up to bathe becoz no hot water?? Weird....Well, looking forward to see your renovations completed. If I pop by to my house one of the days, could I drop by ur unit to see the real stuff??

Oh ya! Anymore loots you're expecting frm TB? CNY is approaching and I guess I better make orders and shipping soon coz they usually break a long time over the CNY period. WOOHOOO! Excited over my shopping!

Our Masterbedroom

Finally fulfilled one of my dreams - a princess room. I agree with the man that I will not be painting our house pink or any other more girly colour. But, there is always a but.. I will have the french bedroom that I love. In order to fulfill that, I need to buy french furnitures. French furnitures aren't cheap. I went to search for local furnitures, like parisshop online would easily charge $400+ for a bedside table. So I went to taobao, key in french bedroom furnitures @ google translate. Google translate is a lifesaver, seriously and finally selected my furnitures from there. Add it to cart in peeka and submitted it in December.

Four weeks on, my parcels arrived with ALL of the items that I wanted for the house. In the earlier post, I have shown my dining table and coffee table. In this post, I will show what french furnitures I have bought and assembled. It was hard assembling it. There are still some final touches that needs my ID's carpenter to help. Especially the vanity, because the seller did not give the right screws to fix the handles. But it looks almost complete. So I can review on the quality of these furnitures.

First up, my princess vanity. It looks extremely gorgeous. I was so happy when I see it being assembled.

Really looks befitting for a princess hor? Haha, I am so happy that my man is spoiling me with this type of furniture, plus he thinks they look beautiful too. I especially love the rose details. A similar vanity at parisshop online would set me back for around 1.8k. I got this for $500+ including the seattee. Have yet to fix up the handles for the two sides, because the screws given are incompatible so I am awaiting for my carpenters to do something about it. I know it would be fine in the end because they are good at what they do. *crossing my fingers*

Received a couple of compliments from people who visited my unit, primarily the subcontractors and external vendors. Also, I got similar bedside tables from the same seller. This is to ensure that they are both from the same series.

My heart stops every time I stare and look at them. The workmanship is very intricate and absolutely stunning. Costs about $100+ for one, which is a quarter fraction of what I have to pay if I were to buy in Singapore.

Very happy with this buy. Also very heavy, so it spells quality.

Vanity table: http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=38907922634

Bedside table:http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=17934230089

I'm sorry that I can't answer your questions about other sellers because I only buy from this seller. I believe anything that are bought online is difficult to exchange if there is any defects, quality wise could also be dubious. However, it was a risk I was willing to undertake. The price is too good to be true.

Also, bought a french looking bag holder at the same time.

There are some problems assembling this. Because one part of the pole is faulty, so it is not stable. Gonna throw this back to my carpenters. I fully trust them that they will do a good job for me. Not entirely happy with this buy. So buy at your own risk. I probably got a faulty one.

taobao link: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=39237051033

Can't wait to move the rest of the furnitures in to make it look complete soon...

[CountryGlow 10]

Another thing babe - You shipped ur TB stuff via Peeka? I haven't done shipping from TB before so not sure which freight forwarder are most recommeded. I'm considering Amcon or Sg shop - both using their "buy for me" concept since my Mandarin sucks. Any idea among these 3, which has cheaper shipping rates?

Hey babe...I'm really inspired by you and the GORGEOUS bedroom now! I'm looking online for Wallpaper too...We wanted to wall paper our living room but scrap the idea becoz we have too much details in the living and dining room alrdy. So gonna lay wall paper only in the MBR at the same slab of wall as yours.

And yes! You rename ur post to boutique hotel home @ punggol topaz! SO true...I can also imagine the looks on the face of the visitors...Really well done up! But I can't imagine entering a resort style hall in some island then transiting into Europe in the bedroom! IT'S beautifully unique but up to individual liking, that's why we decided to follow the same theme through out - which my Hubbz is loving enough to let me have my desired theme The only part of our dream house that is not Country style is probably the kitchen! Haha...Don't really cook much so decided not to spent too much on it. Didn't know a decently-built kitchen cld cost so much! Talking about kitchen, are your kitchen cabinets gloss laminate? Also, which brand of hood and hob did u buy? I ordered a chimney hood and hob from Bosch but still contemplating which brand is best for extraction of smoke and smell coz we are not fixing a door to close up the kitchen. Need a good one to make the rest of the house feeling as smoke-free as possible...

Anw, thanks for sharing abt the storage heater. No idea why the shop told me another story. That's why I was thinking such concept can't work if u have a bigger family with kids! All queue up to bathe becoz no hot water?? Weird....Well, looking forward to see your renovations completed. If I pop by to my house one of the days, could I drop by ur unit to see the real stuff??

Oh ya! Anymore loots you're expecting frm TB? CNY is approaching and I guess I better make orders and shipping soon coz they usually break a long time over the CNY period. WOOHOOO! Excited over my shopping!

[Freb 10]

hi, can share with me how much is ur tv feature wall & where did you get the materials? thx

[snowy89 12]

Hey babe...I'm really inspired by you and the GORGEOUS bedroom now! I'm looking online for Wallpaper too...We wanted to wall paper our living room but scrap the idea becoz we have too much details in the living and dining room alrdy. So gonna lay wall paper only in the MBR at the same slab of wall as yours.

And yes! You rename ur post to boutique hotel home @ punggol topaz! SO true...I can also imagine the looks on the face of the visitors...Really well done up! But I can't imagine entering a resort style hall in some island then transiting into Europe in the bedroom! IT'S beautifully unique but up to individual liking, that's why we decided to follow the same theme through out - which my Hubbz is loving enough to let me have my desired theme The only part of our dream house that is not Country style is probably the kitchen! Haha...Don't really cook much so decided not to spent too much on it. Didn't know a decently-built kitchen cld cost so much! Talking about kitchen, are your kitchen cabinets gloss laminate? Also, which brand of hood and hob did u buy? I ordered a chimney hood and hob from Bosch but still contemplating which brand is best for extraction of smoke and smell coz we are not fixing a door to close up the kitchen. Need a good one to make the rest of the house feeling as smoke-free as possible...

Anw, thanks for sharing abt the storage heater. No idea why the shop told me another story. That's why I was thinking such concept can't work if u have a bigger family with kids! All queue up to bathe becoz no hot water?? Weird....Well, looking forward to see your renovations completed. If I pop by to my house one of the days, could I drop by ur unit to see the real stuff??

Oh ya! Anymore loots you're expecting frm TB? CNY is approaching and I guess I better make orders and shipping soon coz they usually break a long time over the CNY period. WOOHOOO! Excited over my shopping!

We are not accepting any guests at the moment but will let you know once we do. I am using glossy laminates, my white is piano white for easy cleaning. The wood part is matt though. No regrets so far. I think they look good together. Other than the wood laminate, I have chosen glossy laminates for all of my cabinets. Read somewhere that they are more expensive also, so just choose glossy! Since already inside the package right? Plus I think they look good luh.

I ordered my hood and hob through Jerome from renotalk. I mixed and matched my hob and hood because I hear of many good reviews of rinnai hob, plus when I went down to Heritage to see the hob and hood, the sales girl is telling me that rinnai is the original company that came up with internal flame.

For my hob, I have gotten Rinnai hob RB-3Si in cast iron. I like the glass version but I am **** worried that I may accidentally crack the glass luh, then will heartpain until cannot. So just get the cast iron once and for all. I don't know how come this hob is so expensive @ heritage and universal union but Jerome gave me a good price for it.

As for my hood, I decided to take my sis' advise and go for Fujioh FX900, the one she is currently using. Initially I wanted to stick to rinnai so that both same brand, not so funny. But I realised that their hood require the replacing of filter, again very mafan luh. I hate hassle so when I read that fujioh doesn't require any filter, I straight away went for it. Asthetically wise, not very pretty but very functional.

He provides the warranty as well..

Rinnai Hob : 1 year

Fujioh Hood : 3years

Jerome

9-2-2-5-6-6-3-8 | homeappliances@hotmail.sg

To answer your last question, I have not explored any other forwarders so I can't advise you which is best, maybe you can consult the other taobao gurus here? I know amcon is a popular choice. However, peeka is the only one that actually check your goods for you (they are more expensive though). People have been recommending to send fragile items through peeka and the rest to other forwarders, but being the lazy me, I just opted for the easiest way out. Reno already very stressed, don't want my taobao purchases to add more stress to it.

Edited January 29, 2015 by snowy89

[jkodanu 0]

I love your bedroom!! :)

Can I trouble you to share Vincent's contacts as well? Am looking for good curtains...

[snowy89 12]

hi, can share with me how much is ur tv feature wall & where did you get the materials? thx

Hi Freb, my TV feature wall is included in my quotation, which includes the craftstones so I did not outsource them myself. I know there are others who went to JB to buy and handcarry them back but it was too much of an hassle for me as the man and I do not own a car. They are too heavy for us to transport also, hence the only things we bought from JB are from tampoi. I chose the craftstones at hafary.

[snowy89 12]

To everyone who is interested, Vincent's contact is 9-3-8-4-9-2-2-8, please omit the dashes. He provides good service and site measurement/showing of samples. I contacted him shortly after I got my keys because I know a lot of people queuing to get him, and signed my contract with him on the spot. I did not even contact other people because his price is too good to be true. Material is thick as we asked for 70-80% black out curtains with day curtains. He was able to deliver the curtains last week as we mention to him that we ain't in a rush. Wanted to wait until reno is almost over then put up the curtains mah. However, he told me now is peak period for him so he is no longer accepting any orders before CNY. Those interested can contact him after CNY for a better response.

Here is a close up of the curtain that I took, you can judge for yourself the material. But for a better feel at it, you can ask him to do a site visit and feel for yourself. To me, this is pretty luxurious already. Feels velvety smooth. I am in love with the ties he provides. I feel that it is very classy, maybe it is something that is lacking of the olden days curtains where they use the fabric tie of the same material as the tie. I much prefer this as it makes my curtains look expensive. When in fact, they are actually very affordable. The price he quoted me is almost halved of my initial budget. I always thought that curtains will be expensive and allocated more than 2k for them. So glad that I met Vincent seriously. My ID even went after I told her about the pricing and asked for his contacts so that she can recommend him to her other customers.

[Wu Jiahong Alvin Ng 1]

Been following ur blog, nice renovation u got! Cheers..

[Yannz 0]

Hi snowy,glad that yr Reno is smooth sailing..is so nice. I would like to ask about the wallpaper as well.may I know who is the installer and what is the cost?i paid for a small deposit on the wall paper one and a half years back at a Expo,but I think the vendor is gone...feel cheated..dunno if u all heard of plush kitchen before?

[Ks Toh 74]

I keep wondering why you did not change the wall sockets!

[snowy89 12]

Hi snowy,glad that yr Reno is smooth sailing..is so nice. I would like to ask about the wallpaper as well.may I know who is the installer and what is the cost?i paid for a small deposit on the wall paper one and a half years back at a Expo,but I think the vendor is gone...feel cheated..dunno if u all heard of plush kitchen before?

Hi Yannz,

I don't really research stuff outside of what I intend to get, so maybe my knowledge of other companies aren't good. So sorry that you can't get your deposit back, but good news is, you can definitely spend less purchasing wallpaper from taobao. I got my ID to install the wallpaper for me, so it is her subcontractor. I just paid her for the installation, it cost me slightly less than 1k for the workmanship of my whole MBR + partial living room.