Minimalist-Industrial At Punggol Topaz

[Edwinlow7 9]

Hello all!

Inspired by all the lovely t-Blogs and decided to start our own. So we just collected our keys from HDB yesterday and very excited to get started on our renovation journey. Must admit that just a couple of months ago when we were looking for IDs we knew completely nothing about home renovation, decor etc just that we wanted industrial theme, thats it. Thankfully for Renotalk, been browsing thru the forum and picked up so much useful information along the way!

So this is our floor plan, quite a typical 5 room BTO plan. We did not opt for tiles/doors and intend to hack part of bedroom 2's wall down for a walk in wardrobe. Bedroom 3 will remain empty for now for future kid's room.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Edwinlow7

[Rensal 0]

Hi. Which block of punggol topaz r u from? I am from blk 260b but haven't collected keys.

[Edwinlow7 9]

We started off our ID search by only talking to those that came recommended by friends/family - 1) didnt know the existence of Renotalk then and 2) at least one good recommendation so shouldnt be too bad right?

In the end we only spoke to 4 parties

1) J from Three-D Conceptwerke : First up, the office is very impressive, exactly the kind of style we liked. J was very enthusiastic and had a ton of great ideas. Like I mentioned, we were totally ignorant about home renovation and let ourselves got swept away by all the ideas thrown at us by J. That said, we really liked J a lot and could 'click' with him but his quote was wayyyy too expensive (somemore got GST!) and there was no way we could afford him. Looking back though, while J's ideas were really awesome, he did not go thru some of the more practical aspects of designing a home with us (i.e. the more "boring" stuff like whether we need air cons etc) so I am glad we didnt go with him in the end because we really needed guidance.

2) D, a free-lance ID : His quote was reasonable but we didnt get a good vibe after speaking to him. He kept trying to push us towards a 'cafe' theme because "this is the in-thing right now". One good thing is that he produced 3d mock-ups of his proposed design on our 2nd meeting and unfortunately (actually fortunately ) we didnt like his proposal so did not proceed further.

3) The famous Mr K: Didnt know how famous he was on Renotalk until I started surfing this place after securing my ID! Very nice man and obviously very experienced, we were quote doubtful that he knew what industrial style was at first until he started recommending what kind of laminate/doors to use etc. Now we know why. However my mandarin is not great and as mentioned, we preferred someone to walk us thru the whole process of renovation as we have never done this before. Plus Mr K's quote was comparable to the ID we chose in the end.

4) I from Gaia Living: (Chosen) Recommended by my cousin. Sincere and nice guy, pretty easy-going so we got a 'good' vibe from him immediately. Plus he was able to give us good practical advice as our ideas can be pretty extreme sometimes, we really needed someone to make sure our home doesnt become an insane industrial mess Quote was reasonable and included stuff like air-con, electrical works etc so good lah, at least we know no "extra" or "hidden" costs to shock us after. Must admit that we were slightly apprehensive because he had not done any industrial themed house before but luckily his 3d designs were pretty reassuring. I is making some minor changes to the designs, will post them when he is done.

[Edwinlow7 9]

Hi. Which block of punggol topaz r u from? I am from blk 260b but haven't collected keys.

Hello! We are from 261B, just collected keys this wk.

[JohnB 15]

Congrats, Edwinlow7!

[Edwinlow7 9]

Thanks JohnB! I love your moodboard (grey is my favorite color!) and cant wait to see how your place will look like.

So we went furniture browsing recently, why are furniture so expensive! Seriously tempted to get from Taobao hah, saw so many lovely pieces online at a fraction of the cost but a bit apprehensive of the quality

Here are some pieces that we are considering

Dining Room Table

Both are from Journey East. We love everything from this place but soooo expensive! The second table is really unique but not sure if it would be hard to find chairs to go with? The bench + stools that go with this table are way too expensive.

More affordable version from Commune. I love the bench that goes with this table. So..table 1, 2 or 3?

Bed frame from ethnicraft. I like that the headboard can act as 'side tables'. Although we are also exploring the option of a custom-made frame as it may be cheaper

Sideboard from Mountain teak (the bigger one behind).

I love this piece, esp the sliding mesh doors! Thinking of getting a sideboard for the living room to display alcohol,glasses etc.

lastly, study desk from Journey east. Another gorgeous but expensive piece.

We are waiting to see if our ID can get us discounts before we make any big decisions; also browsing taobao/tmall fanatically

P.S. This is Charm, mostly blogging from the hubby's account

Edited December 18, 2014 by Edwinlow7

[finkfad 1]

Hello all!

Inspired by all the lovely t-Blogs and decided to start our own. So we just collected our keys from HDB yesterday and very excited to get started on our renovation journey. Must admit that just a couple of months ago when we were looking for IDs we knew completely nothing about home renovation, decor etc just that we wanted industrial theme, thats it. Thankfully for Renotalk, been browsing thru the forum and picked up so much useful information along the way!

So this is our floor plan, quite a typical 5 room BTO plan. We did not opt for tiles/doors and intend to hack part of bedroom 2's wall down for a walk in wardrobe. Bedroom 3 will remain empty for now for future kid's room.

You have a pretty awesome layout! The 3 rooms are nicely laid out, and you'd have so much freedom for reconfiguration. Congratulations on the place!

[Huiqing He 7]

Nice choices of furniture, we really like stuff from Mountain Teak and Ethnicraft.

But really not too affordable.

[Edwinlow7 9]

Nice choices of furniture, we really like stuff from Mountain Teak and Ethnicraft.

But really not too affordable.

Yes I know right! Hence the temptation to get some stuff from Taobao instead hee

You have a pretty awesome layout! The 3 rooms are nicely laid out, and you'd have so much freedom for reconfiguration. Congratulations on the place!

Thanks Finkfad

[Edwinlow7 9]

Some pictures of the place after key collection. As we opted out of flooring and doors, there werent much stuff to inspect. Given the 'good to go' by our ID so renovation should be starting soon!

Living room (admiring the view while it lasts)

Toilet, thankfully we quite liked the toilet tiles provided by HDB but argh the mosaic tiles. Any creative ideas to work around this other than overlaying?

Another picture, this time with the full mosaic wall

Kitchen + service yard. once again quite happy with the grey tiles HDB provided for the kitchen

[Huiqing He 7]

We ended up with choices of Comfort design and Castlery and bed frame from ID.

We are looking at getting a study table from TB.

[JohnB 15]

Thanks JohnB! I love your moodboard (grey is my favorite color!) and cant wait to see how your place will look like.

So we went furniture browsing recently, why are furniture so expensive! Seriously tempted to get from Taobao hah, saw so many lovely pieces online at a fraction of the cost but a bit apprehensive of the quality

Here are some pieces that we are considering

...

More affordable version from Commune. I love the bench that goes with this table. So..table 1, 2 or 3?

Thanks, Charm! I am excited about your place too!

I prefer Table 3, because I like the legs. But I think every piece you have posted looks nice.

[Edwinlow7 9]

We ended up with choices of Comfort design and Castlery and bed frame from ID.

We are looking at getting a study table from TB.

I shall check out Castlery! Yes I think we may end up getting a study table from TB too

Thanks, Charm! I am excited about your place too!

I prefer Table 3, because I like the legs. But I think every piece you have posted looks nice.

Thanks yes after looking at the tables again, I am leaning towards 3 because its more classy and seems like something I wont get sick of looking at haha

[ma5quer 3]

Thanks JohnB! I love your moodboard (grey is my favorite color!) and cant wait to see how your place will look like.

So we went furniture browsing recently, why are furniture so expensive! Seriously tempted to get from Taobao hah, saw so many lovely pieces online at a fraction of the cost but a bit apprehensive of the quality

Here are some pieces that we are considering

Dining Room Table

Both are from Journey East. We love everything from this place but soooo expensive! The second table is really unique but not sure if it would be hard to find chairs to go with? The bench + stools that go with this table are way too expensive.

More affordable version from Commune. I love the bench that goes with this table. So..table 1, 2 or 3?

Bed frame from ethnicraft. I like that the headboard can act as 'side tables'. Although we are also exploring the option of a custom-made frame as it may be cheaper

Sideboard from Mountain teak (the bigger one behind).

I love this piece, esp the sliding mesh doors! Thinking of getting a sideboard for the living room to display alcohol,glasses etc.

lastly, study desk from Journey east. Another gorgeous but expensive piece.

We are waiting to see if our ID can get us discounts before we make any big decisions; also browsing taobao/tmall fanatically

P.S. This is Charm, mostly blogging from the hubby's account

We were initially looking at some of your selected pieces as well! The burger bed, tv console from mountain teak and commune bench. Thought the bench is really unique too, as compared to the more reasonably priced ones in Sg. So will opt for table 3 too

[woodywood 0]

Nice design but I find their finishings too 'rough'. can feel wood splinter when u rub against them.

Btw, is castley n lush furniture belong to the same company? Cos I find their products so similar.