Interior Motive Design And Build

[sunshine3588 0]

I have just engaged this fairly new ID company to renovate my 3 room resale flat. Like the rest of proud home owner, I sourced for a couple of quotes from Inside Living, Absolook, One Carpenters etc..but finally settled for Interior Motive.

This company is started by Beng Hui, and ex-staff from Absolook. When we 1st met up, the feel was right and he came across as someone who has home owner's interest in mind. In fact, from other forums, there are already very positive comments on his work capabilities. We met and gone though quite a few times ont he quotation. Beng Hui was very patient and explain things in great length.

As I have a budget contraint, he worked towards that, throwing in what freebies he can along the way. He also considered my family's financial situation and try his level best to lower cost without compromising on the quality of material he is going to use as he knows that this will be a house for me to stay till old...

To be fair, I started a new topic with his new company name because I feel that people still talk about him under Absolook's topic. If his company is good then he deserves to be rated on his own accord and merit.

I am still trying to figure out how I can upload my current before renovation house and once I do, I will be posting up some photos to share.

[sunshine3588 0]

Intend to hack this wall seperating the kitchen and living hall to infuse more sunlight into the house during day time..

Currently waiting for my 3D drawings to be out and for the HDB to approve then hacking of walls..and we are all ready to start the renovation ! Woohoooo !

The whole complete and comprehensive package is around SGD40,000/-, inclusive of electrical and plumbing etc. Some free items were thrown in too and most important, it is a partnership with the contractor that I am really comfortable with. I don't feel intimated or pressurize to make expensive deicsion, ways and means suggested to save money was sound and practical advise too.

Only thing left to do now is to wait for the end result ! Yay !

Edited April 13, 2015 by sunshine3588

[sunshine3588 0]

The Living room. Will be hacking away the wall btw the living room and kitchen.

The 2 bedrooms. Same..will be hacking away the walls to join the 2 bedrooms together

The kitchen

Bathroom - oops don't know how to rotate this pic to correct position

Toilet

Will post more pics next week.

Contacted Beng Hui to help me look for contractors who does the windows and grille. He was awesome! Bargained on my behalf and advising me what I should or should not spend on. The best thing...he does not act as middleman...it was more like a direct deal.

Currently still waiting for my 3D drawings, which should be ready anytime now.

Went to Rozel over the weekend to look at furniture. It was a really bad experience. The showroom people at the Jurong Branch basically does "high pressure" selling. Can hardly breathe and find a way to get out ! Ewwww....

Edited April 20, 2015 by sunshine3588

[sunshine3588 0]

Almost 5 days into renovation. Walls have came down nicely. All debris cleared.

Beng Hui brought me to a lighting company today and help me to select the appropriate designs and brightness. Prices are reasonable. Total spent about 1500 for whole house lightings. Could have been cheaper, but I went for more complicated and modern looking kind, thus more money loh. I have been shopping around for lights to look at designs etc. I must say that the shop that Beng Hui brought me to have unique designs and very modern looking. Not the usual square or oblong stuff / LED lightings that you see.

Over the weekend, I have also ordered 2 beds for my kids. However, I have not decided on the color for the headboard as I am unsure what color I want the wall to be. All I need to do is just let Beng Hui know, and viola, he will contact the bedding company, go down and choose the colors for me. I did whatsapp him the color chart, but his concern is that colors may be different due to phone quality and lighting. So a personal trip to select will ensure that he choose the correct color to match. Good service ! Ermmm...I think I also bought a wrong dimension fridge from LG , going to pass the receipts to Beng Hui and he will sort this out for me too.

So far, working with Beng Hui is a breeze. He is contactable 24/7 and always respond to messages. This to me is most important ! He not only listens, but follow up with actions. Only negative point when dealing with him though...he is not punctual and works on rubber timing. Probably due to his company being a new start up and mostly he is doing the running around to ensure each customer gets his attention.

Here's some pics of the demolished walls :

This coming week, the contractors should be laying my kitchen, bathroom and toilet tiles. Hope it turns out nice !

[sunshine3588 0]

Tiles are up and plastering of walls done! Almost time for carpentry work..yay !

Beng Hui is really a huge help! He co-ordinated the colors for me, all I need to do is to say ok or no, change it. And he helped to run around to find me a cooker hood and hob set that I want. Plus all my other weird requests that caused him to be really busy runing around getting quotes and ending up me not using those at all. Bad me !

He also helped me to order a Mitsubishi Inverter System 3 air con. At first I was hesitant as I was not sure if prices would be marked up. I went around to check on prices from Gain City, Best Denki etc and finds his price slightly lower and he also mentioned that he will be using better quality either piping or wires...not too sure as I am no expert in this area.

As the days go, even though with the 3D drawings, I got to keep changing the cabinets interior layouts, position of eg the feature wall etc..Beng Hui was really patient and once he gets what I want, he will send a rough drawing to confirm my idea. This was the way we communicate with each other.

False Ceiling

Bathroom Tiles

Kitchen Tiles

Hopefully the carpentry work will be up soon and I have more photos to post!

Edited June 2, 2015 by sunshine3588

[JoshuaPierce 0]

That was awesome! I will also have my home remodeling by next week.

[zzz123 0]

Hi sunshine5388,

mind to pm me Beng Hui's contact? thinking of getting him to quote for my hm reno.

thank you.

[sunshine3588 0]

Hi zz123

PM-ed

[sunshine3588 0]

My TV feature wall is up ! Well...At least getting here ! )

Last week around Wednesday or so, I highlighted to Beng Hui that feature wall is in a odd position. Should be "centralised". His concept and perception was slightly different from me, but he also understood where I was coming from ...and agreed to do it according to the way I wanted it. No extra costs for modifying. LOL! And later, I realised that my 3D picture also showed his concept, just that I did not realised or catch it. My bad again .. Anyway, problem quickly rectified. No hassle!

Not what I wanted....

What I wanted...

Anyway, I wanted a solid feature wall, but the costs are just too expensive. Beng Hui has recommended an alternative instead..cheaper and will achieve same effect and result. He was confident that it will be turn out nicely...we shall see....)

Edited June 4, 2015 by sunshine3588

[sunshine3588 0]

Just another 1.5 weeks to completion ! Can't wait ! And can't stress enough how smooth the whole process was. ID and his contractors were simply amazing. Still, like I mentioned many times before, communication was hte key factor and flexibility on the ID part. Fabulous

Workmanship is reasonable Beng Hui himself will keep popping by the house to check and supervise. One thing to note and a valuable lesson though : As house owner, we should make an effort to check the house and its progress everyday or at least alternate days. I did this and thus, anything that was not right, I will immediately take a photo and send to Beng Hui. Things get rectified immediately instead of having the contractors to finish the work and realise that it is not done to your expecation or liking. I would say, it's the responsibility of the ID as much as our own to make sure things are going as expected.

Through the whole process, I did not once feel stress or pressured into accepting things that are not within my expectation. This is very important. Beng Hui is definitely not like world class top notch ID, but it is his service that makes thing easy for his customers. When we spend lots of money on reno, the least we want is headaches and heartaches...

Here's some pics...will post more once the house a completely done and furnitures in. )

I am not a good photographer, but Beng Hui should have some nicer pics to show u if you are interested !

Edited June 18, 2015 by sunshine3588

[sengkee86 0]

Hi sunshine

Nice house! It's look awesome.

May you pm me beng hui's number?

Thank!

[SeraToh 0]

Nice house !.

[MarkHong 0]

Hi sunshine


Coule you pm me beng hui's number?

Thank!

[cutiepetlover 0]

Dear Sunshine,

 

Can PM Me Beng Hui's contact details please?

 

Thank you

[Happyknot 0]

Hi, 

Can u PM me Beng Hui's contact n details pls? 

Happyknot@hotmail.com 

Thank u! =)