Project First Home: Rustic Industrial Maisonette

[thehappykowple 2]

Tonight, I'll take you on a tour of our yard/new store room! The yard was an integral part of our brief to our ID. It was part of the original kitchen space and while it made the kitchen really spacious, we had no room to hide our dirty laundry/washing machine etc. or do messy stuff like bathe our cat. So, we wanted a wet area that was functional but not intrusive, with a basin for washing. Here's what changed basically...

The old layout: Storeroom, kitchen (inclusive of space for cooking and washing machine all in one)

The new layout: Storeroom (slightly smaller), kitchen (island counter and storage cabinets) and yard area

Cabinets work in progress. The kitchen has eaten into the old store room, which used to be by the window. The new store room is just on the left. Slightly smaller but still functional. It will be covered with a door in chalkboard paint so that our guests will be treated with wonderful drawings when they arrive (if our drawing skills are up to mark, that is)!

Pretty basic store room. We intend to build shelves to maximise space. One thing to note about the minimalist theme is that it is not for hoarders. It's important to ensure the theme fits your lifestyle. I know it'll take some getting used to for me. But I'm up for the challenge!

Edited July 10, 2015 by thehappykowple

[thehappykowple 2]

Entrance to the little yard area.

This is where our washer and dryer will be stacked. To its left is my favourite part of the yard... Our concrete table!

We intend to put an old school metal basin (originally a beverage holder) that I got off Amazon to be used as a sink. Can't wait for them to fit it on. It's in the most beautiful copper shade ever. Including shipping from the US, it cost me about S$200 but it looks perfect. Now to pray that it is sound execution-wise.

Here is the link to the basin we got: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E8QWA4/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1436544557&sr=1&keywords=metal+tub

Edited July 13, 2015 by thehappykowple

[thehappykowple 2]

Updates on our grilles and front door. We couldn't get enough of that Chevron theme and decided to have it on the exterior of our house too! Our ID decided to give it a rusted finish for that industrial/worn look. Frankly, I'm not a super big fan of the front gate as I realised the worn look doesn't agree with me but it'll have to do for now. We will save up for round two of reno and perhaps change it. Ironically, we saw our dream gate one day after this rusted one was fitted in our house. Oh well! The husband likes the rusted gate so at least one of us is pleased!

The handle has since been spray-painted black. Looks much better.

What do you think of the gate?

Edited July 13, 2015 by thehappykowple

[thehappykowple 2]

Lights and electrical works have been going on at our house these past month and it was then that I realised, we are almost coming to the end of our renovation journey. The house is starting to look warm and cosy now, even without furnishings. It'll be on to furnishing and home appliances very soon. How time flies! We've bought all our appliances and furniture but I want to wait until they are nicely installed before I post some reviews about them. Same goes for my Taobao buys. Very excited for those to arrive. (:

Fans

The husband perspires super easily and I will say sheepishly that we have six fans in the house. One for each bedroom upstairs, one each for the balcony, living room and dining area. Possibility of one more standing fan to keep cool when we cook in the kitchen. >_<

We decided to splurge one two Haiku fans - a black composite (60", low mount) for our bedroom and a cocoa bamboo (60", low mount) one for our living room. Prices for Haiku fans are all fixed and cost north of S$1,000 including installation. Believe us, we tried. Anyway, we bought them from Verde Lights, which was where we got some of our lights as well. The other fans were just simple black Relite fans, which we were told is what PS Cafe uses. Those were about S$130 including installation.

Haiku fans are like a work of art in itself, which was mainly what drew us to them (yes, we are very superficial!) as well as the low energy rating. Is it worth it? We've yet to fully try it out but based on us walking around in the house, I would say yes... mainly for the low energy rating and how silent it is. Our Relite fans at full speed sound like propellers beside our Haiku haha! At maximum, a Haiku fan consumes 10% the amount of energy a normal fan would. That said, I must say that the Haiku fan produces a gentle breeze and circulates air better than a Relite fan. It cools a general area whereas a Relite fan produces a strong breeze and you can feel it if you stand directly under the fan but you won't feel much wind once you step away from it.

My conclusion is that a Haiku fan is a great buy if you appreciate the design or have the budget but it is NOT a MUST-BUY. That said, I don't think we would have chosen anything else because we really didn't see anything else in the market that we liked that had the same design and energy saving qualities.

Relite fan in the dining room.

Our cocoa Haiku fan. So arty I had to Instagram it.

Our PS-Cafe balcony! One of my favourite parts of the house!

Edited August 24, 2015 by thehappykowple

[thehappykowple 2]

Lights

Our lights were from Verde lights and through my husband's electrician, whom he got to know during the course of his work. Our electrician helped us procure our lights from HK and they are apparently of better quality. The colour temperature of our track lights are exactly the same as a commercial conservation project my husband project managed haha! Talk about stickler for detail.

Anyway, Verde lights has a great selection of interesting industrial/vintage style lights. We bought our balcony wall lights, bedside lights and stairway plumen bulb from them. Everything else such as the LED strips for our walls, LED T5s and LED track lights were supplied by my husband's electrician.

Wall lights from Verde. The angle of the light shining from the top and bottom are adjustable. Does anyone know if there is any HDB regulation on painting the outside of your balcony? Can't stand the colour difference!

Our bedside filament bulbs, which have a dimmer knob each. Our bed is a low platform bed so the height has been catered for already. Many of our friends were worried about us knocking over the bulbs in our sleep.

Our minimalist plumen bulb to light up the stairway. Our ID provisioned for a switch at the bottom and top of the stairs. Perfect for late night runs down to the fridge for a midnight snack!!

Edited July 13, 2015 by thehappykowple

[thehappykowple 2]

Taobao Haul 1

I'm a 110% Taobao advocate now after seeing the quality of their products. Can't stop surfing the site and their mobile app for fun.

Thank you Peeka (peeka.sg) for making the experience so hassle-free. I used Buy4u, Peeka's concierge service for this order and had a very pleasant experience. The user interface for their website is very easy to navigate. You get immediate updates every step of the ordering process. Their staff are also very responsive and they always confirm your order requirements before proceeding. For example, I keyed in one of the prices for my item wrongly and they clarified it with me before ordering.

I ordered 3 bar stools for the balcony counter, 3 high chairs for the island, 4 dining table stools and a coffee table. This came up to $1270 including shipping to Singapore. Pretty reasonable! Here is what I ordered. Please let me know if you'd like the links to buy the items.

Dining Stools (approx S$66.50/chair including shipping)

Customised the chairs with a vintage finish (做旧色) to complement the industrial theme of the house and added a wooden seat. I actually have a major pet peeve with sitting on these same metal chairs in cafes because you have to gingerly sit your butt on the seat, tahan the cold seat and slowly wait for it to warm up. LOL.

Anyway, the wooden seat was a solid wood grain with very nice grain details. Not sure if it's really a solid piece of wood but it looks like great quality. Stackable as well so it can be stored easily in the store room and brought out when we have guests.

Balcony High Chairs (approx. S$73.60/chair including shipping)

Simple matte black (亚黑) high chairs with a low backing. We chose a basic metal design for the balcony chairs as it will be exposed to the elements. The merchant did a great job with the finishing. The chairs came stacked without the backing. We will have to screw in the backing ourselves which is simple enough.

Island High Chairs (approx. S$82.34/chair including shipping)

These chairs were the reason is used Peeka's Buy4u service. As our island counter isn't bar counter height, we couldn't use a bar stool nor dining stool. So we had to customise it to 60cm. I used simple mandarin to confirm that the merchant could do it to my required height then passed it on to Peeka to make the final order. The metal structure of the stools came separate from the wooden seat. We'll be getting our carpenter to help us screw them on.

All in all, superb buying experience at Taobao! Just follow the general rule of thumb to buy from merchants with a good rating (http://taobaoassistant.blogspot.sg/2012/06/taobao-seller-ratings-reviews-etc.html). I personally don't see any difference between TMall and Taobao - both are just a reliable.

Coffee Table (approx. S$537 including shipping. It is on sale now at almost 50% off on Taobao!!)

Like a particular furniture design in a shop but dislike the colour? That is not a problem on Taobao! I chose this shade of wood from a selection of nine. I admit, we were slightly anxious as we opened the box to see what the final turnout was but if your seller has a good rating, I think it shouldn't be a problem. That's the risk of buying online. (:

Solid piece of wood with solid grain!

I have since progressed to buying small home appliances myself using Peeka's Ship4u service and will post photos of my hauls soon. Yes, I've made more than one order myself. Achievement unlocked (after three attempts to try and understand how taobao works)!

Please do not hesitate to let me know if you'd like the links to these items.

Edited July 21, 2015 by thehappykowple

[Freb 10]

nice progress & hi-five for taobao addict

[thehappykowple 2]

Taobao Haul #2

Posting pictures of all the stuff I bought from Taobao recently. Everything cost me about S$100 including shipping. I'm really thankful that everything arrived in perfect condition as per the photos on the seller's page.

Mosquito coil box for balcony because I'm so prone to mosquito bites it's not funny.

Laundry powder tin. Half the price of what was selling on Carousell!

Gorgeous wooden wastepaper bin. Really good quality and large enough for a home office.

Edited July 21, 2015 by thehappykowple

[thehappykowple 2]

Taobao haul #2

Simple placemats. These were cheap for about $5 a piece until I save up to buy some felt ones from Etsy!

Wooden clock with white backlight. You can choose from all kinds of wood and many different backlight colours. Approx $15 including shipping. I heard it's about $20 elsewhere?

Pot cover stand so there are no pesky water condensation marks on your countertop.

[thehappykowple 2]

Taobao Haul #2

Colander - in big size and small size. Great for washing rice especially!

The most auntie buy of my haul. This is a two pieces of felt cleaners held together by a super strong magnet. It helps you clean both sides of your window at one go. It looks like one of those things gimmicky people sell at the department store using loud microphones but hey, it was only $5.

Anti-slip liners. I bought mine in grey. It looks quite drabby tbh but it'll be in the drawers so it's ok. On hindsight, I wish I got the clear one.

[thehappykowple 2]

Taobao Haul #2

Saw this selling in Taka or Robinson's for $20-30 so I jumped at it when I saw it going for less than $10 on Taobao. Pretty solid material. I've yet to try it though.

Daiso sells this but it's much cheaper on Taobao so I bought 6 and gave one to my MIL. This is basically a reusable cling wrap. I've yet to try it although it theory it sound genius.

Practicle auntie in me. Will be using this for our washing machine.

[thehappykowple 2]

Everything is really coming together with the installation of the bar counter at our balcony and timber decking, carpentry in the kitchen. We brought our island high chairs over for the carpenter to install. Here's how it looks against the island counter. Perfect height! Granite top, hood and hob installation going on this week. We're getting there! Whoop whoop.

Kitchen cabinets varnished awaiting appliances. The island counter will be varnished to the same shade. A granite counter will go on top with the hood and hob. The aim is for it to look like it's floating on one side when it's complete.

Timber decking using my husband's work contact.

Bar counter using some spare wood my husband found at his carpenter's workshop. It's not a perfect piece of wood ie. it's slightly warped and chipped but I think it adds character! It's a long solid piece of wood, which I think is quite rare to find.

Appliances and furniture will be in this weekend. I expect we'll be spending most of Saturday at our new home overseeing the deliveries and installation. EXCITES!!!!

Edited July 21, 2015 by thehappykowple

[doubleEM 4]

Interest bar counter concept by the balcony and for a minimalistic design you have paid attention to alot of details. Nice...

Soon high 5 for another TB addict haha

[thehappykowple 2]

Interest bar counter concept by the balcony and for a minimalistic design you have paid attention to alot of details. Nice...

Soon high 5 for another TB addict haha

Thank you so much! We had a clear general idea of what we wanted but all credit goes to our ID who filled in the blanks!

[dht 0]

Lovely house! Can't wait to see when it has been furnished!