The Bookworm And The Brilliance

[Peachydurians 2]

Hullo Renotalkers,

I'm starting this t-blog because I gained so much from senior t-bloggers, and hopefully this space will be as memorable for others in future! I've named myself the Bookworm because reading books is pretty much the only thing I know how to do, while my better half is, well, brilliant. Kind of like Gandalf-

“Though one Wizard that I know took up the art long ago, and became as skilful in it as in all other things that he put his mind to.”

The Hobbit, Chapter 2

So, hmmm. We collected our SOB BTO keys in Feb via the FIL because we were overseas (you know you're Singaporean when you understand all the acronyms!), and now that we're back for awhile, we decided to set our home affairs in order! This is what we've done so far (will do a separate post on each):

1) Mood board

2) Contractor (no ID)

We're currently awaiting our revised quote! Then the stone will start to roll, hopefully. I'll wrap this introductory post up with our very ordinary and standard floorplan:

Love,

the Bookworm

Edited August 8, 2015 by Peachydurians

[Peachydurians 2]

Our background and inspirations

As I mentioned previously, I'm an avid reader. A book captures my concentration far longer than a TV show, although I quite enjoy a couple of Korean programmes which I catch on YouTube. The Brilliance also spends little time watching TV; he is almost always found in front of the computer screen. After a lot of online browsing and casual chitchat between ourselves, we have decided to have a large bookshelf where the TV usually is, and convert our third bedroom into a study room with a projector screen for movies and stuff. I'll call the bookshelf wall the Bookshelfsofadiningtable Wall, since these are what we want to incorporate into a single wall! No choice, Singapore BTO so small Ohwell. Here are a couple of pictures which caught my eye!

Our actual Bookshelfsofadiningtable Wall will look quite different, but these are beautiful bookshelves in their own right! I hope mine will look as nice haha.

Given that we hope to have friends over (at least I do anyway), the other big factor on our minds was convertible and perceived space. We'd like to make our hall look larger, and be able to host our cell group of 10-15 people when they come. Given that our place looks like this:

We've decided to hack the wall between the living room and bedroom 3, and replace them with accordion doors! At least that's what I think they're called la. Here's an example I found online:

These are the major changes. The final significant area is the kitchen, I suppose. Here are two kitchens I liked:

I know a lot of my pictures are taken from local inspirations. If anyone recognises their own photos, please take this as a humble compliment to your beautiful home which were preferred over all else!

Love,

the bookworm

Edited August 8, 2015 by Peachydurians

[Peachydurians 2]

Our Prosteroster Contractor

I made the above word up. The Brilliance likes to wordplay, and in his dictionary, 'proster' just means someone who is pro. That's who I hope our contractor will be! We chose him out of the 4 we shortlisted and met. In alphabetical order:

1) Contractor A: famous Renotalk contractor. Got his contact after some online stalking (hurhur) and arranged for a site visit. He's very very big and tall! He made my 1.82m husband look like tau gaey/beanstalk. He has very good work and reviews online, but ultimately he'll not be our contractor. Can say lack of chemistry. But his work is really very good. If you and him are pei/compatible, it'll be a match made in heaven!

2) J&E: another famous pair. Met for a site visit at our place and they showed us an ongoing project they have on another unit on our estate. Good workmanship and good vibes. We really really liked them, but their quote was +15k above the next two quotes, which was just too much for our little piggybank so sad.

3) Prosterroster K: recommended by one of our friends! He (our friend) is the fashionable kind, and we all know fashionable people are fussypots. So, since Prosterroster K passed our friend's test, means he must be good. That was my reasoning la. Anyhow, we decided to arrange for a site visit with him. My better half likes him- says he has an honest feel and he was able to tell us when our ideas are impractical or suggest improvements. And I trust the Brilliance's intuition for these kind of things; so far his hunches in life all quite steady one.

4) Mr Y: contractor for my in-laws' bathrooms. He did a good job, so we asked for his contact. He asked us to go to his showroom, and we met his daughter who did all the designing based on our floorplan. Their quote was reasonable, their workmanship based on my in-laws' place good, but the Brilliance prefered #3.

There we go! It's quite obvious who we decided on. I guess personally I find it interesting to engage a relatively unknown contractor; feels a bit like picking up an unpolished gemstone - in time we'll know what lies underneath! #anyhowmakemetaphor

Love,

the Bookworm

______

Update: I have since lost J&E's contact, and for Mr Y, recently a few things at my in-laws' common bathroom have fallen apart. So I will not be sharing their contacts anymore!

Edited October 6, 2015 by Peachydurians

[doubleEM 4]

welcome and good luck with the renovation...

[Peachydurians 2]

Hi DoubleEM, thanks for the welcome and well-wish! Sorry it's a little bare, not much will happen until we get the revised quote next week. I see yours is going really well! Congrats!

[doubleEM 4]

Hi DoubleEM, thanks for the welcome and well-wish! Sorry it's a little bare, not much will happen until we get the revised quote next week. I see yours is going really well! Congrats!

Mine is only planning very well havnt get going yet:)

But surely hope as you said will be going well too in time to come

[nextstep 3]

welcome welcome, all the best on your renovation.

We all need lots of luck.

[ZzzMonster 7]

Congrats Peachydurians! U have a very interesting theme. Looking forward to see the outcome of your reno.

[iSoh 0]

Hi bookworm,

Mind sharing Mr Y's contact & quotation with me? TIA!

[Peachydurians 2]

Question of the day: can posts be deleted?

In other news, HAPPY NATIONAL DAY SINGAPOREEEEEE

I love you very much

Lemme share with you guys my amahzing fireworks shot HAHAHA

Life of a short person =Pp

End of unRenotalk stuff. One of these days I will do a What I Have Learnt From Renotalk post.

Love,

The Bookworm

Edited August 11, 2015 by Peachydurians

[Peachydurians 2]

welcome welcome, all the best on your renovation.

We all need lots of luck.

Congrats Peachydurians! U have a very interesting theme. Looking forward to see the outcome of your reno.

Hi bookworm,

Mind sharing Mr Y's contact & quotation with me? TIA!

Hi nextstep and Zzzmonster, thanks for the friendliness and encouragement! how do I see your t-blogs if you guys have one? haha sorry I'm still super newbie. And iSoh, going to PM you now!

[Peachydurians 2]

Mine is only planning very well havnt get going yet:)

But surely hope as you said will be going well too in time to come

Oh really only planning stages? It looked really good, all your furniture scouting and everything! One of these days I will read through your t-blog in full

[ZzzMonster 7]

Hi nextstep and Zzzmonster, thanks for the friendliness and encouragement! how do I see your t-blogs if you guys have one? haha sorry I'm still super newbie. And iSoh, going to PM you now!

Hihi... Here's my tblog http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/72117-second-home-first-reno/

[nextstep 3]

Hi nextstep and Zzzmonster, thanks for the friendliness and encouragement! how do I see your t-blogs if you guys have one? haha sorry I'm still super newbie. And iSoh, going to PM you now!

this is mine t-blog

[doubleEM 4]

Oh really only planning stages? It looked really good, all your furniture scouting and everything! One of these days I will read through your t-blog in full

Well thanks for the kind words and thanks in advance for visiting my Tblog

All in the spirit of sharing our own reno experiences.