The Bookworm And The Brilliance

[Peachydurians 2]

Hi Bookworm! Your theme is positively delightful, and I can't wait for the wheels to start turning! I bought a tiffany lamp from Bangkok about 5 years ago (there were quite a number of shops selling vintage glass lamps at the night market) and pretty sure it was the real deal! - however, seeing that **** has just been unleashed on the city of angels, I'm not sure you really wanna go there at this point ... Your second best bet would be Ebay, followed by Etsy (genuine stuff but a bit pricey tho..).

I don't see why tiffany lamps won't work with perankan tiles - I felt the centrepiece you chose had a great combo of earthy tones. If you pick a neutral shade for the decorative tiles, and avoid going all "Swensen's" on your lamps, I'm certain it's going to look charming!! Having said all this, I always feel that a home should ultimatley reflect the owner's personality - it's YOURS and ought to be uniquely YOU. So don't worry if you think it looks crazy, just go for it!

Have a restful holiday and looking forward to more updates when you're back

Hi arturobinewski, thanks so much for your wonderful reply! I did go to BKK for a day, and found Tiffany lamps, but they cost as much as in Singapore! And I will be getting Peranakan tiles, thanks to your encouragement

Hi

Looking forward to see the rest of the progress of your renovation.

Can you PM me the contacts of A and Y?

Will wait patiently for you to release K's contact.

Thanks!

2coe, have PMed you A and Y!

-

I'm back, I've got updates, and I'll post them after I'm back from visiting our house! Excited!

Edited August 29, 2015 by Peachydurians

[Peachydurians 2]

Hi guys, here's what's been going on the past week half:

The walls have come down, and the bricks have come up

Our half and half wall: half brick, half books.

I was muchly impressed by Prosterroster K, who hacked the wall and kept every. single. one. of the original kitchen tiles intact. How'z that for skill

Oh fun fact we discovered about our contractor- he used to play pro football! So he's truly a Prosterroster hahaha.

Edited March 20, 2016 by Peachydurians

[Lazyfatcat007 5]

Hi Peachydurians,

Loved reading your blog and your ideas. I'm waiting for my resale flat to come through so now doing research on the forum. Can you PM me the contacts of the contractors and the kitchen tap? Thanks!

[bubblebath 0]

Hi Peachydurians,

Looking forward to see the progress of your reno! Quite interested to see how the end result will be like with your chapalang theme!

[Khairul Anwar 0]

Hi can pm me your id contact?

[nextstep 3]

welcome back and congratulation on the progress. Keep the update coming ya.

[doubleEM 4]

Glad to see real work beginning and its the true start of the adventure ahead. Have fun in the process..

[Peachydurians 2]

Hi Peachydurians,

Looking forward to see the progress of your reno! Quite interested to see how the end result will be like with your chapalang theme!

Thank you! It'll probably either be really nice or terribly normal! But then again, a home is made over time, I suppose.

Hi Peachydurians,

Loved reading your blog and your ideas. I'm waiting for my resale flat to come through so now doing research on the forum. Can you PM me the contacts of the contractors and the kitchen tap? Thanks!

PH Bathroom Gallery! 648 Geylang Road.

Also, for all who have been asking for my contractor's contact, we're meeting him tomorrow night. I'll ask him about it then, so hang on tight

welcome back and congratulation on the progress. Keep the update coming ya.

Glad to see real work beginning and its the true start of the adventure ahead. Have fun in the process..

Hi guys!! So nice to hear from yous. Looks like reno is truly underway for you both too!

[Peachydurians 2]

Help! #2

Hi readers, this post is by request of the Brilliance, who saw a sofa on Courts which he really liked, but disappeared the day after he spotted it. Soo, has anyone seen this sofa?

Close up!

Any help much appreciated! Thank you! :)

[Peachydurians 2]

The Tumeric Test

I think the above emoticon is very funny, haha. #anyhowuse

Tiling works are currently ongoing at our place, and we are happy with the quality of work. Our workers are clearly experienced and good at what they do. They also give earnest advice when asked, and volunteer information even when not asked, haha. Prosterroster K says they've been working for him + together for 8 years, everyone in his team knows each other and will help one another out when needed. I like the sound of that!

The first tiles were laid today. The Brilliance is very happy with how it looks!

We met our contractor today to finalise laminates and carpentry, which begins tomorrow. That probably also means that this blog will be quiet for awhile while fabrication goes on! Meanwhile, lemme share with you guys my tumeric testing.

I like tumeric (will post my favourite chicken recipe below), and ruined many of my landlady's things cooking with it when I was living overseas 2014/15. So I was quite cautious and decided to make absolutely sure that my countertop would be tumeric-proof!

Beautiful laminates

The scary and yummy tumeric!

I mixed tumeric powder into a paste, smeared/splattered it onto my samples, and left the paste there for about twenty minutes before wiping it off.

You can see the tumeric stain!!

Then, I tried water + some dishwashing liquid.

It clears!! Yay!

Now, we can choose our favourite countertop with peace of mind.

Here's my favourite tumeric chicken recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 medium bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• One whole head of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 cup fresh ginger (the younger, the better), peeled, sliced, and julienned
• One medium white or yellow onion, peeled and cut lengthwise into ½-inch slices
• Light soy sauce according to taste
• 1½ tablespoons fish sauce or 1 teaspoon salt
• Chinese cooking wine or brandy according to taste
• 1-2 tablespoons ground turmeric
• Ground black pepper according to taste
• ½ cup water

Instructions

1. Set a large skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the chicken thigh, skin side down. Leave the chicken alone until you get a good sear on the skin side.
2. Scatter the julienned ginger and sliced garlic on top of the chicken and pour the seasoning mixture over the chicken (incl. water). Reduce the heat to medium and close the lid. Forget it for about 20 minutes (see instructions in the post on how you need to give the stew a stir if you're not using a heavy-bottomed pot).
3. Add the sliced onion into the skillet, close the lid, and let the stew cook for another 20 minutes.
4. Serve warm over steamed rice.

 

Credit: http://shesimmers.com/2009/04/burmese-chicken-stew-maybe.html

 

This is seriously easy, and seriously good.

 

Anyway! We've decided that we are happy with our contractor's work and willing to personally recommend him. I've PMed a couple of you already; if anyone else wants his contact do let me know.

 

 

P.S The Brilliance is not allowing me to have concrete laminate with pops of colour in the kitchen

Edited March 20, 2016 by Peachydurians

[iloveweekends 0]

Hi there, progress on your house looks gd! Can I please have your contractor's contact? Thanks!

Look forward to see your finished home. And the recipe looks yums!

[marc31kelly 2]

Hi,

I notice your countertop material is similar to kompacplus but with alot of design.

Do you mind sharing the brand? Becos i tried to google it name "PACNEL" nothing came up.

Hope you share with us

Many thanks in advance

m

[Peachydurians 2]

Hi there, progress on your house looks gd! Can I please have your contractor's contact? Thanks!

Look forward to see your finished home. And the recipe looks yums!

PMed you, and thanks! Yeah it's really delish!

Hi,

I notice your countertop material is similar to kompacplus but with alot of design.

Do you mind sharing the brand? Becos i tried to google it name "PACNEL" nothing came up.

Hope you share with us

Many thanks in advance

m

Hello! I didn't know either, then today I asked around and found out that it's actually under iQuartz! I hope that helps

[soulju 0]

It has been interesting reading your post, hope to see more updates =)

Will you mind sharing all 4 contacts of contractors. Thanks!!

[Peachydurians 2]

Paying it forward: Singapore's patterned tiles (2 shops)

Hello! As mentioned earlier, I've been itching to get Peranakan tiles. I initially wanted to put them as backsplash tiles in the kitchen, but on Saturday, the Brilliance decided we would get brick-like cream tiles for our backsplash. I was quite after, so to comfort me, he brainstormed for another place to put the tiles! So I happily got to researching. Eventually, I decided I prefer Spanish tiles to Peranakan tiles.

This post is also a bit of a pay it forward because I relied a fair bit on previous renotalkers' posts on their tiles, in order to narrow my search down to 2 places. Not enough time mah. Pity, because I really like the search for beautiful tiles, even more than searching for my own wedding dress! I think I could have cheerfully visited 3-4 more shops haha. But okay, enough talking, here are the pictured tiles from 2 places: Eunos Hafary and SBH Changi:

Super nice right? I first saw this on a Renotalk t-blog.

Mosaic tiles - these ones are really, really nice when put together in a large square/rectangle, like 5x5.

For those who enjoy feeling like a forest.

For those whose spiritual totem includes a shade of the exotic.

Ooh, I really liked these ones too. They're so cute and interesting! The Brilliance says they look like porcelain plates.

These ones are made to look like a carpet! How creative is that.

-

Okay, these were just a few of the photos I took today! Renotalk doesn't allow me more. I hope it gives you an idea of the types of beautiful tiles there are out there, and give you some inspiration to find spaces to showcase them in! Let's make our homes gorgeous

Cheers,

The Bookworm.

P.S If I had my way, the entire home will be top to toe in different patterned tiles. Then everyone who visits will get a headache. hahaha.