My Humble Bachelor Pad

[huiamos 6]

Hello all!

Just finish my first appointment before the CNY for my resale hdb and I'm excited to share my reno journey here, especially for those who plan to stay alone when they hit 35

As I will be getting my keys late March, and it's about time to start my renovation planning.

Style

White/Cement/wood/glass

Going for cement screed flooring for living/dining area

Green: Don't like the indent of the wall structure, gonna fill this up so it look flush

Red: Hack!

Blue: Hack and replaced with Glass!

*Finger cross*

Edited February 12, 2016 by huiamos

[Lazyfatcat007 5]

Hello! Totally understand the excitement of moving out after reaching 35, freedom at last 😂

Your floorplan looks big and has a lot of potential for re-styling. Keep your updates coming!

[huiamos 6]

Hello! Totally understand the excitement of moving out after reaching 35, freedom at last

Your floorplan looks big and has a lot of potential for re-styling. Keep your updates coming!

Hey Lazyfatcat007! Yeah! Finally 35, especially have to wait after birthday to be eligible, counting down to collect keys.

[owlNbear 2]

Nice, sounds like it's going to be raw and classy at the same time. Can't wait!

[huiamos 6]

Nice, sounds like it's going to be raw and classy at the same time. Can't wait!

Thanks owlNbear! you really stay up late. Btw I like your black and white floor tiles!

[huiamos 6]

Meetup with IDs

As I begin my search for the one since last October, did alot of research online, mainly via renotalk forums, , and friends' recommendations, and here's the IDs whom met up with. I've learnt so much from speaking to each of them and gonna thank them for their patience for spending time to share their works with me. However the excitement actually transform to stress, thinking I'm about to part with my savings I will give my review and score base on 4 criteria: Rapport, Responsiveness, Design/taste, Cost.

E and S from R**t & R***x

Met E from the expo home decor exhibition in December while doing my window shopping. They have one of the biggest booth in the entire exhibition. E is a young ID, seem friendly, can chitchat like a friend, and we seated down, she took down my requirements and we met up again on the 31st December. Really hardworking! Slogged so hard even till the last day of the year.

However when I turn up at their office, it seems like her senior -> S took over from there, and E seem like his 小妹 and like push her around to do things -_- Since they are the first party I spoke with, I've learn alot about materials, like if you hack away the wall, there might be a ceiling beam there, etc, rather enriching experience. Proposal/space planning wise, is predictable and their price is far beyond my budget and is not inclusive of electrical works/ plumbing/ tiles..

Rapport: **

Responsiveness: *****

Design/taste: **

Cost: **

A from The *** studios

Many good reviews about this company, so I decided to give them a try too. First impression is good, A is very very detailed orientated! To the extend it becomes long winded. haha. Hardworking chap, put in effort to do up his proposal/space planning. Design wise, not really to my taste. I wanted Scandi-industrial, but seem like it's full industrial.. The proposed wood laminate looks too dirty/rustic for my liking. However, design wise still can control, but the cost is on the high side too. Costing not inclusive of wiring.

Rapport: ****

Responsiveness: *****

Design/taste: ***

Cost: **

G from S**** o* u*

G is a young punk, but dont be deceive by his looks, I'm very impressed with his proposal/space planning. Really wow me! But some ideas aint exactly practical, but can be fine tuned. I was really hoping to work with them on this, until they present me that quote at the end, also wow me too!

Rapport: ****

Responsiveness: *** (G delayed twice in meeting up with me, and actually wanted to postpone at the last minute during the requirement gathering session)

Design/taste: *****

Cost: *

J from T**

After looking thru various Tblogs, J seem to have done up a home tastefully and was highly recommended. So I decided to meet him up too. I texted him in the morning, he either replied me at night or the next morning... After finally get to speak with him, J seem like in between ID and contractor. To save time I went straight to the point and tell him exactly what I want and he has his input as well. He suggested to bring me to see one of his WIP projects, and few days later he send me the quote. His quotation is very friendly, and I thought it's very high chance I will go with him, until the day we gonna meet to view his customer's house, he never reply me... 放我飞机! totally waste my leave. I went to stalk his projects online, and to my horror, his works isn't what the forum claim it is..

Rapport: ***

Responsiveness: *

Design/taste: *

Cost: *****

A from G**** & L***

Via a friend recommendation and saw this company from  too, decided to message them on Facebook. Didn't give me a reply, and until I chase again, and they replied, asking me to drop them a email on my requirement. I was thinking, wow! they seem cocky! I didn't have a good impression back then.

Few days later, they just send me the quotation from the email without meeting up! Quotation amount is within my budget, makes me kind of curious why is the quote is much lower than the other ID firms and is inclusive of electrical and plumbing works. A doesn't have an office and is a home base designer, so we agree to meet outside.

When I meet up A, my impression changed 360! She seem to be a down-to-earth person and more importantly she understands what I'm looking for too! It's the feeling that if you pass your house reno to her, 你可以放心.

She highlighted some stuffs that I didn't think of too, very meticulous and experience! and the revised quote is still within my budget

Rapport: *****

Responsiveness: *****

Design/taste: *****

Cost: *****

S from R*****

S was recommended by my brother's friend. Very young guy but he grow moustache and goatie to make himself look more mature He invited me to view his client's place @ punggol which is near me. It's a nice place. But at this time, I sort of have an ID in mind, and be very honest with him. Here's my requirements, my budget, and my lowest quote, if you can meet them, we can discuss further. He say my budget is tight and he will try his best. But before he can present to me his quotation, I turn him down saying I've decided on the ID already. I feel bad, but to be fair to him, don't want him to waste his effort too.

Rapport: ***

Responsiveness: *****

Design/taste: **

Cost: NA

I've decided with A from G**** & L***. It's like betting, hope for a smooth reno journey!

[pankponk 2]

Hi Huiamos,

Love how you draw all the ID face, looking forward to your tblog.

[huiamos 6]

Hi Huiamos,

Love how you draw all the ID face, looking forward to your tblog.

Thanks for your support pankponk! I will try to update more if time allows.

You got a Tblog as well?

[huiamos 6]

Moodboard

Theme: Cement/Wood/White

Simple and neutral, like a blank canvas for me to add things on later on by using loose furniture pieces.

Cement screed flooring

Been warned of horror stories for cement screed flooring, e.g hairline cracks, unevenbums, uneven tones, etc but still wanted to go ahead! The beauty of cement screed, as the texture is so random and you will never get the same "pattern" in another house, and its versatile that it can fit any furniture style. Notice the top 2 images seem to have abit reflective, hope to achieve something like that too! The bottom 2 pictures have the darker shades, which can be nice too.

Open concept kitchen

The wooden laminate cabinets looks so warm and inviting, yet also fall in love in the all white kitchen too. Love the combi for lower left picture, white dominant and some touches of wood. Dilemmaaaaa.

Glass room for hobby

Open concept ma, have to let more light into the house and remove walls, using this space for hobby. Alot of money goes into making this space, hacking, glass, frame, make good, shelves, bay, concealed aircon box, etc So much to decide here, frame material, colour, size of grid, regular/irregular,etc... at the same time not to raise the budget any further!

Black framed glass panels are so popular and the aluminum ones are the cheaper options.

It gives a more masculine feel and look more outstanding , can go with black track lights and furnitures with black elements. Can almost picture(left picture) how it will look like for my house, keeping the existing parquet floor in the room.

But seem overly done and it's not true to my theme.

White framed panels is another option but not as outstanding, have to see how it goes when everything comes together. Track lights may have to choose the white ones to match

Wooden frame is my most preferred option! It's so nice but was told it's costly. And also the frame gonna be quite thick as it needs to be strong enough to hold the glass panel together. Gonna try my luck to ask again.

Suggestions/ideas are welcome! Gonna meetup my ID this coming Sunday to do site visit, and further discuss on the design approach.

Edited February 17, 2016 by huiamos

[huiamos 6]

Was window shopping at this shop call Heritage at Paya Lebar/Geylang area. You can find lights + bathroom fittings. Plenty to see and have nice stuffs there, prices are competitive and there's quite a crowd too.

Saw this rustic and rusty looking lamp that's quite nice.

Saw this steampunk pipe with lightbulbs attached, looks like a good idea to display my Super Marios collection! Just have to paint the pipes green!

and my super marios.

If you can't find what you like there, just walk down the stretch to find more shops. Tiring but fruitful trip today!

Can anyone recommend where to shop for stove,hod,hood,oven,fan,aircon,blinds??

Edited February 20, 2016 by huiamos

[huiamos 6]

Due to my space small, my ID recommends sofa no longer than 180cm width. any lobangs?

I really like these sofas along these style, especially from abit of extended leg (so that I can clean the base)

From CB2, but this model is not available in SG, need special order, cost a bomb and have to wait a few months for shipment. (About $3,239 sgd)

 

From CB2, this one looks cute, clean and cosy for a small space, ($2568)

 

From Commune, alot of this appears on Home Decor magazines, cost around $2,200+ I dont mind this but it's above 180cm

 

Please let me know if you know where to find nice sofas. 

[ricepapergirl 21]

Hi! Have you gone around to walk some of the stores themselves? Commune tends to have quite nice sofas, there's also Sofa Outlet (they are at Gul Circle but also at Marina Square which is great if you're not an extreme westie). Castlery.com also has pretty nice sofas, nice price range, and I just checked, their Spencer Sofa is 175cm wide, can consider. Other brands could be like Star Living or Jottergoods, similar look and feel for their sofas to what you are looking for, price range also should be within budget.

[ricepapergirl 21]

I should also mention that if you don't mind not being able to do a proper butt-test (like pure online shopping) I've been seeing quite a lot of smaller-sized nice sofas on Rakuten Global websites. They are mostly for the Japanese market so they take into account the much smaller room sizes. Let me know if you want some links!

[huiamos 6]

59 minutes ago, ricepapergirl said:

Hi! Have you gone around to walk some of the stores themselves? Commune tends to have quite nice sofas, there's also Sofa Outlet (they are at Gul Circle but also at Marina Square which is great if you're not an extreme westie). Castlery.com also has pretty nice sofas, nice price range, and I just checked, their Spencer Sofa is 175cm wide, can consider. Other brands could be like Star Living or Jottergoods, similar look and feel for their sofas to what you are looking for, price range also should be within budget.

 

57 minutes ago, ricepapergirl said:

I should also mention that if you don't mind not being able to do a proper butt-test (like pure online shopping) I've been seeing quite a lot of smaller-sized nice sofas on Rakuten Global websites. They are mostly for the Japanese market so they take into account the much smaller room sizes. Let me know if you want some links!

 

Hey Ricepapergirl! Yeah, I visited Commune and Castlery showrooms already! they have great stuffs there, but their sofa is slightly bigger than 180cm  Yeah, there's a risk with pure online shopping, risk of not having feeling the actual thing..  Shall check out Sofa Outlet and castlery again! Welcome more lobangs!

[ricepapergirl 21]

I just checked out Jottergoods, most of their 2.5 seater Sofas are all 175cm. Can consider! Their stuff is quite nice. URL here for the catalogue and check out their FB for nicer photos. Think they only display their physical stuff at the Labrador and the Jurong IMM Star Living outlets. http://ecatalog.co/jottergoods/files/mobile/index.html