EM in Bishan - Contemporary Minimalistic

[Spidy25 1]

On 02/03/2016 at 5:20 PM, dxhan said:

With any home renovation project comes the home appliance and furniture shopping as well. This is another portion that we have to budget well as it takes a huge chunk of finances too!

We made an excel sheet to tabulate what we were going to buy, and then started comparing prices around different shops, both neighbourhood types and big retail chains, as well as purchasing with various credit cards for maximum discounts.

So, here are what we bought:

Television
Samsung JU7500 55" Curved TV
We chose this model because the SUHD range didn't improve much over the UHD range. The salesperson also admitted that it was more of a marketing strategy to release newer products and the difference was really an increased brightness / contrast. TV also not need so bright lah, so we settled for the JU7500, which came with a free sound bar - HW-J6501. Personal preference is to use TV speakers. Soundbar output sounds very 'fake'. So we used the soundbar's bluetooth interface to connect to our phones and played music instead when we didn't feel like watching TV.

55" is just nice for our living room. Viewing distance is around 2m and it's actually quite huge. I need to move my eyes to different segments of the screen, like reading subtitles. Glad we didn't go for a 65".

Projector
Sony VPL-HW50ES
It's an older obsolete model for all the home theatre gurus out there, but I got it because it's much lighter on the wallet! The newer model doesn't justify the much larger price increase over better specifications. Also reading multiple reviews on the internet kind of cemented that this is a better buy. Comes with 2 pairs of 3D glasses as it is also a 3D projector which we never use, maybe keep it for the kids who come to visit. 

Projector Screen
Remaco 80", Fixed
We didn't want to use the wall as a flat surface, so we got a fixed projector screen with a matt surface to reduce glare. The home theatre guys came over to do a site visit and he advised that this was the biggest we could go for a 3m room, deducting the length of the projector and considering the viewing distance as well. The total cost of projector + screen is cheaper than a 80" TV so I think it's a good buy. After all, it gives a bigger wow factor too. Haha.

 

Surround Sound System
Bose CineMate 520
Some of you will disagree, but for the price, can lah. After all, how loud can you play your movies in a HDB block. Haha. I like Bose because it 'just works', and comes in a complete package. The pricing by Atlas is also very transparent. I don't have to consider buying speaker cables, different systems to join them up then fiddle with digital and analog sound. The consideration was really between their higher end LifeStyle system versus the CineMate system. The speakers used are the same, just a different central console. The more expensive one comes with a nicer user interface and a better remote. No need lah. I buy Bose for the sound, not the user interface I hardly see because I want to watch movies, not admire the user interface. Half the price leh.

Refrigerator
Samsung RSH7UNSL1
We want a water dispenser with automatic ice maker option. Lazy to keep refilling ice and worry that when you have guests over there is not enough ice. Nowadays many of the other brands and models come with a water container that is used with the dispenser. Quite troublesome to keep refilling, the purpose of the dispenser is to avoid all of the refilling in the first place, so we wanted a fridge that uses the water point. These kind of fridges usually come with a water filter as well, so quite good leh.

Washing Machine
Samsung WD80J6410AW
I tell you ah, these model numbers very difficult to remember. It's a washer dryer combo, 8kg/6kg. Can do steaming, quick wash, all the super functions. Good enough for 2 people. More than enough. We were comparing between the Samsung and a similar LG model. Samsung was cheaper. Done. It's a washing machine. As long as the clothes get washed properly and dried properly, can already. When we first started using a washing machine, I thought it was more complicated to use than my handphone. Can we have a washing machine that just has 1 button too? Haha.

 

Induction Hob
Bosch PMI723BHK
Wife doesn't like gas hobs, and I regularly use portable induction hobs and they work just as well. So we got the Bosch because it was the prettiest one with German technology. Don't have to worry about contacting City Gas for piping concerns and stuff like that. We installed a master switch below the hob and most of the time it is turned off because we eat out regularly. Black because white will turn yellowish. But black can see dust easily. Sigh.

Hood
Bosch DHI9235SG
Simple one will do, this one have to pull out when we want to use. Not much suction, so we use a cover for the frying pans, makes clean up work easier too. Anyway for HDB there isn't much space for the air to ventilate, and when we were young there were no hoods at all. You can consider investing in a better model if you do heavy cooking regularly.

Oven
Bosch HBN331E1K
Wife likes to bake, so we got a lower-mid range one. Parisilk has most of the popular Bosch models on display at Holland Drive, and when I saw the top end one with the LCD screen I was super hooked. But the price also very nice.. Thought of importing from the UK through Borderlinx and it was actually cheaper than the retail price in Singapore with the shipping charges. But wife didn't approve. So, settled for this model instead.

 

Ceiling Fans
KDK 48" and 56"
We saw some home owners using the Haiku range and wanted to buy them too, but we bought 4 KDK fans for less than the price of 1 Haiku fan. Maybe next time then upgrade. 56" for the living room and 3 units of 48" for the 3 rooms upstairs.

 

 

Air Con
Mitsubishi Electric Starmed
We needed 7 units, so we got a System 4 and a System 3. A bit extreme, but many maisonettes around our areas also use 2 compressors. Of course we don't turn on all of them at the same time lah..
- Living Room x 1
- Dining Area x 1
- Entertainment Room x 1
- Foyer x 1
- Master Bedroom x 1
- Study Room x 1
- Guest Room x 1

We applied to HDB to put the compressors outside the house instead of the balcony area like many maisonettes as we wanted to close off the double volume space and air condition our dining area. Because it was not usual for a maisonette to do so we had to communicate with HDB a few times before getting approval. They were worried about the electrical loading of using 2 Compressor units as well as ensure that we only hang 1 compressor on each wall panel to preserve the structural integrity. Makes sense.

Lights
IKEA, Philips, Chan Huat
This is the fun part. I was inspired by andotang's Philips Hue Lighting system so I got it installed as well. As the new Lightstrips Plus range was only released late last year, I made a preorder on Amazon UK and had them shipped to Singapore through Borderlinx. I also ordered the new Hue Bridge 2.0 set which came with 3 bulbs. We installed the lightstrips in the entertainment room, living room, dining room and master bedroom. Because we made cove lights in the ceiling, the new lightstrips plus was actually bright enough to replace T5 LEDs.

Other lights were purchased from IKEA and LED downlights from Chan Huat house brand. If I could do it again I would invest a bit more money and get Philips downlights because the Chan Huat ones are not very good. 'Leak' electricity. We have a 3 gang switch in the rooms, and when you turn on the fan, the downlights will flicker due to the 'surge' in electricity. We'll show you more of the IKEA designs we bought in the later photos.

About the hood Bosch DHI9235SG, the suction is 420m3/hr and based on Bosch calculation formula (volume of kitchen x 6) it is actually adequate for most if not all HDB kitchen.  Why do you think it is not enough ?  I am asking because I am also looking at the same model and we do heavy cooking.

[dxhan 5]

Hi Spidy! Hah, sorry there has been a misunderstanding. I use the lightstrips plus for the cove lighting, and the bulbs for normal pendant lights. Both the lightstrip and bulb gives out the same hues of green light. 

If you are looking to create a similar effect, do compare prices if you use lightstrip plus versus the quote that your ID gave you. For my cove light, my perimeter is around 12m. So I needed to buy 2 x kit (S$140 each), and 8 x extension (S$40 each). Total cost excluding shipping and installation added up to around S$600 for the lights alone. Add in shipping, maybe around S$750 max? I didn't pay for installation as my contractor did it for me as part of the electrical works. Then you have the added plus of using your phone to control the lights.

Most of the lighting shops I visited before deciding to import myself had various LED systems, but the system to control the light doesn't look very professional. I saw one that is a dial with different colours on a wheel, and that was one of the more impressive one already. Those retail type also cannot do extension to link up to 10m, so I decided to go for the Philips Hue system. 

About the hood, yes, I also thought it was enough. You know when you go eat Korean BBQ or similar Hotpot restaurants, when they put the 'sucker' hood above the pan, you can really see the steam and smoke being sucked up into the ceiling. But for the Bosch, even when we boil water and it is steam, which is quite light, you don't see the steam 'accelerate' into the hood. Maybe I could have misunderstood how much suction power I am supposed to see for our home use hoods. But we also don't have ventilation ducts for the exhaust to escape, so probably that's why the suction power doesn't look so strong.

Any pros can advise?

[NOTSomebody 0]

Hi dxhan! 

Very nice place you have got! Do you mind sharing with me who is the home theatre guys?

[dxhan 5]

11 minutes ago, NOTSomebody said:

Hi dxhan! 

Very nice place you have got! Do you mind sharing with me who is the home theatre guys?

Hello! Thank you for your kind words!

Home Theatre guys are KEC Sound System at Adelphi. Look for Jack.

I was recommended to them by a close friend who has a bigger space than I do, but uses the same equipment. I love the HD on it.

[andotang 18]

Hi dxhan, I read up about the hue 2.0 bulb and some youtube review tested it is just slightly brighter as yours is 800 lumens while mine is 600 lumens. However it doesn't say it can produce more colors. Can you try to match your hue 2.0 bulb to your lightstrips green as per your cove green pic to see if they have same color range. I tested my 1.0 lightstrips and it can produce your green too but not my 1.0 bulb. My 1.0 lightstrips also cannot produce different shade of white light thus certain scene like energize on Philips hue app doesn't work on my 1.0 lightstrips. Although I don't think I gonna get a 2.0 bulb cos my bulb is suppose to last until .... I die!!! But I just want to know if 2.0 can produce more green then just lime/yellow on mine.

Mind doing a review on your kdk 48" fan about noise level and wind power? Cos I am interested to get the newly launched DC series.

Thanks.

[dxhan 5]

Hi Ando,

Sorry for the late update! We just returned from our honeymoon yesterday!

I tried to match the green on the bulbs versus the strips and I think you are right. It is lime green. So don't upgrade, stick to your 1.0. I think the only difference is brightness.

48 KDK Fans are very quiet. But because we installed a false ceiling, there is wind echo which makes a low humming sound. Because of this, our contractor added more backbone into the false ceiling to reduce the echo. If you take down the fan and just test the sound, the motor has no noise at all. 

KDK after sales service also very good. They came by our place free of charge to check out the echo problem, and then found out it was actually due to false ceiling, which my contractor rectified the next day.

Wind power good enough for a 3m x 3m room, and I turn it on at low speed setting. 

And we bought a new clock from overseas..

Don't know whether to hang it or just leave it on the floor..

I will post more on our reno journey tomorrow!  Now need to catch up on jet lag..

Edited March 21, 2016 by dxhan

[teegz 1]

Hi dxhan,

Love your oak floors! Is it more durable than burmese teak and do you mind sharing the psf price of it? I called WOW floors on Saturday and it seems that their showroom is not open on Saturday.

TIA!

[El LoCo 3]

Wow Qlocktwo....May I know where did u buy and how much u paid for it?

[dxhan 5]

On 21 March 2016 at 10:50 PM, teegz said:

Hi dxhan,

Love your oak floors! Is it more durable than burmese teak and do you mind sharing the psf price of it? I called WOW floors on Saturday and it seems that their showroom is not open on Saturday.

TIA!

Hello teegz!

I think teak and oak have similar hardness and properties, but teak seems to be easier to maintain and hardier for the long run too.

We chose oak because of the lighter colour. Teak usually is like the normal parquet floors, where the wood tones are darker. I read somewhere that this is due to the mineral oil already present inside teak, so it attributes to the darker colour, but because of the oil, it is longer lasting?

Some downsides to having a lighter wood tone such as oak is that we cannot make the floor too wet. The water stains will be very obvious. Same goes for teak, but because it is a darker tone the water stains are not as obvious? 

No matter whether you choose oak or teak, you should let the floor 'sit' for at least 2 weeks before sanding. My recommendation is 4 weeks if time allows. Now there are some bumps on the floor due to the setting in, and the contractor will be coming back to do some light sanding to make it even again. This is 3 - 4 months after installation.

Budget about $160 to $240 per m2 for oak flooring, price is subjective due to the different widths (bigger widths are more expensive). This equates to about $16 to $24 per square ft? 

Choose widths based on contractors advice! Smaller homes should go for smaller widths, and larger homes go for bigger widths. 

Yep, WOW floors is closed on weekends. Look for Mr Ong. PM me if you need his mobile.

Have fun! 

[dxhan 5]

15 hours ago, El LoCo said:

Wow Qlocktwo....May I know where did u buy and how much u paid for it?

Hello LoCo!

We were in Paris and came across a shop called Colette along rue Saint-Honoré. It's basically a hipster store selling everything from clothes to makeup to vinyl albums to quirky electronics. It was recommended to us by our airbnb host because he's quite hipster also. Haha.

They also distribute qlocktwo and the price is the same as the online price, at EUR 985.

We managed to get a tax rebate so it's cheaper to lug it home than to buy online and ship it to Singapore. However the shipping fees at the qlocktwo online store is not expensive too, I think it was EUR 79.

I actually saw it when it was first launched a few years back? But the price was too much for a clock.. Then when I couldn't find a comparable cheaper alternative, I gave up. It was by chance that we were dining in the basement (there's a Doraemon themed cafe), that we saw the qlocktwo hanging on the wall (they had 4 of them in different languages), that we decided to just buy it on impulse.

I think they change the theme from season to season. Haha. But it was Doraemon when we were there last week.

 

[El LoCo 3]

Hi Dxhan, thanks for the info! Wishing u a smooth reno. 

[dxhan 5]

Okay! On to bathroom fittings and furniture!

One of the very first things we bought was the living room sofa. There are many home furniture shows at Singapore Expo, so we just went to one of them while shopping for home stuff at the Robinsons sale in the next expo hall. Equipping a home is very expensive, so can save or got discount, we sure go for it.

My wife always complains that I have an 'expensive eye' for stuff. So my eye caught this sofa, and we both sat on it and it was like, okay this is it. Don't want to get up already.

I tell you why. 

The stuffing for the sofa is 100% duck down. Sit on it won't get warm even without fan. With air-con even more shiok. The beauty of the sofa is also that the depth is around 10cm deeper, which means that when you sit down and lean against the back, your knees are on the sofa itself, so it's already 'reclining'.

It is manufactured by mavis in Malaysia, and distributed by mix & match furniture, a subsidiary of the silver river group. I read online that there are not so good reviews about silver river, and some of it is true. Make sure everything is in black and white. Materials, colours, freebies, etc. Otherwise may be shortchanged. We got 6 free throw cushions.

We went for the same colour as the showpiece, but in a smaller dimensions to fit our living room. The length is 2.8m. 

We needed a sofa as well for our entertainment room, and we blew much on the sofa budget on the one above, so we got a sofa bed from IKEA. 

Offers storage underneath, so pretty good to keep pillows and blankets to use while watching movies.

TV console also from IKEA to match the flooring, as you see in the picture above. 

The Besta range allows us to choose whatever colour we wanted, and so we did, and got 1 in white frame, wood drawers.

Dining table is from Mountain Teak at Tan Boon Liat building. Many of you would know where that is. It is THE place to get great teak furniture. Prices are competitive and pieces are very beautiful.

Table is reasonably priced. Chairs are quite expensive, so the chairs you see above are from IKEA. Haha.

We got our kitchen sink and mixer from Kohler because I liked their pull out mixers the best, out of the other popular brands like Grohe and Hansgrohe.

All bathroom faucets, mixers, and rain shower systems are from Kohler. But we purchased the mixers, sinks and taps from Bathroom Warehouse because their prices were cheaper than KHK, the official Kohler distributor. July and Aleo series. Rain shower is Kohler's flagship Katalyst Air.

  

Rain shower system was purchased from KHK because Bathroom Warehouse didn't stock them.

Toilet Bowl is from TOTO! We had a hard time deciding on the toilet bowls because of the P and S trap issue. Basically there is a hole in the floor, and the measurement is made from the wall to the hole in inches. So ours was around 6 inches. 

S trap toilets, picture below, are usually covered at the back, and we liked it because dirt will not get stuck at the back, and hence less cleaning up to do. However, Toto toilets for S trap is above 10 inches, so we couldn't buy it because the hole wouldn't fit nicely into the floor.

P trap on the other hand, could match our requirements, but the back of the toilet bowl is not concealed, so dirt might get stuck and we would have to do some cleaning up from time to time.

So no choice, we got the Toto CT940PK, with soft closing toilet seat and cover. W Atelier was having a 30% Toto sale, so HENG AH!

Bed frame and mattress are from Ikea, because I had a Sealy before and didn't like it. HAHAHA. Ikea ones are quite economical and comfortable too. 

We went a little off the beaten track for a study room table. We got a dining table from scanteak so both of us could use it at the same time.

Work Chair is from Herman Miller. The Aeron needs no introduction. Haha.

 

 

Edited March 22, 2016 by dxhan

[teegz 1]

Thanks dxhan! I've emailed them, waiting for their quotation. Wishing you a smooth renovation!

[roundrabbit 0]

On 3/5/2016 at 3:17 PM, dxhan said:

So another week passed and all the masonry works were almost completing. Staircase had been screeded on a Sunday morning because of the absence of other workers, and wall tiling was completed to this stage of renovation. The remaining tiles would be done after the ceiling and pipes are done.

Staircase screed is one of the most difficult to do because of the smaller surface area, so the price for doing such work is also higher. We have to keep making sure the finished level is always straight and sharp, and so we would have to use a level, or a good eye. Haha. Unlike bigger floor areas where bigger tools can be used to ensure the whole floor is flat, this relies very much on the workmanship of the worker.

The dry kitchen is coming into place, and the kitchen toilet is also done tiling for the walls. We will be hiding the top pipes with a false ceiling. The good thing about hacking the floor is that we can place drainage pipes anywhere we need. We planned to place a washing machine in the dry kitchen and so a drainage pipe would have to be erected for the waste water discharge. Also, as we are changing the position of the sink, we used the floor cement screed to hide away the floor drainage. 

We love watching movies at home, so this would be a projector room with the sound system. We got the home theatre people to come in and lay the speaker cables and hdmi cables in the ceiling first, then we will get the plaster people to erect the false ceiling to hide these cables. There is a lot of planning involved in this stage of the renovation so we had to be absolutely sure what we wanted and where to place items such as consoles, computers, etc.

We also got the air con people to come in and run pipes, as well as the plumber to run the water systems. Always plan with the air con people where to run the piping and drainage system. We sat down thinking of all the possible ways to run the water pipes in a descending way so the water can flow smoothly out without causing any potential blockage in the future. Otherwise if there is a kink, build up or leak in the system it would be very difficult to correct in the future. Usually the drainage will end up in the bathroom, so do plan before hand!

We wanted to have a rain shower system, so the plumber installed the pipes into the ceiling for this. The green pipes are actually plastic and last up to 100 years according to the plumber. Visible copper pipes only last around 10 years. So since we were building an alcove to hide the mixer system, he used the more expensive plastic water tubings instead. 

This is where we would be placing a bathtub, so the mixer is placed a little lower. A lot of planning went into pipe placement as well. Our sink was going to be on the right hand side.

The above picture shows the electrical wires, air con piping, water pipes in the bathroom, and bathtub in the foreground waiting to be installed. For any renovation to carry on smoothly without much home owner supervision, planning in the initial stage is extremely important. Jay sent us 5 floor plans. Yes, 5 base plans covering: Flooring, Lighting / Ceiling, Electrical, Masonry and Carpentry.

Each base plan had intricate details of where we would be:
- doing different types of flooring,
- what kind of lights go where,
- what type of ceiling such as cove, pelmet, downlights, pendant lights, going into which room, 
- how many electrical sockets placed where, data points, telephone points, single or double sockets, light switches, fans,
- walls to be built, walls to be hacked,
- cupboards to be build, size of the cupboards, dimensional drawings for carpentry works, size of drawers, depth and height of drawers, number of shelves, etc.

Everything was planned beforehand. And that's why I said he exceeded my expectations. I was impressed at the drawings. 

Those who have engaged Jay before would know what I mean. The attention to detail is amazing.

By this time we would be shopping for our bathroom fixtures and furniture which I would share next!

May I know if your contractor concealed the drainage pipe in the cement under floor tiles for you? I am also relocating the sink and therefore needs to have a drainage pipe from the sink to the original waste hole, but my contractor said HDB doesn't allow you to conceal drainage pipe (actually I believe it's burying any pipes in the cement is not allowed, but maybe because drainage pipe is 50mm dia quite big so he doesn't want to take the risk).

[dxhan 5]

1 hour ago, roundrabbit said:

May I know if your contractor concealed the drainage pipe in the cement under floor tiles for you? I am also relocating the sink and therefore needs to have a drainage pipe from the sink to the original waste hole, but my contractor said HDB doesn't allow you to conceal drainage pipe (actually I believe it's burying any pipes in the cement is not allowed, but maybe because drainage pipe is 50mm dia quite big so he doesn't want to take the risk).

Hello!

Yes, the drainage pipe is concealed within the cement, and then floor tiles are laid above. I checked with my ID and it's actually okay to do so. However, the main original floor trap location does not change.

There are different drainage pipes in the house, so for vertical pipes linking upstairs and downstairs, then yes, those are not allowed to be concealed for access reasons. But for sink relocation and placing the pipes with the cement, I think it should be okay since it doesn't affect the neighbours.

Hope this helps!