$35K Massive Overhaul - Single Lady 1st Abode

[Ahyong81 3]

2 hours ago, bipps said:

Wah the legendary bachelor padder is still lurking here...your t-blog have fed me with alot of useful info! Like the wc position and smart switches information! And yes it is exciting at the same time mind challenging as every new thing you install, will somehow or rather affect something else! 

of course i am still around.. haha  dont know why i feel exciting to see other people completed renovation as well..  There is still so much more to learn and must keep up with the trend

[pipsqueak 3]

your taobao purchases are amazing!!  other than the defects, i think your vanity fits in perfectly in your bathroom! Your bathroom looks so luxurious now  

could you please share the link or your customized 1.8m mirror? thanks!  

[bipps 4]

28 minutes ago, pipsqueak said:

your taobao purchases are amazing!!  other than the defects, i think your vanity fits in perfectly in your bathroom! Your bathroom looks so luxurious now  

could you please share the link or your customized 1.8m mirror? thanks!  

Gam sia~ I'm going to buy spray paint tomorrow and spray paint it over the weekend...Do you think gold or silver is good? The current dark bronze more suited for baroque theme. And funny how the actual color and online image color differs so much! 

Here is the mirror link, I got the 800 x 1800mm selection. The 1st order was 700 x 1900mm and they weren't able to take on the order as 700mm too short?? So I had to increase the width and reduce the length for them to accept it... If you do happen to order it, remember to request for back/wall mount brackets attached on the mirror, mine came without and had to buy it from frame maker's shop.

[pipsqueak 3]

thank you for the advice @bipps ! I have not ordered from taobao before so i will do my research first.  

i think both gold and silver will go nicely with your bathroom theme, although i am a sucker for rose gold/light champagne gold. i think if you would like your bathroom to have a little pop of colour, you can go for the gold option in my humble opinion

looking forward to more updates! i reallllyyyy love marble too!

Edited April 12, 2016 by pipsqueak

[OceanEleven 203]

On 4/11/2016 at 11:21 AM, bipps said:

9th April - TAOBAO UNBOXING DAY!!!! 

Loot 2 from Amcom Express - 1.88cbm approx $480 shipping and paperwork fees 

Just curious, why so ex for 1.88 cbm? GST alot?

Edited April 12, 2016 by OceanEleven

[bipps 4]

11 hours ago, OceanEleven said:

Just curious, why so ex for 1.88 cbm? GST alot?

You just reminded me to look through the bill, have this bad habit of paying for things without checking. The GST around $120, one item had to be picked up for extra SGD$40, delivery fees to my place another $40, documentation fees $35....all adds up. But this is definitely more worth it than using Peeka as agent as their RMB to SGD conversion is already a killer. 

[OceanEleven 203]

3 hours ago, bipps said:

You just reminded me to look through the bill, have this bad habit of paying for things without checking. The GST around $120, one item had to be picked up for extra SGD$40, delivery fees to my place another $40, documentation fees $35....all adds up. But this is definitely more worth it than using Peeka as agent as their RMB to SGD conversion is already a killer. 

OK , now this make sense then. My last dealing with them was on RMB550/cbm plus GST and the usuals. Overall I still find them reasonable on the charges. Using sea freight and volume basis charges, keeps the cost down, comparing to Peeka, Daigou etc.

[bipps 4]

14 minutes ago, OceanEleven said:

OK , now this make sense then. My last dealing with them was on RMB550/cbm plus GST and the usuals. Overall I still find them reasonable on the charges. Using sea freight and volume basis charges, keeps the cost down, comparing to Peeka, Daigou etc.

This is my first time using local agent.. my previous purchase years back were done up by GZ forwarder but having heard so many reviews on our local ones I decide to give it a shot. Peeka is out for me now as I cannot attribute anything to them except they have optional insurance and also very very expensive. In fact they refuse to insure one of the most fragile item I bought and I ended getting Amcom to ship (very risky! but no breakage sibei heng) I'm thinking it's not the forwarder but more on packaging issue when an item breaks apart. Very amazed at how the Chinese pack their stuffs..those layers and layers of cardboard and super thick air tubes that never seem to deflate even after I stomped on it the whole day. 

[OceanEleven 203]

2 minutes ago, bipps said:

This is my first time using local agent.. my previous purchase years back were done up by GZ forwarder but having heard so many reviews on our local ones I decide to give it a shot. Peeka is out for me now as I cannot attribute anything to them except they have optional insurance and also very very expensive. In fact they refuse to insure one of the most fragile item I bought and I ended getting Amcom to ship (very risky! but no breakage sibei heng) I'm thinking it's not the forwarder but more on packaging issue when an item breaks apart. Very amazed at how the Chinese pack their stuffs..those layers and layers of cardboard and super thick air tubes that never seem to deflate even after I stomped on it the whole day. 

I did a few shippments with Amcon, so far fuss free. All items arrive intact. I agree that most issues arises from packaging and of course the transporting and handling does play an important part. I like the flexibility of Amcon, allowing me to consolidate items and also having a direct contact to the lady boss serve perks up confidence as well. 

[bipps 4]

Busy week for me...tons of errands to run. Going to ikea to get walk in wardrobe systems to fix, pretty surprise the 2m long mounts can fit into the little car. Guest rooms wardrobe fixed with rough edges and little defects polished up. I was a little disappointed with the laminates as they looked entirely different from the small samples and I forgot to head down to factory to take a look at the full size ones. 

Color I chose was white wood with faint grains, Mountain Elm. Actual ones turned out to be creme beige? See the difference in laminate color????

 

13th April - Finally can see carpentry...Guest rooms wardrobes up!

[bipps 4]

Prepared a Style Guide for my interior finishes for referencing before my 30day imageshack membership runs out...faster upload as many to archive it. Also added in a comment section which I will update on the similarity of catalogue or samples VS the actual finish.

 

LAMINATES

Wardrobe Laminate - Mountain Elm WPL3668MT

Comments: Actual laminate on wardrobes looked more creme beigey than white. Not recommended if you going for white stained wood tone.

 

Full Height Shoe Cabinet - Polar White 

Comments: TBA

 

TILES

Master Toilet Wall and Dry Area Floor Tile - SOON BEE HUAT Marmo11

Comments: Same same as image, Hafary had a similar tile called Marmo022? Extremely similar but pricing more expensive though both are Made in China. I still think it will look better if laid horizontally vs this showroom image.

Master Wet Area Floor Tile - HAFARY Timber 002 

Comments: Decided on this tile by bringing a little sample of Marmo011 and placing my floor tile selection side by side. Apparently, Timber002 is suppose to look like wood (Duh?). I didn't take notice to it's name but I must say the marble / wood tile combination sure looks good. Adventurous peeps may want to use this for shower feature wall. It looks like grey wood, but also looks like marble grains to me. 

 

Common Toilet Wall Tile - SOON BEE HUAT 6B60317

Comments: Was going after the marble look in hotels, and I love the look of travertine I see especially at Capitol Piazza toilets. This was the most realistic travertine tile I could find in SOON BEE HUAT AND HAFARY. The HAFARY one looked so fake. I'm sure anyone would have spotted the poor print resolution on the HAFARY ones. Highly recommended for the faux travertine look for this SOON BEE HUAT tile! Again, I still think travertine tiles lay horizontally brings out the actual marble look. 

Common Toilet Floor Tile - HAFARY RCRJ45

Comments: This was to replace my initial selection, objective is to avoid slipping in the bathroom as mom sometimes handwash laundry in toilet. I must say I like it alot! Looks suitable for outdoor garden use too! SOON BEE HUAT also has similar tiles like these priced lower....

Kitchen Floor Tile - HAFARY F2541D3

Comments: Wasn't 100% confident of this tile as it looked too smooth? Not enough wood texture for it to look realistic like real wood haha. Actual product did looked good and I like it alot! Wait till my kitchen cabinetry is up...see if the color matches up!

 

PAINT COLORS

Living - Universal Grey / Tulip White 

Comments: Universal Grey looked more white when I stepped into the house during daylight. You realise its grey only when comparing it with the white ceiling. Selected grey as I wanted to hang white frames on the wall and both colors marry each other happily.

Comments: Tulip white, looked like a tinge of grey, but no lei. Actual paint color looked more whitish. I wouldn't say this 2 colors goes with each other very well, but still passable. 

 

Master - Western Navajo / White

Comments: Trying to achieve a sunset relaxing color in my bedroom, actual color was TOTALLY OFF! Nothing like pale brown, nothing like grey brown, nothing like sand, nothing nothing nothing. Only to look like yellowish walls. This didn't impact my design much as my room furnishing are in white. white goes with anything.

 

Guest Room 1 - Dream Yellow

Comments: ehh.. one day I walked into the room expecting a nice faint tinge of peach

Me asking the workers : eh? this room haven't paint yet ah....

Workers: paint already

Me: where got paint! This one is old one la

Workers: Paint already...You chose dream  yellow right? *Brings along the dream yellow paint tin*

Me: Har...why lidat one...like the old owner's color...

Conclusion is, the dream yellow wasn't that bad la, at least that isn't the room I'm sleeping in. And mom didn't mind as long as it's a light color. But still looks like old paint job turned yellow, if you get what I mean?

 

 

Guest Room 2 - Grace / White

Comments: Was looking for a teal tiffany blue color, online, it looks perfect. Actual color was way more stark than this. Instead of having 2 walls painted, I told them to repaint the 2nd wall white otherwise the room will look too dark. Image below wasn't a true color as all the lights were turned on, would prefer having a more pastel teal than this. Think nursery room look. 

 

 

[JohnJohn 13]

That's my worry - whether the paint colour I choose will turn out too dark or too light. Somehow, what is in the catalog doesn't usually translate to real life.

[bipps 4]

On 4/15/2016 at 2:00 PM, JohnJohn said:

That's my worry - whether the paint colour I choose will turn out too dark or too light. Somehow, what is in the catalog doesn't usually translate to real life.

Yea I been asking around on color authenticity and all came back and tell me it's the same as catalogue...Only when I asked JL how come so different from what I chose that's when he told me colors are mixed by machine...Most colors are not produced from factory therefore may have inconsistency. Not sure if it's a convenient excuse or not but anyways....try then you know! At most if color too far off, just do a repaint (check with them if there are extra charges)! But very tedious as bright colors like my Teal (Grace) need to be repaint 3-4 coats in white. I didn't make things difficult by asking to repaint in another color as white is safest color and goes with everything else. Now the Teal color a bit wasted as is was only used on 1 single wall for contrast.

[BunBun 5]

I think you can go for an ombre shade to use on diy furniture from ikea or on the wall? Same color but lighter shade? Can mix with white paint to get a lighter shade for contrast but depends on whether you want to highlight the color as well

[bipps 4]

15th April - Panasonic Instant Heater and JOVEN Rainshower up! 

Walk in wardrobe chandelier up!

Last minute add on bar counter to be utilised as a barrier for kitchen and dining area

Edited April 25, 2016 by bipps