#asKingBin About Our Home

[kingandbin 13]

IKEA BUTCHER BLOCK COUNTER TOP

Some background on our kitchen and the chosen kitchen countertops.. We've always liked the butcher block countertop type of look - probably due to watching too much cooking shows and videos on tv + youtube! So we tried asking various contractors about the options for wooden or wood-look kitchen countertops. And all basically said kompacplus is the way to go. 

In the end, we found out that IKEA countertops are also a viable option (yay!!!), but they are less hardy than kompacplus. Thus we decided to do up the sink/hob side with kompacplus as the countertop, and to use a IKEA butcher block for the dry side of the kitchen. This way, we get to enjoy the best of both worlds: thicker look + cheaper price (IKEA), resistance to water and heat (kompacplus). Excited to see how it will all turn out!

Went down to IKEA Tampines on Monday to purchase the countertop as Contractor E will be having the carpenters to come in next week to start measurements & commence carpentry works. Finallyyy our reno works will be continuing its progress! 

Brought a sample of the chosen kompacplus along in my bag haha. Trying to see if it matches the showroom's counter

But it seems like the colour best matches the rattan pot mat instead

 

Ultimately, we narrowed our choices down to Karlby Oak & Mollekulla Oak. Main difference apart from the price is that the Karlby top looks like it's constructed from little strips of oak, while Mollekulla has a plank-like finish and looks more like natural wood. We opted for the plank finish in the end.

 

Also picked up a bunch of brass coloured knobs, handles and half-cup drawer pulls for the cabinet doors. Decided to get them all from IKEA in the end instead of mixing and matching with those we bought from TB as we wanted to ensure the colours looked the same.

We also decided to revisit our kitchen choice and pick a matte white instead of glossy. Bin went abit mad trying to pick a shade that matches our subway tile backsplash yet doesn't look too yellowish. Plus, King was of no help as he thought that the shades of white all look the same (either yellowish or not yellowish, two categories only ). 

Our final choice is the one on the right. There's a typo on the laminate sample though. It's named Igloo White in the laminate booklet hahah

Edited October 8, 2016 by kingandbin

[sweetberry 0]

Hi kingandbin,

Do you mind sharing Contractor E's contacts & quotation?  Thank you very much!

[kingandbin 13]

18 hours ago, sweetberry said:

Hi kingandbin,

Do you mind sharing Contractor E's contacts & quotation?  Thank you very much!

Hey @sweetberry, PMed you!

[bykaraanne 30]

Matte white kitchen very brave hahaha! I don't dare. 

Excited to see how everything turns out!!

[kingandbin 13]

10 minutes ago, bykaraanne said:

Matte white kitchen very brave hahaha! I don't dare. 

Excited to see how everything turns out!!

Glossy is easier to upkeep, right? Neither of us is super particular about cleanliness so idk if it is a good or bad thing for our kitchen! But chosen already, no turning back haha

Yesss I'm super excited too! Feels like though the finishing point is not within reach, it's at least somewhere within sight. We asked E about the clear glass top today, he says no go cause can see any water pooling inside + will not look nice cause of the silicon seals' refractions within the glass . We picked a white top in the end!

[JeslynTan 0]

Hi kingandbin,

Mind sharing with me contractor E contact?  Thanks much! 

Cheers,

Jeslyn 

[gumbokins 5]

1 hour ago, bykaraanne said:

Matte white kitchen very brave hahaha! I don't dare. 

Excited to see how everything turns out!!

I know, right? white kitchen is very very brave! but pretty lah.

[bykaraanne 30]

1 hour ago, kingandbin said:

Glossy is easier to upkeep, right? Neither of us is super particular about cleanliness so idk if it is a good or bad thing for our kitchen! But chosen already, no turning back haha

Yesss I'm super excited too! Feels like though the finishing point is not within reach, it's at least somewhere within sight. We asked E about the clear glass top today, he says no go cause can see any water pooling inside + will not look nice cause of the silicon seals' refractions within the glass . We picked a white top in the end!

 

25 minutes ago, gumbokins said:

I know, right? white kitchen is very very brave! but pretty lah.

Glossy not an issue

but matte rly tough! But maybe now laminates different alre.

[ricepapergirl 21]

On ‎8‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 4:31 PM, kingandbin said:

IKEA BUTCHER BLOCK COUNTER TOP

Some background on our kitchen and the chosen kitchen countertops.. We've always liked the butcher block countertop type of look - probably due to watching too much cooking shows and videos on tv + youtube! So we tried asking various contractors about the options for wooden or wood-look kitchen countertops. And all basically said kompacplus is the way to go. 

In the end, we found out that IKEA countertops are also a viable option (yay!!!), but they are less hardy than kompacplus. Thus we decided to do up the sink/hob side with kompacplus as the countertop, and to use a IKEA butcher block for the dry side of the kitchen. This way, we get to enjoy the best of both worlds: thicker look + cheaper price (IKEA), resistance to water and heat (kompacplus). Excited to see how it will all turn out!

Went down to IKEA Tampines on Monday to purchase the countertop as Contractor E will be having the carpenters to come in next week to start measurements & commence carpentry works. Finallyyy our reno works will be continuing its progress! 

Brought a sample of the chosen kompacplus along in my bag haha. Trying to see if it matches the showroom's counter

But it seems like the colour best matches the rattan pot mat instead

 

Ultimately, we narrowed our choices down to Karlby Oak & Mollekulla Oak. Main difference apart from the price is that the Karlby top looks like it's constructed from little strips of oak, while Mollekulla has a plank-like finish and looks more like natural wood. We opted for the plank finish in the end.

 

Also picked up a bunch of brass coloured knobs, handles and half-cup drawer pulls for the cabinet doors. Decided to get them all from IKEA in the end instead of mixing and matching with those we bought from TB as we wanted to ensure the colours looked the same.

We also decided to revisit our kitchen choice and pick a matte white instead of glossy. Bin went abit mad trying to pick a shade that matches our subway tile backsplash yet doesn't look too yellowish. Plus, King was of no help as he thought that the shades of white all look the same (either yellowish or not yellowish, two categories only ). 

Our final choice is the one on the right. There's a typo on the laminate sample though. It's named Igloo White in the laminate booklet hahah

Wow!!! I was actually toying with the idea of doing proper wood block countertop for the dry section and either Kompactplus or the non-wood wood-like countertop on the sink side. In the end I went for all non-wood wood-like Saljan countertop on both sides (still no regrets though) but it's nice to see someone else trying out this method!! Good luck with it!

[slashmylove 5]

On ‎10‎/‎08‎/‎2016 at 11:53 PM, kingandbin said:

WHITE . THICK . UGLY

Hi guys, were you able to guess what the topic was based on the above 3 words? If you guessed aircon trunking.... TA-DAH! Congrats!!! You win at today's round of t-blog charades!  This is Bin (the wifey) reporting for blogging duty. *salutes*

Some background on how we split the work for our reno thus far.. I'm responsible for most of the decisions to be made for our home. The Market Researcher (for good deals ), "Interior Designer", Tao Bao expert, Finance Controller, and resident worrywart. King (the hubs) on the other hand, is in-charge of the aircon and the reno bills - we're splitting the costs of course, but my i-banking device decided to disappear for the time being. I promise this isn't a coincidence . He also helps discuss/bounce off ideas when decisions need to be made.

So far this system has worked pretty well! One is more detailed and the other is more chin chai. I'd like to think we complement each other in this home reno journey 

Anyway, King's large project took place today as the aircon supplier he chose came down for installations. We opted for 1 trip only as our contractor said that 2 trips were not necessary for our set-up. We only had one request for the installation and it was that they allocated an experienced team to do it. My dad's colleagues had some poor feedback about this company's newer installation team so we were really hoping for everything to go smoothly  

In the morning, King sent these 2 photos which looked rather reasonable imo:

The master toilet's ceiling/side had a beam which blocked the trunking from fitting nicely. Thus, it ran on the wall within the bedroom instead.

Then later at night, I (while happily having dinner at my own home) received a series of photos of the completed aircon works. *Dun Dun Dunnnn*

Upon viewing them, I felt my heart drop to my stomach  Why is the discharge pipe running through the shower area into the drain trap? Won't we step onto it when showering??! Immediately called the husband who's on site to get the installer to rectify it.

So. Much. Trunking. in our MBR 

Double layered trunking on a small portion along the walkway  Why liddat!

Was mentally prepared that the air con trunking will be unsightly but really, nothing prepares you seeing it actually happen to your own place  It's been several hours since then so I've managed to calm myself down already. *breathes in and out* Still, I'm really thankful for King who co-ordinated everything for today! He was still very chill while there despite his wife being so gan chiong about the entire thing.

Tomorrow our tiles will be delivered so we'll drop by in the evening again to check on our new place. Hopefully the tiles will be as we envisioned (and that the trunking will look less painfully obvious in person)!

P.S. Sorry for the grainy pictures, King took them in complete darkness as the lights aren't up yet!

Hi, do you happen to know what insulation was used for your aircon piping? like how thick was it? TIA

[kingandbin 13]

1 hour ago, slashmylove said:

Hi, do you happen to know what insulation was used for your aircon piping? like how thick was it? TIA

Hello @slashmylove! According to the quotation, our insulation is 3/8" thickness class '0' thermaflex (copied word for word from the quote haha) We upgraded to 1/2" thickness for study room only. Hope this helps! 

[kingandbin 13]

22 hours ago, JeslynTan said:

Hi kingandbin,

Mind sharing with me contractor E contact?  Thanks much! 

Cheers,

Jeslyn 

Hi Jeslyn, have PMed you his contact number! 

[slashmylove 5]

17 minutes ago, kingandbin said:

Hello @slashmylove! According to the quotation, our insulation is 3/8" thickness class '0' thermaflex (copied word for word from the quote haha) We upgraded to 1/2" thickness for study room only. Hope this helps! 

Thanks!! How come upgraded for the study room? Cos most frequently used room?

[kingandbin 13]

5 hours ago, slashmylove said:

Thanks!! How come upgraded for the study room? Cos most frequently used room?

Yeap, we told the supplier that highest usage for aircon will likely be the study room and master bedroom. They suggested thicker insulation for study room only, so we went along with it  Same goes for the aircon units. When shortlisting suppliers, we sent out our floor plans and got them to suggest appropriate BTU sizes they think will be sufficient for our various rooms~

Edited October 10, 2016 by kingandbin

[slashmylove 5]

12 hours ago, kingandbin said:

Yeap, we told the supplier that highest usage for aircon will likely be the study room and master bedroom. They suggested thicker insulation for study room only, so we went along with it  Same goes for the aircon units. When shortlisting suppliers, we sent out our floor plans and got them to suggest appropriate BTU sizes they think will be sufficient for our various rooms~

I see... thanks for your quick reply! maybe cos study room also not as near the aircon ledge as compared to MBR hence suggested to use the thicker ones.