#asKingBin About Our Home

BlackSwan · June 14, 2018

On 10/8/2016 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

Hey can PM me Contractor E's contacts & quotation too?

blueygirls · June 30, 2018

On 8/11/2016 at 12:37 AM, kingandbin said:

TAOBAO ORDER 1

Purchased some items from TB yesterday night via Ezbuy's Prime which has $2.99 nett shipping, along with a free agent fee promo on mobile app. There's still quite a few items which couldn't fit into this shipment as not all the items we wanted to get were under Prime shipping. And some which could be shipped under Prime, had incorrect prices indicated so we didn't order them. We'll probably do another order soon through a different agent/forwarder!

It was auto split into 2 parcels; Express Air and Sea Shipping, and the entire cart came up to about SGD$450. Not cheap as we choose a more expensive type of track lights which were on promotion, but by the time the agent ordered the promo was over and we had to top up the difference!

Will give a review of the items and entire shopping experience after receiving the items!

(1) Marble Contact Paper

(2) Cordless Track Lights (total 18pcs + 6pcs free)

(3) Lighting Tracks (x 4 pcs)

(4) Flexible Tap for Kitchen Sink

(5) Rainshower for Master Bathroom

(7) Ventilation Fan for Toilets (x 2 pcs)

Hi! Could you PM me your contact for your contractor please?
How do you find the ventilation fan for the bathroom? I was quoted $300 for the fan + installation. What about you?

Hows the kitchen faucet also btw? Loving the results!

Jason Wong · July 25, 2018

Sweet. Awesome!

whitebrowngrey · August 2, 2018

Hello could you PM me Contractor E's contacts & quotation? My new house is coming soon and i am looking for a contractor! @kingandbin

kingandbin · September 21, 2018

On 8/2/2018 at 11:42 PM, whitebrowngrey said:

Hello could you PM me Contractor E's contacts & quotation? My new house is coming soon and i am looking for a contractor! @kingandbin

Sorry for the late reply @whitebrowngrey! Haven't logged on in awhile. Would you still like to have his contacts?

On 7/25/2018 at 11:03 AM, Jason Wong said:

Sweet. Awesome!

Hehe thank you @Jason Wong!

On 6/30/2018 at 4:18 PM, blueygirls said:

Hi! Could you PM me your contact for your contractor please?
How do you find the ventilation fan for the bathroom? I was quoted $300 for the fan + installation. What about you?

Hows the kitchen faucet also btw? Loving the results!

Hey @blueygirls, sorry for the very late response! If you'd still like his contacts, let me know. The fans have been working well! Especially impressed since I bought them for $8 each on taobao haha. We paid under $500 for the installation & replacement of bathroom windows but picked acrylic for 1 window and frosted glass for the other

The kitchen faucet worked well initially but has started to rust. WilI recommend everyone to get something else more hardy!

blueygirls · October 24, 2018

On 9/21/2018 at 10:12 AM, kingandbin said:

Hey @blueygirls, sorry for the very late response! If you'd still like his contacts, let me know. The fans have been working well! Especially impressed since I bought them for $8 each on taobao haha. We paid under $500 for the installation & replacement of bathroom windows but picked acrylic for 1 window and frosted glass for the other

The kitchen faucet worked well initially but has started to rust. WilI recommend everyone to get something else more hardy!

yes please do share the contacts with me ! thank you!

Skyline0610 · October 29, 2018

On 11/28/2016 at 10:53 AM, kingandbin said:

GLASS WORKS

Here to share a little about the progress of glassworks! We managed to source for a supplier for who offered their products + installation about 35-40% lower than what all the contractors quotes we received. Plus their reviews online looked fine so we decided to try them out.

Our kitchen glass door was fabricated and installed right on schedule (yay!) but the bathroom's shower screen has met with some challenges

The first time they came down for installation, we found out that the size of the fixed panel they fabricated had an issue so they had to return again with a new piece for installation.

On their second visit (different pair of workers came), the workers found that the dimensions of the hole cut outs for the other piece has issues and so took it back for rectifications.

Now, we're waiting to confirm the third installation date I'm beginning to wonder if the cost savings is worth all the trouble. Sigh pie.

Anyway, here's our bathroom with the lone fixed panel:

And an extra pic of the walkway/living room flooring + bedroom flooring. Brown and grey!

Chemical wash this week then we can finally start assembling some furniture pieces and arrange for our sofa to be moved in (by us - diy moving service hahah). Can't wait!

Ur house looks great and definitely a lot of hard work there. Do u mind sharing ur suppliers for ur kitchen appliances and also ur aircon and electrician? Thanks so much!

Skyline0610 · October 30, 2018

On 1/29/2018 at 12:41 PM, kingandbin said:

Hey folks! Before we know it, an entire year has passed by since we started staying here! We're still very much in love with our cozy home

This is despite having to work together to resolve the nitty gritty stuff of living together for the first time, such as the wife nagging at the husband to switch off lights which aren't in use, the storage heater after showering, closing the door when air-con is on, etc etc

It's all about cultivating shared living habits lah. Do you all face this with your partners too? Regardless, living together has been a lot of fun! We recently got a clip on wide angle lens for our phones, which means we could capture more extensive angles of the house! Shall share some pics with ya'll here:

Recently shifted the dining table from beside the window, to beside the wall. Might only be temporary but it frees up quite a bit of space!

In our year of staying here, the number of "animals" in our home also increased about 10x. Our friend who visited again after some time also commented on this whoops. In the living room alone, there are about 16 alpacas of all sorts, on pillows, framed illustrations, toys, and so on. (Maybe we should have guests do an animal themed treasure hunt when they come over. Play spot the alpacas! Lol).

The 2 most prominent ones are here. They were custom-made for our wedding so why not just keep them around in the house too right? Let me show you the rest...

We have an entire herd of them!   The rest stay in the barn, I mean, storeroom now. Okay I should stop this topic here, we're starting to sound crazy.

Anyway, overall it still looks like a normal home, don't worry! We've adopted some plants too!

A fiddle leaf fig, pothos and mini pineapple plant. The mini pineapple is crazy spiky and always pokes me so we share a love-hate relationship. Also, spot the mini harry potter!

Here's our kitchen, which hasn't changed much at all. We recently bought a microwave which has proven to be very useful. No more heating up of leftovers on the stove!

We also put up some decoration for Christmas last year!

The fairy lights are our favourite addition

Here's our sideboard looking sparkly and pretty!