My First Home: The Bachelorette Pad Edition

[bie18 3]

On 2/3/2017 at 10:32 PM, trcd said:

I find Ch*n Hu*t quite reasonable and there is also some room for negotiation.

Are you getting track lights for the whole place?

I have heard of many who purchased from Malaysia and they turned out okay. I would think as long as you do not overload your outlets, there ought to be lesser risks. There are also members who get their lightings from Taobao. I was quite hesitant to deal with the problems (damage in transit, or its failure, or electrical risks) so I got my lightings from local shops and an online european lighting store.

From SCDF:

Fire Safety Advisories to Prevent Electrical Fires:
Never overload electrical outlets with electrical appliances;
Always switch off appliances when they are not in use;
Check the condition of wires regularly. Frayed wires or cracked cords should be replaced or repaired immediately;
Do not run wires under carpets or mats and keep wires away from hot surfaces; and
Use electrical plugs which carry the SAFETY Mark. 

Thanks for the recommendation, @trcd! I hope to get track lights for the living room and kitchen, and pendant lights for other spaces. Just track lights would be kinda boring :p. Recently ordered this light for my MBR (via ezbuy prime). Thought it would go well with my platform bed!

 

 

 

Edited February 8, 2017 by bie18

[zalaxz 0]

hey @bie18 congrats! may i ask how is your contractor doing? 

mind sharing contact with me as i am too sourcing for a contractor for my place haha

Thanks in advance!

[Lazyfatcat007 5]

On 02/02/2017 at 10:11 PM, bie18 said:

Hi there!! I think i read yr t-blog last yr when i was searching for ideas. Love yr idea of building racks within the window frame for plants. Did u ever get round to it? Also, i think i will be getting the same toilet bowl as u! What won me was when the guy at Wasser said he can change the flush mechanism to gerberit for a $50 top up! That would still be way cheaper than the $350 treo one piece toilet bowl tt i was eyeing before.

Hi Bie,

I managed to buy the glass panels and was waiting for sometime for the shelving support to come vide taobao... Sg doesn't have those that are suitable for my use... now only waiting for a free day to assemble them! I'm a procrastinator!!

Are you getting my toilet bowl? I still like its sleekness, if there's one thing to complain abt, it's that the hole plunge directly down... difficult to clean compared to the sloped ones... lol (if you get what I mean)

Love ur platform bed and ur hexagonal tiles... and yes, workers lay straight becos it's easier.. just that simple!

[bie18 3]

39 minutes ago, Lazyfatcat007 said:

Hi Bie,

I managed to buy the glass panels and was waiting for sometime for the shelving support to come vide taobao... Sg doesn't have those that are suitable for my use... now only waiting for a free day to assemble them! I'm a procrastinator!!

Are you getting my toilet bowl? I still like its sleekness, if there's one thing to complain abt, it's that the hole plunge directly down... difficult to clean compared to the sloped ones... lol (if you get what I mean)

Love ur platform bed and ur hexagonal tiles... and yes, workers lay straight becos it's easier.. just that simple!

Would love to see yr plant racks when done! As for the toilet bowl, i bought this one..(iXiss mg-970p in case anyone is interested) $248 inclusive of top-up to the famed gerberit flushing system. Since price was so good for a one-piece bowl, got the same one for both bathrooms! 

 

There are two side by side which were the same price. I chose the wider one  alamak, never really thought abt the difficulty cleaning with the hole design (didnt really notice that part.

Abt the tiles, got my contractor to agree to do staggered for the kitchen floor. For the MBR toilet tiles tt have already been put up, i decided to accept it. Quite poor thing if they have to hack it and hack new tiles. I already made the  bring down the brick wall that they mistakenly put up even though the contractor had agreed to my request to cancel thag item. Anyway, must just be more vigilant and firm.

Floor prep work and tiling is going pretty slowly... but they have abt a week more to go according to the work schedule, so will just pray hard there is no delay. As long as my contractor keeps an open line of comms, and is willing to resolve issues that crop up, will remain hopeful abt the final product!

 

 

 

[bie18 3]

On 2/9/2017 at 5:47 PM, zalaxz said:

hey @bie18 congrats! may i ask how is your contractor doing? 

mind sharing contact with me as i am too sourcing for a contractor for my place haha

Thanks in advance!

Hey @zalaxz, thanks for dropping by. So far it's oklah, with some hiccups here and there. As we are less than 1/4 way through the reno, it is a bit premature to recommend the contractor.

Edited February 13, 2017 by bie18

[fifteenmay 40]

14 hours ago, bie18 said:

Would love to see yr plant racks when done! As for the toilet bowl, i bought this one..(iXiss mg-970p in case anyone is interested) $248 inclusive of top-up to the famed gerberit flushing system. Since price was so good for a one-piece bowl, got the same one for both bathrooms! 

 

There are two side by side which were the same price. I chose the wider one  alamak, never really thought abt the difficulty cleaning with the hole design (didnt really notice that part.

Abt the tiles, got my contractor to agree to do staggered for the kitchen floor. For the MBR toilet tiles tt have already been put up, i decided to accept it. Quite poor thing if they have to hack it and hack new tiles. I already made the  bring down the brick wall that they mistakenly put up even though the contractor had agreed to my request to cancel thag item. Anyway, must just be more vigilant and firm.

Floor prep work and tiling is going pretty slowly... but they have abt a week more to go according to the work schedule, so will just pray hard there is no delay. As long as my contractor keeps an open line of comms, and is willing to resolve issues that crop up, will remain hopeful abt the final product!

 

 

 

ya totally agree that we need to be more vigilant.. luckily i can go down anyway and could immediately point out the mistakes and get it correctly.

[bie18 3]

Went to see the house today and was happy to see that the mbr bathroom walls were alrd fully tiled. Too bad i couldn't go and see the common bathroom as well since that required walkinv through the kitchen where the cement screed was still drying. Absolutely love the shower feature wall in the mbr bathrooms. Sneak peek below:

[sonsofliberty 7]

On 2/2/2017 at 10:00 PM, bie18 said:

Thanks, u r very kind. Am following yr t-blog closely too

I agree☺

[Viv14344 1]

On 2/12/2017 at 9:02 PM, bie18 said:

Went to see the house today and was happy to see that the mbr bathroom walls were alrd fully tiled. Too bad i couldn't go and see the common bathroom as well since that required walkinv through the kitchen where the cement screed was still drying. Absolutely love the shower feature wall in the mbr bathrooms. Sneak peek below:

Nice theme and design.

[trcd 13]

On 8 February 2017 at 9:37 AM, bie18 said:

Thanks for the recommendation, @trcd! I hope to get track lights for the living room and kitchen, and pendant lights for other spaces. Just track lights would be kinda boring :p. Recently ordered this light for my MBR (via ezbuy prime). Thought it would go well with my platform bed!

 

 

 

Very zen looking! Love the warm light... The casing is frosted glass or plastic?

[bie18 3]

11 hours ago, trcd said:

Very zen looking! Love the warm light... The casing is frosted glass or plastic?

Item description says its glass... we shall see 

[bie18 3]

I just noticed yesterday that there are water pipes running across the top of my living room wall to the kitchen (see the brown pipes in the photo below). Previously, they were hidden by the cornice, which has now been hacked away. Any suggestions for an economical way to hide the pipes? I dont want to add new cornice or box it up. 

[fifteenmay 40]

2 hours ago, bie18 said:

I just noticed yesterday that there are water pipes running across the top of my living room wall to the kitchen (see the brown pipes in the photo below). Previously, they were hidden by the cornice, which has now been hacked away. Any suggestions for an economical way to hide the pipes? I dont want to add new cornice or box it up. 

hmm.. if dun wan to box up or put cornice, then maybe paint it same colour as the ceiling or paint a contrast colour for industrial look?

[bie18 3]

About halfway through the reno journey and noticed today how spacious and pristine the flat looks now the wall plastering and floor screeding is done. Can't get too excited, though, 'cos there are still a million and one decisions to be made. Ah, the challenges of an ID-less reno. 

Spacious looking view from living room. On the left is the kitchen and on the right is the MBR. Going to put a partition folding door between the MBR and living room. My place is blessed with a lot of light..this was taken in the early evening, around 6.30pm.

 

Another peek at my pretty common toilet.

 

Lastly, a design dilemma... What am i going to do about this ugly door in my kitchen that cannot be replaced or removed? My unit is on the top floor and apparently HDB put the door there as an emergency access route or something. It is complicated to box up because the window grille is too near. If i really want to box up, i will have to remove the grille (which cannot be reinstalled; needs to replaced with a new grille in the future if i want one). The door is so decrepit that it will look ugly even when painted. Wallpapering is not an option because of the latch. How ah?

[bie18 3]

About halfway through the reno journey and noticed today how spacious and pristine the flat looks now the wall plastering and floor screeding is done. Can't get too excited, though, 'cos there are still a million and one decisions to be made. Ah, the challenges of an ID-less reno. 

Spacious looking view from living room. On the left is the kitchen and on the right is the MBR. Going to put a partition folding door between the MBR and living room. My place is blessed with a lot of light..this was taken in the early evening, around 6.30pm.

 

Another peek at my pretty common toilet.

 

Lastly, a design dilemma... What am i going to do about this ugly door in my kitchen that cannot be replaced or removed? My unit is on the top floor and apparently HDB put the door there as an emergency access route or something. It is complicated to box up because the window grille is too near. If i really want to box up, i will have to remove the grille (which cannot be reinstalled; needs to replaced with a new grille in the future if i want one). The door is so decrepit that it will look ugly even when painted. Wallpapering is not an option because of the latch. How ah?