My Modern Zen 2-Room 35sqm (Type 1) HDB BTO Apartment Renovation Journey

[Salsationlover 1]

Hi 

Thanks for your prompt reply. I have been thinking how to fit fridge stove sink into my tiny kitchen and needs to have storage?

[hdb4ever 3]

On 11/19/2017 at 11:11 AM, ryanyth said:

Because of the way how I installed my Glass, there is this little narrow space that may be a little hard to clean. Its still doable though with a long thin stick with a nice pad of microfiber cloth.

 

Just remembered something - How has this part of the bathroom been like for you? Do you manage to keep it clean?

[RyanYTH 87]

11 hours ago, Salsationlover said:

Hi 

Thanks for your prompt reply. I have been thinking how to fit fridge stove sink into my tiny kitchen and needs to have storage?

I'm sorry I don't quite understand what you're asking. Can you maybe rephrase it?
If you are asking how you can have storage areas in your kitchen, maybe thats a discussion better suited between you and your ID since we don't even know what your kitchen layout and dimensions looks like lol.

[Salsationlover 1]

Hi Ryanyth, 

Oops sorry not meant to be a question. 

[RyanYTH 87]

1 hour ago, Salsationlover said:

Hi Ryanyth, 

Oops sorry not meant to be a question. 

oic ok lol 

[RyanYTH 87]

On 12/19/2018 at 7:39 PM, hdb4ever said:

Just remembered something - How has this part of the bathroom been like for you? Do you manage to keep it clean?

Yea cleaning that little area requires a thin cloth guided with a stick to do it.
Either that or a paper napkin wrapped around the thin stick to do a wipe down.
Slight inconvenience to clean, but not a biggie.

[RyanYTH 87]

Blog Entry Date: 24th December 2018 Monday
Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents

One Year Retrospective 5/5 - Bedroom

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone! 

Just nice, today is Christmas Eve and with it, comes the conclusion
of my 5 parts 1 Year-Retrospective review, so without further delays, lets begin!

I originally had no idea how to go about designing my bedroom and only after fiddling with the Planner 3D software, I slowly
built up its look. 1 year later, I am still very satisfied with how it turned out in the end. Among the sections of my apartment,
I feel my Bedroom is the one section that truly fulfills the "Zen" look for my "Modern Zen" concept. 

Folks who are unfamiliar with Oriental Languages may be curious what that Caligraphy Character is in my Bedroom.
It actually means "Soul or Spirit". In Chinese, its pronounced as "Hun", in Japanese its pronounced as "Tamashii".

In Japanese especially, it can also roughly mean "Vigour or Willpower". Together with the swords, I like to think
of them as a nice reminder to wake up everyday filled with Vigour, Willpower and a Fighting Spirit to meet the
everyday challenges we face in our life.

Nothing religious, just a little something that I personally believe in lah. 

 

My Thoughts after 1 year:

- No regrets removing the original bedroom sliding door, and even when I have no partition wall or curtain,
the Daikin 9000BTU Smile Aircon was somehow still able to cool down the bedroom area very well.
Every night I set it at 26-27C and it was sufficient enough to sleep comfortably. 

- Relocating the Wardrobe to the HDB Bomb Shelter and freeing up space in the Bedroom really
provided alot of open space for me to stretch around and once again I do highly recommend it. 

- As you can see, the whole of my bedroom is just one big platform. I like having the platform
without any bedframe as it is very easy to clean. There were also plenty of storage areas available.
$3.8k was however too expensive in my opinion, and I wish I had gotten a better price for it. 

That said, I understand nowadays HDB Rules may have changed and you might
need to apply for a permit if you want to build a Platform Bed for your Bedroom.
Please do check and confirm with HDB first before you decide to build it.

- I had originally wanted to install some shelves on the bedroom wall, but the more I slept in it,
the more I like the blank, empty and uncluttered wall space look. I guess the lesson here is "Less is More". 

- The Tracklight I installed in the middle of the bedroom ceiling was seldom used and I felt I could have
saved more money if I didn't install it. The 4 downlights provided more than enough lighting for me. 

- The 2 square lamps I bought from Lazada still worked well surprisingly and while I felt i was ripped off
when I first bought them, they added very much to the overall feel of the bedroom. I use the one at the back quite
often when I do some light reading on the mattress. Still, do shop for a better price if you are looking for such lamps.

This concludes my thoughts and views for my Bedroom after using it for 1 year.
I hope this information helps you in planning for yours. 

Click Here for the Final Blog Entry: Epilogue

Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents

 

Edited August 7, 2019 by ryanyth

[RyanYTH 87]

Blog Entry Date: 31st December 2018 Monday
Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents

Epilogue

Today is the Last Day of 2018, and with that, this will also be my Final Entry for this Renovation Blog.
Once again, I sincerely thank you all for your kind patience reading and supporting my blog
while I chronicled my Renovation Journey and what a Journey it has been! 

My hope is that with this humble little blog, it can help anyone who is first starting out
with their own renovations and hopefully make it a less scary experience.
If you know of anyone who needs any help, please do share this blog with them. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While there will no longer be any more new blog entries, please feel free to continue and post any enquiries
you may have either in Renotalk or Wordpress and I will try my best to answer as best as I can.

If you are a 2 roomer, please also don't forget to visit the excellent 2 Roomer community thread created by Mmoh in Renotalk. She is still very active and helpful and you can also gain alot more tips and tricks from fellow forummers there! 

The link to her excellent 2-Roomer Community Thread:
https://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/71070-2-room-bto/

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There is also another 2 Roomer by the name of Andotang who has also made an
Excellent Renovation Blog and it is also chock full of very useful information.

The link to Andotang's Renovation Blog:
https://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/72213-2-room-bto-themeless-with-philips-hue-lighting/

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If you are looking for a Muji Styled Renovation with a more Gaming Influence Man-Cave, here is 
another Excellent Renovation Blog by Norman Ng. His apartment is also a HDB Type 1 35sqm and
has almost the exact same layout floorplan as mine.

The link to Norman Ng's Renovation Blog:
https://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/84484-my-mancave-2rm-type-1-35sqm-hdb-bto-post-renovation-musings/

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And so, this is it. Thanks again!
Signing off, and Good Luck with your own Renovations!!! 

Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents

 

Edited August 1, 2019 by ryanyth

[rustynail 0]

It is a very good blog, detail, informative, answers, tips and suggestions were given. I am sure past, present and future new comers will appreciate your good work. Wishing you a Happy 2019 New Year. 

[RyanYTH 87]

1 hour ago, rustynail said:

It is a very good blog, detail, informative, answers, tips and suggestions were given. I am sure past, present and future new comers will appreciate your good work. Wishing you a Happy 2019 New Year. 

Thank you very much for your compliments!! 
Wishing you also a very happy new year 2019 too!!  

[Pooroldman 0]

Hi Ryan 

Veri interesting post and l enjoy reading it . Provide lot of information for my furture 2rm 

I wan to check with u since u are not taking any loan as u mention yr CPF is enough to cover .Do u need to do submit any HLE before key collection ? Did HDB request it ? 

 

Thks 

Valley Spring 2rm 

[RyanYTH 87]

10 hours ago, Pooroldman said:

Hi Ryan 

Veri interesting post and l enjoy reading it . Provide lot of information for my furture 2rm 

I wan to check with u since u are not taking any loan as u mention yr CPF is enough to cover .Do u need to do submit any HLE before key collection ? Did HDB request it ? 

 

Thks 

Valley Spring 2rm 

Yo, thanks for your support bro~
I did not need to submit any HLE. During key collection, i remembered the HDB lady
reviewed thru if i needed to take loan, and when verified i didn't need to take loan,
she ignored anything to do with loan, and continued with her other tasks for my key collection.

That said, nowadays rules may be different. Best to contact your assigned HDB personnel directly for clarifications.
 

Edited January 6, 2019 by ryanyth

[Pooroldman 0]

On 1/16/2018 at 6:14 PM, ryanyth said:

Blog Entry Date: 16th January 2018 Tuesday
Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents

Post Renovation - Slidearm and HDB Bomb Shelter Walk-In Wardrobe

Yet another surprise Blog Entry lol!
Happy New Year 2018 Everyone, how has the new year been for all of you?

Very Sorry, I know some folks have been waiting for this blog entry for some time to see how I convert the
existing HDB Bomb Shelter into a Walk-In Wardrobe, because after all, I don’t have a wardrobe in my bedroom.

So without further delay, here it is.

In addition to the Walk-In Wardrobe Installation, I’ll also be including the Slide-Arm Door Holder installation process because its also done by the same company.

============================================================================================

Slide-Arm
So way back in Oct 2017, if you’ve been following this blog, I shortlisted this company “Smart-Home” and
engaged them to install this Door Holder called “Slide-Arm” and also to install a Walk-In Wardrobe for my HDB Bomb Shelter.

After Renovations was completed, I went ahead and made my appointment with Joe from Smart-Home, and his installer Matthew visited my place.

Below are the pictures of how the installation went.
Installation of Slide-Arm took only about 5-10mins and was completed really quickly.




Slide-Arm nicely aligned and installed.



Working beautifully today even after 1 month+ after installation.
An elegant and nice solution for holding the door open. 



In addition to installing Slide-Arm, Installer Matthew also took measurements of my HDB Bomb Shelter
to prep for the fabrication and installation of my Walk-In Wardrobe which took place at a later date.
(He actually came 2 times to do measuring because Smart-Home lost the initial measurements he did and he had to come again.)



============================================================================================

Walk-In Wardrobe

It took a couple of weeks for the Pole Wardrobe to be fabricated and once again, Installer is Matthew lol.
Below are the pictures of how it went.

This was the line drawing of agar agar how its supposed to look like once completed.



Installation of Pole-Wardrobe was significantly longer, and took a couple of hours.

This is the final result after installation.

I really liked how it looks, as it fits in beautifully in my HDB Bomb Shelter.
There are ample areas to hang clothes, luggages, and even 2 drawers.

Sorry I wish I own those special 360 degrees ball camera because these
photos can’t really convey how the thing looks like, I hope you get a vague idea though.





Got Matthew to help me leave a little space at the side to be able to store a small foldable trolley.


The other side of the HDB Bomb Shelter Wall holds my ladder and ironing board.


Even has space at a corner to hold a Toyogo Plastic Shoe Rack.
(Yes, I also kiasu until buy a small fire-extinguisher from Lazada for peace of mind lah)

Another thing of note, I got this hanging metal shelving from Lazada, and found that it can hang perfectly on the HDB Bomb Shelter door.
No drilling or adhesive required, just simple construction to fit the pieces and simply hang it on bomb shelter door.

While it does obstruct the Bomb Shelter door to not be able to close completely,
I gain extra storage to hang my bags and more barang barang on it.

Highly recommended and is a good buy IMO. As of this post, it costs only $14.90
https://www.lazada.sg/door-back-wall-hangers-nailless-storage-rack-adhesive-hook-63584867.html?spm=a2o42.customer.0.0.499f3f8d2cCPnM



============================================================================================

Final Verdict

Total Costs:
Slide-Arm Door Holder – $50 (including delivery and installation)
Pole Wardrobe – $650 (including delivery and installation)

Personally, I’m very happy with how Slide-Arm and Pole Wardrobe eventually turned out.
They fit in nicely with my apartment’s aesthetics, looks good and completely functional.

However, I find dealing with Smart-Home to be a very time-consuming process.
I dunno if they are short of manpower or what, but Joe, the person whom I’ve been
liasing with takes so long to reply to my Whatsapp messages.

At one time, he even told me he lost the measurements of my HDB Bomb Shelter
and had to get Matthew to come up my place a 2nd time to do re-measuring. Ughhh.

I was especially worried when I paid my deposit, and he took his sweet time
replying to make appointment for Pole-Wardrobe installation. Double Ugghh.

Matthew the installer on the other hand was very good with his work.
He is very friendly, and when he is working, you can tell he is very experienced with what he is doing.
It was a joy having him as an installer.

Honestly, I don’t know whether I should recommend Smart-Home or not.
Price wise is pretty good for me personally, and they did do a good job eventually.

I just don’t like vendors who take their own sweet time in replying to messages especially when
you’ve paid money already. (Maybe I was spoilt by my ID Jason who replied to my enquiries promptly lol)

If you engage Smart-Home, I hope you get a better response service from them,
but do take note that Joe will take a very long time to respond to your messages.

============================================================================================

And so we come to the end of this Blog Entry.
Not much more entries to add from what I see other then the conclusion of my IKEA Curtain guide lol.

Sorry it took so long, very nua to do blogging now that my renovation is already completed lol.
Other then my curtain guide, are there anything else you’d like me to do a blog entry for?

Please do let me know.
Until then, see you in my next Blog Entry!

Click Here for the Next Blog Entry: 
A Little Curtain Experiment - Part 3/3

Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents

Hi Ryan 

Sorry .. one question. Is the pole Wardrobe drill into the wall of the BS ? 

 

Thks 

[RyanYTH 87]

On 1/9/2019 at 3:10 PM, Pooroldman said:

Hi Ryan 

Sorry .. one question. Is the pole Wardrobe drill into the wall of the BS ? 

 

Thks 

Oh hello.
No, it's not. Installer also say not suppose to drill because its illegal to drill anything in hdb bs.

Edited February 12, 2019 by ryanyth

[Reno2020 0]

Hi Ryan I have been following your entries and am most grateful for your 1 year later honest review of your home.  It was most helpful.  Your content page too.  Many thanks.