Week 13 - Renovation

INSTALLATION OF KDK VENTILATOR FAN IN MASTER BATHROOM.

We also installed a KDK ventilator fan for our master bathroom as we needed to keep the adjoining walk in wardrobe moisture free and ensure proper ventilation since the walk in area is usually closed up for privacy. The fan helps to draw out stale air and prevent fungi or mould built up in moist areas like the bathroom.We also got the installer to customize an acrylic screen over the bathroom windows to provide privacy while also holding up the ventilator fan unit. Total cost for everything was $418. Those who are keen can contact the installer at 90230377 . So far, the installer charge us the cheapest as we were quoted between $450 -$480 previously by other installers. If you are keen, do remember to get your contractor to run and install a fan point and a rocker switch to opearate the fan before calling down the installer. You may also get any electrician to do that for a small fee. The installer will makea first trip to do onsite measurement and discuss location of fan plus acrylic material and colour that you prefer before making a second trip to install the fan and put up the arcrylic piece.

Close up of the KDK Fan ventilator unit embedded in the arcylic piece

CREATION OF STORAGE SPACES

As our renovation reaches the final phase, the focus has shifted to transfer , packing and storage of items from our rooms in our parents homes to our new place. In our opinion, creation of storage spaces in the new home is a very important part of space planning in a new home. It is always good to create as much storage space as you can have physically in your home and financially within your budget. Adequate planning of storage space allows the flat to be uncluttered and provides for future needs. That is why we created as much storage space in whatever carperntry we were doing and also expanding on that with furnishing. Our storage planning included the following :

1) Keeping intact the store room

2)Expanding the kitchen cabinet to about 38 feet which increases storage space to store items

beyond just kitchenwares .

3)Carpentry in other areas like the shoe cabinet, display cabinet and the vanity sink have built in

storage spaces as part of the design.

4)Building a full height wardrobe in the walk in wardrobe area creates maximum space for

storage. Also opting for a conventional drawer and shelving format for the wardrobe instead of

the modern System wardrobe format also provides more space.

5) Having room space to house off the shelf wardrobe to create even more storage space.
Full height built in maximizes storage space at the top.

NEW ADDITIONS TO THE HOUSE :

This week saw the addition of items to help make the house more complete:

Arrival of the Phillips 37 inch LCD TV ( Model : 37 TA 2800/98 ) retailing at $1450 with $500 Philips voucher at Mega discount store at Katong Mall. For those who are curious, as to why i quote prices and provide information on where i buy certain items, I just like to put a disclaimer that I am not touting or earning a commission( I wish I could .. : - ) ) . Like all young couples starting up their new homes, every cent and dollar saved is important and so we would like to share with those who are keen on purchasing similar items. I will be using the voucher to purchase a Philips mini entertainment system for the hall which will complement the TV.

Arrival of 2 door sliding wardrobe from V - Hive. Cheaper than IKEA and free assembly and delivery plus better design ( grey reflective doors ) 3 tier Storage rack from V- Hive at $145 for the store roomCLEANING UP :

We spent this weekend cleaning up the kitchen and the display cabinet. For cleaning up of spots and marks, dirt, we use a combination of glass cleaner, Cif tough stain cleaner and magiclean cleaner which proves to be quite adept at removing most of the marks and dirt off the cabinets.

Kitchen drying up after a day of wash up

Black Laminate and Glass backing ! Double combo for heavy cleaning up and maintenance but they do look good!

Display Cabinet :

Gayle cleaned up the display cabinet and items for display put up : Our collection of Precious Moments figurines, marriage and 'pak tor' artefacts.

Our ROM cert and Precious Moments figurines and dolls used in my marriage proposal and ROM ceremony take pride of place in the display cabinet. We also put up the 'Just Married' license plate used for our bridal car.

On another note, for those who are into Precious Moments and keen to purchase the wedding dolls which we used for our bridal car decor, you can purchase them online and get it sent via air postage. You can view and order the dolls at :http://www.preciousmoments.com/content.cfm/shop_results?ptid=4&poid=0&amtid=1&pkid=&psid=&pindex=4

ADDITIONS TO THE ORANGE ROOM :

We also bought a two seater sofa and a complementing rug from IKEA for the orange room which will arrive next week. We also got a contact from Mega Discount store to install and mount my existing 20 inch Sharp Aquos LCD TV. All these are in place to create a gaming and leisure corner for us.

ADDITIONS TO THE LIVING ROOM

We got a red rug also from IKEA to complement the look of the living room and make the KARE glass top table stand out. Good thing about the rug is that it can be machine washed and the undelying area has rubber lining to keep the rug in place.Updated picture of the Living Room with a strong focus on primary colours of red and black topped by white flooring and glass top table.

Week 12 - Renovation

This week, we did cleaning up of the apartment which is a real tedious process. Every stain, mark had to be cleaned up, lots of sand and dust to clean up too. But the result was worth it as our apartment near it's completion. We also went to Mega Discount at Katong Mall to purchase our hall TV - a 37 inch LCD Phillips( a new model, will discuss more when it comes next weekend) which allows us to purchase a stylish 4 DVD mini 5.1 hifi set for $29. The retail price of the LCD TV is $1950 but we got it at $1479 with the DVD mini hifi. We also went to V - Hive to buy a 4 tier storage rack for the store room and a Sliding door cupboard unit for more storage space in the orange room. More of these next week when they all arrive.

Touch Up of Painting :

As the painting of a number of walls was not up to expectations, Jacky - our ID recalled the painter to repaint almost the entire house once more. Inspecting a paint job, you have to examine it during the day and view it from a side angle to identify any patches. Also sometimes there are pores in the walls( HDB walls aren't exactly having any quality control ) where the paint may not permeate through. Also, near the skirtings, the areas are a little rough so painting there has to be more intricate to fill up the areas and ensure a proper paint job. Silicon filling may be required to patch up narrow gaps, for example between the wall and skirting.

After the painting job was done, we were finally able to remove the protective plastic covering of all our furnishing in the hall and dining. Looking at our home, we felt a sense of satisfaction after the whole afternoon and evening of cleaning up though there was still much cleaning to do.

Hall - Red reclining sofa and glossy black TV console from Furniture Club. KARE Glass top side table from Molecule.

The dining area - Our Novvy Dinette continuing the red and black theme of the apartment.

The red and black theme of both hall and dining . In the background is a black console table from Mondi also with red stool for us to sit and wear our shoes.

Our study area - Glass table from IKEA with Mondi Noovy Dinette Chairs. As we have 6 of these chairs, we are using the 2 chairs as a temporary substitute until we find a nice office chair. We bought a Sony Fusion PC to fit in with the comtemporary clean look of the study area.

We also cleaned up the frosted glass doors of our rooms.We decided to use glass doors since they would give a bold and modern look to the apartment. As the doors are frosted, courtesy of Jacky our iD, privacy is ensured even with lights on as all you can see is a silhouette of someone behind and that is only if the person is standing next to the door. Glass doors cost about slightly over $600 plus.

Kitchen

Kitchen carpentry touched up this week also ! We had the wall corresponding with the kitchen cabinet painted black. We also put up a IKEA LACK shelf to extend tabletop space in the kitchen.

Items of interest :

Like a fingerprint, there are certain items which one can use to accessorise their own apartment to give it a personal touch. Below are some items of interest which we added to our apartment.

Clock from XZQT - we like the play of the shadows cast by the upsized numbers of the clock.

Space stool from Star Furniture - $69 which we are using as a seating for use while wearing shoes

KARE Glass top side table from Molecule which we plan to use as a small coffee table for the hall.

Orange Room

We have planned for the Orange Room to be a place for relaxation and other chapalan' (miscellaneous stuff). We will be locating the V-hive cupboard unit there when it arrives. We plan to get a sofa in the near future to complement the LCD TV we are putting up. A games console area is in the works : - )

My gift to my dearest wife - a digital piano as she is currently preparing for her grade 7 piano exams. We also went to source for her the bar stool, in place of the old fashioned piano chair.

We sourced the bar stool (above) for $59 from Raintree Gallery which is a good place to go for bargains in bar stools, game tables, gym equipment and billiard , pool tables. You can visit their site for more information. http://www.raintreegallery.com/products.html

Week 11 - Renovation

Week 11

We shifted in this weekend although the house wasn't ready as yet as there were still alot of touch ups to do. But we felt it was more convenient to work on the house while staying in. We did a check of all the rectifications required and our ID will be looking into solving all these issues - differerent shades of painting, lamination problems, silicon filling etc.

We also extended the fridge base so that both doors of our refridgerator would be able to open fully. For side by side 2 door fridge like ours, you will need to open up the doors fully to see how wide your friedge base should be to avoid a case where by one door will hit the wall and not be able to open fully.

Installation of Hob

Our hob was also installed . Purchased from Mega Discount Katong -we bought a set package comprising of a Rinnai RB2CG Inner Burner Built in Hob and the Chimney hood - Rinnai RH988 C for $1400 after discount, which was the cheapest price we could find.

Rinnai RB2CG Inner Burner Hob

Rinnai RH988C Hood


Installation of Gate

This week saw the removal of the old gate and the installation of the new galvanized steel gate from Specs Metal. We chose the Zen model which fits in well with our contemporary modern look. We paid $590 for the gate inclusive of installation. Although pricey, we like the silent operation of the gate whether you are closing or opening the gate, without the usual banging of gate sounds. Also you pay for the galvanized steel which is more durable and anti rust than the usual wrought iron gates. The keys provided are of an anti-duplication type. You can contact them at the following site :

http://www.metalfoundry.com.sg/cms/appn_page.asp?catType=Doors

We customized a single leaf frame gate instead of the usual double leaf so that the access to the door is wider. They will come to your place to do on site measurement and show you the designs possible.


Installation of toilet accessories


The plumber also came to install the following toilet accessories :




Ferrera Asiapac Bathroom tray ( $60 per tray after discount )

Ferrera Asiapac Towel Rail ( $45 per rail after discount )




To be continued .......

Lighting

We believe that lighting plays an important part in defining the look and decor of the flat and like a fingerprint helps to define the various rooms. Many people may think that splurging on lights is a waste of money but well, it's really dependent on the look you want and of course budget. Our lighting was sourced from Lightcraft @ Jalan Sultan , i- Lite from Lavender and Citilights from Lavender also. Bargaining did save us quite a sum . We chose a mixture of pendant lights, functional lights and chandeliers. so that each room would be distinguished from the other. Enjoy the light show.

Wash Area Spot lamp

Pendant curly wired Pendant ball light from Citilights


Pendant Basket light ( Common Room aka Orange Rm ) from i-Lite

Master Bedroom Crystal Pendant Light ( With Egyptian Crystals)

Hall Chandelier from Citilights ( with Swarovski Crystals)

Dining Pendant Light from Lightcraft

Pendant lamp over kitchen sink from Lightcraft

Study room suspended Lamp from Lightcraft


Rocket lamp for Common toilet from i-Lite

Master Bathroom spotlight from Lightcraft Walk-in Wardrobe Spotlight

Pendant light for main entrance door from Lightcraft

Renovation - Week 10

Finally , we are nearing the end of our renovation. We plan to move in within the next week or so. We started week 10 with the installation of the solid top for the kitchen cabinet and master bedroom vanity top.

Vanity sink mounted on the black solid top of the vanity counter in the walk in wardrobe. The customized mirror was sourced from Jacky, our ID. We asked for storage space at the top and bottom of the sink so Jacky created cupboards below and above.

With the installation of the solid top, the plumbers came to complete the plumbing of our house.The vanity sink from American Standard(above), sourced from Hoe Kee was a steal at $160 as compared to plain sinks found at Sim Siang Choon which costs more and we find it provides a classy look. We complemented the sink with one of our biggest splurge , a Hansgrohe Axor Starck mixer (above) which we like the avant garde look. Luckily, we manged to get 25% off the price. You can look for Jillian, the Hansgrohe sales executive at Hansgrohe Showroom at Mohammed Sultan who served us. She's the most friendly and helpful staff there so do look for her when you are there. She was the one who told us how to get the 25% discount. Other staff would have simply just charged you the normal price. You'll be surprised that after discount, Hansgrohe taps and mixers are just about the same range of prices of normal taps found at Sim Siang Choon or Hoe Kee or at other bathroom boutiques so really they are quite value for money when you consider the finishing and brand name.

We like the flushed look of our kitchen sink(above) as it seems to blend into the solid top. We asked for the kitchen sink to be undermount, located below the level of the solid top so that water will not flow out onto the table top. The plumbers also installed our kitchen mixer, also a Focus E mixer from Hansgrohe ( below ). Will put up a nicer photo of the sink once it's cleaned. The anthracite black sink is from Blanco sourced from Hoe Kee at $399.

We bought a stainless steel drainage piping(below) for the common toilet sink as we did not like the white plastic PVC piping used by the plumbers.

The plumbers also installed our bathroom accessories which we sourced a few shops like Ferrera Asiapac and Living Phenomenon.

Bath Towel Rails mounted above at the walk in wardrobe, sourced from Ferrera Asiapac.

Towel rail(above) with toothbrush holder and soap dispenser sourced from Ferrea Asiapac. We like the play of the shadow of the rail as cast on the wall.

Swivelled Robe Hook - $48 ( above ) @ Master Bathroom sourced from Living Phenomenon at Balestier.

The common bathroom's wacky alien toilet roll holder(above) which fits in which the funky theme there. Sourced from Takashimaya at $35.The display cabinet (above)was also installed with the glass shelves and internal spotlight mounted. We chose a black avant garde design laminate with the insides covered by a glossy grey silver laminate recommended by Jacky, our ID. It was something different from the usual glass mirror combo of normal display cabinets.

The door contractor also came to touch up and varnish the main door and paint the doorframe. We chose a black colour for the door frame for the modern contemporary look as can be seen above.
Jacky also helped us to install our walk-in wardrobe room full length mirror(below) sourced from IKEA.

More details posted soon! Watch for this space!