BTO renovation Punggol Topaz Part 2

I have been cleaning the house today. 

We sent my children to my in-laws who kindly looked after them while I single-handedly cleaned the house (Idros left for work). 

I started with the masterbedroom first. Then did the toilets followed by the rest of the house. 

By the time I reached the living room, Owen's guests came to view my house (Owen's workmanship).

They were a nice young couple who kept complimenting my kicthen and (unknown to me) they told Owen that they liked my toilet tiles. 

I told Owen that in a few months time, when our fianances have stabilised, I am changing the bathroom doors to frosted glass door and the toilet tiles. It took me a long time to clean the toilet. The dark grey tiles make it harder for you to tell if it is dirt or just the colour of the tiles.

The bathroom doors that HDB provides are made out of wood. What happens when wood is constantly exposed to water? They sprout beautiful mushrooms. Taken from STOMP:

This will happen to my door soon. Before THAT happens, I am changing the door. 

I would love to get the 'wooden effect tiles' for my bathroom tiles. I-Bridge design's, (the interior desigining Company I have engaged) 2nd floor ladies bathroom has the exact tiles that I would love to have. Owen told me it is costly. So that calls for a few more months of saving. But it is gorgeous. 

Now, updates for the renovation. Basically almost everything is ready. Just the masterbedroom wallpaper installation as the feature wall. And the pendant lights for my dining room. Owen needs us to get the dining table. We will be heading to expo and find a suitable one. 

Amin, Idros' friend, came over to assist us. He was a great help. After I have cleaned the house, Amin came over with Idros and both of them unpacked all the major appliances and even placed them nicely to where they belong. 

The fridge is too... big? For my small kitchen. But I love it nonetheless.

            My small kitchen. Owen said this is the first time he tried totally black for a backsplash. But he and I both loved the result. 

 I used serai wangi, a cool Malaysian product to wash the floors with. It gives off a lemongrass smell and it eliminates insects due to the smell that it emits. I used dettol to clean my bathroom. 

 My maternal grandmother got me this rice cooker.

 Reena on the sofa bed that just arrived. My parents got me this. This sofa bed is supposed to be in the study room. But for the time being, (until we find a sofa that fits out budget nicely) we will use this one in the living room. 

 Reena watching the television which has been mounted up by Amin and Idros. Yeah!

 Up close and personal.

 Microwave that is beautiful but... small? Or is the opening too big? Oh well. 

 Fridge from another angle. 

IFan has already arrived. It suits our interior very niecly that we are planning to get another one for the dining room. 

 Supposed to be a full height and length shower screen. But I cut down my cost by opting for the half shower screen panel. Easier to clean too.

 Waterfall faucet.

 $8 towel rack and holder (shipping fee not included) from Taobao. I went to a bathroom fitting shop and they sell the towel racks at $71 each. 

The compartment-hidden mirror for the common bathroom and master bathroom. I do not need a vanity table in my room. Just dump everything in here :) 

Still bare. But feels much more like home now :)

BTO Punggol Topaz Renovation Progress Part 1

Initially, I wanted to wait for everything to be done before I post this, however, I can't contain my excitement upon seeing the progress of our humble residence. 

There were a few disagreement along the way. We did not agree to the cost of the electrical works and the lighting. Hence we pushed for further discounts and deducted a few unnecessary items in the renovation plan (false ceiling for the master bedroom).  That wasted at least a week of our time. Eventually, we DID get a good discount of the total cost of the electrical works and lighting. 

We are not being petty or stingy. But like I have mentioned before, we are using our personal savings for the renovation and purchasing of appliances/furniture. Hence, it is CRUCIAL that we stick to the budget that we CAN afford and not to go overboard. 

The thing about renovation proposal is that, they RARELY include the price of 1) electrical works 2) lighting. When they quote you, let's say $20,000 for your HOUSE RENOVATION, you will find yourself paying them $24,000 in total. THAT is how MUCH lights and electrical works costs. 

But there is always a way out, please put your foot down and request for a discount. If the guy insist that is the BEST price he can give, then you can opt out some of the unnecessary items like we did to cut cost.  We saved about $2000 from omitting only SOME things off. 

This renovation process is really wearing me out. I have been the one liaising with my interior designer during my LUNCH HOUR. I will be the one travelling by public transport  from Novena all the way to Punggol. Despite the fact that it IS exhausting, it is rewarding when you see the outcome. Idros was impressed with my choice of laminates and colour. 

When everything has been settled (with cash), ONLY did we see fast and efficient progress. Owen and his team of merry men started their carpentry work on the 4th May 2015. Judging by the progress so far, NONE would believe me if I tell them that most of the work are completed in less than a week. 

Let the pictures do the honours. 

Bought this from 

http://www.universalunion.com.sg/

They are having up to 60% off store-wide. This corner glass shelf holds shampoo and liquid soap bottles nicely. And it is clutter free. I have something against the metal holders. They tend to rust overtime. 

The colour of ALL of my recessed walls. Smoke Pearl. 

The wallpaper design.

Graystone is the colour of the ceiling. 

The smoke pearl recessed wall. 

The carpenters hard at work. This was done on the afternoon of the 1st day that they started working on the carpentry works. Not bad at all. This is my TV console minus the glass panels. They will install the glass panels next week.

Installation of kitchen cabinet. 

Installation of vanity cabinet in the bathroom (minus the mirror), thee sink that Owen purchased for us looks GOOOODDD.

Fanco fans with light in the Kids' and study room, installed. The adapter and remote control for the fan in the study room was NOT WORKING. Luckily my dad helped me out in exchanging it back to the shop. The wardrobe is done up too. I chose white sides and dark grey doors. I wanted to go for all white but Owen advised me against it. He knows my kids well enough by now. They're growing up to be aspiring artists. 

The inner part of the wardrobe.

This was not in the plan, but we did a last-minute request to have a nice shoe cabinet (located on the right from this angle). We wanted to make use of the power circuit box cabinet. But if you open it up, you will realise it is too narrow to fit in shoes. 

Downlight. Cove lights situated at the side.

Track lights along the pathway to the rooms.

Track lights in the kitchen as well which was suggested by Owen. He said that track lights in the kitchen enhances the look of the kitchen cabinets. 

My mother checking if the dish rack is in place. Lol.  

The other side of the kitchen. 

One step closer. 

We will be using kompacplus for the cabinet top. Initial plan was Quartz, but it was crazy expensive, so we opted for Solid Top. But Owen suggested using the kompacplus instead. He said it is of higher quality than the solid top. I chose this exact colour, (New York Teak). Picture below has been retrieved from their website : http://www.kompacplus.com/#!KompacTop: 10.30- New York Teak/zoom/cxfy/image1mkg

 

My father purchased a crestar fan for my living room. Owen called me up urgently the other day and informed me that due to some miscalculations that he had oversee, the ceiling fan could not be mounted on the ceiling. It was very sad. Because the fan was gorgeous. And it was a gift from my father. I have deep sentiments for these kind of thoughtful things. Therefore, Owen told us to get a standing fan. 

I wanted to get myself a bladeless fan from Dyson. 

It costs $700+ for ONE. Trust me, you can get a System 1 Air-Conditioner for the same price. 

Therefore we decided to settle with the IFan instead. Coincidentally, Eastpoint was having an IFan sale the other day. The 12" IFan's original price is $280 but I bought it at $165. A steal I must say. 

My master bedroom, spot the headboard. 

Last but not least, a nice gift from my in-laws. A Toshiba 29" TV. I called the bracket and TV installer from https://www.facebook.com/sgbros?fref=ts

They quoted me a reasonable price. $60 for mounting and bracket. They were super efficient I called them the day before and they CAN schedule their man to come down the day AFTER. When their guy came to my house, they called me personally and the guy addressed his concern. He said IF I opt for the 29" bracket, I CAN'T use a bigger TV in the future. I NEED to CHANGE the ENTIRE bracket to do so. He then told me that the glass panel that will be placed on my TV console will hinder his guy to change the bracket later on.  

I did the next best thing, I told him to call my husband.

teehee. 

 After conversing with the guy, my husband purchased a Philips 50" TV which the guy installed WITH a free bracket. He installed the Toshiba 29" TV in our master bedroom. Something that we did not EVEN PLAN to get for our room, but Alhamdulillah Ala Kuli Hal. 

The only thing that I do not like is the wire. I told Owen to help me extend the wire and cover it up so it looks neater. 

That is it for now. Till the next update. 

BTO APPLIANCE HUNT

We are still in the process of having our humble abode renovated. We are blessed to be going through this crazy experience. It is a tiring but rewarding experience. For our case, we are very much blessed to have Owen, our interior designer, to settle the countless nitty-gritty details. We let him take charge of purchasing lights (for most parts of the house) and some fittings.

We are absolutely busy with our never-ending schedules, that we hardly have time to source out for much. We did manage to get the EF cooker hood, hob and built-in oven from Mustafa though, total damage done for these three items : $900+

We also managed to source out with my in-laws, for a nice LG refrigerator (and we got a free microwave with that) and Whirlpool washing machine and dryer. Estimated cost for these is around $2000.

Whirlpool Front Load Washing Machine

Whirlpool Dryer. 

 The LG fridge 

The "free" LG microwave that comes with the fridge

 I was quite pissed with how they used the term "free" to describe the microwave. 

After purchasing the fridge, you need to self-collect the microwave at the LG Customer Service centre, fair enough, I mean all free things come with a price as well, right?

 I called LG customer service centre to enquire what were the things needed in order for me to get my "free" microwave. The lady said strictly a cut-out of my serial number on the box of the fridge. She said I needed to make my way down to the service centre by a given date. I asked her why, and she replied with "This is a first come, first serve basis, If the microwave is gone, then you might not get it at all."

Then lady, define : free gift, with every purchase.

Moving on, I mostly ONLY had time to do online shopping. I can't leave my kids at home with my mother for a long period of time. She needs her rest, therefore, if I were to ever shop for things, it will be with them. Most of the time now, Idros is not around. Hence, shopping will not be very productive with me chasing after the children.

But I did get some good deals online. I have allowed myself to purchase things from taobao. However the things bought are with the help of my Mandarin-speaking colleagues. I get confused when it comes to purchasing the items.

I bought two of these beautiful waterfall faucet. I stumbled upon a lady who blogged about her renovation journey, and she purchased these on taobao. That was when I KNEW I HAD to get it as well. I got them at $80 for TWO.

I intended to get cheap IKEA ceramic basins for these faucets. Owen, my interior designer gave me the most helpful tip, "Hana, please bring along your faucet. Most IKEA items only support their own faucet."

He was obviously RIGHT. I can't fit my faucets into ANY of the ceramic basin. I was so upset. Owen needed the ceramic basin soon so his carpenter can fabricate the vanity cabinet around it.

Owen kindly volunteered to help us find the perfect ceramic basin. Therefore, I told him our budget, and he was the one who sourced out the ceramic basins for the two bathrooms in our house. He took a picture of it and sent it to me via whatsapp. I have to admit, it is pleasing to the eyes.

Next taobao purchase is the towel rack. Another colleague helped me purchase it. The cheapest towel rack that I found here, in Singapore, is $38 each.

But I got this at $31 for TWO, INCLUSIVE of DELIVERY.


I purchased TRENDS water heater from fairprice extra at $98 and $107 respectively. Then I realised groupon was selling Panasonic water heater at the same price. First rule to remember when buying appliances; Japanese brands lasts longer.

Talk about Japanese product, we purchased another good deal online, Air Creations on facebook. They sell the cheapest air conditioner in town. $2399 for a system 3 air conditioner. We decided to go with Panasonic for this.

My father has kindly sponsored all of my ceiling fans. All of them include lights. I save up on purcahsing room lights because of this.

 Fanco fan $300 each (purchased 2)

  Crestar fan $300+

Crestar fan $300+

I purchased the Rubine granite crystal sink from QOO10 at $215.

I also bought the same brand, Rubine faucet at $81.




Last but not least,  a store bought product from IKEA. Bathroom lights and pendant lights for the dining room.


LOCK ceiling lamp $2.90 each (I bought 2) bulb costs me $9.90

FOTO pendant lamp $24.90 each (I bought 2) bulb costs me $9.90 each.

The estimated amount for all these items costs around $7000. Just remember to spare some cash aside apart from renovation expenses if you were to pay by cash for everything like we are.

Almost there :)