Our Home in Kovan

Interior Designer Series -- 5 9 Creation, Ubi Road 1 We met with Randall from 9 Creation on the same day as the event mentioned in ID Series 4.  He came across as unassuming and thoughtful.   During our first meeting, after going through our floor plan and our requirements, among other things, he gave us an interesting solution for our storeroom door.  We wanted louvered doors.  But we all know that louvered doors are old fashioned and unsightly.  He showed us a PVC door that might fit our requirement whereas most other IDs had no clue or couldn't be bothered.  Why are we so picky on this?  We stayed in an apartment with bomb shelter used as a store room.   After a year, mould started to developed and ruined many things.  We had to rent a storage to store them for the next few years.  So yes, we think storerooms MUST be well ventilated. He scored bonus points for being the only ID who sent us a 3D drawing.  When we complained that his design made it looked claustro

Other than the showroom inside of their HQ, there is another one in Ang Mo Kio. Our friend excitedly told us about it after she went and came back with entire set of Gaggenau at 70% off.  We went last week but I think timing was bad; the great sales must have been so successful it was mostly empty. For those of you looking for Bosch products, it would be worthwhile to go check it out. BSH Home Appliances Pte Ltd Block 4012, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, #01-01 Techplace I Singapore 569628 Operating hours: Mon-Fri, 8.30am-5.30pm

The bright and cheery London Telephone Booth beckons!  It is hard to go to the Bosch showroom without stopping by. Inside, it is piled high with teakwood furnitures of all sorts.  The boss, John, was extremely helpful and eager to show us some of his custom pieces. When mentioned teakwood, we would think of furnitures of our grandparents' generation; bulky, heavy and dull.  Yes... mostly true.  But there are some interesting and modern designs to be found here.  Best of all, if you have something in mind, uncle John could custom made for you. Check it out: Teakland Gallery TechPlace 1 Block 4012 #01-03 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 www.teaklandgallery.com Open most days from 10-6pm

Wah ha! So happy that everything went through without a hitch! Were in HDB for our first appointment today.  Three parties were present:  us, our seller/buyer and the seller of Bedok flat.  Our seller bought another unit in Bedok and so will be doing a contra.  For the past weeks, we heard that the Bedok seller was not in a hurry and may hinder the sales process.  We wanted to move in January next year.  Working backwards, we would have to start renovation in early Dec.  In the end, we were all glad that the Bedok owner did not stop us from submitting a letter for an early closure - 6 weeks instead of the normal 8 weeks.  By just two weeks, that's the best we could ask for.  But we would take it as long as we can start early.  Throughout, we were so afraid that the Bedok seller would ask for a 3 month extension, then both our seller and us would be affected.  All the documents signing were done before noon.  Wah haha!!!  What a relief!   Now we can go on to finalise ou

Interior Designer Series -- 4 Attended an event hosted by another website where you could meet with nine IDs.  It was very well organised and we had a wonderful experience.  We did our homework before making appointment to meet with just two of them.  The first was: Rezt & Relax, Ubi Ave For those who have spent a little time checking out IDs, this name should be a familiar one.  Their projects have appeared in many publications.   We met with a petit, young and energetic lady.  I was quite impressed her idea with two area of our concern and she pointed them out immediately and effortlessly.  We went on to make an appointment to see her the following week. When we went in, she already had the table setup with our drawings and sample materials on the side.  We spend almost two hours with her before having to rush to another meeting.   R&R provides warranty for their renovation work for between 1-3 years and even lifetime warranty for some items.   Ra

Interior Designer Series -- 3   We came across a few designs on the site that we liked while combing through the web.  I sent a request and got a response.  In my reply, I fixed the time and also attached my floor plan and pictures.     O***, Somewhere in Joo Chiat   The designer was a lady in her thirties.  Once seated and the pleasantries exchanged, I was furious and I wanted to get out of the meeting right away.  She was not prepared!  I was sure that she had read the email because she replied to it but she didn't go through my attachments.  But somehow my wife had an affinity with her.  Ahh...had to be those children things; women loved to talk about children.     I endured the session and when I got out, I was ready to put it out of my mind.   However, my wife had other plans.  They communicated and setup the next meeting.     So what have we got:   The kitchen was designed for a clean and minimalistic look -- sure, it would look good when done and pho

Interior Designer Series -- 2 I posted my job scope in Renotalk's Get A Quote section.  It was just for renovation for my two toilets.   Shortly, a lady called to verify my posting - a good job on Renotalk's part to screen the requesters.  Within the day, 2 companies responded and I gave them each a floor plan and pictures I had taken.  We decided to visit just one: Unity Design, Kallang Avenue We stepped into the bright and modern showroom and was greeted by a bespectacled young man, dressed casually but chic in a sports jacket.  He led us to a dinning counter and on it, neatly laid out, were the printouts of the floor plan, the photos I sent and the proposal.  He gave us an overview of the company, what our scope of work and what approach he took in designing.  After verifying a few details, we were impressed enough to let him onto our plan for other parts of the house.  A date was set for more than a week later.  We were to discuss it when we visit his s

Interior Designer Series - Part 1 How do I pick an ID?  First and foremost is trust, then experience, taste and cost. Weiken, IMM We did not plan this.  We were wondering around IMM after work looking at furnitures and appliances.  Walking by a bookstand and it happened to be at a page where a photograph grabbed my attention.  We started to browse and a friendly bespectacled sales person came up to greet us.  He was very enthusiastic and we thought we just sit and hear what he had to offer.  After a while, in came the boss: a small, stocky guy but sporting a big strong voice.  We were introduced and he sat down to take a look.  Immediately, He showed us why he was the boss: he knows!  He knew why there was a kerb here, pipes there and explained why the current owner did things that way.  We were very impressed.  So we made an appointment to come back to see his proposal a week later. That evening, we googled and learned that Weiken was quite a large establishment and

This is a reminder for the upcoming event “Meet the Designers”. Date:  10 October 2015 (Saturday) Time:  2pm to 6pm Venue: Th e Design Store By Lifestorey Address:  16 Tai Seng   Street #01-00/A Singapore 534138 Parking: Free parking, Limited slots. All of our guests get to enjoy Exclusive discount on Lifestorey products. Light refreshment will be served at the start of the event, we encourage you to come early. ---------------------------------------- Organised by Renonation it was very well put together: there were many friendly helping hands and excellent crowd control.  Nine ID firms were present and it was always a worry that they packed as many customers as possible and you ended like queueing to buy fast food.  But not so, we have no problem with waiting and our sessions were unhurried.  All in all a great experience.  Do look out for their future event.

We installed a retractable cloth hanger many years ago when we lived in a condo.   The product is called EZ Hi-Dry from EZZ Living .  You just pull it down and push it out.  The simple mechanism with hydraulics makes it simple and easy to operate.  We had no problem with it over 3 years of usage. Visited the company this afternoon to see if we can find one to fit into our new home.  The EZ Hi-Dri system is still available.  However, the price has gone up by at least 30%!  For this round, we are just looking for a system whereby we can pull it down and up.  It should also come with longer poles than the Hi-Dri model. The other manual types we saw use a system like in curtain blinds -- pull, disengage the stopper, release.  You are pulling on a thin string of plastic beads; I just cannot bring myself to trust that it will last. As for the automated system, one comes with lights and the other has added fans and UV lights.  What?  Why?  Why can't it be something

We visited Hoe Kee a few weeks back on a weekday afternoon.  There were not many people and also not many sales persons around.  When we venture into the hood and hob section, we were greeted by an old man.  Despite his age, he is one the most enthusiastic sales people we have met.  After knowing that we cook frequently, he immediately ushered us to the Fujioh section.  For the next half and hour, he presented the data, demoed the suction power of the hood and patiently answered all our concerns.  We were sold! Then while conducting more research into it,  I read on a blog that mentioned a problem with the hood -- it protruded more than the others and the blogger's husband knocked into it on several occasions.  The man is around the same height as I, 1.75m, so it set off an alarm in my head.  I became conscious of how high should we set the hood. When we saw the Tecno hood, I thought that was it!  The perfect solution:  it sloped higher in the front and thus provide the nec

Kitchen Left side houses the work area and tall units.  Right side has table top with bottom cabinets so as to give an unobstructed view to the windows at the end. Master Bedroom Move the door to the bottom right hand corner so that it is closer to the rest of the bed rooms.  We are seriously thinking of moving the wash basin out so that we have more space in the toilet.  Can't stand the size of the toilet! Toilets Retile, change toilet bowls... standard things.  There's not much to design because they are so small.   Living Room Other than the bottom left corner for a shoe cabinet, we will not want to add too many fixtures.   Bedrooms We will also not do carpentry work here, at least for now.  

Tecno was having a warehouse sales over the weekend and we went to take a look. We had our eyes set on this: Tecno KP9988 It has good looks and ergonomics:  taller in front to give you good clearance for your head.  The noise level is low, even at the highest setting, it is relatively quiet than most.  There's time and alarm function.  Also important consideration for cleaning and maintenance: only have to deal with a single piece of steel mesh and carbon filter.  Tecno T333 TG SV The offer was S$950 and you can pick any Tecno hob to go with it.  At this point in time, I believed anything less than a thousand for a chimney hood and a glass panel hob is a good deal.  However, the deal does not include delivery ($20-$40) and another $35 to add safety valves to the hob.  So all in all, it will still come to around $1000.   We called up Goh Ah Bee (our usual 'go to' appliance store) to check the price and it was $1150.  Should we?  I decided that we shoul

The toilets are so small! Ahh!!! Common Toilet Common Toilet Ewe... The pipes are so gigantic.  The master bedroom toilet is equally pathetic... Toilet in Master Bedroom The sink is so puny and then there's all these humongous pipes.   For sure, we are going to rip out everything in the master bedroom toilet.  Just need another inspection with the contractor to see if we could overlay the tiles (save money) or we need to take out the flooring.   How to put in a larger size sink?  This sink is definitely too small.  To use this everyday would drive me crazy.

I know, this looked messy.  However, the condition of the cupboards and floorings were good.  I especially like the quality of the cabinets, they were of solid wood... more solid than the 'solid wood' that I had encounter these days.  Should we retain the cabinets? We didn't the counter that was protruding in the foreground.  The other problem area was the sink. We had to do away with this sink because we didn't like the size and it was showing some colouration due to usage.  Another reason was that the rubbish chute was underneath it, making it hard to access.  The current owner threw their garbage in the common bin downstairs!  If we were to remove the sink, the entire counter would have to be destroyed as the sink was an under-mount.