.::. Repainting .::.

In  a few months' time, we would have reached our MOP (Minimum Occupation Period).  *OMG* Next year would be the 5th year since we've got our place.  Time really flies, doesn't it?

So, after our vacation in Boracay at 'The Lind' hotel, I was very inspired to paint our room.  I liked the color palate and design of the new hotel and this darker blue-grey color along their corridors.  I liked it enough to persuade the husband to paint our place together.

The main colors were greys, turquoise and blue-grey, I really liked the style of the hotel.





So, we went to buy paint and brushes and spent a few weekends on painting our home.  The husband made some not-very-functional newspaper hats.  To small for me, we didn't use them.

Initially, we only wanted to paint the master bedroom and one wall in the guest room.  I wanted to paint a stripped wall, that would also look great when the room is converted into a nursery *someday*.  Alas, the husband suggested chevron stripes instead, knowing that I liked them more - BIG MISTAKE.  Let's just say that chevron stripes are extremely tiring and time-consuming to paint.  We spent at least 2 days on that wall alone.

First, you had paint a base coat, the lighter color of the chevron strips.  Then, you need to measure the walls and decide on the dimensions of your chevon stripes to make it fit nicely to your wall.  Then, we used cardboard to make a few of these shapes as stencils to mark the walls with pencil and tape.

We took hours to finish and align this wall, and we drew arrows to remind us which area needed paint.

Tadah!  After taping, paint the areas that should be painted, remove the tape and touch-up.

Here's the completed guest room with our pull-out bed:




By the time we painted our master bedroom, it was a breeze.  We finished in a few hours with all that taping, moving furniture and 3 coats of paint.  We used Dulux Connecticut Blue for our master bedroom, a lot darker but I quite like it though it did not exactly turned out as what I envisioned (and there's quite a few other shades of blue and greys that I liked too).

Here's the 'before' photo:



And here's the new color:

Oh, and I received a set of bedside tables as my birthday present this year too!  We got rid of the wobbly Taobao ones we got when we moved in and upgraded to these beautiful solid teak wood ones from Second Charm.  The husband said 'May our marriage be as solid as our bedside tables!'.

.::. The Ikea Way .::.

The Ikea Way

Not long ago, this guy shared his experience with getting an Ikea kitchen on his blog. It’s appalling, and anyone who has been through renovation would feel for him. It’s one of those typical horrible experience with contractors, miscommunications, wrong measurements, bad workmanship and worst of all, bad attitude. It makes me somewhat sad and disappointed, because Ikea has been known for their innovation and creativity in managing their furniture design to maximize functionality at low cost through working with their network of suppliers.  I’ve done so many case studies about Ikea during my studies in Sweden, and Ikea represents Sweden in so many ways. Moreover, their kitchen cabinet uses OEM blum accessories, which is probably the best kitchen accessories currently! Ikea’s kitchen is also looking great with a large selection of sinks which I really like.

To Ikea’s credit, they have upheld their values and reputation by rectifying the situation once they got wind of this. It truly shows the power of social platforms and how important reputation and reviews are these days. But being able to apologize for their mistake and take such measures to rectify it shows a lot about the values behind a corporation. A good company will realize that customers’ satisfaction is the main driver of profits and should be one of the top priority.

When it comes to carpentry work, it’s quite easy to discern good workmanship. Apart from the apparent fit of the carpentry and smooth surfaces, one can easily check the workmanship in a few ways:

1.       The edges. The laminate should be seamless at the edges without things like jagged edges and not-so-straight cuts that do not cover the wood totally.

2.       The alignment. The drawers should be perfectly aligned and straight. There should be minimal gaps between the panels of a cabinet. The easiest way to check alignment is to open up all your carpentry, the drawers should not hit one another and panels should not be drooping.

Sadly, I learnt by experience. Till now, more than 2 years after my own renovation, I’m still annoyed when I notice the gaps between my cabinet panels. Still annoyed when I clean my kitchen cabinets and see how misaligned all the drawers and panels are. Yes, they are totally functional and could last for years to come, but I don’t think anyone likes living with such substandard work.

You know what’s the worst thing? The worst thing is, if the carpentry is already done badly, there’s very little anyone can do to rectify such issues, unless to redo the whole thing (which is almost impossible given the cost and time involved). Our drawers did get re-aligned just so they don’t hit each other when opened, but the gaps between the drawers and panels were never able to be perfectly aligned. The edges of the laminate, when not done properly? - The only rectification possible was to use a paint pen of similar color to color over the visible jagged edges just so it’s not so visible. Two years down the road, some of the paint has worn off and I’m getting the husband to buy some paint pens for me to redo the edges because it annoys the hell out of me whenever I see them. It will be many years later before I can ever redo my kitchen and carpentry work, because it’s going to cost me a five figure sum and a whole lot of inconvenience.

I can’t stress the importance of doing some homework and choosing a reputable and good contractor/designer. Sometimes, it all comes down to ethics of a person or a company and how they choose to make their money. It’s difficult to discern, except to follow your heart and your 6^th sense when interacting with people and observing them. Mistakes are inevitable, but what’s more important is attitude and how people handle their mistakes. Some will apologize and make the effort to rectify their mistakes, while some will never admit their mistakes but blame everyone else instead.

Not everything legal is ethical, and every business wants to make money. What is most important is how you make your money, because karma works in mysterious ways. 

君子爱财取之有道

Be righteous and make money in righteous ways.

Kudos to Ikea for doing what they did in response to such a situation. Most of the time, customers simply want their issues to be acknowledged and would forgive many mistakes if they were handled in a reasonable way.

On another note that’s relevant to business ethics, here’s a link to one of the biggest story in Singapore’s social media world that made me lose some faith in humanity, yet have it restored again.

There’s always bad people around, but there will also be great ones. Sometimes, when the law doesn’t help, the compounding power of people could be a great catalyst for change and justice. It takes courage to stand up for your values and go against what you believe is wrong. Not many people do that nowadays. We simply take it as it is and continue living life. It's amazing how the power of social media can dig up so much information and make life difficult for some unethical merchants. Not all may agree with it, but hey, I think we do need such people who's unafraid of legal repercussions and spend their time fighting for things they believe to be right. 

There are still too many unethical businesses around, too many people making money at the expense of others. But beware of karma and such social media forces! Every single action produces a consequence.

To ethics, humanity and karma, and the Ikea way ~

.::. Our home feature on Renotalk .::.

Our home is featured on one of the articles on Renotalk.

http://www.renotalk.com/articles/431/Scandinavian-Scent

It isn't much, simply a compilation of the pictures that I have already shared online like 2 years ago, and they got me to answer a few questions which they did not publish in full. I suppose that part about asking people to reconsider H.E.R.F flooring and highlighting its potential issues wouldn't do their advertisement fees good. Neither will my humble contractor with his little firm look good on their site.

I still recommend my contractor without reservations, mainly because I feel that he's an honest and responsible business man who gets things done. He visits his projects daily around the island and has a dedicated group of mostly Malaysian workers unlike many who have switched to bangalas and ah tiongs. He's definitely not the cheapest, but have been very responsive and prompt throughout the whole renovation and accommodated all our delays with our carpentry. Most importantly, if there are issues, you can talk to him and get things solved.  I suppose it's the trust and rapport we had when working with him. I've wrote about my experience with him extensively - just click on 'renovation' on the right.

We still keep in contact with him and are on good terms. People who know him would know that he's quite funny, prompt and down-to-earth. He has atrocious english, and even his mandarin isn't that good when it comes to writing. Sometimes, when I tell him that some people complain that he's not responsive and did not reply emails, he would ask me to help tell those people to call him instead of sending him emails (in English). He has very very bad English, so don't expect replies when he can barely understand the contents. I think it's a problem to work with him if you can't speak mandarin or malay.

Here's his contact and Facebook page where you can see his other projects. His other project was featured in My Paper but did not mention him too - papers seem to like publicizing big ID names but make no mention of contractors who does the job.

Kevin
9022 - 2321

https://www.facebook.com/pages/H2O-Interior-Renovation/536321743070166

.::. H.E.R.F – High-End Resistance Flooring .::.

It seems like H.E.R.F. flooring is gaining a lot of popularity these days and sponsoring some bloggers for publicity. The brand that I see a lot is Evorich, advertising very heavily on Facebook and selling it as being suitable for pets and kitchens.

During our search for wooden or wooden looking flooring, we did look into H.E.R.F which is attractively priced at below $6psf last year. There were quite a few designs to choose from with beautiful grains and they were a lot more durable and solid as compared to laminates. I like it that it feels solid and does not have a hollow feeling. You can try dropping some keys on it and the difference between laminates and HERF is striking. We were really taken in by HERF, until the salesman told us something that bothered us enough for me to do some research.

Is H.E.R.F. that great? It’s marketed as being cheap, durable, solid, with many designs and WATERPROOF. So what’s bad about H.E.R.F.?

The salesman told us that there was warranty for the material which is waterproof, but highlighted that the warranty only covers the material. What does that mean? As it is installed using a ‘click’ system fixing 2 pieces together, moisture or water may seep in-between the small gaps and get trapped beneath the material. The moisture trapped below may stink or have mold growing below the material, but this is not covered under warranty as material is still intact despite mould or moisture below.

I was quite concerned upon hearing this as I don’t like the idea of stinking flooring at all. Flooring is something that is probably most used and used for the longest time at home. It's supposed to be the most durable thing in my opinion. I searched for some reviews, and what I read put me off HERF.

• HERF is made of plastic, thus it’s cheap and durable. There are some concerns about it giving out fumes that isn’t healthy. This is especially so if you’ve toddlers crawling and playing on the floor.
• There are reports that the material stinks or gives out weird smells in the US, and many managed to get refunds or returns due to the great consumer protection in US.
• Many people had to change the flooring after it started to stink.

I’m not sure how proven these claims are, but these are other consumers’ experience with HERF and reviews I have read online. Many in the USA have successfully got their refunds due to the strict consumer protection rules there. You can do a quick google search to read about it and decide for yourself. I was very concerned about moisture being trapped below the material or seeping in between the gaps, especially since I’ve a dog and intend to have kids someday – just imagine all the spills and accidents. I'm also forgetful and sometimes simply blur, I do spill stuff and forget to close my windows. And if the air-con or anything leaks, I can't imagine the possibilities.

If an honest salesman could tell me that, I can’t shake that off and it’s not something that people tell you often about H.E.R.F., especially since I feel that the advertisements are quite misleading. Suitable for pets, really? I asked my contractor Mr K about it, but he says that it shouldn’t be an issue as he uses glue to stick the pieces together despite the ‘click’ system and that serves as a protection and prevents water from seeping through. He haven’t had any complaints from his customers nor heard any health risks from the use of this plastic flooring.

Personally, someone who dropped by our place to look at our wooden-looking homogeneous flooring told us that her vinyl (HERF) flooring have started to smell and she is looking for alternative to change her flooring to. She was interested in our homogenous wood-looking tiles.  She’s unable to change only one area only as the click system goes all the way to the joints and the whole area has to be changed. It made me thankful that we chose the practical material instead and will never have to deal with such situations. I can’t imagine having to change a lot of my flooring or suffer smelly flooring. I’ve got to say that the price and look of H.E.R.F. is very attractive and you avoid issues such as not completely flat flooring from wooden-looking planks of homogenous tiles and possible termites problem with real wood.

Do know the pros and cons of the materials that you choose and some research on them since information is so readily available these days. Everyone has different needs and budget, but do make an informed choice and know about the possible consequences or concerns.

.::. The renovation journey on hindsight .::.

It’s amazing how many people have read about my renovation and are still writing to me for advice more than a year after my renovation ended.  My renovation posts have become the most read on the blog. The somewhat embarrassing part is when closer friends and neighbors tell me that their friends read about my place and had something nice to say. Some ask if they could bring their friends over to take a look. It’s flattering when people see our renovation as an inspiration – Thank you! Yes, it was the most difficult period and painful memories for us, but I'm glad many have benefited from our experience. I didn’t think that I expected such a huge audience when I journal my renovation almost daily (it consumed me) and I think there’re definitely things that I would have done differently if I had the chance again. I usually write for myself, and do read my old entries. It all started as a dream of having my own place and decorating it, and remembering it for years to come. 

For many months, renovation took center-stage of my life and I researched extensively. I read forums about people’s experiences, researched about different materials and their pros and cons, and looked for inspiration from everywhere. It’s just me. For most of the things I do, I spend a lot of time reading up and gathering information before going into it. I don’t trust ‘experts’ who are also sales people – it’s not true that ‘experts’ know best. These experts know best how to cheat you and chop you like a carrot for their own benefit too, knowing that most people are easily convinced. That's partly why I do not want to go into sales. If you’ve seen how sales and marketing people are trained to convince people to part with their money, you would get what I mean. People are always taken in by convincing sales talk and freebies. I don’t ever meet ‘experts’ before doing my own homework and research, and that goes from insurance to things like beauty products. And I seldom commit or buy things the first time I see it, I usually go back to think about it no matter how interested I am. Don’t they say knowledge is power? Things I am into lately are nutrition and fitness, and financial freedom. =)

And despite all the research and effort I’ve put into my renovation, there are still things which I regret on hindsight! People keep asking me if I've anything else to share, and I think these are probably the last few points on hindsight:

1.       Table-top basin

These are what almost everyone seem to be using these days, and I’ve never questioned why or thought of alternatives. They come in different shapes and some in beautiful colors. I really regret getting them because it’s extremely difficult to clean and it reduces counter space. There’re the small gaps at the sides of the sink and between the sink and the tap that is a disaster to clean! I don’t have small hands, and having to clean the small gaps drive me crazy. Water will drip into the gaps and mix with dust before it dries up. Multiply this process many times and you can imagine the amount of filth that has to be cleaned (or ignored). I hate them, and I'd love to change them away if I've the chance!

2.       Black solid-top 

We didn’t get this by choice but ended up with this (let's not go into why). The only reason why I chose black galaxy granite was because it’s durable and relatively cheap. I would have wanted a marble top if budget wasn’t of concern. Anyway, black solid tops are the worst solid-tops to get. It scratches very easily (ours was scratched by the cardboard box of washing powder) and dust is very visible. Watermarks are also very annoying. I’ve to clean it often and then dry it with kitchen paper to avoid seeing watermarks.

3.       Glass screens 

The husband wanted glass screens for a nicer look, although I really didn’t mind shower curtains which come in many beautiful patterns these days. I do agree that it looks nicer, but the beauty does not last! The screen is very difficult to clean and becomes ‘frosted’ with water marks (and dust?) that does not come off even scrubbed with glass cleaners. Worst thing is that the bottom silicon turns black and the metal parts rust (it only took few months). The toilet window is always opened for ventilation and the husband has changed it at least once, and it’s already really black again now.

4.       Lights

I’ve got to admit that I probably got too many lights. Having to clean them can be a chore! I do not like lights and I seldom even on those in the kitchen and corridor! I only on the one at the kitchen counter while cooking, and the living room only uses one of the spot lights and dining light.

5.       L-box & false ceiling

The L-box was added as we were worried that the living room might not be bright enough with 2 rows of 3 spot lights.  We have barely on the cove lights and seldom on the down lights! They say that cleaning will be a headache, and I can’t imagine how much dust has accumulated in the gaps. The other false ceiling is in the room because the husband wanted it, probably since he’s used to having it in his old room. We seldom on it too, and I really think that it’s not worth sacrificing 2 inch of my ceiling for it. A normal single light like in the guest/study room would have suffice.

Things that I’m glad we did!

1.       Brick wall

Because I really wanted it and love how it creates a different feel instantaneously. No, wallpaper or plaster is cheaper but doesn't give the same feel. Moreover, cleaning and maintaining it is really not difficult! I cleaned it once with the magic clean wand, and it was really painless and wasn’t even dirty. I’m not sure why, but I expected it to be dirtier. The wand emerged relatively clean. The top of my fridge was so much dirtier – it was black with clumps of dust.

2.       Kitchen yard windows with top opening 

This is great for ventilation and you can leave it open perpetually because rain doesn’t come in. A neighbor recommended it and our contractor gave us the same price as normal windows although it’s slightly more expensive. I love it because we can leave it open when it rains and wind still comes it. Also helps for people like us who hangs our laundry indoor.

3.       Electrical points

I can’t emphasize this enough. Think of where you would use the plugs and have more of them. Otherwise, you’ve have many extension cables running across the rooms. An additional point may cost $50 but an extension plug will probably cost $20 plus ugly wires.

4.       Haiku fan

It’s really silent and ventilates the room very well. Not to mention that it looks pretty and feels different from the normal KDK ceiling fan. I would gladly pay for another one although it is indeed getting expensive.

5.       Storage space

There’s never enough storage and I’m really glad we did as much storage as we reasonably can. We’ve 30ft of kitchen cabinets, 1 full-height shoe shelf, 2 wardrobes, 1 book shelf, 2 toilet vanity and 3 small cardboards on the bay window. All of them are filled, including the store room racks. And we don't even have kids.

6.       Living room mirrors

I think the mirrors add space and light to the living room and toilet. Cleaning isn’t bad at all.

Our utilities bill come to about S$80/month on average, sometimes lesser. We seldom on the air-con (usually during ironing or for a few hours before bed), cook with induction about 3 times a week, boil water with electric kettle, have a huge 2-door fridge, does laundry 2-3 loads a week, have our modem/repeater perpetually on and have a dog.

We spent about $20K on furniture and appliances above the $40K on renovation. Most of the furniture/applicances were put on interest-free installments whenever possible as we were quite broke then. Most of them took a year to clear. While it’s a great way to earn points/rebates and less strenuous financially this way, do factor in the cost to your monthly budget and pay them on time!

Meanwhile, while enjoying our new home,  I already have lots of ideas for our next renovation (although I’ve no clue if there’s ever another one). The toilet (and kitchen) may be top on my list. Or perhaps it’ll be the future baby room that will get a little renovation done. =)

The thing with renovation is that it cost an arm and a leg (please do your due diligence and homework!) and it’s something that you’ll have to live with for many years (at least 5 for BTO). It’s difficult and disruptive to do minor renovations afterwards. Even if I do not like my toilet solid tops nor the glass panels and my toilet sink, and the L-box, it’s going to be very troublesome to get people willing to do such small jobs and very dirty! As muc h as I've many ideas for the next renovation already, I do think that we'll have the budget to do one nor upgrade our place anytime soon.

I will still reply emails (I'm faster on emails than comments), but I don't think I've much to contribute anymore. Renotalk forums have been a huge source of knowledge, and there's so many amazingly beautiful HDB flats these days that mine pales in comparison now.

Good luck!

.::. Buying from Taobao II .::.

I wrote about Buying from Taobao some time back, and would like to add a few points since my PRC colleagues have been giving me lots of tips and pointers. I bought quite a few items from Taobao, not fully aware of discerning the quality of sellers. I was lucky that most of the stuff I got was pretty decent, but I've read of many who are disappointed with their purchases too.

According to them, the Chinese themselves buy extensively from Taobao - from fashion, to food, to air tickets and hotels. They take ratings and comments very seriously. Most of them only buy from top rated sellers and look at the comments.

How to know if sellers are good without having to read through many chinese comments? How to choose good sellers?

The short cut is to look at the seller's rating, which is accumulated over time and many reviews. The highest rating is "crowns" where you see lots of glittering crowns right below the seller's name. The maximum number of crowns should be 5 and any seller with crowns should be generally safe to buy from. The level before crowns are diamonds. The maximum number of diamonds is also 5 and will upgrade to one crown after 5 diamonds. The starting level should be stars.

These was what the Chinese themselves shared, and it was new to me, so I thought that I should share it with everyone else. They've been showing me how to buy authentic ZARA and branded apparels which are sold by factories directly though Taobao among many other things. *gasp* I've yet to try though I'm tempted to.

There's now Taobao Southeast Asia and it seems possible for us to buy directly from Taobao through an account with Alipay. I still haven't figured out how it works and still enjoy the convenience of buying through daigou65 who will settle my order and ship them over. I'm not quite sure how the shipping fees is if we buy direct from sellers and get them to arrange shipment - you may save the 5-7% commission but have to liase with sellers directly (in chinese!) and the shipment fee might be more expensive (as daigou has preferential rates and ship in bulk).

Will update again if I find out something new. =)

.::. Our Dream Home .::.

So it's been a year since we've moved in and I've finally found the time to do up a before-after and completed pictures of our dream home. It's been a long journey for us, and unlike most couples, being able to buy a HDB flat and building our love nest from scratch and finally getting hitched after dating since teenagers has been a very challenging task in so many ways. Those who has been following my renovation journey would have had a glimpse of the pain we had. Perhaps that makes it more sweet for us and makes us cherish each other more. And someday, maybe we will look back and laugh at all the horrible stuff that made us stronger.

It has been difficult to make before-after pictures because I realized that I did not take many pictures of the empty house. I mean, everything was white-washed and looked so similar!

Here's the living room.

And here's the kitchen where I spend a lot of time in.

The huge common toilet.

The MBR.

Here's the tiny MBR toilet.

Filling our living room up with things. I love our furniture that cost us an arm and a leg - all solid oak wood.

The cozy living room.

This is newly added and done up almost a year after renovation, after we've recovered financially. I sit here to enjoy the sunset often with music on. I guess it gives more sitting space for guests and makes the bay window more useful than it was.

The Eames lounge chair was also newly added - it was the husband's birthday present. Something that he has been eyeing since before we started renovation. We were too broke to get everything then and he chose to get me my papa chair first.

The huge mirror is also new. The small ikea one warped after like half a year. We got Mr K to customize one for us and it really expands the space visually. It's also supposedly good fengshui.

Here's the dining area where our guests spend most of their time at.

All my favorite things.

View from the entrance. I'm not sure if it's obvious, but the concept was to have 2 similar borders - the entrance one and my bay window one.

I love my open-concept kitchen. The husband can do his stuff on the dining table while I cook and we can still chat and see each other. And no, it's not an issue even though I cook often. I do not deep fry at home and only use very little olive oil for stir-fry though. Smells are also not a problem as the wind comes from either end of the kitchen and gets blown out quickly.

The sideboard is our messy corner where we drop our wallets and coins and letters.

This is our bedroom where we spend most of our time in. The bed was the most expensive piece of furniture at home and I love it! It's a Sealy hotel-series which I fell in love with at Four Seasons Hotel. We wanted to bedroom to be dark (dim-out curtains and grey walls) for sleeping and spacious. We also added a small cupboard on the bay window to block out an awkward small panel of
window. I think it'll be great storage when kids come along, and we actually hardly open the curtains as we like to sleep in the dark.

That about sums up the main areas of our dream home. It's not big really and I already have ideas for another renovation. I love how homes are a blank canvas which you could work your creativity upon and create a space and feel that best suits your taste and lifestyle. At the end of the day, it's the people who live together and whom you love that really matters and makes the home a homely place.

With that, we live in our dream home, happily ever after.

Dreams do come true! All of mine did.

Good luck people! =)

Dining table/sideboard - Commune at Millennia Walk
Papa Bear Chair/Eames Lounge Chair/TV console/Coffee table - Lorgan's the retro store
Sofa/bench/MBR drawers - Star Living
Bed: Sealy (frame from Sealy IMM)
Bedside tables/track lights/pendant lights/dining chairs: Taobao

.::. On hindsight – Kitchen tops .::.

We are using Samsung solid top, the one that is pure white with very little sparkles. It isn't cheap and cost anything between like $120 to $180 per feet. Those Korean acrylic tops like Samsung and LG are supposed to be of better quality, but the real reason that we chose it was because it's WHITE - as in, very white, pure white kind of white. Many other brands are slightly creamy or not as white or with some grains that I dislike.

So, if you’re like us and want a pure white kitchen, there are not many choices. Quartz was possible, but used to be very expensive although cheaper china-made quartz have been made available these days. There was this Caesarstone brand (and a few others) that had white tops too, but some reviews weren’t good and many said that it was not worth the price as it stains/scratches too.

Maintenance. 

That’s what most people are concerned about. The sad news is, It’s true, white solid top takes a whole lot of maintenance.

I’m someone who cooks often, at least 3 to 4 times a week, usually more as I cook my own lunch to work. I clean my kitchen top everyday and is very careful about scratching it or sliding my pots or chopping board across the top. I wipe constantly as I cook and generally do not let any colored stuff stay on top for long. It sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? It is, and has become a habit.

What happens when you are not careful? You will get scratches, there will be patches of stains. You can’t even put plastic bags like those from Sheng Siong or NTUC on it, the color will eat into the solid top and it’ll be embossed with the logo. I’ve wooded spoons, and they leave a brown patch when I leave the wet spoon on the solid top to dry. Slide your pots and pans across the top, and you can see the scratches. Whatever is left on the top eats into the solid top quickly. I wipe constantly as I do preparation on the solid top - even carrot juices eat into the solid top. I do not put hot pots on my top fearing that it’ll leave a burn mark. Be careful with coasters too, the color may eat into the top. Even water stains bother me, which explains why I wipe everyday even when I do not cook. I am very sensitive and careful about these, but many scratches or stains happens when guests comes and helps with cooking or cleaning. Some stains may be left for too long or people are used to sliding chopping boards and pots (mine are all really heavy). =(

The good news is, if the stain is new (like a day or two old), it’s relatively easy to clean it. I just spray the Magiclean kitchen cleaner and leave it there for a few minutes, most of it disappear. It may be still slightly visible if you scrutinize it, but generally it’s ok. Scratches can’t be saved, although cleaning it and keeping it white makes it less visible.

To people like me who loves white kitchens and use white solid top, take care of it lovingly and it will stay white and beautiful for long. It’s possible!

For people who do not want to put in the effort or have maids at home, do yourself a favor and get granite. Black galaxy granite looks beautiful although it isn’t very Scandinavian. It’s really durable, no scratches, can’t see stains and can withstand hot pots. China/India granite is cheap and prices are similar to normal solid tops, from $90 per feet onwards and I’ve heard of $70/feet India granite.

DO NOT EVER GET DARK COLORED SOLID TOPS!

If you have to get solid tops, get those with grains or lighter-colored ones. The main reason being that dark solid tops leave unsightly white scratches. Any scratch is white against your dark top. We wanted granite for our toilets, but we were given black solid top instead (I’m still pissed). Worse thing is we didn’t know until we visited other homes that used black galaxy granite and questioned the difference. Granite was more shiny and had joints, no curves to be molded to the sides. We put the washing powder on the black solid top and there are unsightly white scratches on it now. It was scratched with the cardboard base of the box of powder! I don’t even have any idea what brand was that solid top in my toilet, but just beware of white scratches on dark solid tops. They are really glaring and worse than stains – cannot be removed! Once it loses its shine (solid top does very quickly), all you see is white baby scratches against the dark top.

I still love my white solid top, although I may consider granite if I were to remake my kitchen. Perhaps white with black galaxy and peranakan and/or subway tiles? But if you have maids, I think white solid tops can be a disaster. For this reason, I may never get a maid. The husband thinks that white solid tops do not need that much maintenance, but what he doesn’t realize is that his wife is cleaning it everyday and making sure that there’s no stains left on it! I had this solid-top discussion with a neighbor and we both complained about solid top maintenance while the husband commented that ‘it’s not so bad’. Both of us women exclaimed and complained loudly, because we’re the ones who clean and notice those stains/scratches. Men sometimes don’t seem to notice many things!

Then again, if budget is not much of a concern, pay for Quartz - it should be better than solid tops.

.::. Going Keyless! .::.

We went keyless some weeks back. Finally!

We have been very tempted after visiting one of the homes that Mr K did. They had these digital locks, both fingerprint operated and did not need any keys. It was so cool and so convenient, but cost was a deterrent.

Few months after moving in, I find myself hating those keys. I'm very forgetful. I always leave my keys  on my door lock and close the doors. It happened too often. I would open my gate then my main door and dash in with my groceries. Then somehow, I will simply close the main door and forget that the keys are still there. We go over to our neighbor's place often and always leave our keys at peoples' homes. There was once that the husband played board games at the neighbor's till past midnight and left his keys at the neighbor's place. I stayed in to study and was already asleep when he tried to call me. He had no choice but to head back for his keys.



We're using the Gateman F10 and Samsung 6020, and got them from Interlock (an online shop). The gate is fingerprint operated while the door is card/pin operated. The gate unlocks with a button from the remote on the inside.

I'm loving it so much now. I never have to bother about brining keys nor digging my bag to locate the keys anymore. The gates and doors are now automatically locked when closed, don't even need to turn and turn the locks and keys.

Yay to going keyless. I think the convenience and peace of mind is really worth it!

.::. The lived-in home .::.

Don't you ever wonder if lived-in homes look as good as they were as compared to right after renovation? I used to think about this a lot when looking at people's renovation pictures. I tried to imagine how my home would look like after really moving in and took extra care in adding more storage space and keeping things practical. Things that were unpractical were things I loved and willingly put in the extra effort to keep it clean - things like the brick wall that needs to be vacuumed now and then, and the white solid top that I wipe everyday.



This is how the home look like now. Clutter here and there, unpacked stuff in the bomb shelter. Daily routine work is already tedious enough for 2 working adults! I hate ironing the husband's shirts the most, it takes an hour every week and I don't even iron my own clothes.













We'll also be getting some work done these few weeks. The husband says it's our 'second' renovation, and I suppose that the home will truly be complete after this round. =)

.::. Renovation – Lets Start! .::.

It's amazing how this space has become somewhat a renovation blog with people e-mailing me about all sorts of renovation questions and contacts. Everyone is just interested in renovation. =(

It really started with my own excitement and passion in beautifying my own home since having my own home has been my dream for as long as I remember. I spent years day-dreaming of my own home, of how it would look like and what I would do in there. And when we finally got our own place, I spent all my free time looking at magazines, pinterest and reading forums and surfing the net to make the ‘most informed decision’. I had spreadsheets to compare different quotes and noting down market rates for all items, spreadsheets of many possible furniture and home-ware shops that I may like to visit, spreadsheets to track all costs and budgeting when to get what. I had plans for everything. Yes, it’s a work hazard – I’m an analyst.

I’ve started writing about my renovation journey when I got keys and started out. From choosing IDs/contractors right down to choosing materials and furniture – I look at the ups and downs and photos throughout the journey and feel really accomplished and somewhat incredible.

I started out knowing nothing about renovation too, but I knew exactly what I liked and wanted. I didn’t want an ID, I wanted someone who could make my vision a reality. IDs are great, if you do not know what you want and do not want to spend time thinking and researching – oh and if you’ve deep pockets. IDs are mostly a hazard when you already know what you want and do not give them a chance to display their design preferences or justify their prices. There are good IDs around who will work with you to improve on what you want, giving you great suggestions and space planning, but those IDs are way out of budget.

Where to start?

Renovation may seem like a daunting task with so much to do. Many start with getting IDs/contractors contacts and meet up with them. I myself have been to those Expo fairs and wasted spent so much time sitting with them and getting quotes. Most, like me, have a budget in mind, though most don’t necessarily know what’s the market rates nor have an idea what they want done.

I would say start looking at magazines, photos and visualize how you want your home to look like first. Think of your lifestyle, storage needs, whether or not you intend to have children, what styles/colors/designs/textures do you like. Think about living in it, the amount of maintenance and cleaning needed. Without thinking through these, it’s easy to be swayed by the IDs you meet. Some may suggest certain designs (some run-in-the-mill type) which may look nice but isn’t practical with children around and most would give you a contemporary modern look with black/whites or neutral colors.

Budgeting

Many ask, how much does renovation generally cost.  Honestly, there’s no such thing as ‘generally’ since there’s so many factors involved. Materials chosen makes a big difference to the final prices. That said, on very extremely general terms, renovating a 4 room flat that does not come with flooring and little carpentry work would cost a minimum of about 30k to make the place comfortable. Renovating a 5-room flat would probably cost at least about 40k. Resale flats would cost more, easily 10k more unless you’re going to keep the flooring and kitchen carpentry. And yes, prices differ a lot between different IDs and contractors, but this is probably the minimal amount you’ll have to fork out for a decent renovation. Electrical works can be substantial ($1k-$3k) too especially for resale flats that require rewiring. Surprisingly (to me), hacking does not cost as much as I imagined (from few hundreds to thousand or two for resale). Painting cost more than I thought, around $1.2-$1.8k. Haulage and cleaning comes up to another thousand or so.

The bulk of the cost would go into carpentry and flooring (or tiling). By cutting down on in-built carpentry and using cheaper alternatives such as laminates would bring down the cost. All materials used would cause a differential in prices – solid tops (korea or china?), soft-close hinges (Blum or Excel or China/India imported), flooring (homogenous tiles or laminates or marble?). And of course, the labor used makes a big difference to prices too – bangala or PRC or Malaysian or Singaporean makes a difference to the workmanship too.

IDs or Contractors?

I wrote about this here.

Timeline and expectations

This has to be communicated and aligned before signing on the dotted line and paying the downpayment. Ask as much questions as you like, clarify all your doubts, especially on materials used. What brands of laminates and hinges are included, what brands of solid tops and price ranges of tiles can be chosen. Some may realize that their choices are very limited only after it’s too late and expanding their choices involves additional costs or compromising on their expectations. Some companies import full-container loads of things like hinges and laminates and accessories from China/India and rename it under their own unheard-of- atas-european-sounding brand which may or may not be as good as commonly known brand names in the market with more stringent quality control (and probably higher cost that comes with quality). Try to include all your requirements in the quote as additional items usually cost more when added after the project starts and would end up being an excuse when there’re delays. Renovation usually takes about 8 weeks, discuss possible delays and consequences.

Word of caution.

If you care about your home and your hard-earned money and would like to avoid trouble, spend some time to do research online and in forums and ask around. Forums like Renotalk is very active and has a wealth of knowledge but be careful of businesses that pose as consumers to promote themselves and solicit for business. It’s good to get someone by referral, better even if you’ve seen their workmanship and know that they’re reliable. Ask to visit actual sites, talk to their customers when they’re not around or search for reviews online. Google their company name and director or ID names to check if there are any complaints. Communicate and discuss the timeline and expectations, preferably in black-and-white or some sort of proof to protect yourself. HDB license may or may not be of top priority as there’s no guarantee that those with license are good and going through complaints to HDB or CASE or other venues are cumbersome and time-consuming.

I would also suggest avoid getting friends or relatives to do renovation unless you are very sure of their workmanship and professionalism. I’ve known so many cases which end up badly (including my own). Friends/relatives may think that they’re doing you a favor without earning as much while you are unable to actually be straightforward when things are delayed or go wrong. You simply can’t hold them accountable when things are not up to expectations.  Some may trust friends too much and end up with sub-par work, delays and many add-ons to be paid.

Beware of freebies. Do not be swayed by free things like most Singaporeans do. Things like free air-con and accessories or vouchers are paid by you and ain’t actually free!

Lastly, follow your heart and make an informed choice.  Most of the time, price is not the only deciding factor (just like looks is not the only factor when you choose your spouse). There’s the ease of communication, working together and trust in the working relationship. If in doubt, do not take the risk unless you can take the worse-case-scenario.  If there are already delays and miscommunications even before starting, it may be good to re-evaluate your options or even forgo your deposit.

And even after choosing a seemingly reliable ID/contractor that you think you can trust, monitor and keep track of progress and visit your home often! Take pictures of the workmanship if rectifications are needed. Constantly remind and reaffirm things to be done and don’t assume that paying more for an ID can save you this trouble. IDs often have bad communication links with the actual workers who does the work and many end up with work that was not what they wanted. Till then, it may be too late or costly to change or go through the trouble to insist that your reluctant ID bear the cost.

After deciding on who to use for the renovation actually brings you to the start and not the end of the renovation.  There are still many choices to be made, many more things to learn, and it’s finally time to visualize and imagine your home.  It’s an exciting time, a huge project that will bring you so much satisfaction and a safe haven to retreat after a long day out.

I truly hope less people get cheated of their hard-earned money or endure horrible renovation and attitude. Please do your due diligence people and not regret when things go awry.

Good luck!

.::. Mirror Mirror on the wall .::.

So, we finally got a huge mirror for the wall above our sideboard. Pardon the mess, because we are simply not very neat people who make their lived-in homes look like showrooms. =P



This is the view from the kitchen/entrance.



And this is the view from the corridor.

We initially wanted to save some money, and got a 30x160cm mirror ($39 only) from Ikea and got our neighbor to help us mount it up.  It wasn't ideal, much too small actually.  I considered getting 2 mirrors to be placed above each other, but the husband opposed to it.  After a few months, the mirror started to warp, perhaps being unable to take the mirror weight.

So, we decided to get a big mirror, after recovering somewhat from all the renovation-wedding-honeymoon expense. I asked Mr K for a quote despite hearing that his prices ain't that cheap anymore and contacted some mirror supplier. Surprisingly, his quote was lower than the mirror supplier and he ended up charging us the 1m x 1.6m price even after we decided to get the 1.3m x 1.6m size. Perhaps out of goodwill and appreciation for all the customers we have got him.

The mirror was really of good quality and good workmanship with solid wood backing.  The workers came on time and I'm as usually impressed by them.  The guys took great care in installation and cleaning up, and polished my mirror till it shined.  They even helped us to sand our main door and commented/gave advise on the bad workmanship of our laminate (because we DIY-ed with our neighbors and just paid for the laminate!). Even the husband was impressed by the guys.

I am still very appreciative of Mr K and his dedication to his work of beautifying homes, the good attitude of his workers. After working with PRCs and Bangala, you really appreciate Malaysian workers with good work ethic and attitude. Not to generalize or discriminate here, but there's a marked difference. And sometimes, it's worth paying more for quality and to avoid trouble. You get what you pay for.

The home now look bigger and brighter with the mirror!  Moreover, if you believe in fengshui, mirrors facing the dining table reflects abundance and the good energy when family and friends gather.

We are also slowly working on small projects on our home, perhaps doing something with the bay windows and installing digital locks.

Have been wanting to do a before and after as the home is more or less done up, yet have been procrastinating since the home does not look like a showroom anymore. Soon, soon.

.::. Christmas 2012 .::.

Christmas is always a time filled with joy, a time to reflect on the year just before it ends, a time to be thankful for the good and to let go of the bad before starting a new year afresh.

This Christmas has been a hectic one, I didn’t even get to do my Christmas shopping at Orchard Road!  We only dropped by Tangs to grab a present before leaving Orchard Road for home as it’s too crowded on the last weekend before Christmas.  Most of the presents were bought online or at heartland malls.  I love Christmas shopping (not just before Christmas though).  I love it that the malls are all nicely decorated and playing Christmas songs.  Most of all, I love taking my time to choose gifts, trying to find the right one for everyone.  It’s the whole process of buying your loved one a gift that he/she likes that is meaningful.

I’ve hosted 3 Christmas/housewarming parties in our new home, and it has been really tiring to cook for 20 people in a row.  There’s so much food, so much preparation, so much cleaning!  We had parties on Friday dinner for his boss and colleagues, Saturday lunch with the neighbors, Saturday wedding dinner, Sunday lunch for his nephew’s birthday, Monday dinner for my friends, Tuesday lunch for his family and dinner at the lovely home of our contractor Mr K’s customers (and Mr K with family) whom we’ve got to know as friends. 

My favorite Christmas present this year is my new DSLR from the husband – great for capturing more beautiful memories together.  It's the 3rd camera he has got for me.  My new 60D makes my 4-year-old 450D look like a toy.  I love how much sharper the images are and the swivel screen!  His sister also got us a Nespresso machine.  Although I’ve been eyeing the Illy’s machine for the longest time but haven’t got the budget to get it, I’m still happy for a Nespresso.  I love Italian coffee, but Nespresso will do for now.  And we now have 4 vacuums at home and lots of NTUC vouchers.

Haven’t took as many pictures as I would have liked this Christmas.  Haven’t had enough time for Christmas shopping and getting down to writing cards to people I care about.  Simply haven’t been doing enough for everyone (including myself) these days.

I'm most thankful for building a cosy home from scratch with the husband and having so many great people around us this year.  Life has been kind.

Friends.  For the past 10 years. =O

Luke, the really cute 17-month-old.