Curtains

Besides fans... another major item to shop for would be curtains. A good set of curtains would accentuate the feel of a house. I won't say it makes or break, but it will certainly help.

Our ID recommended Casa and Maison, and the boss Cayman was very helpful and knowledgeable about his products. And we really like the quality of the materials introduced to us.

Unfortunately, the price quoted was on the high side. So we shopped around, and got a quote from Curtain Suites. For some reason - for the same brand of textile, the quotation is cheaper. We could not convince ourselves to pay more for the same product, even though we really like the service so we ended up with Curtain Suites. To be fair though, He Jia who helped us from Curtain Suites was very helpful and service oriented too, so we are quite happy with Curtain Suites.

We chosed to have rods instead of curtain tracks for our curtains. Due to the long length needed for the windows, there were some concerns that the rod would sag after a while but fingers crossed, hope the installation will go smooth and it would be durable and lasting!

 The materials chosen for our house - to give the luxe hotel feel!

Also needed to choose some PVC venetian blinds for the toilets (wouldn't want people to peep in while doing some private business, do we? :))

Chosed ash colour blinds

And the choice of tapes available is quite a lot!
















Expensive stuff, these are, i would say

Busy shopping

The bills are piling up... Renovation is due to start today (well officially it started on the 2nd of Sept already - our FS master said that was the auspicious period, hence we 'started' then)

Purchased ceiling fan: $1.3k including delivery

One of the most electricity-saving, most aesthetic-looking and powerful ceiling fan around... enough said.

Purchased lightings from My Lighthouse: $3.8k

The first lightshop that our ID brought us to was one of the light shops at Balestier. It was slightly cheaper, but they do not have the lights that we want.
So our ID went hunting for lights for us, and recommended us to go check My Lighthouse out. Then we were sold on the Osram LED lights. It was double the price per LED light although it was of a good brand (Osram). The primary reason is that the casing of the downlight is enclosed within the the ceiling, which protects the ceiling when bulb changing in the future. So i guess paying a premium is worth it! (i hope. lol)

Legal matters

So in 2 weeks time, we are supposed to 'complete' the purchase from the developer. This means that we are supposed to pay the balance 10% and the share of property tax/maintenance fees.

Just wanted to share that our experience with our legal firm is far from satisfactory. We engaged Circular Law (as a recommendation from our mortgage broker), and I think while generally the transaction moved through quite ok, there were some areas which I felt it didn't exactly meet my expectations.
(although i got to admit that it could be i expect a law firm to be error-free 99.9% of the time).

Example would be:
(1) During the initial meet up for property title searches (for any encumbrances etc), the letters we are given to sign have had errors in it (wrong IC numbers), which was unexpected, and luckily we spotted them

(2) We provided the stamp duties payment to the lawyers who couriered it to IRAS as our legal advisor. When we noticed that the cheque was not cleared by IRAS after 1 week, we went back to Circular law 2 to 3 times informing them of such. However, the response from Circular Law was always the same - they couriered the cheque. We asked for evidence of receipt, but Circular Law was not able to provide any (although i think it's an IRAS matter). Eventually, we have to instruct the lawyers to call IRAS to check (no initiative on their part!) and it was discovered that IRAS did not receive our cheque. Shortly after, we received a letter of penalty from IRAS asking us to pay the stamp duties plus associated late payment penalties.
Luckily, the appeal against the penalty was successful - although it did create some trouble on our part. If Circular Law took us seriously that our cheque was not cleared, it could have saved some trouble.

(3) Finally, as we are nearing completion, Circular law sent us a letter informing us to send them a cashiers order by 31st September (when our completion is end August). Firstly, there is no 31st Sept, and while we are happy to pay 1 month later from our completion date, we know it could not be accurate. If we simply relied on the advise of our lawyers, I think we would have definitely ran into complications at completion date!

These are to me, pretty amateur schoolboyish kind of mistakes, which i certainly do not expect from a lawyer. But oh wells, at least the transaction is coming to a close.

Review : M3 Studio

Finally had the chance to meet Montie from M3 after waiting for around 2.5 weeks. Overall feel from the quotation is that his per foot run prices is cheaper, even though he gave quite comprehensive quotes, including cushion coverings for the carpentry quoted (ie: headboards in cushion covering), blum closings incorporated etc. Although i suspect his per foot run is cheapest is because his was the only one (out of the 11 we met), who directly charged us $1,500 for design fees, instead of taking a mark-up from material costs like other IDs.

He also captured our preliminary themes in a mood board that he showed us (although i think he had the advantage of us emailing him some concepts of what we wanted - well, he was the only one who asked us for it).

Close to finalizing our IDs after meeting some of them 2, 3 times. I guess for the IDs finalized, the cost is more or less similar, so stay tuned!

Fengshui Audit

While waiting for keys collection, we also engaged a fengshui master to perform a house audit. After searching around, we decided on Master Edwaard Liu from The Classical Fengshui.

So the conclusion was that the house fengshui was ok, he gave us guidelines on what colours to use for each area of the house. The headache part was that the living room can only be of Fire and Metal elements. (that is, white, red, pink). 

Wood is a no-no, which is why our original idea of a wood theme house is off.

That also means that we can save a bit from having timber decking on the balcony. Guess we will stick to wood tiles instead.

He also suggested for an amethyst cave to capture the 'qi' in the house, and other recommendations like which windows to keep open for the wealth 'qi' to come in.

In any case, once we selected the ID, will pass on the Feng shui recommendations to the ID to work out the design.

Once the 3D drawings are out, he will also provide his opinion on whether the designs are suitable as per his recommendations.

Now, looking forward to confirming our ID!

Shopping for IDs

With the floor plan, and key delivery end August, it's time to shop around for interior designers. Additionally, we also approached 2 contractors, since the requirements is quite clear cut. Hence the past few weeks have been very busy meeting several IDs.

1. United Team (Desmond):
One of the first few we met. Comes across as dependable, managed to get most of what we are looking for. In our 2nd appointment where he provided the quotation, he gave a 3D drawing of our bedroom 2 (the one with the study and platform bed) so that we can visualise better. He also suggested sealing up the 3rd toilet to make space for a storeroom. Something that did not occur to us before. However, we will probably not adopt that idea - given that we prefer if the helper have her own private area in the yard and kitchen, so it is important for her to have a private toilet.

2. Design for Space (Andrew):
A plus for him is that he renovated a unit in our same block before, so he is well aware of the unit's space and orientation. He also highlighted the hot afternoon sun, which demonstrated his familiarity with the project. However, felt that we cannot clique well with him, so we did not proceed with him. His presentation of the space layout also did not appear impressive, and we were not entirely sold.

3. Unity (Wynn):
One of the most 'ID' feel interior designer that we met. She spent the most time explaining her thoughts to us, and sketched a few designs on the spot when we discussed our requirements to her. Felt that she has a lot of ideas in the initial meet-up, but took a bit long to get back to us for the quotation. Also, the quotation was a bit inaccurate because of the measurements she took from the floorplan, and needed some correction here and there.

4. Fortuna (Mr Goh - Contractor):
One of the 2 contractors that we met. Within expectations, it was a straight forward meeting. Provided the quotation promptly on what we told him we wanted. Cheaper (slightly) than the IDs quote, but felt that the slight difference of about $1k to $2k wasn't that significant though, to justify the 'design fee' that we will incur for the advice on themes, colour coordination, design advice, furniture shopping, light shoppings etc.

He also mentioned that he would project manage everything, similar to what an ID would do.

5. Woodplus (Derrick):
Plus point is that his company has a good strength in carpentry works. Understands that he seldom does residential except for referral business as he concentrates on commercial projects. Also has a kind of ID feel (feels creative). Also very proactive in following up with us, informing us that he is overseas hence expect some delays etc. Also followed up with us after he sent the quotation over too.

6. Space Atelier (Jonathan):
Met him and discussed the requirements. Did not come back with quotation. We took the position of a RFP - if someone did not follow up, we also would not too as it shows that they are not interested in earning our money. So I guess Space Atelier is automatically out of the running already.

7. Teck Lee Seng Renovation (Junxiong):
2nd contractor that we met. No response back after initial meet-up. Same as Space Atelier, written off. Disappointing as he came with recommendations from our friends who recently engaged him to do their house.

8. Inside Living (Michael):
Came across as a dependable ID, and provided ceiling plans, and quite a good space layout idea.

9. The Carpenters (Daryl and Yvonne):
I think we got one of their junior designers. We walked into the showroom without any appointment, and they got assigned to us. To be fair though, they provided their own design ideas in sketches to us as an alternative, which is more than what most of the other IDs did. However, we did not get the confidence that they can handle our renovation. Hence probably giving this a pass.

10. M3 Design (Montie):
Another ID with a very designer feel. However, he needs 3 weeks to get back to us with a quotation, so still pending for a 2nd meet-up to hear his ideas. Will update again.

11. The Interior Lab (Matty):
A very practical designer. Suggested 2 things to us which no one has raised before.
(a) for us to use wood tiles for the balcony as it has lesser maintenance requirements and slightly cheaper. The drawback is that the feel when stepping out to the balcony is that of tiles, instead of wood. However, this turned out to be a good idea instead - which i will explain in another post
(b) for us to do away with the curtain pelmet. This would allow for a higher ceiling height feel, and wouldn't affect the visual effect much.

Brick and Mortar

As the unit was bought as-is where-is, had the chance to view the actual unit prior to purchase.

From here, i learnt that buying off the plan is called a 'sub-sale', whereas buying an actual unit is 'resale'. Well, tiny nuggets of knowledge here and there.

The lift opens...

Opens into the living/dining area

When i close the sliding balcony door

Empty room pictures here:
Master bedroom

Bedroom 2 - this is where we will probably build extra storage (platform maybe), study table with top-hung cabinets. The intention is to convert this to a guest cum storage area.

Bedroom 3 - nothing to be done, except to cover the bay window with either laminates or solid surface

Kitchen - all done up - nothing much to be done.

When i get tired from washing the dishes, i supposed i can take a break looking through the window

Comes with the standard washer/dryer combi from Brandt

It also comes with De Dietrich fridge, hobs/hood. microwave oven and wine chiller. Saw some easy to make paleo recipes, think it's a good chance to try next time

A pool that has a vending machine - not sure how much i will use that (the vending machine that is!). At least there is wifi available throughout the pool and gym area. So I can actually sunbathe and surf net