missbakerholic

I am so happy that our house looks nothing like its bare state anymore. For a start, no more plain white walls. And the lights have been installed. And yes, the grilles are up too. Not that I dislike the bare state of the house, in fact, I find it great and beyond expectations. But being able to renovate our house the way we want it to be, the feeling is just so great and amazing.

Colours

We decided to top up a small fee and opted for the Nippon Easywash series. Reason being, I wanted maintenance to be as easy and fuss-free as possible. We were told that for the ‘Easywash’ series, stains can be easily removed and this is definitely pleasing to know. That means no more grubby palm prints on the walls.

For our colour choices, I have to admit we were really bold. Maybe too bold with 5 different colours. Nonetheless and thankfully, they turned out well in the end.

We chose Barley White (8158) as our main (default) colour for the house. It is off-white with a strong tinge of yellow. While it turned out more yellow-ish than what we have visualised, the end product creates a cosy feel and is pleasing to the eyes. I have no doubts that the wood/brown furniture will blend in seamlessly.

Barley White goes really well with the Stream (8137) that we have painted as the contrasting colour for bedroom 3. I really like this shade of blue – while it is a few shades darker than baby blue, it is still bright and cheerful. Whenever I look at the wall, I can’t help but shamelessly fish for compliments from Mister for choosing this colour.

We painted the walls at the entrance and the dining area the colour Zing (8117) which is a bright orange. I read online that the colour orange lifts one’s mood and improves appetite. And I really wish that all our guests will feel happy in our house and have great appetite. I have just discovered that orange wall and warm light is one of the greatest combination of all time. And I’m not joking. It was pure ‘wow’ when we saw both in action for the first time ever.

As for the master bedroom, I would say it feels like a totally different world of its own. The pink and purple walls are so contrasting to the rest of the house. I chose Lightest Lavender (8180) with Carnation Petal (8189) as the contrasting colour. The end result, it feels like a princess’ room all in all.

Thanks to my obliging Mister, who never once doubted my colour choices even when I proposed the idea of an orange wall to him. He was very supportive and even reaffirmed me in those moments when I started to doubt myself and my choices before we saw the final product. Thankfully I didn’t disappoint and didn’t have to spend more money to repaint the house.

Lights

Our neighbours and friends have been raving about Tampoi Lightings in Malaysia for their cheap prices. We were almost set on a weekend trip to grab all our lightings from across the Causeway. Then one fine weekend (the same day we bought our Electrolux products), we came across a leaflet in on the floor about Ion Lightings. Since we were in the East, we decided to give them a chance and so glad we did. From the salesperson Wenlong, we managed to understand the differences between ceiling fans bought in Singapore and Malaysia – hooks and after-sales service. We found that the prices of the Crestar ceiling fans may be more expensive than Malaysia, it is very competitive compared to other local shops. More importantly, there was a suspend light to my liking (although I chose another one in the end). And since we wanted a one-stop solution, we decided to head back to Ion Lightings to purchase the lights the next weekend. Wenlong was really accommodating too. He allowed me to purchase a suspend light and split them up FOC into 3 individual lights for my balconies. He promised me brown base plates to match the lights and he really delivered his promise. He was also able to give good advice as to which lights are more suitable for each area. Since their rates for installation was very competitive, we arranged with them to do the lights installation as well. Their after-sales service was wonderful too. One of our track lights malfunctioned on the first day of installation and they are more than willing to do a 1-for-1 exchange with no question asked. Now the house is all brightly lit up, and we can spring surprise attacks at night now before we actually move in proper.

Grilles

This was something that we debated for a while whether to do it at this point in time, especially when we do not have an immediate need for it. But after hearing all the advices, we have decided to do it now together with the roller blinds and curtains to avoid hassles in the future. Yes, we are very concerned about hassles. Should we decide to do the grilles in the future, they will need to take down the blinds and curtains, and in the process of doing so, there’s no guarantee that the $3k blinds and $1.5k curtains will be perfect. And hence the final decision is, let’s do it now.

We got a quote from our MA-appointed supplier Specs Decor for the grilles (invisible and galvanised steel) and the roller blinds. We felt it is quite competitive as I have done quote comparison on each item with other vendors. And also, since we did the full package with him, he was able to give further discounts after we have confirmed. More importantly, he is able to coordinate his own timing such as a 2nd re-measurement of the roller blinds after the blinds have been installed to ensure higher accuracy.

One thing to commend is their service level. Before the installation date, I discovered that there is a problem with the installation of invisible grilles and blinds at one of the balconies. I immediately called the salesperson Mr Tan and he was quick to respond and did another on-site visit to explain to us the implications. While our concerns were unfounded in the end after the actual installation, I am most impressed with his customer-oriented service prior to the installation.

[Updated on 15 June 2016]

We eventually realised that the invisible grilles were actually subcontracted out to LeHome. And LeHome’s workers cracked a balcony tile during installation and kept silent on their mistake. I only realized it when I went down to inspect a few days later. I immediately complained to the salesperson to ask them to rectify their mistake. Good thing was, LeHome was willing to acknowledge and fix it despite the hassle of dismantling the grilles, replacing the tile and re-installing the grilles. Bad thing was, they created more problems along the way. There were 2 hours late for their original appointment. And for the make-up appointment, they spoilt another 2 tiles during the hacking process and replaced a total of 3 tiles, and scratched my balcony light when carrying long casings to my balcony. Very annoying indeed 🙁 Be really careful when these contractors and workers come by because they do not take care of your furnishings at all.

Coming up with a theme for the house was easy and in fact, it came naturally. Our house is blessed with good natural lighting and this sets the tone for a Scandinavian-inspired theme with white and wooden elements. This also explains the reason for our purchase of a solid wooden dining table eventually. We have never wavered from this theme once it was decided. As our unit came complete with flooring, cabinets and sanitary fittings, the renovation works we have in mind were not extensive.

Scope of our renovation works:
1) A display/shoe cabinet at the entrance
2) TV feature wall
3) Storage bench for dining area
4) Kitchen cabinets in WC toilet
5) Study table in master bedroom
6) Electrical works (whole house)
7) Plumbing works (kitchen sink/WC toilet)
7) Painting (whole house)

What kept us from progressing in the initial weeks were actually our choice of contractor (a story for another day) and the ever-changing ideas for the TV feature wall and the master bedroom. For the rest, once decided, they were never changed.

I was really keen on having a TV feature wall because I always see it as the focal point of the house and I felt having one helps to enhance the theme of the house. While this is not an important factor, the TV feature wall can help to hide unsightly wires from a wall-mounted TV. And I never had one in any of my previous houses and I really wanted to have one when I finally and eventually can have a say. And I cannot be more grateful that my wish was granted in the end. Coming up with the design of the TV feature wall was challenging for me as well. I used Google images and the 3D drawings of the other ID firms as reference, and very importantly, I used a large chunk of visualization and imagination along the way. And I finally decided on the traits of my feature wall. It won’t be anything fanciful, just a simple full ceiling to floor feature wall with wooden laminate and a suspended console.

Our ideas for master bedroom is constantly evolving. Initially, we wanted to buy a mini table (width ~90cm) so that there will be sufficient walking space around the bed. Then after speaking to a contractor, we were sold on a built-in wardrobe/study desk idea, but eventually decided against it fearing that it may be too claustrophobic. Next idea was to build a 5ft study table perpendicular to our wardrobes instead. And that’s what we are sticking to at the end of the day.

There was also the debate on whether to have a fireplace next to the feature wall. Here I was feeling proud and hopeful of this amazing idea and childhood dream but it was mercilessly shot down by the contractor in less than 1 minute. Yes, mercilessly shot down but I will let it slide because he does make some sense on hindsight.

Most of the major defects have been rectified by the developer after repeated chasers in the past week. Our contractor came by last weekend and we have communicated our choice of painting and laminate. Works will be starting this week and hopefully everything will turn out well. *fingers crossed*

We collected our keys last Saturday, and I was so excited that I woke up at 530am and couldn’t fall asleep thereafter. As a result, poor Mister was woken up too and was only served Macs breakfast at 7am. Before that, we bought a $2.50 pineapple from the wet market which we have been looking forward to roll into the house at door opening! And on hindsight, that pineapple which I randomly chose was really sweet!

We sent Father to Japanese class and reached at around 930am. We initially intended to walk around the estate before our scheduled appointment at 10am. But before we could begin our self-guided tour, the MA representative ushered us into the function room and we started the keys collection procedure! Boy, there was some documents/checklists to sign and we got a luggage – a file with documents, a pouch with keys, and a bag of aircon remote controls. We were accompanied by a Frasers representative to our unit. We requested for him to let us roll a pineapple into our unit first and I got a 10sec video of Mister happily rolling it into the unit and shouting “Huat ah!”

The Frasers representative allowed us to have a first peek of our house before he continued with the handover process. We were like 2 excited kids zooming around the house to show each other our latest discoveries like, how we can really see the greenery which we have been hoping for and a larger area of the swimming pool than we had imagined. I love how our house is so bright and airy and we have fantastic views of the forest and the pool! And I can’t stop imagining how our house will look after renovation and I can’t stop thinking about living in the house and cooking/baking up a storm for Mister and the many parties I hope to host!

I can’t help glowing in the happiness that we have collected the keys to our 1st house together. I hope this happiness and excitement will keep me positive and optimistic as I wrestle with the developers on the defects and the contractors on the renovation. The process may not be the most enjoyable, but I know at the end of the day, we will have a beautiful house to look forward to where we will begin a new stage of our lives together!

We have finally made our appointment to collect our keys this coming Saturday! While we are super duper excited about taking the first peek at our house, we are aware of the administrative work that will follow closely – defects checking. My parent’s experience has been nothing pleasant so we are hoping for the best. We are not hoping for nil defects but rather not-so-serious defects which will be relatively easier to rectify.

I have been reading up on blogs to look at various ideas to effectively check for defects. More importantly, I hope to collate the items that we should bring along to aid us in the defects checking process.

Items to bring:
1. Masking/Coloured tapes – to stick on defective areas (coloured tapes help to state the order of priority – red: urgent; yellow: not-so-urgent etc)
2. Black markers – to number-tag the defects for easier tracking
3. Torchlight – to check on ceilings/out-of-reach areas
4. Stools – to check on out-of-reach areas
5. Coins/Marbles – to check on hollow tiles
6. Clorox Tru-Blu toilet bowl cleaner – the blue-coloured liquid makes it easier to identify water leakage during flushing
7. Pail/Broom/Mop/Scrub/Sponge – to clean the floor before checking for defects on the floor
8. Cleaning liquid (e.g. CIF/Mr Muscle) – to identify removable/non-removable stains
9. Camera – to take photos of the defects for recording and tracking
10. HP charger – to check that all electrical sockets are working
11. Spirit level – to check whether a surface is level

Great, now we are all set for the actual hands-on defects checking:

Things to look out for:
1. Flooring
-> uneven surface/uneven coloured tiles especially in corners
-> holes on tiles/unsightly gaps on tiles
-> hollow tiles

2. Windows
-> no cracks on glass windows
-> windows can be fully opened
-> operating window latches
-> no gaps with walls i.e. windows have been fixed properly

3. Cupboards/cabinets
-> no signs of water condensation (lumps on the inside)
-> no chip off
-> doors can be properly opened
-> no rusty latches

4. Walls
-> no cracks on walls
-> no bubbles (i.e. indicative of water leakages)
-> crooked walls (neighbours spotted a unit with crooked walls based on naked eyes)

5. Doors
-> all doors can be closed properly
-> door stopper in correct position
-> no signs of scratches on doors
-> no uneven colour tone

6. Power points
-> electricity can be switched on

7. Water points
-> water pressure
-> water leakage (e.g. around toilet bowls and sinks)
-> flooding (water cannot be channeled to drains)

To be continued.