We’re kinda settled in already. Finally got broadband so i can upload more pics.
Everything that we wanted to rectify during the reno has been done and its a great feeling not to have anything on the “to-do” list anymore!
Most of our things are out of the boxes but its still quite messy cos we haven’t figured out where to put everything so the following pics are just from “safe” angles 
Our cool view:
AV stuff:
Foyer/ Bike storage:
Volume table & Daydream chair:
Custom shelves:
Walk-in-wardrobe entrance:
Walk-in-wardrobe:
Walk-in-wardrobe/ ikea drawers:
Walk-in-wardrobe top shelves:
Kitchen:
Kitchen view from the rear:
Mixer/Sink:
Bi-fold cabinets:
Vitro-ceramic hob:
Shower entrance:
WC:
Hans -grohe shower:
Vanity and shower area:
Sleeping area:
Study:
After a whole week of watching contractors come in and out of the place, i’m glad to say its almost over. Just one more job of fixing the vanity sink in the shower in 2 hours and we’re almost done – though the carpenter is still suppose to rectify the tightly-fitting kitchen cabinets sliding doors (but that’s probably next week’s challenge).
Here’s the newly painted study:
I thought i could get away with a week of leisurely unpacking and physically sorting out my life from boxes, but it was not to be. It was more of a watch and learn experience from how to change the light bulbs (believe me its not as straight-forward as you imagine), to how taps work and how shelves are drilled into walls
Some minor reno dramas that presented themselves were:
- Hot shower tap started to leak because plumber did not test it out thoroughly as the hot water wasn’t up and running a few weeks back. Luckily this was fixed within hours so we just lost a few cupfuls of water.
- Cabinet doors are now too tight to slide around because the glass on the wooden door are too thick for the tracks.
- Vanity area glass top cracked while plumber was trying to install the sink so that’s being changed to a solid top instead.
- Dented fridge door was duely replaced for a $100. Whew…
- Curtain which we thought we mis-communicated is now free, and the lady’s doing up the main curtain for us once more.
Free internet at Coffee Bean doesn’t really get up to speed with loading pics, so i’ll just wait till i get proper broadband installed. So for those who actually know me and are curious about what the place looks like, just wait for those house-warming invites coming soon…
In a couple of hours we’ll be hauling ourselves over to the new place to clean it up as best as we can before the movers bring our stuff over in the afternoon. Its been a crazy last day and there are still some outstanding reno items:
- Kitchen top is in today but the plumber hasn’t plugged in the water supply, so no kitchen sink or dishwasher yet.
- Grill on main door arrived today but they realised its the wrong way round cos they based their measurements on the original design, the ID didn’t inform them that we switched sides on the hinge. So off they went grumbling…
- Glass shower screen and vanity sink not installed
- Mirrors and desk not in yet
Frustrations which everybody seems to have when they go through reno, but we’ve been quite lucky to avoid till now:
- We changed the vanity sink once already but the ID never gave specifics on distance between tap and drainage etc so we got sinks which were too large. Finally rushed down to Lookz to hand-carry back a new set today so the glass cutters can cut the required holes on the counter top for it while they were still here. Kudos to Lookz for being very customer friendly.
- Damn glass cutter/kitchen top folks were arrowed to help move our fridge into position and they dented the main door! ID has offered to compensate so that cooled me off abit. Let’s hope the manufacturer can replace a door…
- Study was supposed to be painted white, but in showed up in brown. And the wardrobe tops were supposed to be a mix of white and grey but they appeared all grey. Essentially the changes that we made along the way were not communicated properly so the original specs were presented.
- We thought we ordered a curtain to divide the room but it showed up at the wardrobe door instead. Looks nice though!
Probably will be radio silence for abit cos Singnet can’t install anything for two weeks, unless i do the wifi thing at coffee shops… Darn, no wifi on this old mac 
Hmm, there’s an internet cafe just downstairs, wonder if they’ll let me plug in my mac to their network. Don’t trust public terminals with all those keyloggers and trojan horses lying around.
Anyway, i’m on leave the whole week so if anybody wants to chill by the village and see the place etc just give me a buzz, i’m just gonna be waiting round for reno to be done mostly…
Packing your life into boxes isn’t fun. Let’s hope taking them out of it would be.
Went down to survey the progress after work today. Am quite amazed at the progress.
Just today, they fixed up all the kitchen cabinet doors and internal fittings, the built-in dishwasher, kitchen and bathroom sinks. The audio-visual cabinet was also installed along with the shelving unit built into the roof of the walk-in-wardrobe.
The floor is finally cleared of bulky objects so you can see the whole open layout. Not bad… No pics to show this time though.
The 2 aircon blowers were also mounted, although there is no electricity yet so nothing can be tested.
Keep it up!
The workers are going to be working hard this week! As you can tell from the pics below that its not quite complete yet, but we’re planning to move in next weekend,
so the clock is ticking…
We kinda have faith that they can deliver so let’s hope there are no major roadblocks. Workmanship has been alright so far too, let’s hope this keeps up.
Works to be completed include:
Electrical points
Lights
Kitchen cabinets
Sinks
Aircon
Wardrobe hangars and shelves
Blinds + curtain
Main door finishing and grill
Study desk (new request)
Am liking the new place so far… Even in the hottest of afternoon sun, its not as warm as the current place. Water pressure is also quite strong. Its amazing how we lived through trickling taps for so long. Its the simple things like these that make a home feel complete.
Here’s the previously mentioned shower area mod which wasn’t quite clear. Plan view.
Work has resumed after the long CNY break but it looks like we’re falling behind the plan. Should be moving in about 2 weeks if nothing is delayed…
After 4 weeks of work, this is what the place looks like:
The tiles have been laid and the first coat of paint is up on the walls.
You can finally see what our “L” shaped shower is all about. Essentially we extended the shower stall to include a little passageway in.
The view from the side of the kitchen entrance. You can see our walk-in-wardrobe.
A clearer view of the kitchen. They raised the floor to match the spare room at the back, so now the whole house is just one level ground. Kudos to the team for the initiative! They didn’t ask us about it but did it anyway.
So far we’ve just gone down like twice a week to inspect the work and its been quite smooth so far. Mayne when we get down to the final details there will be some quibbling but so far its been hassle-free. Thanks to the man upstairs!
Haven’t been updating these stuff much cos there really isn’t anything to shout about. We popped by yesterday and saw that the tiles for the whole living area had been laid out. The “L” shaped shower area is structually there and the toilets are tiled on the wall too. Not much of a photo opp cos everything just seems messy. Maybe on Tues when i go there to catch the aircon piping in action during the day, i’ll try to snap a few shots.
I was concerned about usability of the shower area as the current proposal is basically a shower curtain dividing the stall into two with one half encompassing the vanity sink.
I didn’t like the idea of shuffling through the screen every time u wanna take a shower or brush your teeth etc.
So we brainstormed and our ID, Kelly came up with the idea of sealing off the current door, opening a new hole in the wall where the fridge now stands so that there is a little passageway once you shift the fridge up. And we can place the vanity at the side wall and still create a proper shower screen for the wet area.
So it becomes a “L” shaped shower stall like this (pardon my drawing):
Great idea! Now let’s hope the cost impact is not too great.
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