Showing posts with label Maison de Joie ♥. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maison de Joie ♥. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Reno Diary - Lights, Shine Lights P1

In home renovations, electric works are quoted separately for these are largely dependent on how much electric works you want to carry out within the house. We first met up with the electrician our ID works with, but his quotation were beyond our budget. Henceforth, based on Leecher's friend recommendation, we engaged another electrician who gave us a quote that was within our budget and able to cater to all our requests *yippee* He's flexible and delivers work promptly. Even when I had to make him adjust the front door light 3 times, he did it without charging us extra. 

He was like a magician, able to conjour things out from nowhere. When the WIW was all ready, I noticed that the power point that was supposed to be embedded in the cupboard was missing. So, we called him up and asked him if he is able to put a point inside the shelves. We also explained to him that we understand that the shelves and cabinets were done, so if its too difficult, just forget about this point. He simply said "put a mark on the cupboard on where you want the point, I'll fix it". The next day, when we came over, WOOLA, the point was there and most importantly, the point is working :) 

Now that I've finished gushing about Edwin, let's start the reno journey of "Lights, shine lights"

Discussion Stage

We met up with Edwin, to discuss on the electric points around the house. HDB only provide 4 electric points in the whole kitchen. Sometimes, I question the mentality of those in charge of designing the flats. We've heard stories in other estates whereby there's a designing flaw in the windows, such that only 1 particular brand of aircon is small enough to pass through. I wonder if its a conspiracy, haha! Anyway, we've decided to add more points in the kitchen, to cater for future use. Edwin immediately whipped out his red marker and began taking notes on the wall.

Measuring the dimensions of the points, so he knows what materials to get.

Work in Progress  
Fiddling with the main switch board.  When we arrived at the house 3 days later, majority of the wiring has been done.

The front door light point, which I've got him to shift it 3 times, haha! The hanging lamp took us quite a long while to search for it. I was on the verge of giving up our theme when we finally located the lamp in a lighting shop!

TV console & living room light points.


Adding more switches, to cater for fan & lights in living/dining area.


Switches for the kitchen/service yard, concealed under the beam that we constructed.



Shifting one of the original switch to another location.


WIW point, which I've also made him redo it twice, opps!


We changed to surface boxes in a corner of the kitchen, for Edwin said it would be a tedious process to use back the default flat panels provided by HDB. That would include taking out the surrounding tiles, putting the box inside the tiles and re-layering the tiles again. To save the hassle, we stick to surface boxes which is easier and less costly as well.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Reno Diary - Aircon Piping & Installation

Initially, I didn't want to install aircon in our house as I'm scared of cold. Yes, I can stand heat, but would cringe at the slightest drop in temperature. Whenever I travel, the first thing I'll do upon check into the room is to adjust the aircon temperature to 25 degrees Celsius. On the other hand, Leecher was all in favour for installing, so I had to give in and let him install his aircon.

Piping

 
 
The wires and coil for air con. Leecher reckoned that we won't be switching on air con that frequent, it would make more sense to get the non-inverter unit. I've heard that nowadays, there are no more non-inverter units left in the market, so potential buyers please take note. 

 
 The aircon trunking can't be hidden and its quite an eye sore. I guess you just have to live with it and as time flies, you won't even notice it anymore. 

 
Drilling a hole in the wall for the wires to be connected outside. 

 
Work is done for the day, wires all tied up.
Installation

The aircon unit has arrived and the guys were busy setting it up. 

 
Testing the system to make sure that everything is working.

 
Since Leecher wanted to install the air con, he has to pay close attention on the demo of how to clean the unit! That's the price he has to pay, :P

Monday, August 20, 2012

Reno Diary - Aftermath of Hacking

Some of you have asked me about the reno updates *guilty face* I've not forgotten about it, just that the pictures are all over the place and I need to get that sorted out for the complete journey. My working table has shifted out from the study room to the living room and the pile of to-be-cleared-stuff is stacking up at an astonishing speed! I think Leecher is secretly pleased that he has one less room to clean up, lol! So, I took the long weekend to clear up the pile of work on the table and also, sorting out pictures for both Swirl & this blog.

The last update: hacking of walls! So here's the after pictures. Don't the place look bigger now? :)

We now have a bigger kitchen and more light in the house :)

Wires that were concealed inside the wall.

Opening for our walk-in wardrobe, we decided to push part of our WIW into another room, so we have more space in the master bedroom. It's a pity that houses have shrunk in area over the years, but prices are skyrocketing!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Reno Diary - Shortlisting Designers P2

Lots of my peers have reached the age whereby we are all embarking on a new journey in our lives - getting engaged/married, buying the love nest and renovation. Now that I've penned down our wedding journey (minus the honeymoon trips), time to pen down our journey of building our love nest together. Posts will be consolidated at the side banner under "Maison de Joie" for easier reference :)

The most difficult part in the reno process is selecting the designers/contractors that you want to work with - for each individual has their own preference/expectations. A designer that works for you may not meet the expectation of another. Leecher's colleagues were so helpful & passed a lot of contacts to us. I did my homework via the net and chanced upon a forum post posted by a guy - which pinpoints exactly the feelings of a young couple's renovation process! Call it my utlra-accurate 6th sense, I felt that the designer mentioned in his post was the designer that I've been searching for.

Armed with the contact details, I called up the designer & we arranged to meet up for a discussion. It was a pleasant meeting & they were extremely interested in our cottage concept, for it was something they didn't attempt before. At the same time, we went to meet other designers, but nothing came close to what they can offer or the interaction that we have with them. Henceforth, the choice was pretty obvious. We signed up with Inside Living Pte Ltd, entrusting our love nest reno in the arms of Jessie & Merane.

*picture extracted from their webpage

Inside Living Design Pte Ltd
195 Lavender Street,
#01-02A Eminent Plaza,
Singapore 338758
Tel: 6292 0811

Monday, August 29, 2011

Housewarming Party!

Housewarming party this wkend! Those who have gotten the invite, please rem to RSVP :)
Time to take out the mops and cleaning cloths, haha!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Reno Diary - Hacking of Walls

Our designers applied the permit to carry out renovation works at our love nest. The workers came by on 20.12.2010, Monday. As I was ill in bed, I couldn't witness the hacking of walls. Thankfully, dent dent was in Leecher's custody and he took a video of the hacking and some pictures, so I would be able to experience it "onsite".

The workers were fast and precise, hacking down the walls (dining and bedroom) all within one day *salute* Leecher had a go at their hammer and he couldn't take it after 2 shots o.O

More updates to come, but as for the final results - we're keeping it a secret :)

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Reno Diary - Aircon

We met up with the aircon guys, recommended by our designers at our love nest, to discuss on how to place the aircon in each location.


This is for the first bedroom

Second bedroom

Lastly our Master Bedroom. We were quite appalled when the Aircon guy just took out his pencil and starting marking our beautiful new white walls. But our ID assured us that the drawings will not be visible after painting.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Reno Diary - IKEA

The favourite place for many young couples... ...

This is especially so for the theme that Blamer and I decided on.

A must for Blamer before we start our browsing.


Value for money hotdogs!

I wonder why this photo was taken, is it to capture the cupboard behind?

Exploring their cupboard compartments. Actually, I find that Ikea does have very innovative concepts for their home furnishings. A pity their quality is questionable for big items.

Totally love their soft closing cupboards. More reno related post coming up!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Reno Diary - Shortlisting Round

We've shortlisted a few ID firms based on referrals, reputations in the various forums. Next, we had to meet each ID in person to discuss on the requirements of the love nest.

One of the shortlisted firm was located @ UBI Techpark, quite a long walk from the MRT station.

Leecher, all dressed in white.

At the bus stop waiting for the bus. We realized that after each ID session, we gained more insights as to what we want for the love nest. Thus, it's all down to the quotes that they present to us & also, which ID we are comfortable with.
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