Kitchen

I haven’t been blogging for a long time. But funnily, I’ve accumulated 9,000+ page views since I started twentyseventhmay.

I guess there’s quite alot of people googling for terms like “Punggol”, “BTO”, “renovation”, etc. A year and 3 months after we first collected our keys, and 7 months after we’ve moved in, we still have neighbours renovating their homes. Yes, we see it, we feel it (dusty dusty!) and hear it, even on weekend mornings. Those contractors sure are hardworking.

It reminds me that my home is new. And I love it that way (though I’m already running out of space in my dressing room). I simply. Like. New. Things.

So here’s a couple of photos of our kitchen. I do have to highlight that… there’s a lot more stuff on the kitchen counters now!!!

Kitchen cabinets in LamiTAK, Mitsubishi fridge from my Mom-in-law, KitchenAid from the husband’s relatives, toaster from my brother, microwave oven from my cousin Sammy and his wife Jasper.

Kitchen cabinets in LamiTAK again, TECNO hood, hob and oven (supposedly Made in Italy or something, some higher-end cousin of trusty Technogas), thermo pot from cousin Sammy and his wife Jasper, again!

So here’s a quick rundown of our thought process/rationalisation:

1) Backsplash – a must have because we were intending to cook pretty regularly. It’s easy to clean, and covers up those UGLY wall tiles from HDB. They… were… pink…

2) Mounted dishrack – we initially wanted to do away with it but THANK GOD I DIDN’T. It’s a life-saving space saver. And I like glass.

3) Power outlets – we requested for additional power outlets. I have a grand total of 8 power outlets in my kitchen. I can’t emphasize how important it is to get your electrical meme planned out. You need to envision how you’re going to use your kitchen. I have 1 plug for the microwave and toaster, 1 for our electric Braun flask, 1 for KitchenAid, 1 for the fridge, 1 for the fan, 1 for the rice cooker, and 2 near the stove and sink for stuff like soup blenders, food processors, whatever. You can NEVER have too many outlets. I can’t remember if I’ve talked about how I’d added 2 outlets at my dining area because I LOVE STEAMBOAT and a colleague of mine thoughtfully reminded me to request for outlets that are of the right proximity to the dining table for steamboating.

4) White cabinets, really? We were intending to cook most of our dinners even before we moved in. It was almost a given. The husband dislikes tao-baoed food and I, myself, am too easily bored by Kopitiam takeaways (the irony is that I can eat toast every single day). We were at first… apprehensive about getting white laminates for our cabinets. But our renovator assured us that it will be fine. It’s really about upkeep at the end of the day I guess. So far so good, glossy surfaces are SO EASY TO CLEAN.

5) Black granite countertops rock. Scratch proof, heat resistant, sparkly and pretty. I got mine in ‘galaxy’. We had to pay quite a bit for this though!

6) Have as much storage/counter space as possible. I have 20ft of top/bottom cabinet storage and it is barely sufficient. Unless you aren’t that hot about cooking or spending time in the kitchen.

7) Don’t be shy to tell people you have a specific colour scheme you’d like to adhere to. Kitchen appliances are the most popular housewarming gifts. To save myself from having to cope with a mismatched kitchen, I stated in my invite that I welcome vouchers. For those who wanted to buy me something (those who are close to you would want to give you something that reminds you of them every single day), I snapped photos of appliances in colours I liked and sent them to my family/friends. I’m such a micro-manager.

8) Plan how you would like to store your kitchen items. Think about how you’re going to move about in the kitchen. For me, plates are placed near to the stove because you never know when you’ll have a ‘I NEED TO PLATE THIS DISH NOW’ crisis. After you’ve finalised your plan, brief your housemates (husband) accordingly and explain to him/her the rationale behind each of your storage decisions. To me, logic is easier to internalise than a forced habit.

Kitchen is such an important part of the house. I can’t emphasize enough. It is extremely important to have enough storage, and have everything the way you like it. Though cabinets don’t come cheap (my kitchen renovation alone cost S$8,000 -9,000 if I recall correctly.) It’s great if you’re starting from scratch – most of my casual crockery are new, in white. I have vintage handmedowns but those are for important occasions and they are all matchy matchy in their own way. You can decide on the appliances you really need and where you’d like to keep them. Some things are used more often than others. And of course, some things (like my KitchenAid) is as functional as it is ornamental.

I wish you all the best in your kitchen-planning journey! I can’t tell you how FUN it is!!!

Regret

Regret is one of the most sinister things on earth. It eats you up, lets you down, makes you feel terrible inside out.

And regret for me, is usually caused by competition. I’m an extremely competitive person, and that’s why I stay away from competitions as much as I can to save myself from becoming a monster. The other thing I utterly, utterly hate is disappointment, the feeling of never being good enough, never being satisfied.

Sometimes I think contentment stems from oblivion to better things. Think… Bhutan.

Comparison = competition.

Ok, so I’ve explained to you how I hate competition because I can’t help being competitive. 3 months after first moving in to our apartment, I’m starting to feel like my home looks. Blah. Like it’s not good enough. All the… ‘why didn’t we’s started surfacing.

I straddle between feeling angry at my renovator and myself. My renovator – for killing some of our ideas to having not been creative enough. Myself – for having not been creative enough and for my scalding sense of self-critique and caprice.

For example, we were settled on a minimalist look, but the whole bistro/café look is growing on me.

After my housewarming party, I realised how I’ve got friends who now have homes that are prettier, more stylish and have more character than mine. Nevermind that I got compliments for my new home, I now feel I could have done better.

I’ve even been neurotic about the housewarming party itself. I regret not having served wine to my friends (though I stocked up on my alcohol) and I regret not having given enough attention and time to some of my friends and relatives.

For someone who prides herself to be extremely paranoid about events-coordination and crazy about glitch-free events, I thought I fell short on the 2 parties.

My Mom has a nickname for me – “三分钟热度” (which means having a brief period of enthusiasm) – which encapsulates my short attention span and tendency to change my mind on things very quickly. I’m not the sort of person who has one favourite colour for her entire life. And thank god my name was given to me at birth, if not, I’d be Jenny one day and Lucy another. I’m just saying.

And sometimes when I’m doing my laundry, I kinda feel sad that the feeling of living in a new home – complete with the smell of plaster, thinner and wood fibre – is weaning off.

Yes, I am proud to be a young homeowner and it has been an indescribably awesome time living with my husband. He is SUCH a good housemate I can’t even begin to tell you. And I love how we’ve created a little world of our own. To be honest, we hardly step out during weekends. We watch our favourite shows, cook meals for each other, invite friends over. It’s good to be a homebody. I feel so comfortable and safe in my own home, and I guess that’s the most important, right?

By now you’d have realised that this blog entry serves the sole purpose of convincing myself that my home ain’t so bad after all. There will always be prettier homes in better locations. On hindsight, I’ve had friends telling me how my home is ‘so Joanna’. Maybe it’s time to stop chastising myself, take a step back and remind myself why I made the choices I did.

After all, my home should be an extension of who I am, not someone else who I’d like to become. Isn’t it?

Our home – living & dining

The husband and I moved in officially on 24 June 2012. Having lived in our new place for a little over a month, I must say, our home decor decisions have proved to be extremely functional.

I remain perturbed by the emptiness of the wall in the living room (that I’d previously mentioned), but, well, I’ve promised myself that I will take my time to decide how I can rejuvenate that space. I’m burning to do some DIY. Whether it’s DIY art, or a collection of frames with photos of us, our loved ones and the things we like. Yes, I will take my time. It’s the last remaining space that I can toy with.

I sometimes regret the ‘Nespresso’ cupboard purchase. I sometimes regret not extending my TV console, having been restricted by my renovation package (6ft). I sometimes am angry with my contractor for having recommended only the basics to us – our home is rather simple. I have to remind myself that our mindset, at the start of our home renovation process, was very different. we were on a tight budget. We were extremely focused on being practical. We wanted a neutral palette with a modern, minimalist feel. Technically speaking, our renovator isn’t at fault – we chose the package, he made his recommendations based on our brief, and we agreed.

I steer clear from saying that I don’t think my home is nice enough. It is extremely comfortable and I love it. But I’m extremely fickle and capricious – I love change. Is it normal to already be thinking about my next renovation project just a mere month after moving in?

The moral of the story – there will always be a cheaper, more creative, better quality renovator/contractor/ID out there. I’m trying to psych myself that it is unrealistic and unsustainable to compare my home with others’ – it simply won’t work. I might regret my choices now but even if I had changed my brief, I would be yearning for something else anyway, anyhow.

Dang.

That said, I’ve received compliments for the design of my home. Most prominently, I am told my home is very ‘me’. Black, silver and white for the ktichen and living area, a decked-up dressing room and some seriously blinged-up wallpaper in my bedroom.

Yes, I have to remind myself that despite regretting some of my previous decisions, my home is pretty OK, having worked on a S$50,000 all-in budget. Including the white goods, renovation, decoration, home appliances, bed, toilet fixtures, curtains, every single damn thing.

Let’s start with my living room.

Living area

Sofa: Hecom

Mirror: IKEA

High-pile rug: IKEA

Coffee Table: STAR Furniture

Glass top for coffee table: Soon Heng Glass

Ceiling lamp with crystals: Azora

TV: Best Denki

TV console laminate: LamiTAK

Curtains: Jimmy Textiles

The TV console (the part where you put your DVD players, AV receivers etc, SCV set-up box) usually comes only with black glass in the centre portion to allow the Infra-red rays from your remote controls to reach the players. I requested for black glass to be stuck on the front of the 2 side drawers as well so that it looks seamless. My brother says the lamp reminds him of ‘Apollo 13’.

The ‘marbley’ TV console laminate was proposed by our renovator. Well, having worked in an interior design firm, LamiTAK was an easy first choice.

Oh, by the way, the photo above was taken in COLOUR.

Living and dining area

Dining table and chairs: STAR Furniture

Glass top for dining table: Soon Heng Glass

Pendant lamp: Azora

Air-conditioning – Gain City

It should be pretty apparent by now that the recurring theme is… glass. Monochrome with lotsa reflective surfaces. The dining lamp is surprisingly… retro.We were obviously attracted to shiny surfaces!

The Nespresso corner

Glossy white cabinet: STAR Furniture

Glass top: Soon Heng Glass

Gold-plated China: Inherited

Plate stand: Spotlight

Nespresso CITIZ: Metro

Candle holder: IKEA

Little heart shaped porcelain box: Wedding gift

Red lacquered capsule box: Courts

Chrome/mirrored jars: Spotlight

Chrome/silver vase:Spotlight

Orchid: EXIM Arts

The plate is a tribute to the husband’s family. A full set of gorgeous, gold-plated China was handed to us. The set was believed to have been purchased by the husband’s Grandfather in the 1970s for over S$700. The set is in almost pristine condition, except for some broken bowls which have since been discarded. Oh, how I love items with a past!

So here it is, my living area. I also have a huge-ass mirror near the main door and a floor to ceiling shoe cabinet in the living (which I totally forgot to take photos of). The photos were taken on a mobilephone, sorreh, no sophisticated shutterware!

I realised I have more things I’d like to show here than i thought. Will upload more photos soon!

Managing expectations

Our home should be done by the end of this week. Besides the ceremonial high that culminates into the changing of our door lock (we’re currently using the communal one from the renovator for easy sub-contractor access), the husband and I have learnt an important life lesson – one that taught us to think long and hard about what we really wanted for our home… and achieving the wishlist without burning any bridges or pissing anyone off too much.

Here’s a chronological order of reno-work progress for our home, since we first began on 28 February, exactly a month ago from today:

Week 1 (28 Feb – 4 Mar) – Air-conditioning, false ceiling, electrical work, kerbs (kitchen, service yard, bathrooms)

Week 2 (5 – 11 Mar) – Painting, carpentry (kitchen cabinets, wardrobe, shoe cabinet, TV console, bathroom cabinet), lighting, false ceiling touch-ups

Week 3 (12 – 18 Mar) – Touch-up painting, changing of kitchen cabinet and shoe cabinet doors, glass work (shower screen, shower cubicle, kitchen backsplash)

Week 4 (19 – 25 Mar) – More touch-up painting, wallpaper, granite countertop

Week 5 (26 Mar – 1 Apr) – Changing of TV console laminate, checking itsy bitsy scratch on wallpaper

You can see from the italicised portions that we are perfectionists. I knew I was fussy about aesthetics but I didn’t know I was that neurotic about it – getting all whiney about imperfections in carpentry work, rehearsing with the husband to make sure he sounds no-nonsense enough to bulldoze our requests through, having sleepless nights worrying how the home will look like. That being said, I was mildly surprised that the husband is quite a fussy person too. He might have been infected by my fussy-bug. It’s not impossible, considering how I’ve been very vocal about my complaints over the past month.

What we have learnt, as owners of our first home, renovating (and paying for) our very own place for the first time, is that what sets a good renovator apart from a bad one is his ability to induce CHANGE. Change in 2 ways – in transforming your home, and making changes to the design and material without additional charges. Having worked with suppliers in my line of work, though none of them were from the construction industry, I know how the ability to throw your weight around and move people is… earnt. It’s based on rapport and the amount of respect the supplier has for you. There are good suppliers and there are bad ones. And there are good suppliers who are better to some over others. The ability to have things sent back and redone is something that we should expect, but not take for granted in a good renovator. I’d been duly warned by a colleague that nothing is perfect – expect a certain degree of variance between what you want and what you get. What’s important is having a renovator that works with you to solve an issue, regardless of the magnitude.

The husband and I had a disagreement with the renovator over our living room laminates. In the end, we agreed to disagree. But he was relenting enough to have the laminate changed, in hope that the carpenters will do a slightly better job this time. I can’t say there wasn’t a tinge of unhappiness when we had that discussion – I was fuming. But the net outcome of that disagreement was positive. If the new laminates arrives with the so-called inherent imperfections of glossy laminates, at least I can say, we’ve tried our best. That’s all that matters, right? (Let’s pray that the laminates will turn out fine.)

I’d taken a number of work-in-progress photos of our new place but am now hesitant to share it online. Simply because the good people who bother to read my blog are probably those who’ll end up being invited to our housewarming party.  Don’t want to kill the surprise!

I promise I’ll post pictures of the new place AFTER our housewarming party. Hopefully it remains in pristine condition.

Before then. PLEASE PRAY THAT MY LAMINATES TURN OUT FINE OHKAY?

False ceilings

The package from our renovator comprised, among other things, an L-box false ceiling that would hold downlights (we intended to have 8-10 of these lights in the living room alone). However, when my renovator went to our place for measurements and light planning, it suddenly struck me that I’d inevitably OD on downlights (image below) since I knew very clearly I wanted a feature light in the living area (before the TV console) and dining lights (above the dining table). I couldn’t figure where to position the downlights in a balanced manner. Ideally, downlights should not be placed in tangent with your other ceiling lights. because, well, that pretty much kills the glowing effect of each light source. My living area is tiny and if I were to adhere strictly to the ‘no tangent’ rule while trying to make sure that the downlights are equally spaced, I’d end up with far too many downlights. Total overkill that’s too clinical.

How downlights look like. They’re very very pretty too, what my renovator called the “condominium-style” lighting (which basically means it looks classy… and expensive), but didn’t work for us.

Photo from lighting-store.com.au

So we decided to have cove lights. We were required to do a S$200 top-up as false ceilings for cove lights, apparently, are more work than standard L-boxes. And we thought, why not? If I were to go with downlights, each downlight holder (without bulb) costs around S$30. 10 X S$30 = S$300. And having downlights means I will have to pay for wiring works and installation for each outlet. Cove lights (which runs in horizontal strips) cost less in terms of wiring and installation and they essentially only require 1 point for each side of the wall you wish to illuminate. Some people frame their ceilings with cove lights on all 4 sides of the room, but I preferred only having them along the 2 sides of the hall so that nothing clashes with my pendant lamp in the living. I’m sure the T5s cost more than normal energy saving light bulbs for the downlights but not enough to offset all the savings I’d enjoy with cove lights. PLUS, I love how subtle cove lights look.

Cove lights!

The Wiki definition:

Cove lighting is a form of indirect lighting built into ledges, recesses, or valences in a ceiling or high on the walls of a room. It directs light up towards the ceiling and down adjacent walls ^[1]. It may be used as primary lighting, or for aesthetic accent, especially to highlight decorative ceilings. Cove lighting is valued because it hides the fixtures, and because it provides a very even, warm light.

Some sample photos pulled off the net so you get the idea.

Cove lights framing the ceiling centrepiece. Photo from vermontpassive.com

Cove lights on 2 sides. Photo from lightsandlights.com

So… here’s a photo of our false ceiling, all ready for the T5s! Our renovator created a recess in the false ceiling for our air-conditioning unit (on the right of the photo). How nifty is that! Btw, the area under the aircon was… plastered too with what they call a ‘box-up’.

Can’t wait to take more photos this weekend! I’m not sure if I’ll be able to capture all the wall colours accurately with my iPhone but I will try!

The BEFORE photos

This is how our living room and corridor (leading to the rooms) look like. I will be taking more photos of the place in all its emptiness before renovation work starts next week. I know, we all love before and after shots. It will be an extremely exciting week… can’t wait!

Below is a summary of ‘augmentation’ work that will happen in the weeks ahead:

1)      Air-conditioning – System 4 (this goes up first)

2)      Wet works – kitchen cabinet base, washer base at service yard

3)      Paint (we selected 5 Nippon shades)

4)      Electrical works – rewiring work, hacking, additional power points

5)      False ceiling and ledges for cove lighting in living room & corridor

6)      Carpentry work

1. Kitchen cabinets
2. TV console (living room)
3. Wardrobe (main bedroom)
4. Bathroom cabinets (main bedroom)

7)      Main bedroom bathroom mirror with cove lighting

8)      Wallpaper in main bedroom

9)      Installation of shower screens in main bedroom toilet and guest toilet

10)   Installation of lighting (3 pendant lights and god knows how many  ceiling lamps)

11)   Installation of hob, hood, oven

12)   Installation of sink + kitchen plumbing

13)   Installation of storage heater and general plumbing works

14)   Drilling, installation of artwork/mirrors on the wall (we need our IKEA purchases to arrive just in time for us to haggle for free installation work from our contractor’s carpenters (which means we will need to decide on what to get THIS WEEKEND)

After our contractor is done, we will have to get our window treatment – curtains/ blinds. Frankly, I’m still undecided. Blinds or curtains for the living room?

And after an insane amount of cleaning up, our non-IKEA furniture (sofa, bedframe, mattress, bedside table, coffee table, dining set…) will arrive. This is scheduled for 7 April. Our contractor said he will finish no later than end March.

It looks like we’re all set to move in by May. But being as superstitious as I always am (PROOF: the pineapples on the floor as seen in the photos above), I will only move in on an auspicious day… even if it means moving in only in July!

Choosing the right interior designer/renovator/contractor

It’s always good to shop around – browse topical forums, post a question on Facebook, ask everyone else who’s recently done up their place for good contacts. But it all comes up to a point where choices, instead of helping you get the best deal out there, gets you confused. Truth is, unless someone thinks his/her interior designer sucked or seriously ripped him/her off, chances are, he/she is going to recommend him/her. If the interior designer is costly, it would most probably be justified with creativity and quality. If the interior designer is cheap, he probably will belch when you ask him to mount a mirror on.

Frankly speaking, what you pay IS (usually) what you will get.

Getting a baseline

That being said, there are instances whereby certain companies are unethical enough to rip you off badly (most of them advertise, you get the drift). Those with strong branding will definitely charge more. It’s simple economics. Price is the perceived value of a product.

What the husband and I did was to speak to 5 firms. They range from one reputed to be super value-for-money, to a ruthless, branded firm. You’d probably seen them on TV.

We asked for the same thing. And the quotes we received ranged from S$11,000 to S$28,000. I know, that’s insane. I used to work for an interior designer who charged hundreds of thousands of dollars in design fees. Well, well.

Interior designer? Renovator? Main contractor?

Every firm has its own strengths and core competencies. When you first get into this whole renovation thingamajig, you’ll realise the world of renovation LOVES USING JARGON. So what exactly are the differences between an interior designer, renovator, and main contractor?

1)      Interior designers (ID)

Well, as the name suggest, they are designers. Meaning they are creative, full of weird ideas, and are probably the ones who’d advise you to hack a wall or two to “open up the space”, “let the light in” or propose you to have built-in structures that will put Pablo Picasso to shame. They charge you for their time. They charge for every 3D drawing they provide. They have tonnes of pride. They are, well, designers.

2)      Main contractors ( Main-con)

Think uncles. Who might smoke in your house. Honest people, no lip service. He’ll tell you your idea is “cannot lahhhh” if he needs to. They are usually the guys interior designers engage, so going to them saves you some money which would otherwise have been spent on the ID’s 3D drawings and other stuff they call “customer service”. Main-cons may or may not provide 3D drawings, but they are the practical guys. They’ve been through more kitchen cabinets than you have held a frying slice.

If you have a very clear idea of what you want, and don’t mind doing a little project coordination and management on your own, it might not be a bad idea to hire a Main-con. However, this would mean that you have to match-make your other suppliers/contractors with him (eg. your lighting guys, your plumbers, your air-con people…). Hiring a main-con would probably save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars that have been costed in for project coordination manhours. But if you can’t really deal with uncle-talk then you probably need a third party patient and accommodating enough to answer all your littlest doubts and entertain all your whimsical queries.

3)      Renovators

They are what I see as the in-between. No fancy designs that will throw you off your feet. Chances are that when you first meet them, they will recommend you the most basic package available. You are free to add in your requests (and your quote starts ballooning…) as the ideas developed. They provide you with 3D drawings and have already built their project management fees into the quote, sometimes as a “package”.  They are cheaper than branded firms. This is not to say that they aren’t capable of awe-inspiring designs, but that’s premium service that you’d have to top up for. If you have a clear idea of what style you want, you could consider hiring a renovator. Where the ID is the one managing the contractors. This way, your requests will be taken in carefully. They usually know what works and what doesn’t. They will afford sound, practical advice for your most basic, foolish questions. They won’t say “that’s not my job” because they’re paid to manage the entire project. Essentially, they are problem solvers. Less heartache, less headache.

Here’s my renovator’s website. They’re ‘showroom’ is located at IMM. http://www.innerview.com.sg/

Simply put, if you know nuts about what you want, have lotsa cash and want a kickass beautiful home, go for an interior designer. If you know what you want, have clipped thousands of pages off magazines and have enough spare time on hand to coordinate among suppliers, renovators, plumbers, whatever, go for a main-con. If you kinda know what you want, have clipped pages off magazines, are on a budget and have no time to play octopus, then go for a renovator. There’s no right or wrong when it comes to dressing up your own home.

The new home.

Owning your own place costs a lot of money. But not only that – turning an almost barren apartment into a comfortable home costs money, time, effort and lots of brain cells. Choices have to be made, preferences have to be compromised, arguments have to be resolved before the renovator decides to act on freewill.

I must say it has all been a rather enriching process. I’m intending to give a detailed, step by step update on how our new home is going to be put together. I remember writing about the decorative stuff I bought earlier. Well, there’s NO WAY I can document each and every trinket I bought. What I can remember vividly are the big ticket items that are important enough to have an impact on my life and our bank account.

We got the keys to our home on 28 November 2011. I’m tempted to do a Facebook timeline of sorts to put everything in chronological order. It’s not going to be easy. Let me give you an example – we bought our Sealy Posturepedic bed in June last year. Our purchases are as sporadic as you can imagine. Yes, we are THAT excited about having our own place.

I’m also going to share as many tips as I can – from picking the right renovator, deciding which laminate for your kitchen cabinets, what colour to paint your walls in, to timing your finances. Make the pain worthwhile, y’ know.

We have an indicative budget of S$40,000 to spend on our new home (sans flooring which came with the house). This includes all renovation work and electrical items.

Let’s begin.