2 more days to our big day :)

Like what I said on the last posting. This has been a busy week. 2 more days to our ROM, busy with the preparation. Thankfully most of the things has been settle as of now. Going to check in to the hotel tomorrow. Hope everything goes smoothly on Tuesday. Well, here is a quick update on our home reno progress.

We met up with our ID on Thursday at our new place. She checked the room dimensions and condition of the house. No major surprises with the exception that the wall are not very properly plastered. Not as smooth as expected for a 5 year old flat. My understanding is that for new flats, the standard of plastering is that you get a smooth surface wall. Unlike flats in the 70s and 80s, the plastering standard was just so that you do not see the shape of the bricks and cement gap.. hahaha..

No doubt the wall is not as badly done as flats done in the 70s (like my current place) still it not something that you would like to see. Looks like it is another $1500 into the plastering job.

other then the walls, the doors are also very old looking. Horrible looking door knobs with cheap looking wooden surface (not smooth) painting. $200 bucks to change each door. Thoughts as of now is that I would rather spend a bit more rather then to endure the imperfection..haha.. just hope that I do not become the frog in the boiling water.

Hence now total estimated damage going to Intradesign is $37,400. Look towards achieving perfection! Changing every single inch of the house already :)

Our busy last week as a single...

8 days till our ROM day. My dear is off to Hong Kong for business until Thursday. I have a 3 day major event going on before my leave on Thursday. We will be meeting our ID on Thursday at 5pm to see the new flat. And Friday is Dear's birthday plus we will be collection of ROM certs during the statuary declaration (it will be a simple celebration okay dear?) . Thankfully I got my ROM clothes settled yesterday. Saturday, dear will have to go for the fitting of her gown. What busy week for us. Sunday will be the day for any last minute preparation for the ROM. Think we will have a slight breather only on Monday. Tuesday is our big day already. It will be an exciting time for us. Dearie, I love you.

And the winner is.......*drum roll*

After seeing so many Interior Designers, we are proud to announce that, IntraDesign has been awarded the best ID award by BHCC Home Production. It was a tough choice between the SuperBrand and Intradesign, but, finally, our judges after giving much thoughts on factors like functionality, elegance, aesthetics, originality, comfort and reputation, the decision was unanimous. *clap clap clap*

The BHCC home production would like to thank all participating IDs in this selection exercise and hope that they would not take rejection too hard. A round of applause for them *clap clap*

Last but not least, this award would not have been possible if not for CC's continual effort to accomodate BH's tight budget and preferences for certain design parameters. Thank you dear.

Our Future Home

Thou hubby said that this blog is supposed to talk about the progession of our new home..from the planning to sourcing...from pre - renovation to post - renovation looks etc....I still somehow detract from the purpose of this blog and talk about my all time favourite....FOOD....can't help it....

Well...but FOOD defintely plays an important role in building up a new HOME..Let me tell u why...Today is a gloomy Sunday as I was very sick..Was supposed to go shopping with hubby for his shirt and pants and my ROM shoes..but decided to cancel the outing...At 5 plus in the evening..was feeling a little hungry..so went hunting high and low for FOOD....ALAS....no decent food can be found..Mum went play MJ..Dad went out...Left me all alone..Plus sick and tired to go downstairs buy food...sigh..in the end...I settled for an unhealthy cup noodles.....

So the morale of this story is....I WON'T stock up my future home with unhealthy food..even if I buy cup noodles (in case hubby is hungry in the middle of the nite), I will make sure they are those with no MSG..In any case, I promise that I will whip up nice dishes for my hubby and make sure he doesn't go hungry...

PS: But I guess I will still need stock up some BAN food like potato chips to accompany my hubby during his favourite TV program...soccer matches..Potato is a root vegetable anyway...hee

Interior Designer Selection Exercise - Image Creative

We meet up with our ID from Image Creative, Jason, today. Contrary to what people mentioned about Image Creative, the quotation from this Superbrand was not as super expensive as we thought.

Dear dear was teasing me that my opinion sway so easy but I do have to admit I am quite comfortable with Jason. His design was also very impressive, having all the nice features that I like, not to mention the study area and more importantly he has a very beautiful WIW for my dear. Haha...

Looking back at my blog post earlier this week, i will have to take back my statement about not taking branded stuff as we might be going for branded stuff after all. :)

Still I have to agree with my dear, we should not convince so easily and make a decision so quickly before we even see what kind of pricing and design from the "forum-famous" Angeline from IntraDesign.

Looking forward to see Angeline's design and quote on wednesday. Then we will do our evaluation okay dear?

Kitchenssssss

What...A lousy housewife talking about her dream kitchen!! Haha..I have warned hubby that owing to my unpredictable work and travelling schedule, I might not be able to be a committed housewife and prepare dinner for him when he is back from work. But no worries hubby, I do have the intention to whip up nice dishes for you during the weekends. Thou modern, but m still tradition at heart..who strongly believes that the way to a man's heart is thru his stomach..

But environment affects performance...so if only my kitchen is like this: -


Only this kind of kitchen can whip up such pretty desserts!!!!!!!! I really love to bake!!...ooooohhhhhh

Kitchen Top Options

Some ID quoted granite, most quoted solid top. Given the pros and cons, I got my preference already. Dear, see attached and see which one you like okay?

Natural stone such as granite and marble are considered to be the height of elegance and will last longer than most kitchens. Stone, however, is very expensive and requires some care: grease will stain granite and acidic foods such as orange juice will etch the finished surface of marble.



Solid surfacing, a relatively newer countertops material, is quite durable and offers seamless, easy-care surfaces that often imitate the look of natural stone such as marble, granite or slate. Though these materials can be machined with standard woodworking tools, installation requires a professional.



To get more detail on countertops, this website gives a very detailed write up
http://www.keidel.com/design/select/tops.htm

WIW by Alumix

Dear all your pictures all wrong. The one that the 40K will bring us is the Alumix one. structure style, pole system. Very high class, very expensive one. Not plywood that will warp one okay *as claimed by our ID* sure swee one! haha...



You want WIW, i buy loh... at most look like your last picture loh.. *bleah*

As controversial as it can be

Hubby told me that he expected the upcoming quote to be a good $40K..which I am not surprised considering that this layout consist of all the "GOOD TO HAVE" items like my WIW..Gosh..M still at this topic...Well of cos being a virtuous wife..I said that I can forgo the WIW..which I am prepared to anyway considering that a WIW means more space for clothes means more shopping damage!!! So better not also..

Since it is a controversial topic..it means it is attractive in many sense too..Here's why:













Last but not least...this WIW definitely doesn't appeal to me!!!

Dining Table's Fault

La La La...seems like I m in a good mood...But actually earlier in the evening, I had a quarrel with hubby...And since I m the gracious one, I forgave him...It happened all becos of a dining table...Here's the hoo-haa that happened earlier...

We have been sourcing around for IDs lately. And as usual, we went to another ID today. Somehow I got the impression that our dining table is going to be in the kitchen rather than in the main living / dining area. And of course there is a valid reason for doing this..(At times I am a logical person)..The reason is that I reckon that we will spend most of our time in the living room / bedroom as opposed to the kitchen (since I openly declare that I m a lousy housewife), so it is preferable that our living room is spacious, roomy and clutter-free. And when we went to the ID today, my hubby suddenly turn his back against this idea and just agreed with whatever the ID said!! Well, being the gracious me again...of course I welcome new ideas by the ID as long it fits my requirements..but somehow I wasn't happy when my hubby just agree with whatever the ID said without taking into consideration of my fragile heart...=(sobz...So it means whatever we talked about previously doesn't stand anymore.

But overall, I must say I got a brand new feel of how my future home will look like..There are some ideas that we have not tot of previously and so I got a very refreshing feel of the ID. And like I said in my earlier post..the controversial topic continues...my WIW...i would love a WIW..and the idea of a tampered glass door leading to the WIW just sound sooooo classy and "premiumize" (This word just came out of nowhere = means high class / premium stuff) which is so very MY STYLE. Then again..being the practical and logical me...I must still see if the number to put this WIW up is scary or not.. if yes..I think I can just make do with a wardrobe with a frosted sliding door.

La La La...in short..I think my hubby is the most wonderful person in MY world..Just can't wait to spend our first night in our new home together!! Love u honey..=)

HDB completion (aka 2nd Appointment)

Today is our HDB resell completion. Normally most people will be very excited over this day but not us. To us, today is just a day when we go to HBD Hub to settle some final paperwork. No keys, no new house, just got 2 pieces of paper that says we have purchased the flat with effect from November 2006. So unexciting hor. Really hate this type of arrangement. So many things to worry about. Worry about seller not moving out in time, damaging the place (this one not so scare since renovating the whole place), worry about not able to collect our rent, worry about seller not paying for the electrical and water bills... etc etc..
Actually our completion date (actually) is 1 Jan 2007 as the seller is moving out on the last week of December. Lets think it of a good start to a year lor dear :)

53 days to our new flat!!

Interior Designer Selection Exercise - Intradesign

After digging up some comments on Image Creative, we concluded that SuperBrands indeed commands a super price. Quoting their brouchure "Image Creative Design is the FIRST and ONLY interior design company to win the Superbrands Award in Singapore."
We have not received the quote yet but in all likelyhood, think CC and myself will avoided branded goods. Lets see what comes out of it.

However this exercise (at a high class ID) does bring us back to try out Intradesign. We first know of this ID from their website which Carol found. Their designs showcase on their website really goes well with carol's liking. They were placed on the KIV list because I thought they were abit on the high side. But the exercise at Image Creative convinced me that spending a bit more to ensure everything is in tip top condition is definitely worth it. No point being saving a couple of thousand and get a lousy job done. I have sort of resigned from trying to find a cheap and good designer. This designer, Angeline, from IntraDesign is really something. Never seen someone with so many good comments from the forum before. Only thing is that she is more pricey, but a lot of fellow forumer acknowledge it would be money well spent. We will be meeting her tomorrow. :) And yes dearie, Iam also excited to see her just like you do..... (maybe even more excited if she can meet my 30K budget with everything we want... hahaha...)

Interior Designer Selection Exercise - Image Creative

This is our 5th ID that we approached. This ID, Jason, is the same ID that CC's former colleague engaged and is now doing their place. Overall experience with this ID has been refreshing and exciting. He is very experience and used to do Condo design and commercial designs. Can really tell that he is quite special in his designs. A true Interior Designer and not a contractor who tries to be a designer. As for pricing, it is steeper than the previously gather quotes but, if all depends if his designs really impresses us and if the final number will be with our budget.

Also reputation of this ID firm doesn't seem to be very good on the forums. We are quite concern with this matter. Looks like we will have to go for one last one, Intradesign in Bedok North. Their reviews on forums has been spectacular. Nothing, absolutely nothing, but good comments. Find that so hard to believe. The things that is holding us back from getting them is price and the fact that they are so busy with so many projects. Hiyah, dear, let give Intradesign a try loh. We are ISO18000, need at a least 6 quotes. Hahaha..

PS: some very free people from Renotalk.com actually over 10 quotes!! Pity those poor designers/contractors. Then who will pity us if we din get a good one hor?

Introduction to BHCC home production

BHCC home production is the Blog of BH (aka NRAF) and CC (aka CAROLINECHUA, no points for guessing this person real name). Hence do note the different blogger's style of write not to mention content.
NRAF is a typical handsome, intelligent, resource Libra, and like any good Libra, he believes in balance, good faith and good karma. NRAF has nothing to do with Walk-in-Wardrobes (WIW as the woman call it) nor will he ever wear a spaghetti strap and have a wardrobe malfunction.

CC is a sexy, brilliant, humorous Sagittarius. She is a outstanding lady who thinks out of the box and strive to pull a fast on on BH everytime she has a chance. She loves sushi, popiahs and savory wet cooked rice. Most important thing to note, she loves Walk-in-Wardrobes and would need to get one to inspect her clothes in the good faith of preventing wardrobe malfunction.

Me and My WIW

Gosh! What an unlucky day for me. One of the strap of my spag top snapped! Thank goodness I have my cardigan to hold on to the top. Was telling my hubby about it and from here, it sparked my WIW idea!

CC:Hubby, one of the strap of my spag top snapped!
BH: How come so lousy one? Wardrobe malfunction?
CC: That's why I need a WIW, so I can scan all my clothes at one glance and make sure that clothes that fail QC will not be worn!
BH: Trying to pull a fast one again.
CC: Haha

Anyway, here's an idea on how some people do their WIW..

And the debate on a WIW continues............

Sponsorship for our new home

My Dear dear so nice going bring the following things to our new house..*grin*
1 17" LCD TV
1 DVD player
1 wireless set (I buy for her one... )
1 telephone set (Also I buy one....)
1 fruit juicer
1 fridge (Her dad sponsored.... "dear wat size ah?")
1 Jim Thompson premium bin (woman and their bins)
1 Jim Thompson rug
2 IKEA cabinet (from her current room..she says "still new and can be reused!")

:) Dear, go take picture I post on the Blog.. Aiyah.. so late liao.. Dunno how this youngsters got so much time to Blog.. time to sleep..

Our Home Reno Blog

To my Dearest CC,
we will blog all our ideas for our new home here okay? We will soon have a long list of ideas and records for us to refer back as and when we like :) We will also document our reno progress here. It will be fun to see the before and after pictures.

Let me start off by showing off our first LCD TV..hee hee...
BEHOLD...