[Reno Day 26] Table tops!

[16 Aug 2015] Was looking forward to the 3D rendering of our renovation plan; nothing beats watching our design, colour and all, come to life in walk-through pictures. After 1 month of waiting, the pictures we received in our email inbox were surprisingly below par. The colour scheme was there, but I'm sure there's no second INTERIOR DESIGNER who does such colour combos. We should have adjusted our expectations a little.

So we had to roll up our sleeves and get down to flipping through pages and pages of laminate samples to re-select all the laminates and my kitchen top colour.

Anyway, I've received a few blank stares when I tell people that I selected KOMPACPLUS for my kitchen top. To the older generation, granite or Quartz tops are all the rage because of their perceived durability and prestige as high-end finishings. That was tempting, but it wouldn't fit into our Scandinavian theme. So Daren the ID introduced us to a new material choice called KOMPACPLUS, which is basically made of densely compacted paper. PAPER. Would I be willing to fork out the same price I could pay for a Quartz top (yes, they cost just as much) for an alien concept?

I threw caution into the wind.

The Husband left the decision-making for the kitchen top to me, so I decided to go for a dark wood top to offset the light wood and white tones in the kitchen. This is definitely the centerpiece of the kitchen. 

For the other laminates, we settled with simple, lighter shades of AROVA laminates which are easy to fit with each other, unlike the bold contrasts the ID proposed. LESS IS ALWAYS MORE.

[Reno Day 25] Woodworks!

15 Aug 2015 - I hate walk-in wardrobes, largely because of my claustrophobic anxieties. We aimed for a clean, low-maintenance wardrobe with just sufficient shelving and poles for whatever we need to put on ourselves. So we had a brief discussion with our ID Daren, who then proposed 2 simple 9ft-9ft layouts for the wardrobe to flush it against our bed frame.

Anyway, service yard grilles and windows are up! This area is meant primarily for laundry, so it has to be dry, airy and secure at the same time. Any aspiring Alain Robert could easily lobe himself over the common corridor and into our home. 

Oh, and did I mention my displeasure with X'clusiv Home? That's where we were sold this beautiful 3-seater in smoky tan. Unbeknownst to us, they seem to have little regard for furniture that has been sold. 2 months after purchasing the couch and having it delivered (later than the appointed time, as usual), we could see visible scratches which were evidently the result of poor handling. Chip and several scratches on the metal frame, a worn-out plastic leg base... Could only blame ourselves for caving in to their fantastic sales strategy. Oh well, at least it's comfortable. 

To add insult to injury, the delivery man sending our bathroom and kitchen accessories was late, too. I suppose no one really honors their delivery schedule anymore. 

*takes a deep breath* Halfway there!

[Reno Day 11]

1 Aug 2015 - A minor pictorial update on the renovation works. After completing the wall tiling, the next step to creating the Husband's games room would be to construct the glass panels sitting on the half-wall. We had to be mindful of the aesthetic and technical aspects here - air-con conduits have to run on the inside of the bedrooms instead of along the corridor to create the illusion of a wider, cleaner corridor. So a false beam has to constructed to secure the conduits within the room, at the same time creating the false impression of no conduits (no worries, it's not because we knocked down a structural beam. Everyone on the project knows we're suckers for working within the limits). 

Anyway, here's the rest of the wet works: toilet shower kerbs, kitchen cabinet kerb and washer kerb. All done within the first week of renovation! 

[Reno Day 22] Air-conditioning!

12 Aug 2015 - Checked back on our renovation over the weekend. The conduits are up! I wouldn't say that the contractor gave us the cheapest price in the market, but they sure did a good job with the installation. All joints were neatly glued up, the wiring was non-existent and any punch-through done on the walls were sealed up professionally. 

[Reno Day 7] Art and CraftBricks!

28 July 2015 - recall those CraftBricks from Day 4? They're up! 

We had no idea how much effort went into putting up these walls, but we knew it cost us a bomb :p. I love the subtle warmth of the Austin bricks, while the Husband wanted to created a rugged look in the games room with the burnt red bricks.

Of course, what you see here isn't the final product, otherwise where's all the fun?

Done with the wet works, on with the electrical and wood works! 

[Reno Day 4] Arty Farty!

25 July 2015 - The tricky thing about conceiving an idea for a feature wall is the will to continue loving it years after it has been done. Honestly, I'm mildly disgusted by feature walls that scream "I'm an effortless piece the ID managed to sell!"; standard laminate "contemporary" style TV consoles with cove lights in black, red, white or a combination of mismatched colours are my bugbears.

 

So we went with these instead :) I've seen how the off-white Austin CraftBrick looked like, and Husband and I was dying to get them for ourselves. Of course, we always try to do things a little differently. The Husband picked the salmon shade CraftBrick (or so our ID called it the "Burger King" bricks) to create a rugged-looking feature wall for our games room.

 

(Disclaimer: Pack of ciggies and lighter belong to the contractors)

Apparently we didn't know that putting up a CraftBrick wall required so much work (that accounts for a large part of the cost)! Firstly, they have to create perforations on the wall for the first layer of grout+chemicals to adhere to the wall slab.

 

Words say: "Apply chemically treated concrete, white tiles".

A little sneak peek of our games room! Haven't found a creative name for it, but I'm tempted to name the areas around the house after famous football stadiums :)

 

 

This is how the walls look like after they've been smeared with a layer of stinky chemically treated concrete. They will be left to dry, after which the CraftBricks will come up, piece by piece, inch by inch.

 

Stay tuned, because it's only Day 4!