While the house would take more than just flooring (tiles, vinyl, laminate etc) to create its unique 'character', i personally feel that carpentry work constitutes a major component on how it would eventually turn out to be.
I didn't do much carpentry given its high cost and the fact that i love to move my furniture all over the place and having something permanent can be frustrating at times! Oh, that's my television lying on the floor; a 65-inch that turned out to be not as huge as expected.
Shoe Cabinet
Let's talk about the three locations of carpentry work and first would be the living room where i chose to have a shoe cabinet to fill up the void facing the corridor. The shorter cabinet shall have a cushion for me to sit on when i wear my shoes!
Shelvings were too high for shoes though and Brayden, my contractor from RenoGuyz, had agreed to add in extra shelvings to reduce the height.
Bedroom Wadrobe
Only the built-in wardrobe; in my current house, i had a 2-meter long wardrobe from IKEA and there's no way i am going to settle for anything less! In terms of total usable length, this L-shaped wardrobe is more than 3 meters.
Interior - funny that it doesn't look to be any much bigger than my current wardrobe. I am more excited with the top cabinets where i can put in a lot of rarely-used items; like the board games the Gang of Four used to go crazy for!
Kitchen Cabinets
The place where we cook is the one that cost the most! My total expenditure for the kitchen alone is S$12,355 and i did wonder why i have to spend so much when my best dish is instant noodles; i couldn't even fry a decent egg for breakfast!
At this moment, the granite top wasn't up and the kitchen looked a bit weird like a person without clothes. Anyway, back to the real reason why i decided to spend more for the kitchen; so that my mom can drop by to whip up her best dishes with ease! p.s. and for me to finally learn some of her recipes.
Unlike the long concept that my parents' house has, i selected the above design so that almost everything can be placed ergonomically for a productive cooking session. The short island was included not as a dining area; its purpose is for mom to teach her "students" who can be seated on the other side.
Let's explore the interior! This is below the stove; since my flat isn't gas-enabled, i have to cater for a space for the heavy gas cylinder and Brayden suggested a pull-out tray for easier moving!
Dish rack which would likely be used as a store for hardly used plates after a while. I realised many people would eventually put a separate dish rack next to the sink.
Full length cabinet that concealed the pipes! This would also be the location for my Samsung washing machine (i think S$519 from Gain City) and Brayden had informed me beforehand that the bottom section would be blocked by the washing machine.
Top hung cabinets - i noted something was wrong with the cabinets although i couldn't put a finger to it; it's only when i returned back to my parents' house that it dawned on me. There should be a divider in the middle which would reduce dust collection without the cabinets! The dividers were added at no extra cost.
The only drawers in the entire kitchen! I am only hoping that i wouldn't clutter them up in the same way as my mom; i would lose a few strands of hair whenever i have to rummage through her kitchen drawers!
I was quoted S$200 for this pull out tray and told my contractor i would source for my own; i did and a very normal one would have set me back by about S$300! Needless to say, i have to eat my own words.
Granite top is up! There's something still missing from the kitchen; wall backings between the top and bottom cabinets since i didn't opt for the out-of-my-budget mosaic tiles.
Maybe due to the laminates used for carpentry, the fumes were extremely irritating to my eyes and nose and to address that issue, let's go for a natural remedy, S$6 worth of pandan leaves!
The smell didn't dissipate and the pandan leaves starting rotting! We got moth balls in the end. =_=.
Miscellaneous
Air conditioners were finally installed even though my own aim was more to show you the toilet. As the flat had gone through the home improvement programme two years back, i didn't see the point of renovating both washrooms.
However, i did remove and add in a few things; like the 1.2 meters long stainless steel mirror cabinet that only cost S$165 (inclusive of GST) from Taobao.
Most importantly, a new Rubine heater (purchased from Hoe Kee) and the one thing i really wanted for the toilet; rainfall shower (from Taobao at about S$100)! Water pressure seemed to be okay even though i didn't install any heater storage.
My next love; the pull up bar that's fixed to the wall; again, this was purchased from Taobao.com at about S$26. Very sturdy and can totally hold my weight!
Now waiting to unwrap my 2.36 cubic meters worth of Taobao loot! The biggest item you seen from the picture is my television console! Shall update soon on the picture and price.
That's not all okay; two other big ticket items on the other side of the living room. One is my sofa bed (yes, i actually did that) and the other is my computer table. Excited to know how they look like?! Do check out my future postings under label "house renovation"!