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3 kids all squeeze into 1 room https://qanvast.com/sg/articles/familys-executive-apartment-in-tampines-gets-a-staggering-sgd325k-reno-2944 Family’s Executive Apartment in Tampines Gets a Staggering $325K Reno No expense was spared in this lavish home, where even the tiniest detail was chosen with great care! Going into a renovation, most homeowners tend to have a fixed budget – for resale flats, that usually hovers around $40,000 to $80,000. But for the homeowners of this executive apartment in Tampines, their desire for a spacious, luxury-themed home culminated in a home that cost a whopping $325,000 to renovate. “The owners actively made the choice to upgrade their materials,” says Shawn, the designer from Style Elements Studio. “Some of them – like the large-format floor tiles – are about $800 a piece, while the laminates we used are triple the price of regular ones.” This renovation, however, isn’t just the sum of all its materials. From embedding rockwool within the ceiling to customising doors, cabinets, and even mirrors, every element in the house was was carefully curated by the owners and designer – all in the effort to create the desired lavish home. To see how the house turned out – and to learn about the design process – we got Shawn to tell us more! Shawn (S): This home belongs to a couple and their three kids. They were previously staying in a 4-room BTO flat – and as we know, BTO flats are very small, so they lacked space and wanted an upgrade. For the new house, they had quite specific criteria – like having distinct living and dining spaces, an entertainment room, and so on. So, they had a rather different house-hunting approach – after seeing one they liked, they’d immediately consult me to ask if the layout could incorporate what they wanted. This was pretty helpful actually, because to designers, the layout is quite important. Before this, the other houses they looked at had odd layouts – the kind with the kitchen and living room in the middle, and the bedrooms on either side, which isn’t really ideal. Eventually, we agreed that this house was best. They fell in love with the space and location, and for me, I felt that the layout had a lot of potential. On planning the renovation S: To me, renovations aren’t just about the budget – it’s about the concept that the clients want to achieve. Technically, I can renovate any house within a given budget, but that limits the material choices for the clients, which may not be what they like. So, I tend to be very transparent with my clients, where I’ll educate them on the different materials and their prices to fit a client’s expectation. I was glad that my clients understood that the materials they wanted were more expensive than average, and were willing to pay more just to achieve their desired aesthetic or quality. About the dining room S: The husband has always been an avid collector for Bearbrick figures – he used to keep his collection in his office since his old house was too small. Since he hosts quite often, we saw the dining room as a potential area to show off his collection, and gave him the space he needed to do so. Other than that, I think the large-format homogenous tiles stand out. I selected 1.5m by 1.5m tiles, which are sizes that are usually only used in commercial or landed properties. Of course, they’re more expensive than your regular tiles – and on top of that, it takes about 2-3 workers to layer it on, so there’s a high labour cost as well. We also used epoxy grout, which is more resistant to fading and discoloration than regular grout. They’re very hard – you can’t just use a pen to scrape it out. You won’t have kids accidentally scraping them out with their toys. Oh, and all the laminates are from Lamitak’s Protak series, which have antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-fingerprint properties.They’re triple the price of regular laminates – but we figured that this was a worthy investment since it keeps the space clean for the children, and reduces the need for clean-up. On renovating the living room S: Since the dining room was designated as the husband’s area, we designed the living room more for the wife. She likes the luxury theme, so we thought it was fitting to create the TV feature area out of bookmatched quartz, with a bottom console made with quartz of a matching colour. All the lights in this house are from Sol Luminaire, who only supply warm lighting. So, behind the TV feature area, we put up a copper-tinted mirror – which complements the warm lighting better than a regular mirror, and adds a cosier vibe to the space. As the owners are fond of fluted panels, we erected a wall with this design to conceal the bedroom and entertainment room doors. From my perspective, I see it more as a way to contain everyone within the communal area – I guess you could say it separates the public area from the private. About the kitchen S: Compared to the rest of the house, I think the kitchen design was quite straightforward. There’s a lot of natural light coming in from the kitchen, which I wanted to take advantage of. But at the same time, the clients brought up a Chinese superstition that says we shouldn’t be able to see the stove from outside. So, the natural choice was to use a fluted glass door. We had it custom-made as there aren’t a lot of choices out there – and honestly, it was a really long wait, because it took six weeks from fabrication to installation (laughs). Regular HDB kitchens use wall tiles, so I wanted to go against that. I used outdoor weatherproof paint – which doesn’t absorb oil, grime, and cooking smells like regular paint does. The wooden area you see is actually a niche. Rhythmic flow is important to designers – if the whole area has a similar colour theme, it’ll be overkill. This way, there’s a smooth transition between the marble, the black sintered stone surfaces, and the wooden tones, all of which complement one another. About the entertainment room S: The couple loves singing, so we needed to soundproof the area to avoid complaints from the neighbours (laughs). We embedded rockwool within the ceiling and fluted walls to dampen the sound. If you noticed, the room looks smaller than usual – it’s because we had to make the walls thicker to accommodate the rock wool. Since there are a lot of elements in this room, we had to find ways to accommodate everything while keeping the space neat. The cabinet next to the SMEG fridge is actually where the subwoofers are – it has a customised door with a perforated bottom half and a top half covered with black-tinted glass. This way, it helps to reduce the visual clutter, while still allowing infrared connections to pass through. About the master bedroom and ensuite S: The wife wanted to incorporate more marble designs in the master bedroom. I was against this at first since the rest of the house already features marble – but as she really wanted it, I counter-proposed using marble-look laminates as accents around the fabric headboard. The his-and-her bedroom wardrobe was another thing the couple really wanted. Creating it was a bit challenging as we had to ensure there was enough walking space – if you realise, the wardrobe is slightly angled to ensure that they can walk to and fro comfortably. Oh, and fun fact: this wardrobe is four times the usual length of a HDB built-in wardrobe. Typically, they’re about six to seven feet, but this one is over 24 feet! I think it takes up almost the whole wall – which, in a way, looks more luxurious. Like the bedroom wardrobe, the master ensuite features his-and-her sinks. They’re integrated sinks made out of Quartz stone – I never really liked the regular freestanding sinks as their silicon edges are prone to mould. Also, the mirrors were a challenge to obtain. They’re not the type that you can just buy off the shelf – I had to look around to find someone to fabricate them. I think I took about two weeks just to find the right supplier. To sum up S: This house was renovated around October last year, and like a lot of 2021 renovation projects, it was affected by the pandemic – I know it sounds like an excuse, but it did affect manpower and logistics. There was a lot of back-and-forth between myself and the contractors, and I made sure to be as detailed as possible to minimise misunderstandings. Actually, I’m not really sure what else to say about the house without sounding cliche (laughs). I understand that the renovation price has piqued people’s interest, but from a designer’s perspective, all I wanted was to create a home that my clients are happy with. To me, it was more about educating the clients about the different materials out there, and letting them make the choice. And if they’re happy with what they chose, then so am I!

Hi All I am trying to remodel my bedroom with the hidden wall bed type of furniture. Any one here have these ?. I need to know its advantages and disadvantges. Do share your experience.

Hello all, Any good recommendations for shops selling wall paintings ? Walls on my living room is pretty empty and would like to add some colours to it. Not looking for those masterpiece painting. Budget about S$200.

My parents condo unit is leaking water badly in recent days. The water is coming into the unit from the cracks in the corner of the bed room is so bad, one full pail of blackish water accumulated in rain of yesterday when I went to check at 6pm. Complained to the management. They said the outside wall no cracks, so cannot be from the wall. The exterior hired contractor did the water test on one other unit above(who also faced water leaks into unit) and and the contractor dared to claim the wall is not the problem. The contractor claimed the water leaked into the window frame of the unit above and somehow leaked thru the crakes in the concrete to the unit below. This contractor really know how to taichi their responsibility. This same contractor was paid close to $1mill by the condo to patch up all cracks and repaint the condo in 2011. So now the warranty period the same contractor tried to taichi the problem away, and the joke is the management also kena hoodwinked by them. The contractor told the management to ask the window manufacturer how to seal up the water drain holes on the window frame, as the leaks happen due to water accumulate in the frame! If the water leak is around the window frame, then it's may be from the windows. But the leak is coming from the ceiling concrete cracked line(visible cracke lines in the ceiling concrete). Still the contractor insist that my parents ask the upper floor uniti to test water on their window frame to identify the water leak. I heard what my parent told me........I was stunt. Any one here is waterproofing expert? I need to patch up the cracks in my parents unit ceiling and wall. I need some expert that can apply pressure injection expoxy into the cracked lines into the concrete. To stop the water leakage. I don't care about the outside wall cracks as no-one believed the water came from the cracked outside wall n hard to identify the cracked outside wall because a fresh coat of paint was applied to the entire estate in 2011 reprinting exercise. Any one can recommend a expert ceiling crack repair expert?

Another high-performance car has been spotted in a crash while going at a good speed. Our latest post shows a Black Renault Megane RS going at a decent speed before losing control while stepping on his brakes. e166fed5-f4f3-4fbc-b00b-9de415dbd071.MP4 From the video, we can see that the driver was trying to avoid the road works in his lane but curiously, the car seems to have malfunctioned while he was on his brakes. If you looked at the video carefully, you could see straight black lines on the road, indicating that the tyres locked up before he slammed into the left side of the viaduct before bouncing across into the opposite barrier. While it did seem like the Megane was at or slightly above the speed limit, the crash is quite a mystery to us as under normal circumstances, there is more than sufficient space to stop or avoid the roadworks. What do you guys think? Could it be a brake failure, tyre puncture or a case of the driver falling asleep at the wheel? Let us know in the comments below!

after US ...now Malaysia … The leaders of Thailand and Malaysia agreed on Friday to boost security cooperation and consider building a border wall to combat transnational crime and smuggling, an idea that appears to be gaining popularity elsewhere in the world. People-trafficking and the smuggling of contraband, including drugs and petrol, have flourished along the Thai-Malay border for years until a crackdown by Thai officials on human traffickers caused some of the routes to shut down last year. Analysts say separatist insurgents operating in Thailand’s deep south use Malaysia as a base to launch and plan their attacks. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters that security remained “a very important matter” for both countries and there was an agreement to step up intelligence gathering and sharing to rein in cross-border terrorism. “We both face security issues including the fight against terrorism, human trafficking and illegal smuggling, that is why we need to address these issues seriously,” said Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. Najib said both sides had discussed the construction and extension of a border wall but details remained to be worked out.

last night during our weekly gathering, my uncle told us my cousin moving into her new BTO flat. she got an installer to come to her flat to fix up the flat TV on the wall. however, when the installer came, he told her cannot .... and then he knocked on the "wall" and it turned out to be hollow !! as such, he explained it will not be able to sustain the weight of the Tv over time. in the end, he installed the bracket on the outlining solid wall instead of the partition inside the flat. anyone else got new flats and the "walls" inside the house separating the bedrooms are plasterboard walls ?

Hi Need advise. 1st time hack wall for my new home. Quite extensive hacking.. total about 3 pieces of wall gone liao... my neighbour a few units away (not immediate left or right or below), complained due to the vibration effects of the wall hacking, his wall tiles in his kitchen has damaged. I saw the damage and a small crack. I am wondering whether such things can happen? the owner happen to be ID so he has explaining that this is quite common... I am just concerned whether i am being ripped... anyone has such similar experience?

Penang Heritage City - a fitting title bestowed to this fair island. It is now part of UNESCO's World Heritage Cities Program. I know that most of us associate Penang with the beaches, the iconic Penang Bridge and its glorious food. However, the capital city, George Town, has the most number of pre-war buildings in all of South East Asia which are still intact. That is why, the island is known as Penang Heritage City. The place is so rich with history. Since Francis Light drew out the plan of the city, it had born witness to the rise and fall of governments and ruling parties. The city was coveted by many as a strategic and natural port. It was also the guardian to the northern entrance of the Straits of Malacca. Discover the beautiful Wall Murals Of Penang Malaysia, film along the Armenian Street. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfPtqIs1_Uc

Need some advise here from Home DIYers ( and I don't mean people who DIY at home @chowyunfatt ) My home renovation is about 5-6yrs old. At least 2 of the wall electrical sockets are in this state: I think the black stump that the long screw is drilled into broke off at the base. What are my options to remedy this? (mods, I used the search button for various permutations of what I wanted to find but came up naught. Please help me merge into any of the existing thread as you deem fit.)

Have searched under wallpaper, but I guess there is nothing on that..... This may not be very appropriate to ask in car forums, but then again, I am also hoping to get something good by trying to ask..... Okei.... here goes, currently in the midst of renovating my house, but I found that the walls are too boring in one colour and thought of decorating it. We are not as talented as Bryan Wong or Mark Lee in 摆家乐, therefore I am looking at putting in some wallpaper / wall stickers to make a part of the wall look nicer. U guys have any lobang or any idea to recommend?

this is a freaking nightmare for any home owner. luckily nobody was injured. FAQs below. Developer: MCC Land (Singapore) Pte Ltd Main Contractor: China Jingye Construction Engineering (S) Pte Ltd TOP in 2015

Priceless - I drove a Wish and I cannot sing praise on the mpv's breaking braking power. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/car-crashes-into-house-at/1766066.html

Is china great wall brand selling in SG? http://www.gwm.com.cn/en/ This brand specialised in pickup/suv or 4x4 IF yes.. do u wats your comments on this brand? If no... do you want it to be sold in SG???

Good movie lasting 3 hours. Streaming site as below. http://www.movie2kto.me/watch-movies/The_Wolf_of_Wall_Street__2013/10697 Praise me if you like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqMjvVaMsE4 A man who was filmed throwing a kitten at a wall has been jailed for a year. Farid Ghilas, 24, sparked outrage in France after a video appeared online of him picking up the cat and hurling it towards a block of flats. Remarkably, five-month-old Oscar survived the attack. He suffered a broken leg but is expected to make a full recovery. More than 260,000 people signed a petition calling for Ghilas, who is of North African descent, to face "exemplary punishment" for his actions. He was charged with animal cruelty and faced up to two years in jail and a 30,000 euro fine. “He acted with a singular perversity and sadism that has shocked the entire planet,” said Emmanuel Merlin, the prosecutor. Ghilas, who has been subjected to racist insults and death threats since the video came to light, was jailed for a year and banned from owning an animal. Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/farid-ghilas-case-man-who-3110400#.UvD34_mSzh4

I have a slight tear near the rim on the tyre at the front driver side. It is about 0.5 cm deep and 3 cm long. My tyre is 1.5 years old and done about 25,000 km. Should I change the tyre?

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/12...e-rape-charges/ Indian authorities may have promised harsher punishments for rapists. But they could start by looking at politicians themselves. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, a nonprofit organization, authorities have charged at least six members of India

A bus crashed into a wall at the Ang Mo Kio bus interchange on Sunday evening, causing a man in his 40s to suffer head injuries. Eight others suffered minor injuries. The injured - who were all passengers on the bus - were sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The police said they received a call at 6.15pm. Ms Tammy Tan, senior vice president of corporate communications for SBS Transit said they are investigating the incident. She added that the company sent a team to the hospital to render assistance, but they were denied entry. Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/...ospital-2013092

Hi, my front left tyre have a tear on the side wall, the cut is about 1cm big and half a cm deep. the rubber din drop off, still tangling. no leaking, as it has been a week liao, suspect got it when i hit a pot hole in malaysia. Currently, I just glue it back, anyone know if there is any tyre shop that do side wall repair?

Sami chia? Good publicity for the car manufacturer nonetheless [thumbsup] Machiam the Nicholl Highway way Far-la-li crash few years back by the ex-SLA staff... [rolleyes] From STOMP: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sg...rpark_wall.html Posted on 18 Apr 2012 Goondu driver rams car right through wall at carpark STOMPer Avies was stunned when he came across a photo shared on facebook of a car which had apparently rammed right through a multi-storey carpark wall in what seems to be Malaysia. Said the STOMPer: "I saw this being shared on facebook by a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend...well you get the point. "Anyway this driver is insane! "Although the wall looks like one of those pre-fab types with a hole in the middle, but still who would drive like this? "The guy walking at the side might just be a passenger... "Plus, anyone know where exactly this happened???"

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch)

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch)