I'm quite reluctant to put up this post, but I think quite many are interested to find out my renovation costs.
The renovation of my house was mainly in charged by Mr Tan, my main contractor. He's an experienced and responsible contractor, with very good workmanship. Except for the carpentry works (see here for the separate quotation), Mr Tan is helping me with all other renovation works.
My renovation cost done by Mr Tan here:

(the above total inclusive of $3,700 for a 3 in 1 Daikin air-con and moving and installing the old aircon to my tenanted house of $400)

Do note that this renovation cost was given last year in November 2010, the prices might have changed. My house is 1152 sqft in total, my wall is at least 3 meter height.
I am very satisfied with the work done, nothing much can be critised, you may refer to my other posts to see the pictures of my house.
I highly recommend Mr Tan to be your main contractor if you're looking for one, it is definitely value for money.
His contact: 96354336 (He speak Chinese, simple English only)
(Btw he has a scar on his face, but he's actually a very nice person, haha!)

How much do you need to revamp your toilet? It might cost you a bomb although it could be the smallest room in your house.
Here is the cost I spent on my master bedroom toilet:

The overview of my small toilet on the side with basin and mirror:

Storage mirror cabinet - $170
Wall mirror from IKEA - $19.90
Baron basin and toilet bowl (promotional price for buying these 2 together) - $330
Water tap - $55
Vanity cabinet with glass door - $600 approx (pls click here for my carpentry quotation)

A closer look on the basin:

I like this design, it is easy to clean and maintain. However, I should buy a bigger one as this is a bit smaller given the size of my vanity top. My advice to all is to measure your top before buying the basin.

A closer look on the tap:

If you think $55 for a water tap is expensive, you're wrong. Many toilet accessories sold in branded shops are chrome, not stainless steel, this water tap is stainless steel, and I paid for its design. Click here for my purchases from Royal Fanco.


This mirror cabinet is worth buying especially if you've a small toilet. I should have bought a bigger one since my wall can accommodate the size. You can keep your toiletries, perfumes, cosmetic items in the cabinet.

My vanity cabinet with swing glass doors:

My carpenter suggested a sliding door, but in order to save the cost, I chose to have this type of swing doors. So far I've no problem with it. You may click on the label of "carpentry" on the top left corner to see my other carpentry works.


Wall lights from lighting.com - $48


This is the toilet bowl I bought together with the basin at $330


Toilet paper holder - $18
Bidet - $12
Toilet bowl offset - $8 (you'll need this to fix the toilet bowl to the floor, measure the hole before going to purchase the toilet bowl as there're a few sizes of the toilet bowl, your contractor should advise you on this)


Double towel bar - $32
Toilet brush and holder - FOC from Royal Fanco


Crizto "i" hook - $22


Shower screen with stainless steel handle - $350
My husband wanted a clean look on the shower screen, thus it was designed without any holder at the top of the glass, but after moving in, I found it not secure as the shower screen is quite big and sometimes when we close the door too hard it would shake, thus I paid another $100 to get the glass factory to fix an iron bar at the top of the shower screen to hold it. You can see the iron bar from the reflection of the mirror cabinet.


Rain shower set (including handheld spray, on-off button etc) $159.50
I forgotten the price for the shampoo holderr, but I think is around $28

A closer look on the rain shower headset:

Frankly, I'm not a fan of rain shower, I shall blog about it in my next article.


Matt finished swing glass door - $500

Lastly, tiling for floor and wall - $2200
I like the colour and combination of my toilet tiles. But if given a choice again, I'll choose a darker colour for the floor, so that stains are not so easily spot.

If you sum up the above prices, the total is around $4600. This cost does not include the hacking cost (I spent $2900 to hack off all the tiles in my toilets, rooms and kitchen) and some miscellaneous items which I do not remember.

All the accessories are purchased from Royal Fanco unless I stated so.

All the iron stuff you see in my toilet are stainless steel, consider the material and the workmanship of it, I do not find my cost of $4600 expensive, especially this is my master bedroom toilet for which the size is bigger than the common toilet.

These are the companies specialising on Invisible Grille:
1) One curtain - Invisible Grille
Contact: David Phua 97222800 / 64451669
Website: www.invisiblegrille.com.sg
Address: 6001, Beach Road #19-06 Singapore 199589
Email: sales@invisiblegrille.com.sg

2) Legate Asia
Contact: Alvin Ng 9691-2925
Email: sales901@legate.com.sg
Website: www.legate.asia
Address: 7030 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5 #02-39 NorthStar @ AMK Singapore 569880
T: (65) 6242 1911
F: (65) 6846 1922

3) E Marketing & Home Services
Contact: Alvin Chia
Address: 61, Kaki Bukit Avenue 1, Shun Li Industrial Park,Singapore 417943
Email: sales@ehomeservices.com.sg
Website: www.ehomeservices.com.sg
T: (65) 8337 1277 ‎


I got Legate to visit my place and quoted me for my 2 bedrooms, but at the end I got David from InvisibleGrille to do my grille for the living hall.
Price quoted by Legate is $12 per sft, by David is $12.90 per sft (heard that price has increased), but Legate charge $120 for powder coated track while David did not charge this, so I find David's quote slightly cheaper and I let him do the job. In total, I paid $750 to do the grille for my living hall window, including transport and labour charge.

Generally, the service from David was good, he had even cleaned the floor and windows for me. He had also helped me patched the wall after the installation and helped me paint the affected area.

There're many points I want to blog about this, I'll separate them in different header for easier viewing but before that let's take a look of my grille:

Do you find it invisible?

Take a closer look


Why Invisible?
Like many, we do not want to install the conventional grille in our rooms that make us feel like imprisoned, I'm glad that there're others who share the same thinking as us and come up with this idea. However, I do not suggest Invisible Grille in your bedrooms, you'll know after reading my below comments.

Is it really invisible?
It is not really invisible, it looks like wires across your window. There's once my SIL commented are those for hanging clothes? Fainted.
Anyway, to me I find it look nicer than the conventional type, at least those 'wires' are slimmer than the conventional grille, and those friends who had myopia do find it invisible...hahah, em.

Is Invisible good?
No. It is definitely not as good as the conventional type. The wires can be cut by wire cutter, thus not suitable for window on corridor and I don't think is suitable for bedrooms too.
Once installed, it is permanent, unlike the iron grille where it can be opened. Thus cleaning could be a problem.
My two bedrooms are installed with the conventional grille, sometimes I do hang my children clothes there for drying purpose, but you can't hang anything on the invisible grille, it'll be loosen. The conventional grille looked more durable.
Besides, do note the gaps between the wires are very narrow, thus it'll be hard to open and close your windows, especially if you're short. For me, I'll need to use a clothe hanger to close the windows....

Costs
It is about twice the price of the conventional grille. Legate quoted me close to $700 for my 2 bedrooms, but at the end I decided to install the conventional type which costs me only around $400.

What should you do before installing the invisible grille?
Clean your windows. Ha, sound funny but mind you, once you've installed the grille, is really difficult to clean it.
Repair your windows if necessary, I did not checked my windows during the renovation, after moved in I realised one of the windows can be closed but cannot be locked, but is very difficult to repair it now as I've installed the invisible grille. Whenever there is strong wind and rain, I'll have to pray that the wind would not open my window and the rain will not get into my living hall, sad.

So, after seeing the above review, will I install the Invisible Grille if given a chance again? Yes, I'll still install the grille in my living hall, as I need it to protect my kids from falling off the windows but I do not want to see myself in the prison like locker. But, before the grille is installed, I'll probably repair my windows first.

In summary, the only advantage of Invisible grille over conventional grille is the cosmetic result, so if you're not so particular about this, why not install the conventional type? Anyway I don't find those in my bedrooms look ugly, you may see below picture or refer to my other posts:

The feature wall is designed by myself after copy here and there from magazines and renovation forums. So, you might have seen similar designs from somewhere. My requirement for the feature wall is again, simple, I don't like complicated designs which waste resources. Example, many times you see those feature walls designed by the ID are with spotlights, spotlights might create nice effect for photo taking, but I can assure you that you'll not on the lights most of the time. So I do away with all the spotlights, or reflection lights, instead, I use downlights on my ceiling which give me clear view and classy design.


My feature wall is full height around 76 sft. For the price please click here.

This is how the feature wall look in my hall, beside my piano. The 2 display shelves above my piano were given by the carpenter FOC.


A closer look on the lamination. I've paid more to get a thicker white gloss laminate as some commented in the forum that for glossy laminate, you can see the wave or curve easily especially if the laminate is too thin.


TV console with sliding door:


A closer look at the workmanship:


Do visit other pages on the carpentry works.

Many had asked me for the quotation, you may refer to the quotation given below. However, do note that this can only be a guideline to you, as my renovation was done in October 2010.
( living )
1.Feature wall with laminate finishing 76 sgft = $1596.00
2.Tv console A/L sdiling door 6 ft = $660.00
3.Feature wall with mirror 41sqft = $900.00


( kitchen )
1Ttop cabinet 8.5ft =$722.50
2.Low cabinet with 14.5ft = $1232.50
3.solid surfale top16.5ft =$1320.00
4.Stainless steel packing 1pc =$100.00

( Bed room 1 )
1.Wordrabe with swing door 7ft =$1260.00


( Bed room 2 )
1.Wordrabe and bookcase with swing door 6.5ft =$1170.00


( Master bedroom )
1.Wardrobe with sliding door 7.5ft =$1500.00
2.vanity cabinet with A/L door and solid surface top 4ft =$680

Total=$11141.00


# white gloss laminate # 0.7mm 1pc =$46.00 ---- 2mm 1pc =$200.00

1. Tv console 1pc =$154.00
2. kitchen cabinet 4pcs =$616.00
3. Bed room 1. 3pcs =$462.00
4. Bed room 2. 3pcs =$462.00
5. Master room 4pcs =$616.00

I have negotiated here and there with my carpenter, the final figure I paid is $11,000 in total.

For pictures on my wardrobe, click here.

For pictures on my feature wall, click here

For pictures on my mirror at the dining area, click here

As you might be interested in getting the contact, here it goes:

Ah xiong +6016 7051751 (Msia) ; +65 81849871

Please tell them you're introduced by Winnie from Hougang for a better quote.

Update:
I'm getting his Singapore contact, I'll be updating here soon.

No, I have a full length TV feature wall with console custom made in my living room, I do not want this bulky fixture in my master bedroom. I want a specious bedroom, thus the lesser furniture the better.
Many people told me I cannot just hang my TV like that, but I give it a try. I get my contractor to fix the power point in the middle of the wall, where my TV will be. My 29 inch Sharp had been mounted there for a year, so far so good, no falling off.


It was mounted on the wall, beside the entrance to my toilet in my master bedroom. A clean and sharp arrangement. No extra space taken.


Even the person mounting the TV for me told me might not be able to do this, I told him just give it a try, and roll up the wire at the back of the TV, as long as I don't see them.


Yes, those wires do get dusty over the time, but who cares? You don't get to see them, and cleaning is not a problem if you want to.


So if you ask me, "Do I need to buy a console in my room? Do I need to build a feature wall?" The answer is no!

I did not post up a picture of my wall mirror but some has been asking me, so here you go the picture, which was taken last year before I moved in.
And here is the recent picture after the wallpaper is up:

My design was a full length mirror, done by a Msia contractor. But because the length cannot fit into my lift and I do not want to pay extra for bringing it up from staircase, I accepted my contractor's suggestion to join it at the bottom by 2 pieces of mirror. It is not noticeable from the picture, and anyway there'll be tables and chairs in front of the mirror, which will block the joining line, thus I think it is also a good way to save my money. (full length mirror is much more expensive than joint mirror)
The size of the mirror is very big, many friends were overwhelmed by my living hall when they first entered my house, credits go to this mirror. So I would think it is a good buy.
The cost of the mirror is S$900 for your information. Click here for the quotation of my carpentry work.

You might be interested to click here to find out where did I get my lights.

The following are pictures of my kitchen when it was renovated last year:


It was designed by myself after copy here and there from magazine. I like the design because it is simple and clean. Initially I wanted to use white solid surface to give it a whole white kitchen, but I decided on black colour, thinking it'll be easier to maintain. But I was wrong!
Never never choose black colour if your key concern is "easy" to maintain, of course you can still choose it if you want to have the "style", but then, bear in mind of the maintainance, why?
Solid surface looks like granite, but it is not granite, it is molded into the shape that fit your kitchen top, the colour of the material is actually yellowish or white. It is very prompt to scratches, a spoon, chopstic, or pot left on the table can cause scratches. When it has scratches, you'll see many obvious white lines, your solid surface will soon be covered by all these lines!
Look at the solid surface what most hospitals are using, they are using white, no noticeable scratches, that's the reason behind......