#Selbseries | 4 things people don't tell you about Renovating your resale HDB


For some of you who are fortunate enough to engage an interior designer, these issues may not be as alarming. My Husband and I lucky are to have a friend who's Father in law is a contractor and we got the design up on our own. We also hear that having an ID is really not neccassary, so we thought this could save us some money. We started planning since last year December and at this point we just started hacking the walls and floors. There are still a lot more planning, sourcing and decisions to be made but if I could turn back time, I wished someone told me these things; 

1. Do not get all your inspiration from ONLY Pinterest

- While I'm a sucker for Pinning so many visuals ( coz everything on pinterest looks so yumm ), take the ideas with a pinch of salt. Alot of the images are US or UK based, and they are blessed with high ceiling, tall windows etc. Its quite difficult to replicate the look 100% in our Singapore homes, because the built is different. You may not be able to find the type of lights, furniture or even fancy taps. Below is the Pinned image I fell in love with, but now I cant seem to find a copper bowl =(

2. Hidden Cost

- Do you have to hack the floors and walls? If so, you have to change the water pipes. ( Thats another $800 to $1K ) 

- Do you want to change the position of the lights and add lighting points ? That means you have to rewire the whole house. ( Depending on the size of the house, 5 Room flat can be up to $5K )

- Contractor charge you for labour but you still have to purchase lights, fans, tiles, sink, stove.  Let alone furniture.

3. Getting the structure versus the soft finishing

- Which is more important to you? Making your home look clean, no exposed pipes / cables running on your ceiling and wall? If you are one who likes it all concealed - prepare a Budget. To me, this is ultimate importance because no point having fancy furniture when you look aside, you can see a cable jutting out. 

4. The sequence of events.

This is assuming you do not have an ID. You would need to design your home all by yourself. You have to find out from your contractor what is their schedule of renovating your home.

- When do you need to confirm your design.

- When do you need to choose your tiles and wall tiles.

- When do you need to source for your stove, oven, fridge and microwave. All these will affect the measurement of your kitchen cabinets.

- When do you need to know the size and position of your sofa and tv console? This will affect your lighting points.

- When do you need to buy your kitchen sink? This will affect the cabinet below your sink if you intend to customise.

- Where is your modem located. If you are not rewiring your home, are you adding additional power points ? Where will they be?

This process has been rather overwhelming but it's fun when you want to try to envision your ideas into reality. So here are some simple tips before you wanna start your rno journey. 

 

  1. Have a moodboard,  a rough concept of what you want your home to feel and look like.
  2. Source online and offline the kind of lights, tiles, kitchen and bathroom accessories, flooring and cabinet finishing.
  3. Re-adjust your moodboard based on what's available in the market. Detail out the Colours and feel for each room and every corner of your home. 
  4. Get in touch with Contractors to get quotation and let the fun begin ! 

Till more updates in couple of weeks!

Love,

Selb

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 


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