1st appt was done after Christmas.
Awaiting for 2nd appt.....we started sourcing for our ID with a budget of 30K.
Brownie was patient enough to go thru all forums to source for the best ID. In them were Sky Creation, Lowe, Pavillion, 3D Innovations, Add Space and another name-less contractor. Kudos to him!
We painstakingly went thru each and every individual ID for our concept designs based on the floorplan, spending hours to days on each one. We wanted to revamp the whole place as it was too shabby a place to live in. Sugar said it was creepy. Haha...kids are always kids. Anything too dark, they find it creepy. Guess our little lovable bitch won't like it too...comparing where she nest currently.
Review on the IDs:
- Sky Creation: Good material, gadgets and concept, but too pricey. Their IDs do not give you the confidence to trust them. Not because they are not dishonest, but it seems they are very new, very "fresh". Will they be able to handover on time? Question mark.
Score: 6/10
- Add Space: Can't comment much....wrong ID was serving us. Can't understand our ideas, and purely pictures of other homes. Not much ideas was input by the ID, no WOW factors. Just a brief introduction.
Score: 4/10
- 3D Innovation: Choose this if you got lots and lots of time....say like 6 months to finish your renovation. Good ideas, good design....but these guys are really really busy. They seems to take forever to get back to you...or maybe perhaps we are too little a fish with a 30K budget.
Score: 5/10
- Lowe Living Concept: Very good and creative ideas, very down to earth bunch of people working there. Reasonable price with good timeline. Brought us to see a few showflats, reflecting neat work. Able to communicate with them very well.
Score: 9/10
- Pavillion Creation: Friendly group of people with good response. Creative, modern ideas, reasonable price with good timeline. The lady serving us is polite, friendly and patient. Finds a sense of "security" with them...and able to communicate with them well.
Score: 9/10
First review......a good fight between Lowe and Pavillion. So it boils down to budget, budget and budget!
After a week or so.....after finalizing all details with a "Fengshui" master and getting back to IDs, etc etc., we have finally decided to give our contract to Pavillion Creation!
Why...?
They were close to our budget of 30K, though we did give up some stuffs here and there.
On top of that, we were given a $1000 sanitary voucher + Fengshui consulation worth $788 + some free simple seal-up. Very reasonable prices with good services. Of course we cannot compare this with contractors out there who may be cheaper...as we were worried that contractors may not be very well informed about latest drawers, simple details innovations. It may end up in more mess than saving cost right from the beginning.
Aside, we were quite disturbed by the first Fengshui visit....as it seems not to be a Fengshui master, but rather a "priest" in a Chinese temples, telling us about spirits and such. We relay this to the boss of Pavillion and she knew this "priest". Instead of making us more panicky, she recommended us a Fengshui consultation by Master Liang. The amazing part was she studied Fengshui and practised it in a rationale way too! A proper Fengshui requires each "ba-zhi" of a person staying there. In other words, a good house may not benefit one, nor will a bad house harms all. It all depends on how each's role (Ba-Zhi) compliments the home.
We have only ourselves to blame as we were trying to save some costs on engaging a Fengshui master. The market price is about $488 and can goes up to thousands of dollars. Thus, it was a blessing in disguise to know Master Liang. He will be going up end Jan to finalize how the house should be laid out, where the gas hob should be, where the bed should be facing, right up to the colours that should be used. We may not follow suit to the core, since we have already set our mind that our home sweet home is going to be in W-H-I-T-E. Haha! =) But just to set the minimum right....which is no quarrels at home, good health, no hiccups in life, work and studies.
So what has Beverly arranged for us?
She is a very nice lady *fingers crossed as renovation has not started yet*
We are planning the following:
- Hack the whole house empty
- Relay Kitchen floor tiles (wall will be in painted cement finish)
- Relay Bathroom wall and floor tiles
- Relay Living floor tiles
- Shift the MBR toilet out to MB - just the vanity top
- Built in wardrode X 2
- Plumbing works
- Kitchen cabinet
- Kitchen tall unit
- Storeroom
- Feature walls X 2 (Living + Master bed room)
- Masterbedroom Headrest
- Pebble wash at foyer
- Cove lights and false ceilings
- Painting
- Gates and veneer doors
Things excluded which I will get my contracters to do it up are:
- Aluminim works
- Laminate flooring X 3 bedrooms
- Lightings
Excluded things were too expensive, and Beverly was kind to ask us to buy from outside, as prices were quite fixed at her side. She will even help us to co-ordinate with each individual contractor.
At this moment....happy, satisfied and so looking forward.
Hope the bank loan is approved!
