Now that we have collected the keys to our own home, it's time to start "Renovation Shopping".
To be honest, we are not the type to start planning before seeing the actual unit as we actually didn't pay attention to the details of the home contract. So you may ask us what is provided in the unit, and we would just shrug and imagine it to just have some floorings and wardrobes as that is all that we see when we pass by the work site before keys collection.
That being said, we consider ourselves very blessed to have a unit that has little defects and a very good layout.
The unit isn't as small as we imagined it to be, but the interior designs will be crucial in making the place look spacious.
The most ideal look was to have everything in white, thus giving the faux impression of a spacious unit even though it may be relative small. But we are not the type that love the "uptown" look.
Our most loved look is some thing like this:
But there is still something not very practical about this design like the low-hanging lamps and the sharp-edged furniture.
Designs inspirations aside, here's some quick tips that we gathered:
1. Visit an Interior Design shop for a quick lesson on renovations if you're lazy like us.
You'd be amazed by the information they impart to you, from the use of tic-tac doors to the various laminates for the carpentry to the regulations on certain works you wish to do. Your knowledge will go from 0 to 60% after just 1 trip there.
2. List down the things you'd like them to do for a quick quotation.
This will work as a rough guide for a budget. That's because "interior designers" tend to hyper-inflate their prices. Hence, the price that they provide will be a good budget for the maximum you should pay.
3. Visit a general contractor with the same list of things that you mentioned to the Designers, and expect to be quoted 2/3 of the price.
We tried the above method and for the same price that the "Designers" quoted us, we had more & better quality work done to our unit! The only disclaimer is that you must have a plan of what to do for your home as there is no 3D design plan/layout to refer to.
