Is it so hard to find a good-looking and affordable sofa?

Can you believe how expensive a sofa can be? This minotti soda easily cost a cool $50,000 or more. Minotti has been making sofas for 60 years and it is one of those luxury range sofas in the market. And that's why many many furniture shops in Singapore tries to adapt (politically correct way of saying "copy") their designs. But because many of them manufactures them in China, they can fail miserably. The class is just not there even the exterior looks quite alike.

Anyway, our sofa hunting is also slowly turning into a nightmare. We wanted to keep our budge to $2000 for a 3-4 seater l-shaped sofa. After visiting various "renowned" shops in IMM, we gave up. We slowly realised that here is a "black market" out ther that all furniture seekers should be wary of. Their sofas may be cheap but from forumers, it seemed that the goods do not arrive like they have been promised. Many horror stories. Luckily, we did some research before buying from "Red Apple". Apparently, there are many horror stories. And as we go from shop to shop, they badmouth each other's shops. On top of that, many shops are actually owned by the same company under different brand names. It is quite monopolized but that also means that if one may fall into a trap. You may skip Shop A because of their bad service, but after that you walk into Shop B without knowing they have the same delivery/ management!

In a nutshell, please avoid Red Apple, Winter, Mode Studio. Too bad cos their designs are really quite nice. Now I am determined to just go straight to a reputable and professional shop to get my sofa. I wish I can afford a Minotti, but seriously, even if I can, I don't think I will splurge on a sofa. There are probably many other ways to spend our hard-earned money.

One thing that Singaporeans cannot live without

MM Lee once said the biggest invention in the 21st century was AIRCON. I don't quite agree with him. It is one of those things we cannot live without (in Singapore, that is), but I don't think it is the Biggest invention of the 21st century. To a new homeowner, it is surely one of the biggest headache when it comes to renovation. Of course, those who bought new condominiums don't have to face this. We had to do research the background on buying aircon. The list:

1) brand/ make
2) split or multiple units
3) BTU (I think it refers to British thermal unit) but in layman's terms, it simply means the capacity needed to keep the room cool enough.
4) invertor or non-invertor
5) conceal or exposed (piping and trunking)
6) type of piping etc...

I am not a very technical person, so it is really a drag. Anyway, today we decided on the aircon details and also the positions.

Make: Mitsubishi Starmex

Multi-split invertor for 3 rooms (9000 X 9000 X 12,000 BTU) cos master room is bigger.

SIngle-split Invertor for living room (24,000K). Yes, 24,000k BTU!! Cos living room merges with the dry kitchen so have to share a big capacity aircon unit.

Only a few makes have such large capacity: Mitsubishi, Daikin and something else. So I don't really have much of a choice and I want to keep to the same brand. We had a hard time thinking about invertor or not for the bedrooms. But these reasons supported our decision for invertor (notably $500-800 more than non-invertor):

1) Go green.
2) Economically efficient for our electricity costs
3) Break even the cost if we use it often enough within 5 years.
4) Quieter compressor

Now. The big consideration is the cost. We had about 5 quotes. Those who are looking for aircon (and facing the same headache as me) would have gone to some of these familiar stores.

1) Gain City
2) All Best (I find them expensive)
3) Best Tech (reputation not very good among forumers)
4) Courts
5) My designer's aircon company

I have heard so much about All Best's work and service. However, I find the service at the showroom quite disapppointing. Maybe I met the wrong guy. Talked to two different persons, the quotes differ by $600! Finally, I made my choice with THL, a company that I happened to found out myself. I got a quote for Mitsubishi system 3 (invertor) + system 1 (non-invertor) for $4200. The others are way above this quote! Aircon prices must have escalated alot in the past years. The in charge for site visits was very efficient and knowledgeable. Look for Mr Lim. Amongst all the quotes, I find his quote most competitive. Now, have to wait and see the workmanship.

What the Hack!

Hacking has begun! The previous owner had done some renovation 10 years ago but we are going to create an open layout so lots of hacking has to be done. We like the layout of the place very much. One of the main reasons is because we can do an open concept kitchen, which means I can finally fulfil my dreams of having a huge kitchen with an island concept.

We are hacking away the walls to the kitchen to create this open concept. All the tiles of the house will be changed as well. And there is also a little surprise for our bedroom which will be unveiled soon!

Art by the sea

We are still a month away from officially getting our keys to our new place. But there are other things to think about now. I am now in Sydney and Damien is coming over to join me in 3 days! His job here is to help me pack up, tie up loose ends, and arrange for shipping. But I will really miss Sydney! Here are some pictures of my trip to the Sculptures by the Sea, an annual event that showcases visual artists' work in an open-space. What a cool concept to experience art in harmony with the environment! This year, it is at Bondi & Turramura Beaches. A 2km walk to and fro but absolutely worth it!

Looking for a nest

Okay, we have signed on the dotted line and bought what we feel is going to be our dream home. Finally. We have moved like nomads for a long time. Now we just want to stay here for a long long time. D got to shovel me out if he ever mention "property search" again. Here's some criteria we had for looking for our dream home. This is amidst one of the most volatile property times in this tiny island. The crunch line is, if we don't find anything that meets this criteria, we will just wait:

1) Freehold status
Leasehold or freehold? There has been much debates about what's valuable in this market. As usual there are two schools of thought. But for us, we believe that freehold in Singapore is still the way to go. Unless, your leasehold is on a really prime location.

2) The older the better
Weird right? We are not looking for new apartments for one good reason. SPACE. If you notice new condominiums, they are looking smaller because of either, 1) awkward angles or 2) unusable space such as ledges etc. And of course, isn't fun to hack down walls and design your own space?

3) Location, location, location
Okay, Singapore is really tiny, 30km from coast to coast. But location still matters.

4) It is about PSF
Per sq feet, that is. Everyone has a different budget and we tend to look at the summative price that determines if we can "afford" a place. That's important, but when looking for a good buy, focus on the psf.

5) Good vibes
No doubt, the most important. You must feel comfortable in that space. If it is an old place, look around and imagine the potential this place brings, even if the present renovation does not meet your taste.

Variations on a Theme

Like most Singaporean homes, every home designing pursuit must begin with a THEME. In our previous homes, we had classic modern, balinese and even a 'cha-pa-lang' (anything goes) theme. This time, we are aiming for an architectural white gallery look. We are bowed over by the open plan living ideas of Ong and Ong Architects, Singapore. Their designs of this conservation house on Blair Street is now our inspiration.