Admittedly, looking for qualified interior designers (IDs) is a very tedious and time consuming task. Since most of us are working full-time on a day job, we only have the weekends for the search.
When we started to look for IDs, we only approached those in our neighbourhood. In order to meet more IDs, we went to Dream Home 2012 at Singapore Expo. However, due to time constraint, we only managed to talk to two of them.
A very fast way of getting more quotation from IDs is to send your request for quotation through Singapore home renovation websites such as Renotalk, RenoQuotes and iCompare. These websites helps to forward your request to the inbox of the various IDs in Singapore. This allows IDs who are keen to pitch for the job contact you directly.
We have sent in our request via Renotalk a few days ago and quite a number different IDs have responded.
Juliana Lee - Design Consultant
Colourbox Interior Pte Ltd
Blk 47 Toa Payoh Lor 6
#01-140 Singapore 310047
Tel: 6352 2820
www.colourboxinterior.com.sg
Simon Beh - Director
Lamidoor Pte Ltd
10 Arumugam Road #01-00
Lion Building A Singapore 409957
Tel: 6743 3362
www.lamidoor.com
John
Brilliant Design Works
144 Upper Bukit Timah Road #02-31
Beauty World Centre Singapore 588177
Tel: 6465 1152
Geraldine Tan
Ideal Design Interior Pte Ltd
161 Lavendar Street
#01-11 / #01-09 Singapore 338750
Tel: 6842 5542
idealdesigninterior.com
Mey Low
Premplas Interior Pte Ltd
No. 2 Woodlands Sector 1
#03-18
Woodlands Spectrum 1
Singapore 738068
Tel : 6482 9946
www.premplas-interior.com
Shawn Lee
Sales - Project Manager
A2Z Interior Design Pte Ltd
No. 241 Joo Chiat Road
#01-01, Singapore 427498
a2zinteriordesign.com.sg
Tel: 64470668
Edwin Foong
Baroque D.zign Pte Ltd
1 Kaki Bukit Road #02-20
Enterprise One Singapore 415934
baroquedesign.com.sg
We have arranged to meet with Juliana from Colourbox this Sunday.
29 June 2012
28 June 2012
Meeting Zen and Raymond from Beaux Monde
We went to Beaux Monde yesterday. Zen and his senior designer, Raymond, explained their design and quotation to us patiently.
The design looks simple. That is what we are looking for actually - something simple and easy to maintain. The quotation for the reno works is approximately $25k. Not too expensive, I suppose, but we were a bit worried when Raymond told us that it usually takes about another $10k for furniture plus another $15k for electrical appliances, and he emphasized that is "on the average". Gosh! $50k is beyond our budget.
We were told to pay $500 so that Zen can proceed with the 3D drawings. We did not agree to pay on the spot because there is still quite some time before we can get our keys. Their "secure the deal now before the price goes up" tactic did not work on us. We want to shop around, listened to more IDs and study more quotations before making commitment.
Nevertheless, Raymond went on to explained that, should we agree to engage Zen as our ID, we will have to pay 10% of the cost upon confirmation, 50% upon work commencement, 35% upon completion of wetwork and finally, 5% upon handover of keys. He also explained that it usually takes about 2-3 weeks for pre-renovation discussion, followed by 2-3 weeks to complete renovation and 1-2 weeks for defects rectification.
We were complete newbies in home renovation but Raymond and Zen were very patient in listening to us and explaining the very basic things. Then they proceeded to show us their showroom. Nice, I was impressed with their innovative ideas and workmanship but the design of the showroom did not appeal to me. If my house is done up like that, I will have a hard time cleaning the odd corners and false ceiling next time.
After the meeting, we tried to research on the company's background. When we first met at Dream Home 2012 at Singapore Expo, Raymond assured us that they are HDB-registered renovation contractors. However, the name of the company could not be found under the listing of registered renovation contractors on the HDB website.
After querying with Zen over smses, we were told that they are registered under the name of Min Lee Construction. True enough, the address of Min Lee Construction listed on HDB website is the same as that of Beaux Monde. Upon further research, we came across the Facebook page and Blogger blog of Beaux Monde. It is stated that "Beaux Monde is the Interior Design Division of Min Lee Construction". What does this means? We are not sure.
Someone suggested that maybe Beaux Monde is the modern store front of Min Lee Construction. That sounds like a reasonable explanation. We definitely have to find out more if we are going to engage Zen from Beaux Monde as our ID.
The design looks simple. That is what we are looking for actually - something simple and easy to maintain. The quotation for the reno works is approximately $25k. Not too expensive, I suppose, but we were a bit worried when Raymond told us that it usually takes about another $10k for furniture plus another $15k for electrical appliances, and he emphasized that is "on the average". Gosh! $50k is beyond our budget.
We were told to pay $500 so that Zen can proceed with the 3D drawings. We did not agree to pay on the spot because there is still quite some time before we can get our keys. Their "secure the deal now before the price goes up" tactic did not work on us. We want to shop around, listened to more IDs and study more quotations before making commitment.
Nevertheless, Raymond went on to explained that, should we agree to engage Zen as our ID, we will have to pay 10% of the cost upon confirmation, 50% upon work commencement, 35% upon completion of wetwork and finally, 5% upon handover of keys. He also explained that it usually takes about 2-3 weeks for pre-renovation discussion, followed by 2-3 weeks to complete renovation and 1-2 weeks for defects rectification.
We were complete newbies in home renovation but Raymond and Zen were very patient in listening to us and explaining the very basic things. Then they proceeded to show us their showroom. Nice, I was impressed with their innovative ideas and workmanship but the design of the showroom did not appeal to me. If my house is done up like that, I will have a hard time cleaning the odd corners and false ceiling next time.
After the meeting, we tried to research on the company's background. When we first met at Dream Home 2012 at Singapore Expo, Raymond assured us that they are HDB-registered renovation contractors. However, the name of the company could not be found under the listing of registered renovation contractors on the HDB website.
After querying with Zen over smses, we were told that they are registered under the name of Min Lee Construction. True enough, the address of Min Lee Construction listed on HDB website is the same as that of Beaux Monde. Upon further research, we came across the Facebook page and Blogger blog of Beaux Monde. It is stated that "Beaux Monde is the Interior Design Division of Min Lee Construction". What does this means? We are not sure.
Someone suggested that maybe Beaux Monde is the modern store front of Min Lee Construction. That sounds like a reasonable explanation. We definitely have to find out more if we are going to engage Zen from Beaux Monde as our ID.
List of Reno Forums in Singapore
Doing research is a very important step before actual home renovation. Below is the list of Singapore home renovation forums:
Other websites that have home reno forum:
Other useful websites:
Do let me know if I miss out any, thanks!
- Renotalk Forum
- RenoForum.Sg
- Singapore Renovation Portal - Sg Renovation Chat Forum
- Singapore in Trend Renovation Forum
- SgRenoChat - Singapore Interior Forum
Other websites that have home reno forum:
- MyHomeTown Forum - Home Matters
- Singapore Forum - Home & Family Forum
- Singapore Expat Forums - Furniture/Home Furnishing/Home Deco & Accessories/Home Related Services
- Singapore Property - Repair/Renovation
- Singapore Property Online Search - Home Furnishing & Decor/Interior Design/Renovation Forum
- The Pinnacle@Duxton - Home & Decor
- Singaporebrides Forums - Home & Deco
- Singapore Motherhood and Parenting Forum - Home Planning Forum
- Singapore Wedding Portal - Home Furnishing, Interior Design, Renovation Chat & Property Forum (not active, spammy)
- Singapore Parenting Portal - Home Furnishing, Interior Design, Renovation Chat & Property Forum (not active, spammy)
Other useful websites:
- List of HDB Registered Renovation Contractors and BCA Approved Window Contractors
- RenoQuotes
- iCompare - Interior Design
- 88DB.com - Home Services
Do let me know if I miss out any, thanks!
Our Home Renovation Journey - The Very Beginning
The completion for the construction of our home is expected to be Q1 2013. We are quite excited and have started looking for interior designers lately. This blog is set up to document our home reno journey.
So far, we have approached the following interior design companies over the past two weeks (in that order):
Johnson Yang - Design Consultant
Benzdesign Studio (Pte. Ltd.)
Blk 181 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5
#01-2938 Singapore 560181
Tel: 6456 4569
www.benzdesignstudio.com
http://www.facebook.com/beNzdeSigNStudio
Sean Lim - Designer
Connectix Interior Design Pte Ltd
166 Joo Chiat Road Singapore 427239
Tel: 6344 0159 / 6344 7623 / 6344 7800
www.connectixdesign.com
Zen Ng- Designer
Beaux Monde Pte Ltd
53 Joo Chiant Place Singapore 427777
Tel: 6346 5700
www.facebook.com/beauxmonde
beauxmonde-de-fashionable-elite.blogspot.sg
Raymond Lim - Manager
Sky Creation Design Pte Ltd
No. 8 Kim Keat Lane Singapore328865
Tel: 6352 8809
www.skycreation.com.sg
During our first meeting at Benzdesign, Johnson used pencil and stencil to draw on a copy of our floor plan. His estimate for the total cost for the renovation, excluding lighting, is about $17k. He told us the average amount that people spent on simple home renovation is about $22k - $25k. Both Benzdesign and Connectix said they will get back to us in about a week's time for a more detailed quotation. It has been over a week already but we have yet to hear from both of them. (Read related post: Bye bye, BenzDesign Studio)
We found Beaux Monde and Sky Creation at Dream Home 2012 at Singapore Expo last week. Raymond from Sky Creation used his pen to scribbled a rough layout on a copy of our floor plan and provided us with a rough estimate of quotation on the spot. It was about $25k. We decided quite quickly that we will strike out Sky Creation because we were slightly put off by Raymond. He has done nothing wrong, just that we feel that he is someone whom we would like to work with. Call it "chemistry".
We went to Beaux Monde today. I will write about our meeting with Zen and Raymond from Beaux Monde in a separate post later.
So far, we have approached the following interior design companies over the past two weeks (in that order):
Johnson Yang - Design Consultant
Benzdesign Studio (Pte. Ltd.)
Blk 181 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5
#01-2938 Singapore 560181
Tel: 6456 4569
www.benzdesignstudio.com
http://www.facebook.com/beNzdeSigNStudio
Sean Lim - Designer
Connectix Interior Design Pte Ltd
166 Joo Chiat Road Singapore 427239
Tel: 6344 0159 / 6344 7623 / 6344 7800
www.connectixdesign.com
Zen Ng- Designer
Beaux Monde Pte Ltd
53 Joo Chiant Place Singapore 427777
Tel: 6346 5700
www.facebook.com/beauxmonde
beauxmonde-de-fashionable-elite.blogspot.sg
Raymond Lim - Manager
Sky Creation Design Pte Ltd
No. 8 Kim Keat Lane Singapore328865
Tel: 6352 8809
www.skycreation.com.sg
During our first meeting at Benzdesign, Johnson used pencil and stencil to draw on a copy of our floor plan. His estimate for the total cost for the renovation, excluding lighting, is about $17k. He told us the average amount that people spent on simple home renovation is about $22k - $25k. Both Benzdesign and Connectix said they will get back to us in about a week's time for a more detailed quotation. It has been over a week already but we have yet to hear from both of them. (Read related post: Bye bye, BenzDesign Studio)
We found Beaux Monde and Sky Creation at Dream Home 2012 at Singapore Expo last week. Raymond from Sky Creation used his pen to scribbled a rough layout on a copy of our floor plan and provided us with a rough estimate of quotation on the spot. It was about $25k. We decided quite quickly that we will strike out Sky Creation because we were slightly put off by Raymond. He has done nothing wrong, just that we feel that he is someone whom we would like to work with. Call it "chemistry".
We went to Beaux Monde today. I will write about our meeting with Zen and Raymond from Beaux Monde in a separate post later.
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