We saved $24400 from renovations & furnishing!
223
- Minimalist
- HDB (BTO)
- ~900 sqft
- 3 br
- Couple Living with Kids
Let me jump straight to Carpentry. The lesser the carpentry, the lesser creepy crawlies, mould infestations, the lesser you need to clean. The more the carpentry being built, the more you have to pay, the more you will keep things that are not needed. There are numerous alternatives that you could get at a better price rate. Fixing a carpentry means it will be permanently there. Hence, we came up with an idea of movable kitchen island. About 3 years ago, not many I.D was open to movable kitchen Island, except for one which eventually, we took him as our I.D! As we mentioned earlier in one of the post under living room, we used a tension rod and sew a white cloth that we bought from spotlight and managed to cover all the wires! Hence there's not a need to make any TV console! We've saved $5500 (after buying a wardrobe(s) from ikea & jiji.sg) by not building TV console ($2000), feature wall ($1000), kids' room wardrobe ($2000) & master bedroom wardrobe ($2500). 
Instead of having a fixed wardrobe, we bought a customised one from IKEA we saved about $1000! 
For the kids' room, we chose steel cabinet as to prevent moulds as we had one previously that made of wood, which only last for a year. Hence why it leads us to chose steel. IT has magnetic function as well as so that we can stick in memo(s) or even pictures! The most affordable and durable cabinet for the kids that we find the worth to buy! 
As we mentioned on the previous post, we did not renovate both our toilets. Do read it on why we did not do so on our previous post. To totally renovate the whole toilet from the start is like wasting resources. You could wait another 5 years and able to gain knowledge by viewing home IG accounts on their experiences. For example, is it necessary to install a shower glass screen? Will you have the energy daily to clean and maintain? We saved $18000 for not renovating the two toilets. 
We made a bit like a 'hotel-feel' by adding in the hand towel and the towel bar! 
Furniture/furnishing Do ask these questions first before buying: Is there a need for a permanent coffee table($200~)? Will you eat often on the sofa with the coffee table? Crumbs + accumulated dust over time, will it worth your time to keep on cleaning? Is there a need to buy a TV console? How many carpets should you have? The maintenance needed plus cost on cleaning one. Do you need a dustbin placement? How to maintain? Is it good to keep rubbish overnight? Need to wash the bin placement to prevent insects. Do you need a very expensive sofa? 2 years ago, we got our 3 + 2 sofa at around $900 (It was on promotion and we use some vouchers too (now the price is $1500)) which is the cheapest in the market at that point and yet aesthetically pleasing to our eyes. The average you could get for 3+2 seater sofa is about $1500 and above. Hence, we saved about $600 on sofa! We do not have a coffee table as so that we don't tend to eat much there and lesser place to clean. Hence we opt for movable side table if any guest would like to have a quick drop by and as such, we could serve them a drink on the movable table. We have also mentioned this under living room post. Do check it out! 
For lighting, it is best to get from Shopee/ Lazada as it is way cheaper than you can get from the retail shop! It is best to buy online too as it can be too glaring and giddy when we kept viewing in the retail shop when looking up viewing the lights physically. For all the lights (the small light have 2 which is hidden due to the photo angle) you've seen here, total its about $300. We bought it 3 years ago and it was no longer listed in their shop. However there are something similar like that from other online shop in shopee/lazada/taobao! 
As you can see, our kitchen Island is movable. You could compare from the previous photo with this photo! 
We love this part of our house! Simple yet it gives the character to our white minimalist house & the most important we do not have to spend a fortune on it! 
Flooring Types of flooring: Vinyl, parquet or tiles? We chose tiles. This is because based on when we did research, we saw that for - Vinyl, it can be easily scratched after a few months and the vinyl deteriorates faster when exposed to the sun via the window. - Parquet are known to be good quality however there are cases whereby termites leave within it and made a huge family under it. - Tiles, easily maintained. Depend on the type of tiles, some chose matte and some chose the normal shiny surface. The shiny ones may be a bit of an issue as we may see footprints if its oily or finger/palm prints. However, this can be to our advantage too as we are aware that the area needs to be cleaned. Basically it gives a peace of a mind how clean our floor can be.
- 10 December 2023
Report Post