New Kitchen Color Scheme

Original Colors

New Colors

Silver or Black? That's the $64 million question. The silver metallic laminate is $168 per sheet! It'll blow my budget for the kitchen laminates.

Dess suggested that we consider black as the alternate color. Black will give the kitchen a contemporary feel and tone down the reflective surfaces from the remaining silver laminate. I think his idea will work with the appliances and the 2 new black dining chairs. Glad he has a good eye for color.

Week 1: Cement & Tile Work

It's like watching paint dry! How I wish I've a magic wand now.

The first 2 weeks are assigned to cement work and tiling. The tiler is patching up the holes and smoothening the walls to prepare for the tile work. The guy is working quite fast (guess I'm being impatient.) I can't wait for him to lay the rusty metallic tiles so I can see how my new bathroom will look like. It'll be a work of art.

The powder room on the 1st floor is constructed. Dess will start the cement screeding on the walls next week. I think it'll turn out to be a tiny room with many interesting touches.

The aircon man came to install the trunking in the bedrooms. I bought the latest Panasonic Envio System 3 Inverter aircon because it has an eco-friendly design and uses energy-saving technology. I'm not sure why the trunking is so huge. It looks like an elephant trunk!

See Week 1 progress here: Work in Progress

Starting Over With A Blank Canvas

A blank canvas for an artist to get creative.

Now with the mess cleared, it is easier for me to visualize the space that I'm going to live in. Dess and I spent the afternoon walking around the rooms to observe how the sunlight bounces off each wall. It is an integral part of Ando-san's eco-design to maximize the natural light throughout the flat.

By the end of the day, we decided to make a few improvements to the proposed design:

• Add a fixed glass panel to the master bedroom entrance to allow more light into the stairwell
• Add a glass sliding door to the kitchen to allow more light and block off any cooking odor to the living room
• Add a white cultured-stone brick wall to brighten the living room and enhance the old shophouse loft-style
• Combine both bathrooms into one space with a big sliding glass window overlooking the greenery in the park

We'll be working on the new bathroom design tomorrow. I'm really excited about this bold move. I'll need to learn to share a bathroom with my guest.

View more images after the clean-up here: Work in Progress

Ready, Set, Hack!

OMG, what have I done? There is no turning back now. The transformation has begun.

It's painful to see the old fittings gone. On the other hand, I'm excited to gain a fresh make-over for the flat.

The demolition guys have gone gangbusters with the bull-dozing. We've one more day of "banging and hacking" before we start the big clean-up. I'm sure my new neighbors will be relieved.

It may look easy to bring the walls down, but it takes skill not whack a hole through my neighbor's wall. I think I'll stick to decorating.

See more damages here: Demolition

My Partner In Crime - three-d conceptwerke

Transform tired spaces into timeless, character-filled homes through a carefully-studied, multi-disciplinary design approach - that's the interior design philosophy of three-d conceptwerke.

Dess, the principal designer of three-d conceptwerke, is my partner for this reno project. It didn't take me long to decide on working with Dess. His design ideas are creative and innovative. His passion to experiment with natural material in different applications is refreshing. Most importantly, we share the same vision. I'm really excited to work with him on transforming my HDB flat to a cosmopolitan minimalist loft.

Featured in 2009 Home & Decor Designer Showcase - The Best in Interior Design: http://www.homeanddecor.com.sg/designer-showcase/three-d-conceptwerke. Good job, guys! Hope my flat will be featured in next year's showcase.

View their website here: three-d conceptwerke.com

Sensei Tadao Ando - My Inspiration

Tadao Ando was born in 1941 in Osaka, Japan. From the age of 10 to 17 Tadao Ando worked at local carpenter, where Tadao Ando learned how to work with wood and built a number of models of airplanes and ships.

His first interest in architecture was nourished in tadao's 15 by buying a book of Le Corbusier sketches.

The first impression of his architecture is its materiality. His large and powerfull walls set a limit.

A second impression of his work is the tactility. His hard walls seem soft to touch, admit light, wind and stillness. Third impression is the emptiness, because only light space surround the visitor in Tadao Ando 's building.

Other things that had influenced his work and vocabulary of architecture is the pantheon in Rome and "enso", which is mysterious circle drawn by zen-budhists and symbolizing emptiness, loneliness, oneness and the moment of englightment. The circle and other rigorous geometrical forms are the basic forms of Tadao Ando 's art presentation.

Tadao Ando is the world 's greatest living architect. If Tadao Ando has one weakness it may by a difficulty in translating the grandeur of his smaller buildings to a larger scale.

My source of inspiration for architectural design and interior decoration.

Best Part of Reno - Shopping

Going with the earthy tones for the sofa.

View my purchases here: Shopping List

Sneak Preview

Can't wait to see the finished product. Have a sneak peek here: Preview

Countdown to Hacking... 1 more day to go

After a long wait and many rounds of 3-d drawings, the actual renovation is about to begin. Looking forward to 8 weeks of "hard hat" transformation. Let the fun begin.

Here are more BEFORE pictures: Pre-renovation