When I was 28 years old, I became the proud owner of a 20-year-old condo. Since it was a foreclosed property, I was able to pick it up for the price of $75,000, but it needed some work. And, to save money, I was convinced that I could do all of the work myself. It was going to be challenging, but I was ready to get dirty and turn this house into a priceless gem!
I owned no tools except for a hammer and pliers from my little wussy-boy tool-box (if you could even call it that). I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Luckily though, I found one of the top interior designers in Singapore, FineLine. They helped me survive my first renovation.
Renovating highlights
I bought my condo in the summer of 2018, and I love the space. It’s a two-bedroom and two bath condo in the heart of Singapore. I loved almost everything about the condo when I first moved in, except for my main bath and closet area. The closet had hanging racks on both sides and it was very small. I joked around that instead of a“walk-in”, I had to “bob and weave” around items to get to clothes in the back. Also, the main bath had a tiny sink and a jacuzzi tub. When I first moved into the unit, I was super excited to try out the jets in this tub…until I turned on the engines and black goo/flakes started spilling out. Needless to say, that was the first and last time I used the jacuzzi feature, and I stuck to showers from then on.
I knew that I wanted to renovate this main bath and closet to make the space more functional (and to improve the value of my home), but I had no idea where to start. I know I have to hire an interior designer company. Luckily for me, my sister is well-versed in renovations, and she guided me along the way. Here is what I learned as I embarked on my first renovation project.
Hiring FineLine
From the start, I knew that I would need some professional help to figure out a new layout and the overall design of the space. My sister suggested the best interior designer and FineLine was great. They came to my condo, looked at the space and measured it out carefully. It was an added expense on top of an already expensive project, but it was worth it to me to have someone draw up exact plans and answer my endless questions. Once their drawings were complete, they handed them over to the contractor, and they took it from there.
I was originally dead set on dual sinks until my sister mentioned that the area between the sinks would probably cause me to have more things fall in the sink, give me less counter space, and the dual fixtures that it needed would make it more expensive. As a curly-haired girl, who likes to straighten my hair, I usually need quite a few products on my vanity to get ready in the morning. One sink sounded ideal.
We ended up taking a bit of space out of my bedroom to make the bathroom larger. However, this allowed us to add the closet entrance in the bathroom, so the wall in the bedroom has only one door, not two. I like the nice, clean look at only one entrance door too!
Figuring out the storage
So after, I bought all of these items, but where were they going to go? My condo is small, and I needed to figure out where all of these large items would be stored. I tried to time the deliveries of all the items for the beginning of the demo. Unfortunately, working with third-party online companies, this was not always possible.
At one point, I had to call my sister and ask for her to store my vanity in her garage because it had arrived four weeks early! The boxes were big and I live on the second floor of my condo building. Most deliveries were only to the curbside and were too heavy for me to be able to get up my stairs. Thankfully, I had the vanity rerouted to my sister's house, and FineLine then got it when he needed it. However, this was something I didn’t think about beforehand, so be sure to have a storage plan.
Be prepared for mess
What’s not to love about seeing a complete renovation in a half hour and having a glossy finished space with side by side pictures of the before and after? In real life, it’s not so fast, and it is messier. I am not good with the mess, and I am not good with dust and dirt. During the process, I would peek my head in and see the floor ripped up, tile halfway is done, and boxes with all the parts stacked haphazardly around the bedroom. It was stressful, but I kept trying to remind myself that the mess was temporary, and it would all be worth it in the end.
If you are looking for an interior architecture firm in Singapore, I suggest you visit FineLine's website here and let them help you too.
