Furnishing the home

Now that the renovation is almost completed, the next step would be to furnish the home.

Due to limited budget, we obviously cannot afford furnishing the entire home and thus, would have to focus on essential items first. You may want to read this article on the 7 essential pieces of furniture for your first home. It makes sense although I must admit, I found this article randomly from Google.

1. A SOFA

Prices for an L-shaped or 3-seater sofa start from $700. The cheapest one that we've found so far (not counting those kucing kurap ones) is a 3-seater leather sofa from Ikea. It's actually quite comfy but the colour is beigy-white (quite hard to upkeep). We've also seen other decent L-shaped and 3-seater leather sofas at Sea Horse going for less than $800. Nowadays sofas have become so sophisticated that you can get sofas with slide-in/slide-out seats, put-up/put-down headrests,  recline features, or all of the above (but they obviously come with a price). 

Our story: You may have recalled our sofa story in a previous post. We are glad to inform that due to our persistent hounding, the sales manager agreed to lower the price to $850. The goods have been delivered and the sofa now lies smugly in the living room. (GRIN)

Note: Mode Studio is now having their Opening Sale at their new outlet in Marina Square Level 3. 

2. A DINING TABLE

The author aptly listed "A table that you can eat from" because nowadays we tend to have our meals in front of the TV (if at home) or outside. This is mainly due to difference in meal times, popular TV programmes at dining times, and the added convenience of dining out. 

Dining tables are, unfortunately, very expensive. They are priced as though to penalise those who really want to have proper meals (inelastic demand). In addition, some are really ugly - either too elaborated with glass designs, or too bulky.

Our story: We wanted a dining table that was value for money because we don't forsee ourselves using the table every single day except probably to put mails and keys on it. Big furniture shops like Nova, Courts etc pride themselves with Mediacorp-drama-worthy dining tables (i.e. big and elaborated). After scouring the limited dining table market, it seemed that only Ikea had slim & classy designs. However they weren't cheap either (total set around $700) because you have to pay for the chairs separately. And the material (compressed wood) was...questionable. We finally found our dining table set ($599 - 1 solid rubber wood table, 6 chairs) at a Furniture & Home Expo. It is the cheapest set we've seen and at least it's made of solid wood. We'll post a picture of it once we have it delivered.

TIP: If you're doing home reno, you can also ask your contractor/carpenter to build a dining table for you.


3. WARDROBE/CLOSET

If you are doing renovations, built-in wardrobes may be a natural and more convenient choice. They look better (i.e. you can customise the laminate and the design), fit better (i.e. full heighr & can fit the whole length of the wall) and can last longer (assumption). I know Ikea offers custom-made wardrobes, but I am not too familiar with how much they cost.

Our story: We picked D'Esprit mainly because their in-house carpenter had great workmanship based on earlier experience with him. He didn't disappoint and we're very happy with our full height 5-door wardrobe in the master bedroom. Mr Hill threw in free anti-slam door hinges as well!

4. BEDSIDE TABLE
A bedside table is good for putting your spectacles, a cup of water, storybook, alarm clock, watch, and other random stuff that you put away only when you're about to go to sleep. Prices for a bedside table start from $19 (Ikea, no frills, just 5 pieces of wood). Normal furniture stores are still selling normal-shaped bedside tables (i.e. Cuboid-ish) so you are only selecting a bedside table based on price, colour, material, drawers/no drawers.

Our story: A friend of ours introduced us to Hock Siong. The place is a hidden gem for those who don't mind quality 2nd-hand furniture from 5 star hotels and showrooms. We found a solid wood bedside table there that cost $45. The table has a drawer and a casement cabinet.

TIP: Hock Siong has a wide selection of writing tables (those you can find in hotel rooms), coffee/end tables (those you see in hotel lobby lounges) and lamps. They also sell high quality stuff like rose-wood sofa sets and dining tables. Hock Siong provides free delivery for purchases more than $300.

5. WINDOW COVERING (i.e. BLINDS/CURTAINS)

The wife initially thought that blinds/curtains were a waste of money because they will be redundant most of the time. Nonetheless the article did bring up a good point about needing some place to change. Since HDB bathrooms are really small and the floors are usually wet after shower (see Point 6), it makes it rather inconvenient to wear long pants in the bathroom. In these circumstances, blinds/curtains can help to protect your modesty.

Our story: Mr Hill brought us to a "window specialist" to select our window films and to enquire about blinds. We found the place dodgy and KTV-like, and mainly because the price wasn't cheap, we decided not to get the blinds from them. We contacted Mr Ang the blind man, who also did the blinds for the wife's existing flat. The husband was very please with Mr Ang and the quote and agreed to purchase the blinds for him. We'll be installing timber blinds for the living & master bedroom + roller blinds for the void at the service balcony. The blinds cost around $1000, not cheap because we got a lot of windows!!!! and the void is 2-storey high!!!

6. SHOWER SCREEN

Although a shower screen is technically not a furniture, the wife insists that is an essential element for the washroom. The shower screen only serves one purpose: Block water thus keep the floor dry. These screens don't come cheap. The screen is made of tempered glass and the labour cost to set up the screen is expensive too.

Our story: The wife is very happy with her shower screen in the shared bathroom although Mr Hill & the husband beg to differ. According to them, the screen was awkwardly positioned and looks really ugly, but the wife doesn't care :)