I took afternoon leave today to drop the Cashier's Order at the law firm. That is the last legal step required of me to complete the whole house purchase matters and all that is left is to collect the key next week. Outside the legal realm, there are so many things to settle and they are driving me crazy. I just settled the electricity and water matters with Singapore Powers on Monday and I will need to officially inform StarHub for my future broadband. I do not know how it will be with the ceiling leak matters haiz... But one thing at a time. The other thing I finalised today is confirming the Interior Designer (ID) for the renovation.
There are so many horror stories about ID and it is really not a smooth journey. There are so many ID and ID firms out there -all with their shares of positive, negative, or non-existent feedback- that it is hard to even decide where to start. Because I am lazy, I only shortlist ID firms whose location are near my place. There are actually quite a lot around the vicinity and I only contacted those seemingly reliable from the feedback.
Initially I contacted (via email or their website 'contact us') four and only one replied me. I am not surprised because I sort of predicted that IDs will prefer bigger projects (i.e. bigger house) so they can earn more. Anyway the one who replied me ended up ghosting me and never gave me the promised appointment. I also did not chase since I did not want to appear that desperate. The contact I received from my church friend also turns to be only a contractor.
I contacted additional two IDs who surprisingly replied me within a few hours and I discussed further with them. The third one is from my friend, who is my property agent, when I asked if he had any contact. I am not gonna mention the names since I think at this stage, it is mostly personal about the ID rather than the firm.
ID 1
This ID is friendly and motherly but unfortunately, she was totally unprepared for the first meeting. Prior to the first meeting, I already showed her the video of the unit which clearly she did not bother to open. She did not give any ideas and everything that I suggested was "can". After giving first quotation, she became rather eager although I already mentioned I would only make my decision by certain day.
I did not choose her because of the timeline. She said she would require about 2 weeks to draw after she took a look at the place and then the carpenters can come to measure in January.
I was not too anal about pricing because I understand this kind of business will mark up here and there. I am okay as long as the total price is still reasonable. What turned me off the most is dishonesty. While carpentry cost is comparable, her marked up prices for the clearing of debris, protection sheet, etc was up to 50% of the other quotations I receive. I told her this before the final quotation. After she prepared the final quotation, she said she cut down those but she actually marked up the carpentry pieces which are already there in the first quotation. Hey, I look quite gullible and chinchai about a lot of things but that does not mean I am stupid and never do my research or never study the quotations hor.
ID 2
This is the one recommended by my friend. There is little information online since the firm seems to focus more on office and establishments, rather than residentials.
He did some homework and prepared some design ideas. He floated the idea of switching the living room cabinetry to be along the kitchen cabinetry, which is the opposite side from the illustration in the developers' floor plan. That wall is slightly longer and will give a more spacious feel with all the cabinetry jutting out from the wall is only from one side instead of from both sides. He also showed his spatial awareness when he discouraged building cabinetry at the foot of the bed since the walking space would be too narrow. He is right since when I measured the walking space in my current room, it is even wider than what I would end up with my suggestion.
Unfortunately other than that, the rest is red flags. At the end of the meeting, he asked me to find some pictures of what I had in mind because I sounded like I was not sure with what I wanted. Erm.. it was more like he could not visualise what I wanted. The only unusual thing I want is to modify the space usually for TV in the living room wall to become a working area. In other words, instead of to put TV, it is for me to put laptop to work. When I said I wanted a study in the bedroom, he asked why I wanted to have two study which sounded like he was lazy to think or modify the living room cabinetry according to my request.
He asked for a week for a quotation and he was late. Because he was introduced by my friend, I asked for an update and urgh.. The area I said to leave blank for keyboard/organ was changed to a study area, which made me suspect he did not remember what I wanted. He added some cabinetry at the head of the bed (which I did not ask) and the study in the bedroom was against the bed instead of against the wall as the picture I sent him. While the carpentry charges are comparable, he has so many miscellaneous charges that others do not charge e.g. professional fees (for drawing, choosing of tiles, materials,etc) and workers insurance.
I am trying to be positive. Instead of thinking that he wasted my one week, it made me check with others if they would also have any hidden fees. The others said workers insurance would not be required or charged to me since the scope of the workers' work at the unit for my project is very limited (i.e. only installation and painting). There are no professional fees since everything that the IDs do is already somewhat taken into consideration to the other charges. With that, I just ignored him. I see no point asking him about these charges which are already $3000 and I am lazy to to discuss about change in quotation since some things are not according to what I want.
ID 3
She is the most on-the-ball as she actually scrutinised the video I sent prior to the first meeting. She even noticed that the wardrobe door in the bedroom is not sliding and hence my idea of building a study area next to bed may not be workable. The table maybe too small since after taking into consideration the space for the wardrobe door to open. Hence I agree with her point that might as well get a table as furniture, rather than to build. It will also be more flexible in case I want to change my bed from super single to queen next time.
During the second meeting when discussing the first quotation, she even showed my floor plan in her 3D modelling programme and the proposed cabinetries just to ensure that we were on the same page. She prepared two versions for my toy cabinets: light vs dark theme, and she created the model for living room cabinetry according to what I want: working area where the usual TV area is. When I asked about flipping the living room cabinetry to be next to the kitchen, she also thought it was a better idea. She noticed from the video that there is a beam at the living room wall where the TV cabinet is indicated in the floor plan. Thus creating a cabinet there means either the depth of the top most row will be narrow due to the beam or the cabinet height will only be until the beam thereby creating a space between the ceiling and the top of the cabinet which will collect dust.
We still had few rounds of discussions and the quote was revised until version 6 haha.. That is what I mean with on-the-ball as she quickly updates the quotation as soon as as change was agreed upon. Unlike the first one, the changes are only with the things that we discussed upon. In addition, she tried to keep the total within 20-21k by modifying the goodwill discount.
Sadly, lies and deceptions are part of business. Initially she said that she somewhat has 3D drawings ready for me and hence measuring can start as soon as I get my keys. These whole thing changed after I signed the contract -_- She said due to time constraint, she would only provide me 3D drawings for the toy cabinets and living room cabinets first. She also suddenly remembered that she has to attend wedding next Saturday after initially saying that measuring can be done on that day. Oh well, what can I do? I already signed the contract and overall she is still the best choice out of the three. Not as if I have other options.
That summarises my ID choosing experience. Everything is settled within 2 weeks as I simply do not have the patience to shortlist so many IDs and I want to quickly get things over and done with. I am so easygoing and chinchai as a customer so I hope this ID one will not disappoint and give me problems and force me to be Karen.
I went to Orchard gym today and bought shumai before going for daily Mass. Only after finishing the shumai I realised that daily Mass is shorter than Sunday Mass so I would break the 1 hour fast before Communion. I was in a dilemma deciding if I should receive or not. Since the timing to attend Mass was just nice, skipping was not part of the consideration. Lol. Thank God that since today is a Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Mass was held at the main Church. In addition, being a solemnity means it is almost similar to a Sunday Mass: Gloria (even during Advent), two readings and Gospel, the Creed as well as incensing. By the time for Communion, it was already past an hour since the last shumai was swallowed. Lol.
Whether it is is coincidence or God's plan, today is the third time that completion of a process related to my new house takes place on a special day related to Mother Mary. Today happens to be the only day I can take leave to drop the Cashier's Order since it is a public holiday in the Philippines. Otherwise, I would be occupied with the end of year appraisals. I thought I would only make a decision about the ID by the weekend but somehow after the discussions yesterday, it was already apparent who I would choose and I might as well use the opportunity today to settle everything since I already took leave.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Mother Mary. I pray for continuous grace and blessings for smooth and timely renovation process. Amen.
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