After agreeing to the layout as per Part 1, Eunice then asked me, what type or style do I like?
She gave me a few to choose. Generally, she is asking what's my taste or what do I want.
So mine were
- must feel comfortable. After a hard day's work, I want to come back to a comfortable place
- must feel bright / natural
- design cannot be too modern or out of the world
- when people step in to the house, he/she must feel welcome
She then email me with a few concepts such as
Of course when she gave the 5 styles, you would go wow..everyone also LIKE. So how do we go about it? So I will tell her a mixture of this and that. Very indecisive hor? But I guess we are all human and we all like things that are nice right ;-)
First thing first, to pass the developer's layout plan to the ID.
From there, she came to my house (USJ) to snap some photos. To see my lifestyle and what items (furniture) to re-use.
Then she came out with the layout and furniture placement. She came out with 2 options. From there I have to shortlist 1 and make further comments/changes.
From the layout, on the right hand side are the current furniture from my USJ house....to reuse la. No point buying new. NO appreciation cost.
The coverage that I wanted Eunice to handle were - Master Bed Room c/w cabinets, tv console Reasoning: Because we do spend quite a good hours in the bedroom, the bedroom should be comfortable. I wanted another TV so that I dont have to fight with the little-fella. - 2 Bathrooms Reasoning: Current tiles were awful (although acceptable), but I wanted a fresh look - 1 featured wall Reasoning: The wall was plain. So adding some stickers and pictures to it - 1 shoe cabinet This is customized to maximize the area. - 1 display cabinet This is at a corner and instead of wasting the area, I added a cabinet to put stuff
- 2nd room (Philip's room) and study room to be minimal, and to use back old furniture. - There is no need to design for the hall and kitchen as it is, its ok. However consultation needed for furniture placement, etc
I finally decided to engaged Debbie's friend, Eunice & Yee. In fact the designers dont even have a website or blog, and it was through Debbie's recommendation, Eunice decided to start a blog about her work.
So we started chatting and started discussing....We talked about - what I wanted ... is it totally new, partial, carpentry work, etc *note: do your homework. Browse around, read magazines, and see what type of design you like* There is the modern, the homely, the plain, the artistic, the "WOW"...* ** you must know what you want. But do you really think you know? So you must always ASK...ASK question....**
- the price ... you can opt for ID work only or ID work cum reno work whereby ID charges are waived? or ID fee + reno work at cost , based on receipt...ie: the ID's role is the Project Manager * in my case, I paid ID fee separately and Reno work separately. I would say 50% are based on cost/receipt like tangible items and the rest is workmanship (a quoted price) ** you may want to ask, can you use your own contractor? ie: your friend sells glass, and you want your friend to install shower screen for you. Or do you have to use the ID's panel?
- others * when you can provide them your floor plan ** when they can view the place *** what items you want to be in your new place? ie, any old furniture or important antique you want to be in your new place **** how's the payment plan ***** what workers you have, local, foreign ****** who will take care of local authorities, building/design approval, etc ******* how about guarantee? ie you are not satisfy with workmanship? or the toilet is leaking after install..who bears, etc
1) must be IT-savvy (ie: knows how to use mms, sms, email, scanning, yahoo messaging...)
After I found a few Ids, the first thing I did was to email them. Then I waited for the response. From there you will know the response time.
MMS is very crucial because Id or myself will snap photos our mobile and we exchange message immediately..ie: sourcing for bed, fittings, etc
Instant Chat Messaging..so that we can chat on-the-spot. Because I am office-based, getting my boss to see me on the phone all the time is not so nice. So chatting must work!
2) turn around time less than 2 working days
I guess nowadays, where technology is so advance, people getting more and more impatient... we cannot wait. *I will blog later about turnaround time on other matters later*
3) smaller company so that they can eye for detail
Bigger companies are good too, as they will have more resources. But more resources means they will accept more jobs to sustain. I chose a smaller company, and this is a couple-show. They probably take 1 job at a time.
Also, choose a local ID, at least they know places, the roads, the bargains.
4) of course, availability to take up the job
I checked with them if they are ok with the time-frame set. Some of them are reluctant due to CNY, no workers, jobs at hand...
5) passionate about what they are doing
Some people are in the business because they applied for a job and they got the job. Its a JOB. But this couple, they are passionate in what they are doing. They love their job or they love what they are doing.
6) ability to show some past projects with pictures and referrals
Ask for past projects with pictures, the before and after. Ask for referrals too like, can I contact them... if those who cannot provide details, then its better off not to engage them. Normally the ID will ask their client consent before passing the info to you.
7) speaks the same language
Must find one that really know what you want, what is your expectation. Those ID with experience normally will hit the bull eyes.
For my USJ house, I didnt have the luxury for an Interior Designer. More so, in early 2000, getting an ID is only for the rich. Being single, young, "starting-out", I decided to use my own creativity to do up the house. I relied on Ikea and overseas magazines a lot.
This time round, I decided to go for an ID. As I am not familiar in this industry, the best thing to do was to google. So I google-d around but there was very little info on ID in Malaysia. Also, I didnt had time to visit those home expos in MV or PWTC.
Thus, I asked, surveyed, google-d...and I found
http://meridiandesign.blogspot.com/ - googled and found out Joanna also used her http://33y33y.blogspot.com/ - recommendation from Debbie http://www.spacematrix.com.my/ Space Matrix in Damansara Jaya - recommendation from friend.
Because I am quite busy at work, I needed info on the spot. Thankfully, I had Joanna (http://familyfirst3.blogspot.com/), Agnes (http://agnes-luvofmylife.blogspot.com/) and Debbie. (http://luvdebbie.com/) Thank you for the bloggers. They were also renovating their house and I thank God for knowing them and they gave a lot of valuable info and advise to me.
Ps: Agnes' blog is private. I guess if you want to read her blog, please let me know.
This lady, a very helpful and nice person informed via facebook that Italiannies eatery at Empire Shopping Gallery, Subang Jaya will be having its opening promotion. So what's the promotion?
Its FREE FOOD.
So on a Monday at work, I told my colleagues and we made the bookings. Guess what, our lunch time has been brought forward to 11.30 am. That the time we were given. So off we went in high speed as we made reservations and confirmed at 11.20 am only.
Once we reached there, the restaurant was still empty. The 4 of us were split to 2 tables as they (the management) wanted to trial run the business. So I sat with my colleague Mr Leong..and at the same time can have department meeting la...ahahahhaha
This is what we had
The bread. This is given FOC /On the house with their vinegar and olive oil We were also given "monopoly" money to pay ehehehehe how fun.
The menu to choose from
My fizzy drink. In future, just order 1 softdrink or Ice lemon tea as its free refill
This is yum. I like this a lot. 9 pieces of shrimp. And this portion is good for 2. *tip*
Their pizza Tiramisu Showing you the portion size..
This is NOT a paid post. Just sharing information and sometimes there is free lunch ;p
