I recently took keys to my new condo and have been meaning to engage an ID firm to design and renovate my unit.

I came across the Makeover Guys (https://www.themakeover.my/) and they purportedly specialize in renovating your unit quickly for the purposes of renting. My understanding is that they try to do this based off design templates they have, renovate quickly, so that the quality is decent without breaking the bank.

They have a sister company, Groundwork (https://www.groundwork.my/) which also does ID and renovation projects for those who want to stay in their units (not for renting). How they operate however is still quite similar to Makeover Guys -- they have a number of themes and templates you can choose from, with some minimal customisation allowed. Once you choose your theme/template, their ID team will design and get it done within 2 months or so. The end design will fit the theme you chose, but not everything will be what you see in the sample photos, as they choose the wallpapers/fittings/furniture based on the theme which may not necessarily be the exact same items you see in photos. For quick turnover, they do not allow you to go back and forth with the ID team on specific items (so essentially you won't know how certain things will look like until you step into the completed unit). My understanding is that Groundwork costs more than Makeover Guys because it is for own stay purposes, so they have a more evolved sense of design with allegedly better quality materials.

(Groundwork also allows you to design your unit from scratch, without referencing templates, but this costs a lot more.)

My question is, has anyone used Groundwork or the Makeover Guys before? The templates provided by Groundwork are quite nice, and the high level estimate they provided to me seemed reasonable. But I can't find any reviews about them and so hopefully some of you can shed some light here to the quality of their work.

Thanks.

This post has been edited by QuickFire: Mar 15 2020, 06:10 PM

Anyone?

Actually my first post was a little incorrect.

Makeover Guys - for rentals

Easyhome - like makeover guys, but for own stay. They have pre-defined templates to choose from for the look of your home. Lots of wallpaper usage, no plaster ceiling if I'm not mistaken, most of the things are chosen by them based on your preferred theme. You do not get to individually choose the exact design of the items. They do allow custom carpentry though.

Groundwork - more akin to the other ID firms out there. You can design from scratch and customise almost everything. Costs more than easyhome of course.


I had quite a lengthy chat with Tessa from easyhome during the MCO. She was very friendly and extremely helpful, feels genuinely like someone who wants to help the client. Props to her. Unfortunately in the end I decided not to proceed because of the limitations above – less customisation and lots of details are left to easyhome to choose for you, without much of your say. They call it a surprise element. But surprises can be good or bad so I decided against it in the end.

Go look at more project photos on atap.co and qanvast. Just browse through dozens. After that you will see that what the makeover guys do is gimmicky and unrefined. But that's how they keep the costs down. They use lots and lots of wallpapers with lines flying in every direction.

50k including loose furniture and electrical appliances? That would be challenging I think if you want quality stuff (plywood instead of MDF, etc). If it's without loose furniture and appliances then I think it's feasible. You have 3 options:

1. Hire an ID to design and build. The ID will engage contractors and you don't have to deal with them. The whole project is managed for you. Costs more obviously but less hassle.

2. Hire an ID to design/draw the plans for you, and you deal with contractors yourself. A bit more of a hassle and increased risk of miscommunication with the contractors. But costs less.

3. Design everything yourself, including drawing the plans and measurements. Much higher risk of something going FUBAR but obviously the most cost effective in terms of money. You will spend lots of time planning though.

Actually it really depends how much built in carpentry you want. That does eat into most of your budget. If you can live with IKEA cabinets then that would help you loads in keeping the budget down.