Hi ehwee,

Thanks for this sharing thread.

My house is an end lot and the layout are shown in figure below:



May i know how would you place the wet kitchen area, dry kitchen area, dining table and small bar area in this layout?

Thanks :-)

Hi ehwee, the floor done early nov. I post it, to share. My wife satisfield with your choice of id. Tq.

[attachmentid=10701805]

The floor should be 40% brighter. The camera cant take actual image.

After this we are going for furnitures and curtain.

Hi Ehwee , first off id like to thank you for the time and effort you spend in sharing your views and knowledge with everyone here.

Ive got a couple of questions i was hoping you could help with please.

1) My main challenge with my condo layout is that for the dry kitchen, i would like to have a peninsula (similar to this developer floor plan... but maybe just a straight one with no curve at the end)

However at the same time i would also like to create some shelving for shoes etc once you enter the unit. This is the rectangle in green.

My concern is that this would make the entrance and dry kitchen/peninsula area very cramped.  Any suggestions on a better layout for this area?

2) Second question is regarding the master bedroom, was wondering if you had any thoughts on how to put in a walk-in closet if possible?

Thanks alot in advance, and look forward to hearing your advice.

Hi Ehwee,

Wanting to get your advice on a few things here (each boxes represent tiles size of 60cmx60cm)
1. Can you help to advise on lightings position for this layout here? I was thinking to install lightbox but not sure at which location will give the best result. Other than light box, should i just go with LED downlights on track lights? where would you suggest them?
2. the kitchen island is something addition I plan to install, is that sizing fine? my concern is that do I leave enough walkway for movement in and out from the kitchen.
3. One major thing I find it lacking here is the storage, where would you suggest I can add on storages?
4. The bedroom sliding door is something I consider to do, currently it is a swing door that opens to the left as it will hit to the wardrobe. But there is a problem I encounter, room light switches are on the right side wall, so I was thinking to have the sliding door on the outside instead, is there any guideline where sliding door is best installed at, like inside or outside?

Many thanks in advance and look forward to your reply.

Hey all. As I’ve lived overseas for a long time, my design sensibilities veer towards the Aussie indoor/outdoor living. I have a few questions regarding renovation costs that would help rather than hinder in resale value of the property.

1) Is a wet kitchen necessary? I was considering placing the entire kitchen setup in the middle of the floor plan opening up to the dining table area.

2) This is a long narrow lot with Windows on either end. How is the usage of sunlights here? Concerned that any further extension I do will limit natural light. I’m noticing more designs now with internal courtyards but I don’t have the space.

3) Is making a patio deck/ outdoor area a worthy investment? Malaysians tend to pave over their entire garden which is not my style.

4) I was considering an open plan en-suite for the Master which currently doesn’t have any. It once again is long and narrow with limited light. Would that be acceptable to have an obscured wc with sink and bathtub visible from the bedroom.

Thanks heaps. Loving this thread.

Hi,I'm about to get the keys to my new house soon. I have a general idea on what I want to do but there's one thing which I'm not sure if it can be done, or recommended to do so is to convert my first floor living area into my walk in wardrobe.
<a href='https://pictr.com/images/2020/12/02/7f7Mdn.md.jpg' target='_blank'>https://pictr.com/images/2020/12/02/7f7Mdn.md.jpg </a>
This is my first floor layout. Tentatively, I'm considering  to add a wall indicated by the red line and to open up a small doorway from my master room to access the walk in wardrobe. Looking at the measurement, I'm aware the walk in wardrobe will be quite narrow but I'm ok with that. I have a few concerns below:-
1) the ceiling height for the living area is very high up (possibly around 20 feet), will this be an issue?
2) access to the water tank is through the living area
3) possible cost that I will incur
Is this a good idea or am I better off using one of the back rooms as my walk in wardrobe?

Hi ehwee,



I want to place tv unit at the orange-marked area, however I am not sure to put a wall mounted one or just a normal cabinet with 4 legs. One more thing, will it be better to put divider between staircase and the tv area? Thanks.

Hi, I am wondering if this sort of kitchen layout is ideal?

The apartment comes with built in cabinet already, so I cannot modify that bottom area.
To accommodate for the fridge and an island, this is the layout I have in mind.
My only concern is that the back of the fridge is not against a real wall. So I'd need to put in a thin wall behind?
I am also thinking of having a cabinet on top of the fridge, to make it looks nicer.

Really like the idea of having separate fridge in dry kitchen and wet kitchen.

Thanks a lot :-)

I've been reading online about contemporary, modern and minimalist interior design but I still don't really understand the difference between them, especially contemporary and modern, which seem to be the same?

hi
just curious
if plan to  find ppl renovation
ask for floor plan and ID normally how they charge?
cause got relative is work as build house those
but not sure if ask to find floor plan and ID normally cost how much

Hi TS,

I would like to seek your comment on the color matching question.

Currently my master bedroom is all come with default colour - white. I would like to paint my master bedroom and could not come into any ideas or decision.  The feeling that I want after the bedroom is being paint likely to be cozy and chilling. When close bedroom light also easy can fall into sleep surround darkness. Lol.

Any comment or ideas you can share to me ?

Hi ehwee and others,

Would appreciate your opinion.

Below is my standard 20x70 DSL house. About the positioning of the TV, if I put it as per standard position like the 1st picture below, the distance between the sofa and TV seems to be too close.

But if I would to rotate it 90 degree as per the 2nd picture, the distance seems to be better and the passage way from entrance door to the staircase is better too. but in this option, the back of the TV rack is a sliding glass door. Shall I remove this door and make it a brick wall with 2 small vertical windows at the side? then i'm worried that in the future if i have long or big furniture to move in, the main door might be too small.

any other suggestions for a better solution?

thanks a lot in advance

Hi TS,

Here's a challenge to to do some ID works for a small condo 678sq ft.
Since the room is very small, need your advice for the Master Room design to fit a big wardrobe, working / dressing desk and Queen Size bed with some storage shelf too.

Thanks a lot & Happy New Year 2021.

Hi Ehwee,

Thanks for doing this.

Am wondering if you have any suggestions on how to do the lighting. I am planning to do plaster ceiling at the living area except the kitchen. The kitchen will just put a round surface mounted right.

The plan is below, plan to have 5 downlights, and one pendant just above the dining area. I also plan to put a ceiling fan in between the sofa and TV. There is a shoe cabinet just after the entrance. Is it sufficient lighting, or do you have any other suggestions perhaps including other form of lighting.



The kitchen has a glass partition looks like this, so light from the kitchen might also light up the dining table area. Its a rather small 750 sqft 2 BR

Thank you for your valuable reply I really appreciate it.

I am newbie but while awaiting your reply I came out with this. I prefer to stick to a simple recessed light+eyeball+pendant setup as we are tight on budget. While awaiting your reply I have came up with this.



6 recessed downlights, then 1 eyeball each at the TV cabinet and Shoe Cabinet as accent lighting. A pendant at the Dining area and a Surface Downlight at the kitchen. What do you think about this.

I will however do more research on the concealed lights, and strip lights. I have considered placing the fan in the middle but I would have thought it will look weird. I guess it will not be the case as you have recommended it.

Once again I appreciate your input!

Hi,

This is my living room wall where I am going to place my tv (duh), cabinet and shoe cabinet.

Initially wanted to do a normal tv wall with acrylic, glass or melamine or laminate.
Then decided on a design to use porcelain slab for tv wall and the rest laminate .


But the socket placement proved to be a challenge as it is starting from 2700mm and ends at 3500mm.
Laminate/porcelain slab is 2400mm. From there I will have balance of 180mm for a floating cabinet 530mm off the ground.
Tv is 680-710mm off the ground. Meaning there is only a balance of 180mm between the edge of the tv and edge of the laminate.

Another problem would be that the console cabinet would either be going over the socket or be on top of the socket which would be too high.
Spent weeks/months looking for a suitable design to get around this.

Another problem I have with this is that the tv wall will be bigger than the seating area meaning the tv will be off center (to the left) and that means that the sofa will have to be a bit to the left in order for it to be center with the tv.

After searching high and low online for inspiration I found this design that I love very much.



It is flushed. Everything is neat and tidy and tucked away. Everything is floating.
Plus there is space below the tv to tuck away extra chairs as my sofa is just a 2 seater.
My living room is quite small so it would be nice to have extra chairs available that can be tucked neatly nearby.
I thought I could follow the design above and put my decoder in the mirror cabinet.
I thought the issue would be opening a socket for the console.
Only later on I realized that I wouldn't be able to get signal from the remote to the decoder.

So back to having a decoder console hanging under the tv.
However like many designs that I see online, they are not practical (in our country) as we have astro decoder, tv box, etc.
They don't leave a space for decoders. I am guessing they leave it on top of the cabinet (floating or on the floor).

The other issue is that the prices for laminate wall is pretty expensive. Prices quoted ranges from RM7000-11000 for this job.
So I thought I could follow another of my favorite floating design that uses drywall I think.


Advantage of this design is that it should be much cheaper than laminate and also I am not limited by the size of the laminate which 2400mm.
With drywall I could have the hanging wall much longer and closer to the ground to perhaps 350-450mm.
Enough space for tv console compartment under the tv in 1 floating design.
However after 1 day I decided against it as I have a baby.
Drywall is very weak. If my baby decides to throw something against it or touch it, I will need to fix it and then repaint.
It will have some spots unless I paint the whole wall.
Too much work. Too much risk. So I decided against it.

So back to the drawing board with laminate.
One guy told me that he has a longer laminate of 3000mm which would be perfect as I can have it at my desired length anywhere between 2500-2600mm.
After meeting him, he said better to squeeze in the tv console/decoder in between the tv and end of the laminate. He said 150mm for decoder.
So it will look like this

Is the design good?
Price quoted is RM7000.
Is it reasonable?

Hi Ehwee,

Thanks for doing this and I really appreciate your advice on this.

I'm wondering is there anyway to redesign the kitchen and dinning area without knocking off the walls? I bought this house a few years back and the completion of this project is on 2021.
I start to reviewing the floor plan and realise the kichen is really very small... I love to cook and wish to have a full functioning kitchen...
Can you advise how should i go about it?

Thanks again!

Hi I wish to separate my toilet to dry and wet. Put a glass in the middle. Usually the mosaic divider, how tick is it

Thanks for the info boss, will look into it.

BTW another question, about the partition for the shower area to separate the wet and dry part.

Currently I'm using tempered glass, and the watermark after a few years is really bad. Also the mold growing at the silicone sealant is very bad too.

Is there any other easier to maintain material to do this? I don't really like shower curtain, always give me the "dirty feeling" if accidentally touches it after the shower. Would like to see if there's any other better idea to do this.

Thanks