My husband and I started sourcing for Interior Designer (ID)/Contractors since early November 2014. Till date, we met 5. Honestly, I don't think those we met are interior designers because the design came from me and they did not really offer any design advice or value add in designing the home. Neither are they contractors because they don't directly do the work. Hm... so what do I call them? project managers?
I got to know most of the IDs from Qanvast. It has an application that connects home owners with home designers. It also showcase the works for some interior firm. I didn't know how I should start my search for IDs but a friend shared with me that I could input my requirements like budget and type of home on Qanvast and someone will contact me and recommend IDs based on my requirements. There is zero cost in doing this and it's really fast. Chee Yang, the founder of Qanvast, contacted me within 24 hours (I believe), to make some clarifications and within the next day or two, he recommended 5 IDs: Chapter B, Modernwerks, Space Atelier, Lifeart & Dream Creations. The first 3 contacted me very quickly but the last 2 did not contact me since my request was made known to them in early November.
According to 2 of my husband's friends who are working in the interior design line, usually it's the small and/or companies that will advertise on Qanvast. The middle to high end tier will not use Qanvast to market themselves. Hm... I think this is only true to a certain extend. I met one ID who previously worked in Weiken Interior and my friend met one from The Association. But yes, given my budget of $30,000 for renovation, I will not be able to afford true IDs. Before I met the IDs, I emailed them my floor plan and a rough idea of what I was looking for. I find it pointless to meet them starting from nothing.
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| My email to IDs (largely the same content) |
Here's a mini review of Dream Creations, Modernwerks, Space Atelier, Design Creative and De Style.
Dream Creations
Blk 47 Toa Payoh Lorong 6
Mr A, Interior Design Consultant
This firm is my virgin experience of renovation shopping. Therefore, I was clueless about the world of renovation. Mr A is a middle aged man (looks like late 50s or even 60s) and came across as an honest, practical and friendly man. Mr A was also able to provide a quotation that is within my budget. Nonetheless, he does not seem to understand what I would like in my home and unable to suggest materials or methods to achieve the design that I am looking for. During my first session with him, it was the help of a younger lady beside him that I could communicate exactly what I wanted. Subsequent to the first session, Mr A will keep contacting me to arrange a meet up for a revised quotation. After a while, he came across as mildly pushy and I did not really like it. By this time, I would have met a few IDs already and he is definitely not someone I want to engage because he doesn't understand what I want. But I do not know how to reject him! So yes, we went for a second meeting knowing that we definitely will not sign him. It was also for my husband to tell him we are considering other firms. Let the man to do the devil's job :P
Modernwerks
147 Silat Avenue
Kim Lee, Designer (modernwerks.kl@gmail.com)
Kim is a sweet and young lady who came across as very sincere and earnest. (I am a pretty relational person so the feeling I get from a person is important. But I guess I have to work with someone I feel comfortable with and able to connect.) She said she has five years experience in the industry and her company had been around for 3 years. Kim is a graduate NAFA and does her own 3D drawning.
She left a good impression especially on my husband. My husband felt that Kim was able to understand our needs and considers the user experience. (See, the husband is an IT geek and develops IT systems for companies so he's very into the user experience thing). For example, Kim shared that she would design a kitchen drawer system to place the sauces. She asked us if we are right handed because then she would place the drawers towards the left of the stove so that as we cook with our right hand, we can pull out the sauces with our left. She also designed the master bed to be opposite the door while I envisioned the master bed to be aligned with the door.
Kim politely explained that she arranged for the bed in that position as it was easier to reach the side of the bed furthest from the door. I will have to walk a longer distance to the bedside nearer the window if it was aligned on the side of the door. Kim also suggested that living the space near the window empty can allow for future uses like exercise and bay windows. While we were thinking of hecking the top half of the wall between the kitchen and the living room, Kim recommended that only 6 ft to be hecked so that we can place the refrigerator opposite the stove and the sink (Traditionally, it is recommended that the stove, sink and refrigerator forms a triangle for easy reach of items within one arm's length especially while cooking). Of course, the other plus side is, Kim can keep to our budget. Kim is also the person who came closest to what I want just by reading my email request. She is also the only one who emailed me the quotation before I met them. I was shocked at how open this is! This means just send her an email of your request and get a quotation without any obligation?? Great for "online shoppers" Lol!
I do have some concerns about engaging Kim. Firstly, this is a smaller company and honestly how much power do they have over the contractors/carpenters pricing. Secondly, I am not sure how credible small companies are. It's not like IKEA. You go onto the net and criticize their kitchen and in a couple of hours the kitchen specialist of IKEA contacts you and rectify the situation (see IKEA says sorry). Thirdly, I have not gotten the opportunity to see the actual carpentry work and so I am not sure if I "pay peanuts", I'll "get monkeys". ($30K is not peanuts btw!).
Space Atelier
88 Rangoon Road
Jonathan Kuok, Senior Design Associate (jonathan@spaceatelier.com.sg)
Unlike Modernwerkz and Dream Creations, the firm is not located at some old HDB estate. They have pretty impressive interiors and high ceiling! (I love high ceiling. Having high ceilings means half the interior battle is won :D)
Jonathan said he has 13 years experience in the industry and previously worked at the well-advertised and marketed Weiken. I think it's believable because he knows his stuff very well. From him, I learnt a lot about materials which I did not know much before. I learnt about thickness of laminate, ABS trimming, craftstones, using kompacplus to make a thicker platform, trunking of aircon and its concealing etc. He patiently explained all the questions I have about materials used.
BUT.... HE IS TOO EXPENSIVE! I wondered if he even thought about my budget which ranks as high as the design :( The company practices this package where you get some basic renovation and then they will add on the quotation based on the design that you want. This makes the thing very rigid because really, I don't need everything in that package like overhead cupboard for kitchen, false ceiling and tempered shower glass for the common bathroom. Not only that, I am unable to compare item by item if their cost is reasonable as compared to other firms. So a big NO to Space Atelier. Perhaps, they may be happier if I say no to them cause I'm only a small project and they can't earn much from me. But even then, a visit to the "higher end" firm taught me much. Not a wasted trip.
Design Creative
164 Kallang Way
Mr K
Ok this one.... don't bother la. The office is at a workshop/factory and the Chinese national man is a wardrobe maker trying to make a mark at renovation. He comes a cross as trying his best, nice and friendly. However, Mr K has no PR skills, no business skills, negligible ability to converse in English (which is hard for a banana like me!), limited knowledge on renovation and materials and no pictures of any works to show us. His reasons for not having any pictures - they usually do their projects in a rush and don't take photos. I didn't get him from Qanvast. I was looking for wardrobes and cabinet makers and found this website innocloset.com. Hence, I decided to drop an email to get a quote. He then called me and said that his company does full home renovation as well. I thought, sure I can just get a quote from him. And so when I met him and saw his quote, it was the cheapest ever! Only about $21,000! But nothing to be happy about because I don't think Mr K is able to meet my reno needs.
I saw some of the cupboards at the workshop which are the same pictures as the gallery in the website. They looked pretty nice and well made. He claimed that the wood he used was better than the wood used by other pole system company and gave me two samples. I have no idea why they are better.
Mr K was also unable to produce even pictures of completed wardrobes. While, actually he tried to pull out two blur pictures of some kitchen cabinets I think but I can't figure out what they are exactly. In conclusion, I will not get them for renovation and not even for their pole system wardrobe.
De Style
33 Ubi Avenue 3
Jordan Toh, Design Consultant (jordan@destyle.com.sg)
We got to know Jordan through a friend who is also working in the same firm. Well, we did not want to get that friend to do as my husband and I can be difficult to work with and if anything goes wrong with the renovation, it may hurt relationships. Hence, to protect the friendship, we requested for him to recommend someone and he got his team leader to help us. Jordan was frank and approachable. I shared that I may want to overlay the tiles of the toilet if the ones from HDB did not look nice. He also noticed that I was concerned that the cost of overlaying was about $2800. Jordan shared that if this was just the "transitional" home before we moved to our "dream home" in future, then we should not spend the money on overlaying. He advised that the HDB toilet tiles usually look reasonable and if I really wanted to do up my house, I might as well do everything and not have some done up while others looked under renovated. Sounds like good advice.
De Style is a pretty established mid-tier firm and I felt confident to choose them. Not only that, Jordan is a friend of a friend. So maybe my friend can help put in a word or two to stretch the dollar and ensure good work is done. However, I also got the sense that I am just minor project out of their many major works going on. Bigger firms leave me concerned that I do not have bargaining power. And of course, Jordan is unable to keep to my strict budget but he exceeded by only a couple of thousand (PS: GST is charged) Then again, when the renovation plan is finalized, will there be even more couple of thousands added !
Conclusion: *confused & concerned about committing $30,000 to anyone*
I am not sure if I should visit more ID or are the above visitations sufficient. If it is enough to make a decision, then I am torn between De Style and Modernwerks. Bigger firm or smaller firm? What should I base my decision on?
Dream Creations
Blk 47 Toa Payoh Lorong 6
Mr A, Interior Design Consultant
This firm is my virgin experience of renovation shopping. Therefore, I was clueless about the world of renovation. Mr A is a middle aged man (looks like late 50s or even 60s) and came across as an honest, practical and friendly man. Mr A was also able to provide a quotation that is within my budget. Nonetheless, he does not seem to understand what I would like in my home and unable to suggest materials or methods to achieve the design that I am looking for. During my first session with him, it was the help of a younger lady beside him that I could communicate exactly what I wanted. Subsequent to the first session, Mr A will keep contacting me to arrange a meet up for a revised quotation. After a while, he came across as mildly pushy and I did not really like it. By this time, I would have met a few IDs already and he is definitely not someone I want to engage because he doesn't understand what I want. But I do not know how to reject him! So yes, we went for a second meeting knowing that we definitely will not sign him. It was also for my husband to tell him we are considering other firms. Let the man to do the devil's job :P
Modernwerks
147 Silat Avenue
Kim Lee, Designer (modernwerks.kl@gmail.com)
Kim is a sweet and young lady who came across as very sincere and earnest. (I am a pretty relational person so the feeling I get from a person is important. But I guess I have to work with someone I feel comfortable with and able to connect.) She said she has five years experience in the industry and her company had been around for 3 years. Kim is a graduate NAFA and does her own 3D drawning.
She left a good impression especially on my husband. My husband felt that Kim was able to understand our needs and considers the user experience. (See, the husband is an IT geek and develops IT systems for companies so he's very into the user experience thing). For example, Kim shared that she would design a kitchen drawer system to place the sauces. She asked us if we are right handed because then she would place the drawers towards the left of the stove so that as we cook with our right hand, we can pull out the sauces with our left. She also designed the master bed to be opposite the door while I envisioned the master bed to be aligned with the door.
I do have some concerns about engaging Kim. Firstly, this is a smaller company and honestly how much power do they have over the contractors/carpenters pricing. Secondly, I am not sure how credible small companies are. It's not like IKEA. You go onto the net and criticize their kitchen and in a couple of hours the kitchen specialist of IKEA contacts you and rectify the situation (see IKEA says sorry). Thirdly, I have not gotten the opportunity to see the actual carpentry work and so I am not sure if I "pay peanuts", I'll "get monkeys". ($30K is not peanuts btw!).
Space Atelier
88 Rangoon Road
Jonathan Kuok, Senior Design Associate (jonathan@spaceatelier.com.sg)
Unlike Modernwerkz and Dream Creations, the firm is not located at some old HDB estate. They have pretty impressive interiors and high ceiling! (I love high ceiling. Having high ceilings means half the interior battle is won :D)
Jonathan said he has 13 years experience in the industry and previously worked at the well-advertised and marketed Weiken. I think it's believable because he knows his stuff very well. From him, I learnt a lot about materials which I did not know much before. I learnt about thickness of laminate, ABS trimming, craftstones, using kompacplus to make a thicker platform, trunking of aircon and its concealing etc. He patiently explained all the questions I have about materials used.
BUT.... HE IS TOO EXPENSIVE! I wondered if he even thought about my budget which ranks as high as the design :( The company practices this package where you get some basic renovation and then they will add on the quotation based on the design that you want. This makes the thing very rigid because really, I don't need everything in that package like overhead cupboard for kitchen, false ceiling and tempered shower glass for the common bathroom. Not only that, I am unable to compare item by item if their cost is reasonable as compared to other firms. So a big NO to Space Atelier. Perhaps, they may be happier if I say no to them cause I'm only a small project and they can't earn much from me. But even then, a visit to the "higher end" firm taught me much. Not a wasted trip.
Design Creative
164 Kallang Way
Mr K
Ok this one.... don't bother la. The office is at a workshop/factory and the Chinese national man is a wardrobe maker trying to make a mark at renovation. He comes a cross as trying his best, nice and friendly. However, Mr K has no PR skills, no business skills, negligible ability to converse in English (which is hard for a banana like me!), limited knowledge on renovation and materials and no pictures of any works to show us. His reasons for not having any pictures - they usually do their projects in a rush and don't take photos. I didn't get him from Qanvast. I was looking for wardrobes and cabinet makers and found this website innocloset.com. Hence, I decided to drop an email to get a quote. He then called me and said that his company does full home renovation as well. I thought, sure I can just get a quote from him. And so when I met him and saw his quote, it was the cheapest ever! Only about $21,000! But nothing to be happy about because I don't think Mr K is able to meet my reno needs.
I saw some of the cupboards at the workshop which are the same pictures as the gallery in the website. They looked pretty nice and well made. He claimed that the wood he used was better than the wood used by other pole system company and gave me two samples. I have no idea why they are better.
Mr K was also unable to produce even pictures of completed wardrobes. While, actually he tried to pull out two blur pictures of some kitchen cabinets I think but I can't figure out what they are exactly. In conclusion, I will not get them for renovation and not even for their pole system wardrobe.
De Style
33 Ubi Avenue 3
Jordan Toh, Design Consultant (jordan@destyle.com.sg)
We got to know Jordan through a friend who is also working in the same firm. Well, we did not want to get that friend to do as my husband and I can be difficult to work with and if anything goes wrong with the renovation, it may hurt relationships. Hence, to protect the friendship, we requested for him to recommend someone and he got his team leader to help us. Jordan was frank and approachable. I shared that I may want to overlay the tiles of the toilet if the ones from HDB did not look nice. He also noticed that I was concerned that the cost of overlaying was about $2800. Jordan shared that if this was just the "transitional" home before we moved to our "dream home" in future, then we should not spend the money on overlaying. He advised that the HDB toilet tiles usually look reasonable and if I really wanted to do up my house, I might as well do everything and not have some done up while others looked under renovated. Sounds like good advice.
De Style is a pretty established mid-tier firm and I felt confident to choose them. Not only that, Jordan is a friend of a friend. So maybe my friend can help put in a word or two to stretch the dollar and ensure good work is done. However, I also got the sense that I am just minor project out of their many major works going on. Bigger firms leave me concerned that I do not have bargaining power. And of course, Jordan is unable to keep to my strict budget but he exceeded by only a couple of thousand (PS: GST is charged) Then again, when the renovation plan is finalized, will there be even more couple of thousands added !
Conclusion: *confused & concerned about committing $30,000 to anyone*
I am not sure if I should visit more ID or are the above visitations sufficient. If it is enough to make a decision, then I am torn between De Style and Modernwerks. Bigger firm or smaller firm? What should I base my decision on?
