by Ben Wee

Created on: October 30, 2008

We all have a mental picture of what we envision as our dream home. Whether this vision is mutually shared by you or your spouse, will largely depend on how well you can communicate this mental picture to your significant other.

dun worry, if you feel that way you are not alone.

So, first on the list, sit down with your spouse, describe as vividly as possible to him/her, what you see in your mind's eye when you are looking at your new home. Be detailed, from the floor pattern to the colors of the wall to the fixtures you have in mind, list it all down. This is very crucial, as a wrong communication, will lead to many days of unhappy disagreements over what to get and buy.

Now, once the both of you are sharing the same mental picture, make a rough list of what you would like to do in your home. Make sure you furnish every room, nook and cranny with all the furniture you want, all the fixtures you would like to see. The reason is simple. You see, in the market, every renovation ID will have a guideline of how much doing a typical HDB flat will cost, which is what they will usually use when doing an estimation of the renovation quote they give you... and it goes something like this:

3-Room == $15,000 - 24,000
4-Room == $24,000 - 30,000
5-Room == $30,000 - 35,000
Executive == $35,000 & above

so, taking an example of a 4 room flat, even if you were to only furnish the living room, master room and kitchen in your renovation list, you will still be quoted an amount that comes to about $24,000+-

so, now you are at the point where you are going to list down what you want to do for your home.

A typical example is this

1. Kitchen Cabinets
2. Laminates for 3 bedrooms
3. Raised Laminate Platform for Living
4. False Ceiling at Living / Dining / Master bedroom/Passageway
5. Wiring + Lighting
6. Windows Grille for Balcony

and the questions you need to ask
hmm... how big is your house? new or re-sale?

how many feet of kitchen cabinets are you planning to make? are you making new or replacing the existing ones? are you planning on solid surface top? or granite top? or post-form top?

your laminate platform, it really depends on the size and height of the platform you are gonna get that determines the price

are you doing all false ceiling or mix with L-boxes? how bright do you want your house to be? single or double tube down-lights?

How many more power sockets do you intend to install? Are you shifting any existing ones? Replacing existing wiring in your home?

how large is your balcony window?

you need to be more specific before you can start to realize a renovation list that is going to be within your budget.

Split your renovations to two main categories, NEED-TO-HAVES vs GOOD-TO-HAVES and you will find streamlining your wants much easier

Learn more about this author, Ben Wee.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.