At A Glance
- Rashidah and family
- Home to 2 adults and 2 kids
- Area size: 113 sqm / 1,216 sqft
- Location: Keat Hong Close
- Cost of Renovation: $22,000
- Cost of Furnishing: $10,000
- Interior Design Firm: Innerglow Design
- Interior Designer: Anzer
It is not uncommon to hear tales of renovation experiences gone wrong. Here, however, we present to you the experiences of a couple whose renovation journey went smoothly thanks to the help of Anzer from Innerglow Designs.
Taking the time and effort to assuage the couple of their doubts, Anzer was able to take charge of the renovation process so that Rashidah, who was heavily pregnant at that time, could sit back and relax. Find out more below about how Anzer helped the couple on their renovation journey.
Qanvast: How did you come to settle on Innerglow Design?
Rashidah (R): Our search for interior designers mostly boiled down to two firms – Innerglow Design and Fatema Design Studios (FDS). However, FDS’s quote exceeded our budget of $20,000 for the entire renovation. If I remembered correctly, it cost about $28,000 just to renovate the kitchen! It is probably because FDS is an established interior design firm in Singapore.
We decided to go with Innerglow Design even though they were not a widely recognised firm since we felt that their quote was quite affordable and their workmanship was good. We had also done some research on them online and there were no bad reviews of them which we saw as a good sign.
Qanvast: What made Anzer stand out from the other interior designers that you had met?
Spouse (S): He was really patient with us. As this is our first time renovating, we had quite a few things which we were unsure about such as material selection. Anzer would take the time to go through the different materials with us, to show us the samples and to explain about the benefits and disadvantages of using each material.
R: This really sets him apart from other interior designers that we met. I recalled asking one interior designer questions about the quartz countertop and he asked me to do my own research before talking to him. That really puts me off.
Qanvast: How did Anzer work with the budget that you had set?
R: He was very nice and did his best to design within our budget. There were quite a few instances when there were amounts that needed to be topped up and he would absorb these costs. Anzer also threw in the backsplash for free since I had referred a friend who also enlisted his services.
(S): Anzer also helped us to do rectifications at no charge. For instance, the kitchen island which he built for us was higher than what we preferred so he helped us to adjust the height.
Qanvast: Many housing estates have their own Facebook group where they would share the contacts of suppliers. Does your estate have such a group too?
R: Yes. Ours is a Whatsapp group. The members of our estate would organise bulk purchases so that everybody can enjoy discounts. We bought our curtains during one of these bulk purchases and the supplier would bring down the samples to the estate for us to choose. The community here is really enthusiastic. One of the events we organised even got picked up by Berita Harian (the Malay newspaper).
Qanvast: How would you describe your overall renovation experience?
R: We were really worried in the beginning as we had heard many horror stories about interior designers who default on their contractors. Initially there still was that doubt when we signed on with Innerglow Designs. However, Anzer was able to assure us and the renovation process turned out to be quite smooth for us.
S: When he first met up with Anzer, we were wondering if he could get the job done because he is young. Even when the renovation started, I came over quite frequently to check on the progress of the renovation. It turned out that we needn’t worry so much as Anzer did a great job overall.
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