November 11, 2016
• Joanne and her family of four
• Size: 92sqm / 990sqft
• Location: Parc Centros
• Cost of Renovation: $17,000
• Cost of Furnishing: $30,000
• Interior Design Firm: D'Planner
• Interior Designer: Jessica
We sat down for a chat with Joanne and who shared with us more about her space woes and how Jessica from D'Planner helped her resolve these problems.
Qanvast: How was it like making the switch from a 5-room flat to a 3-room apartment?
Joanne (J): When we first entered this unit, we could immediately tell that the space was smaller – especially in the bedrooms. My previous home had around 110 square metres of space while the area size of our current apartment is around 92 square metres.
Initially, I was worried about whether my children would be comfortable in this space as compared to our previous home where they had enough space to play badminton or skip around in the living area. Thankfully, they’ve gotten used to the space and they especially like the balcony area as they can play on the swing chair. I think it’s just a matter of getting used to it.
Qanvast: Tell us about how you decided on engaging D'Planner, and Jessica in particular.
J: When we were searching for modern home designs on Qanvast, we came across D'Planner. We liked their designs so we decided to make an appointment with them, during which we particularly liked the designs done by Jessica.
After our first discussion, Jessica was able to incorporate everything that we wanted in the draft given. My husband also did a price-comparison between D'Planner and the other two interior design firms that we had met up with and her quote was reasonable. As we felt comfortable with her, we decided to go ahead and engage her services.
Qanvast: What was your priority when it came to the design of your home?
J: As this home is rather small, my priority lay with space planning as I needed to have sufficient storage space. Since I do not have a utilities room, I required a space to store my luggage, ironing boards and other miscellaneous items. These items are quite bulky so my brief to Jessica was that I didn’t want these items to be sticking out. With this priority in mind, Jessica came up with many space-saving solutions so that everything can be put away neatly.
Qanvast: How did Jessica ease your renovation journey?
J: Jessica understood what we wanted and was able to help us with space planning. She was very open about the fact that we had relatives who could help us with certain aspects of the renovation such as the false ceiling and the painting. If there were any problems, she would also come down to advise the workers.
Qanvast: Would you say Jessica was very accommodating?
J: Yes. She went above and beyond her duties, helping us to coordinate between the different groups of workers. She would come down frequently to check up on things – even when the works being done were not by her own contractors, and helped us to select the colours of the curtains that we had bought from an external contractor.
Qanvast: What were some of Jessica’s best qualities as an interior designer?
J: Jessica was very prompt – both in terms of answering our questions and rectifying issues, and very careful when it comes to her planning. I told her that I need an extra cabinet in my bedroom which had to be of a certain width and she measured my bed frame and the bedroom area a lot of times to get the correct measurements so that she could leave ample walking space.
Qanvast: Were there any hiccups during the renovation and how did Jessica solve them?
J: When we moved in, there was an electrical socket missing. We then found out from Jessica that the carpenter had covered it up when they installed the cupboard against the wall. The next day, she arranged for the carpenter and the electrician to come down and they managed to pull out the line for us so that the socket could be utilised.
Another issue lay with the grey laminate. When the two pieces were joined together, the joint was very obvious. Jessica rectified this by suggesting that we create groove lines on the laminate.
Qanvast: Are you satisfied with the way that your house turned out?
J: Yes. However, I find that there’s some room for improvement in turns of the quality of the carpentry - after moving in for about a month, we found that the anti-slam devices which were attached to the doors of the drawers weren’t so effective anymore. Although it’s from a good brand – Blum – and we had asked the worker to come and adjust it prior to moving in, it was not working as it should.
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