At A Glance
- Home to: Dillen, 34, Sports Marketing Manager, wife and a cute dog
- Location: Sengkang
- Area: 113 sqm / 1216 sqft
- Renovation duration: 6 weeks
- Cost of renovation: $38,000
- Interior design firm: DreamCreations Interior
- Interior designer: Ivan Chan
Engaging a trusted interior designer for Dillen to do up his new place within a timeframe wasn't too difficult. The ex-professional S-League footballer shares his renovation journey in how the designer spruced up his new home.
Qanvast: Where do you look for home decor inspirations or an interior designer? Do you go to exhibitions or browse through magazines?
Dillen (D): My wife and I looked mainly at online mediums such as Pinterest, Qanvast and existing renovation forums and interior designers’ websites. We like how interior ideas can vary while browsing online, that it helps you discover new alternatives, the look and feel of a theme whilst finding a design concept that best suits your taste.
Qanvast: Can you describe the experience on the process where you had to do your renovation research; from getting quotes to finally settling down an interior designer of your choice?
D: My wife and I prepared a mood board of the concept we would like for our home. Once we both have settled on the concept, we looked through Qanvast app and shortlisted 4 companies from there, and then met them at our premises. We forwarded them the moodboard and explained what we required and requested for a quote. The final quotes varied between $40,000 - $70,000 for the same items. Based on our budget, we selected the best offer and met the designer to have one more discussion to assess if they understood our concept. We were convinced and engaged DreamCreations Interior.
Qanvast: How useful was Qanvast in your search for an interior designer and home inspiration?
D: I like how relevant Qanvast is as compared to the other platforms I’ve used, and that’s important. It saves time in searching for ideas, and I get to see how I can apply such a design concept into our HDB unit through the other projects featured. It is definitely more accurate than looking at 3D illustrations that sometimes paint a too-perfect picture.
Having the renovation budget stated in the app helps in our renovation budgeting. It is also useful in shortlisting an interior designer who can fit into your budget instead of engaging one who quotes a price that is out of your range.
Qanvast: Why did you select DreamCreations out of those you have shortlisted?
D: It was mainly because the price they quoted was affordable, and they managed to fit the renovation time frame that I’m looking at - I have a specific move-in date (6-weeks after key collection). The designer was able to guarantee that our flat would be ready by then.
Qanvast: Share with us how was working with DreamCreations like.
D: DreamCreations is forthcoming and sincere. You don’t see any hidden costs or them overpromising and under-delivering. They also had to work with a tight timeline, and you don’t see them compromise on quality. We worked with Ivan from DreamCreations. He was very efficient and he constantly updates on the progress of our renovation works through weekly email updates and regular phone-calls.
Qanvast: What did you learn from this renovation journey?
D: As much as a good interior design firm will do its good job – homeowners should put in the effort to supervise and more importantly, communicate their preference clearly from the start and have weekly updates for each other. It takes both parties to achieve a great home.
Like Dillen, you can skip the tedious legwork in your search of a trusted interior designer. Simply drop us a complimentary quote request today and we will handpick 5 trusted interior firms that suit your renovation requirements.
Read about the various renovation experiences from other homeowners here.