At A Glance
- Shi Ern and Yong Jia, 30s, police officer and teacher
- Home to 2 adults
- Size: 84 sqm / 904 sqft
- Location: Serangoon Avenue 3
- Cost of Renovation: $54,000
- Cost of Furnishing: $10,000
- Interior Design Firm: Aart Boxx Interior
- Interior Designer: Katherine
Not wanting to bother with the fuss of the renovation process, Shi Ern and Yong Jia hired an interior designer to design their living space such that it is suitable for their requirements.
We sit down for a chat with the easy-going pair and find out how Katherine, their designer from Aart Boxx Interior, made their renovation a fuss-free journey.
Qanvast: What gave Aart Boxx Interior a competitive edge over the other interior design firms that you met?
Yong Jia (YJ): A colleague of ours had engaged Aart Boxx and it was a pleasant renovation experience for them. When we met them, we felt that they were better at catering to our requirements than the other two firms that we met. Furthermore, Katherine – the designer that we were liaising with – got back to us very promptly. She was also very warm and friendly and we could communicate well with her.
Qanvast: Was Katherine able to help you keep your renovation within the budget?
YJ: We exceeded our budget. However, the additional cost was because we decided to have barn doors and metal grilles. On her part, Katherine did her best to keep the costs down. In fact, she suggested that we could look around for our own contractors if we felt that the quotation given by Aart Boxx’s contractors exceeded our budget.
Qanvast: Did you have a pleasant experience working with Katherine on the design of your home?
Shi Ern (SE): Yes. Katherine was quite accommodating. We would tell her our ideas and she would work around it and come up with designs to show us. Whenever there were changes to be made to the design, she would change it immediately so her designs were constantly being updated to suit our requirements.
YJ: The whole renovation was smooth except for the wiring where we outsourced to a third party due to price differences. There were miscommunications on the socket and cable management, and that caused a delay in the renovation.
Qanvast: What is Katherine’s outstanding quality as an interior designer?
SE: She is very reliable. Whenever there was anything that needed to be rectified, we could just contact her and she would promptly handle it.
Qanvast: How was it like working as a couple on the renovation?
YJ: We are both quite easy-going so there weren’t many disagreements between us. Other than the kitchen design which was decided by my wife, the rest of the design of our home was something that both of us agreed upon. We managed to get lots of ideas from both Pinterest and Qanvast.
Qanvast: Can you describe your home in one word?
*SE8: Comfortable.
YJ: Soothing.
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