At a Glance
- Rashmi, working for an IT organisation, and her husband, working for Mastercard, their daughter and helper
- Size: 124 sqm / 1335 sqft
- Location: Casa Merah
- Cost of Renovation: $30,000
- Interior Design Firm: VVID Elements
- Interior Designer: Vincent
Desiring a fresh design for their resale apartment, Rashmi and her husband turned to Vincent from VVID Elements to come up with a creative design and to execute it within a short period of just five weeks.
We sit down for a chat with Rashmi to find out if Vincent from VVID Elements lived up to her expectations.
Qanvast: Going into the renovation, what were some expectations you had of your interior designer?
Rashmi (R): As this is a resale apartment, the design theme of the apartment when we bought it was very different from what we wanted so we needed a designer who was creative and who could come up with a design based on the ideas that we gave him. This apartment is also smaller than our previous home so we wanted our designer to utilise the space well.
Qanvast: Tell us how your search for an interior designer led you to choose VVID Elements?
R: I came across VVID Element’s portfolio on Qanvast and really liked their designs so I scheduled an appointment with them. After meeting up with VVID elements and four other interior design firms, I chose to work with VVID elements because their designer, Vincent, could understand our requirements and also give us design ideas.
Qanvast: In what ways did Vincent from VVID Elements have an edge over his competition?
R: As compared to Vincent, I found that some of the designers were very pushy with their ideas and did not show an understanding of our requirements. I also needed to move in quickly and some of the designers said that they could only complete the renovation within a duration that was twice as long as the duration that I needed them to complete it within.
Qanvast: How did Vincent ensure that your renovation was completed on time?
R: Vincent understood the urgent nature of our project and would sometimes stay until very late at night to ensure that the renovation was progressing smoothly. Whenever there were any issues, he would also attend to it immediately. He was very committed to our project.
Qanvast: In what ways did Vincent help you during the renovation?
R: I would give Vincent pictures of designs that I liked and he would try to incorporate these into the designs that he came up with. My feature wall is actually a mixture of two or three designs that I gave to him.
Qanvast: In what other ways did Vincent adjust the design to suit your requirements?
R: I told Vincent that I do a lot of cooking and baking so I needed the layout of the kitchen to be conducive to my workflow. I have a lot of crockery which I wanted to be placed altogether so Vincent dedicated one section of the counter for the storage of my crockery.
I also told him that I wanted to keep my existing oven instead of getting a built-in oven and he planned an open shelf area for me to put the oven.
Qanvast: What is the most stressful aspect of the renovation?
R: The amount of time spent searching for an interior designer and shopping for furniture. I went through at least two rounds of meetups with most of the interior designers I had shortlisted and this took up most of my weekends. Once I had selected my interior designer, the time was then spent on finalising the design and furniture shopping.
R: Once again Vincent helped us by recommending us places that we could go to shop for our furniture when we didn’t know where we could find furniture that matched the contemporary theme of our home.
Qanvast: Are there any areas in which VVID Elements can improve?
R: I feel that their workers can be more professional. When they were executing their tasks, they did not give much thought to how it would impact other works that were being done. For instance, the carpenter did some damage to the paint when he was hacking the wall.
Some of the workers also did not see the works through to completion before leaving the site. We informed Vincent about this and he got them to come back to complete the remainder of the work. In this sense, his workers could definitely have done better.
Qanvast: What tips can you give to new homeowners who are planning to renovate?
R: Homeowners need to know how they want their home to look. They should think about how they want to make use of the space in their home and plan the space accordingly.
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