Bowerman

Our renovation journey with Bowerman began on a high at our first meeting: we met with Chris and JT at their office. Despite my wife’s and my introverted-ness, Chris’ endless bound of enthusiasm managed to draw us into his creative world. At that point, he was either an excellent salesman or a sincere one (spoiler alert: he is the latter.) My wife and I did not have a specific theme or design in mind, though we knew what we didn’t want. Some designers might not relish wasting time shooting in the dark or would simply furnish us with a less-than-half-hearted proposal (which we did receive.) But Chris embraced this opportunity with glee to start on a clean slate and totally re-imagined what our new home could and should look like (bye bye, old floor plan!) Chris chatted with us to know us better (rather accurately), so that the design is personalised to suit who we are as a couple and as individuals, and not the other way round. Even the initial designs he conceived were bold to say the least, so we knew we got a winner in deciding who we wanted to engage. He never once pushed us to accept his ideas to fit his design philosophy or to simply avoid further iterations; it was always consultative and at suitable (or our clueless) moments, he offered suggestions that guided our decisions from a creativity and budgetary point of view. Discussions were always fun and never rushed, sustained by Chris’ ever positivity and energy. After numerous sleepless nights iterating (3am floor plans over Whatsapp!), Chris arrived at the aha moment where we just knew that that was it. He brought us on multiple visits to our flat and showrooms to have a look and feel of the design, so not everything was merely 3D walkthroughs or drawings. Even when renovation works began, Chris continued to propose many ideas to improve the design or overcome obstacles. JT is Chris’ formidable project manager, a steady and reliable pair of hands that guided us through the longer-than-expected gestation period for our flat (no thanks to COVID.) She helped to manage all the renovation works and pool of contractors to get the work done and resolve all teething issues. No flaws were left unturned, and JT and Chris made sure that all rectification works were followed up. The oohs and ahhs we get from family and friends on the final “product” are a testament to Bowerman’s excellent design, creative use of space and workmanship (they really adore our toilets.) COVID extended our journey with Chris and JT over a prolonged period of more than a year and with that, our relationship evolved beyond transactional. From a reliability perspective, they have more than proven to be trustworthy, sincere and being able to deliver (we were naturally worried about how COVID would affect their business.) On the creative front, their concept of space really opened our minds on how light, colour and materials can integrate coherently into a seamless flow of energy, peace and love.

Chris was our designer and Susan was our project manager. A friend recommended them to us and amidst the other shortlisted IDs. Their proactiveness in working with our initial quote won us over. Both of them were easy to work with. Chris hears us and our considerations and designed the house according to our big idea. He is then able to style it in different ways for us to explore different stylistic ideas and it was a fun process for my wife and I. We appreciated the level of communication the most, given that Covid was bound to delay most things. They were forthcoming, honest, clear and timely with their updates and Susan always made sure she replied our queries and we felt very assured by both their willingness to communicate. We enjoy our house and enjoyed the process of building the house with them.

The transformation journey of our renovation project from sketches to auto cad drawings to the final product with Ian without a better word, was simply a awesome and fruitful experience. Then after scouting talking to a few interior design & renovation firms, we finally settled with Bowerman. We met Adreae (Sales) and was later introduced to Ian (the Designer) on separate occasions. There were no hard sell from both but an exchange of expectations and tossing of ideas. At that point my wife Julie and I were contemplating to renovate our HDB 5A Maisonette. After a few burning candles nights I guessed, Ian came back with his proposal. Our jaws literally dropped when Ian proposed to shift the guest toilet on ground level behind the newly created walls of the living room and accessing only from the balcony. What? As he continues to present more about his other renovation ideas of the unit...what? wow! what?.. The finished impression by Ian was simply brilliant! However after some serious considerations on the investment returns and future plans, we decided to drop the plan and relook at renovating the second home for a better return in the longer run (freehold). Naturally we expected Ian to react cold and disappointed with our decision. Instead to our surprise, he said "understand, let's go have a look!". We were utterly impressed by his professionalism. As in any proceedings to renovate an apartment, we went through every little details, many weekends to view materials, lighting fixtures and even small big furniture. Aside the professionalism as a designer, what come out strongest was Ian's ability to incorporate our ideas and sharing of love-to-have images into his design concepts, without compromising his and our expectation so nicely. From my personal experiences of working on company's renovation projects, I understand the reluctance and resistance from contractors whenever a change request and rectifications work is required. Ian took upon himself to proactively facilitate and smoothen the entire process whenever such needs and situations crops up. Although the entire project took longer than the prescribed timeline, but we gladly accepted as we knew it was going to become our better home for a long long time. And the finished results were indeed a million dollar outcome. All of us loved the house so much. The 7 fleets of stairs were tormenting for many who visited our home. But all walked out commenting that our apartment was worth the every step to visit. Thanks Ian for all you have done for us and I am certain many others whom had their home transformed by you would say the same. Keep up the passion of good designing soulful spirit and help make more residence the home unique and exclusive.