Interior Designer Reviews

We decided to go ahead with TBG because Michael seems sincere, experienced and was able to accommodate our tight schedule. After signing the contract, we had to chase them multiple times to show us the 3D drawings and the designs they showed us were simple and basic (there was no ""Wow"" to speak of). We had to provide ideas ourselves, correcting their 3D drawings numerous times and even provide colour schemes/design templates to articulate across the design to them. In addition, even after providing their 3D designer with my own 3D mock up, their 3D designer can still get the 3D pictures wrong We only managed to finalise the simple design after multiple exchanges and chasers for almost 2 months after signing up with them. Throughout the renovation, there were many times whereby the IDs went radio-silence, some times they answered after a few days, other times we realised that they were away on leave. However, the worst part of the whole renovation was the quality of their carpentry, i.e. mismatched laminate patterns, glue left on laminates, gaps between laminates were more than 1-2mm, wide gaps between joints, cracked laminates, jagged edges on cabinets/laminates, loose screws on hinges etc. After multiple attempts, most of the defects were rectified somewhat, and the firm kept chasing us to pay the last 5%, highlighting the need to close the account. We highlighted a number of recurring defects, namely, the gaps between the shelving and some joints on my TV console kept opening up despite Edward sealing them with silicon, the ugly and uneven joints between 2 laminates across my TV console. However, they kept promising that even after we paid and signed off, they will still honor their liabilities in the 1 year warranty period, so we paid and signed off. 2-3 months after moving in, we also realised that the leaves/debris (including a dead bird!) always get stuck in the gap between the roof and the polycarbonate roof, it is either a design issue, or the angle of the polycarbonate roof isn't tilted enough. So we contacted them to rectify the recurring defect, as well as proposed a solution to the polycarbonate roof. After more than a month, the last message from them was they were arranging to touch up. After that, it's complete silence. Calls to both Michael and Edward were unanswered, and they don't even bother to return the calls either.

We hired Michael as our I.D. for our new BTO and it was pretty pleasant during the idealisation & discussion stage. Unfortunately, things did not go on smoothly from there. He took ages to generate our 3D drawings citing that his drafter was super swamped. It was difficult to make changes to the drawings as the turnaround time was roughly 2 weeks for each change. We have a tight timeline hence we proceeded to start the reno works without firmed drawings. I had such a hard time visualising my house and selecting carpentry colours because of that. Next, his communication skills are terrible. Noted that he has other ongoing projects & replies may take a while, but constantly being blue ticked for days & not acknowledging my instructions frustrates me. when asked for my project timetable, he brushed me off with a template & did not even change the name & address (done for his previous client). His experience and knowledge he can provide is valuable and helpful, But his communication skills is pretty bad (& rude, mind you, he left the group chat on anger in midst me giving him my feedback and asking for rectifying solutions), and his workmanship is mediocre. Next, throughout the whole project, we probably only saw Michael once or twice. He asked one of his staff who wasn’t very experienced and we haven’t met at all during discussion stage to take over this project, without proper handover (which led to miscommunication and unnecessary costs) He also couldn’t be bothered to come up to our house after renovations to check on his own workmanship by his team. He also does things according to his convenience & not our preference. Eg. We did a platform bed with a sink in portion for our mattress. Michael could easily check with us for our mattress dimensions but he did not and now we have a huge gap. See pictures. Same goes for our TV mount, I specifically asked him how high was he going to drill the holes, and told him I wanted to be on site (at his driller’s convenience) as I’m particular about how high my TV sits. Again, he proceeded to drill at his own convenience, without my knowledge and the TV mount ended up too high for our viewing comfort. After I feedback to him, he says he will still for me again but he wouldn’t patch back the initial holes they drilled. Fine with us as it’s covered by the TV but just disappointed about his work attitude even when I specifically checked w him Anyway they will probably reply to this to throw back the blame to me saying they offered to touch up etc & saying I can’t expect 100% from them. I don’t expect 100%, but at least 90%. Workmanship aside, communication and his attitude made my renovation journey an unhappy one. I’ll take it as a lesson learnt and also hope my review can help to manage their future customers expectations that the workmanship & attitude you will receive from TBG is probably like that.

First time engaged with this firm for my kitchen renovation. Jackie is able to explain to me in details for my questions during the requirement gathering and solution suggestions for my kitchen reno. The quality of the final delivery is satisfied and delivered on schedule. Yet price is reasonable and competitive, most important is no hidden cost and all the costs are listed in the quotation. Will definitely engage this firm again for my future renovation.

It has been a month since the handover of my house after renovation and I am writing this to share my experience with Two Big Guys and the ID whom with, Clarice Chea. My renovation journey with Two Big Guys and Clarice was an extremely pleasant one. Clarice was recommended to me by my friend, Jing Jing. The first meeting with her left a good impression as she was not pushy and sought to understand my needs and budget. She advised me on what was possible and was upfront with what was not. She also presented alternatives for my consideration. This first meeting left a deep impression on me. As in all renovation journeys , there are bound to be hiccups. Clarice was quick to resolve the issues. One of which was the tiles in the kitchen. As I have decided to keep the tiles and change the layout of the kitchen, Clarice managed to find suitable tiles to match, so much so that my friends were not able to distinguish between the new and old tiles. Not an easy task as my tiles were from many years back. Clarice was on site and send me photos to upgrade me on the progress. When there was a break from the renovation work, she will also inform me and assured me that the renovation will be done within the given timeframe. She was also always available to reply my queries and concerns. I recall that she was away for a holiday but still managed to get me a plumber when the master toilet was flooded. (PUB came to do testing and I was asked to turn on all the taps for 15 mins, thus the flooding). The issue was resolved within 4 hours! This speaks of her dedication to her work. The workmanship from Two Big Guys was excellent! I am especially pleased with the workmanship. What was more amazing was their follow up service. They are always on time and polite when they came to do minor touch up after the handover. I also would like to commend the uncles who did the carpentry as well as tiles for my renovation. They are indeed top notched and professional! My friends were impressed and I will recommended The Two Big Guys to my friends who are renovating. I would like to sincerely thank The Two Big Guys and Clarice for giving me such a wonderful renovation experience!

I was searching for an ID who could understand my needs and work within my budget and The Two Big Guys seem to be closest to what I was seeking. I worked with a project manager who later left the company and the project was reassigned to Au. My overall view was that they are more of a contractor rather than ID. Advice regarding design of the house were not too forthcoming rather I was presented with options and I had to make decision without knowing which would best fit into the design of the theme. In fact, most of the times, I was left to my own imagination of how things will look. The mood board/drawing were not helpful as the subsequent changes were not updating into the drawing. Some of the advice given turned out to be not so good a fit to the house. When we shopped for furniture, bathroom equipment and lighting, I was left to pick instead of helping me to find something that could best fit the theme of the house. In all fairness, the tiles selection experience were very helpful as Au showed his in-depth knowledge about it and was able to mix and match something which turn out to be very nice for the bathroom, kitchen and balcony. Initial pricing was very attractive but when changes happened, I had to bear the cost of changes. One example was the height of the basin in the master bedroom bathroom. I was very specific about the height requirement. But instead of getting me in to measure the height of the basin, they fixed the basin and then got me in to see it which turn out to be lower than what I have requested. Additionally, the design of the basin area was so big that it made the bathroom very cramp. I had to specify the change required and this costed me additional dollars. Other mismatch included the thickness of the shelves, the design of the shelves, colour of the featured wall, colour of the momento for the dining wall, and piping of the basin. Overall, services were amicable and pricing was not too challenging. However, I feel that they are more of a contractor rather than ID.

We decided to go with The Two Big Guys as they were able to propose ideas that were aligned to what we envisioned for our home, while keeping within our budget. Kelvin was very polite, responsive, and on the ball. Whenever we asked him to come down to the place, he availed himself, and never said he was too busy. On top of being able to translate what we desired for our place, Kelvin proposed ideas like the brick wall and glass for our "den", and assured us it would work, and it did. He was very chill, and never said we had to do things this way, or that way, and he didn't over promise - he was able to deliver what he said he would. All in all, it was very easy and pleasant to work with Kelvin and he did a very good job.

My experience with Michael Ong from Two Big Guys (TBG) was nothing short of horrendous. I renovated an office/shop space with Michael and the works included carpentry, wet works, ceiling and general renovation works (all except flooring). Initially, we engaged TBG because they were a friend of a relative, and the quote was competitive. The red first flag appeared when they submitted their quotation - the works were not itemised and clubbed together under one lump sum, further requests from us to breakdown the quotation was met with much reluctance. Subsequently, the experience just went downhill, getting from bad to worse. The details are too much, so I will just summarise it below: - Unresponsive and VERY irresponsible - Despite multiple reminders and requests for Michael Ong to clean up and move the items neatly to one side on a certain date when my flooring contractors were coming in to do the flooring - they just left the whole mess (debris, cement, tools) all over the place. My flooring contractors had to call us multiple times, and despite multiple attempts to reach Michael (which we couldn't), we had to reschedule with the flooring guys (with a fee) because it was not possible to do the flooring with all the mess around. - Zero customer service and non-existent after sales - claimed that it was not “part of his scope” to move the items neatly to one side. The flooring guys can "do it themselves" (when he made the mess!). He only agreed "to deliver the final product at the end date, everything in between it was up how he wants to do it and we have no say". - Dodgy work tactics - When we requested certain variation works, we asked Michael for a quote before starting work. However, he would always dodge our multiple requests for a quote. After which, he would commence work without ever informing us about the price. Only at the final invoice, that we realised that was his tactic to jack up the prices because the works would have already been done and we will have no choice but to pay for it. - Worst workmanship imaginable - Too many to name here but in short, our shelves and cabinet doors started falling apart after 1-2 months!? the hinges used for the cabinets were not soft close and there were obvious hints of cheap materials and shoddy work everywhere. The screws he used for our clothing racks were not heavy duty (despite us telling him that we would be using it to hang heavy stuff), he used light duty 2 inch screws instead of anchor bolts instead - result is the clothing racks collapsed after a few weeks (at this point, whats new?). We had to call in another of our contractor to fix all the racks and he was so surprised that he used those light-duty screws to fix clothing racks! - Threatened but no action - When the final invoice came and we were already so unhappy about the whole process, he insisted that we paid up all the outstanding amounts before finishing up the remaining carpentry work (probably sensing that we will dispute his claim because of all his mishaps along the way). When we disputed on the high costs of variation order, he simply swept it aside saying it is "market price" and will engage a lawyer and credit collector to come after us if we don't pay him the balance. When we mentioned that we will go to Small Claims Tribunal on this, he said he will absorb some of the variation costs and not charge for the remaining carpentry work that he has not completed. To rid of him and his extremely bad work ethics, we paid him in full to never have to speak or hear of him again. In conclusion, USE ONLY AT YOUR OWN RISK!

I know Michael personally so I felt that it’s good to engage someone whom you can trust when it comes to handling a huge project like a home renovation. Overall, the experience was good and his price was really competitive for the services rendered by him.

We love the overall design and workmanship of our close friends’ homes so that was how we came to know about Michael. Our friends shared their positive feedbacks about Michael and suggested that we should engage him too. Overall, the experience working with Michael is a pleasant one. He is friendly, approachable, always listening and giving us more suggestions based on his personal experience. He is also flexible with changes. He would come down to inspect the areas and get his contractors to rectify and do touch-ups when necessary.