SINGAPORE: If it’s renovation season for you, or better yet, the keys to your new BTO are about to get handed over, and you’re ready to tailor-fit the place you’ll call home for a good number of years, this video from a couple who’s been there, done that, will be helpful for you.
The couple, who call themselves The Sua Kus on their YouTube channel, recently posted about their biggest regrets in their renovation journey after having lived in their home for 10 months. It’s fascinating how much care needs to be taken over the smallest details, as you don’t want little oversights or “could have been” to spoil your home.
The bottom line has A LOT to do with you and your interior designer. And Mr and Mrs “Sua Ku” have done the work we can all follow. Seriously, about-to-be homeowners can prepare checklists from their latest video, paying special attention to tiling, levelling of floors, grouting, etc.
As the couple say in the caption to their video, released on Oct 5 and viewed over 46,000 times, “It may be too late for us, but hopefully, these tips will be useful for those who are planning for an upcoming home renovation.”
The couple classified their regrets into 5Cs, from the least important to the most important, at least to the couple: Cosmetics-related, Cost-related, Comfort-related, Convenience-related and Cleanliness-related.
And since the couple go into each item, except the last, in-depth, we urge anyone for whom the shoe fits to go into them in the video. They run down the top 19 of their renovation regrets and save the final and biggest one for their next video (TBA).
The list starts with “minor, aesthetic” regrets, such as not having had more curved “waterfall” edges among their furniture, which would have eliminated sharp edges and been more pleasing to the eye.
They then go on to tackle tiles, which can be tricky. The couple said they should have talked to their interior designer more clearly about where the tiles should’ve started, as this would’ve resulted in better symmetry.
The couple also say they regret getting the HDB Optional Component Scheme (OCS) because, having decided on a no-wood look for their home, they had to get rid of the vinyl tiles included in the scheme. They admit, however, that this is a tricky one since it was a choice made six years ago and, once made, cannot be changed. Knowing what they know now, they would not have chosen this.
They left one room with vinyl tiles—the study—and regret not having got that done, especially since one of their fur babies was not yet fully toilet-trained, and her urine could have affected the flooring underneath.
The other regrets range from unflushed flooring transitions, not hacking original kitchen floor tiles, not getting a certain kind of bed (Woosa adjustable), settling for a smaller height for the bathroom vanity than what they needed (it’s a literal pain in the neck), the ceiling fan they got, and more tiling/flooring issues in their bathrooms that result in ponding problems.
Overall, 10 out of 10, I recommend it to anyone amid or about to embark on their renovation. And don’t forget to watch The Sua Kus’ biggest regret video when it comes out! /TISG
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