IDLah Singapore plays matchmaker for homeowners and interior designers amid significant losses to rogue contractors

SINGAPORE: IDLah Singapore is playing matchmaker for homeowners and interior designers, helping homeowners meet multiple interior designers to compare styles, personalities, budgets and proposals in a single guided session instead of spending weeks visiting different showrooms.

IDLah’s platform, which the firm said is built on trust, human connection and real-life clarity, vets and verifies every designer before bringing them into its ecosystem. The firm added that it only collects a fixed participation fee, with no incentives to favour any designer, to ensure homeowners are matched with credible and stable firms who meet industry standards.

Through its “speed-dating” events, called Reno Fiesta, homeowners meet up to seven firms, receive seven designs and compare seven quotes in a day—a process that would typically take weeks.

So far, the company has assisted more than 50 home and living events and 30,000 in-person homeowner engagements, described by homeowners as the most honest and efficient way to compare designers side-by-side.

These efforts come at a time when homeowners have experienced significant losses against non-accredited renovation contractors, the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) said in February.

Channel News Asia (CNA) reported that 97% of the renovation contractors’ complaints CASE received were against those without CaseTrust accreditation. While renovation contractor complaints have fallen, prepayment losses reached a record S$728,000 in 2024 as some contractors suddenly closed or became unreachable.

In another case reported by CNA last month, a renovation contractor was convicted of rape, sexual assault by penetration and outrage of modesty after attacking a customer who had asked him to fix a faulty toilet light and a kitchen switch in her flat.

IDLah’s founder, Joel Wong, said he realised the industry didn’t need just another online portal but a guided, safe, in-person ecosystem, given the rise of freelancers posing as established firms, unverified leads, and the emotional and financial stress caused by bad renovations.

With about 90% of Singapore homeowners hiring interior designers, Mr Wong and his team plan to expand IDLah Singapore beyond interior design into furniture, appliances, home brands and parenting communities next year, aiming to build Singapore’s first end-to-end home lifestyle platform. /TISG

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