The defect rectification of our new home is progressing at snail speed, much to my dismay. The 30 days rectification period is officially over now, and the progress is not even 70% completed.
Up to now, what we’ve seen were: 1) all hollow tiles in living hall, kitchen and balcony being replaced (approx. 20 in total), 2) hollow parquet flooring in bedrooms are rectified by drilling and injecting adhesive (yet to be sanded and revarnished), 3) warped wardrobe doors have been replaced, and 4) scratches on kitchen top and backsplash have been removed (don’t know how they did it though).
While waiting for its completion, we spent a great deal of our weekends shopping for furniture, electrical and kitchen appliances. Now, we’ve purchased most of them – except for our mattresses.
Some of the items on my shopping list –
1. Philips Avance Collection Airfryer | 2. Happy Call Pan | 3. Nescafe Alegria Coffee Machine | 4. Hyflux Water Purifier | 5. Dyson Pure Cool Purifier Fan | 6. WMF Diadem Plus 6pc Cookware | 7. Dyson Cordless Vacuum Cleaner | 8. Samsung 50″ SUHD 4K Flat Smart TV | 9. Samsung 320 W 4.1 Ch Soundbar
Kitchen Essentials
Two weeks ago, V came home with a Philips Avance Collection Airfryer. He was so thrilled that he can fry, grill, roast and even bake with it. I knew about this airfryer long time ago, but I didn’t intend to buy it since we didn’t cook so often at home.
One thing leads to another – I thought that since we have an airfryer, we should also buy a Happy Call Pan – the “miracle” pan that has become a kitchen must-have. We bought one during the Metro sales, along with a set of WMF Diadem Plus 6pc Cookware that I’ve been eyeing for a while.
Initially, I planned to buy a Nescafe Dolce Gusto coffee machine. Then, I chanced upon a Nescafe promotion where an Alegria Coffee Machine is given free with 9 bottles purchase of Nescafe Gold Blend (~$10 per bottle). It was a pretty good deal, so I purchased it immediately.
Unlike Dolce Gusto that uses the capsule system, Alegria uses coffee powder (gold blend and above) to make five types of coffee – Latte, Cappuccino, Americano, Lungo and Espresso. Cost wise, it’s much cheaper but the trade-off is that it requires cleaning, albeit very minimal.
I also intend to buy a water purifier. Hyflux is on my shopping list now. Is there any other water purifier or filterer that you want to recommend to me?
Electrical
After much consideration between LG OLED 4K and Samsung SUHD 4K, we decided to go for the latter. In terms of key picture performance, we felt that LG OLED 4K is more superior. Nonetheless, price held a lot of sway. Samsung’s lower price and outstanding performance (albeit inferior to LG OLED in some aspects) makes it a smarter choice for us.
Truth be told, we were quite tempted to buy the 55” set as it comes with a free 40” set where we can use for our bedroom. Temptation aside, if we think of it rationally, 55” is a tad too big for our tiny living hall. We could end up sitting at the dining area to watch TV. So, we settled for the 50” instead that comes with a free blu-ray player. We complete it with a smart wireless keyboard and soundbar (total cost $2,600).
One of the things I told V is I don’t want any blade fans in our new home, except the ceiling fans. Seriously, I’m sick of cleaning the fan blades and therefore, I want only Dyson blade-less fans for our new home. So, we bought a Dyson Pure Cool purifier fan and a normal Dyson tower fan. I also bought a Dyson cordless vacuum cleaner (comes with a free desk fan too).
Furniture
Choosing the right sofa took the longest time. We had to go into detailed space planning like this, just to be 100% sure that it can fit. Urgh!
The ideal sofa length for our living hall is between 2.1m and 2.2m. Our preference is an L-shaped sofa. After weeks of searching, all the L-shaped sofas that we’ve seen were at least 2.4m – which is way longer than our ideal. We almost gave it up for a 2-seater sofa until we saw this set at Lorenzo few days ago.
The length of this display set is 2.4m but there is an option for 2.15m (with slimmer arm rest). The non-L seats can also be slide forward with adjustable headrests. This half-leather sofa has a promotional price of $1,899 and we’re very likely to order it soon.
Picture Credit: Cellini
Besides the sofa, we’ve also decided on our dining table. We’ve chosen the TROPIA dining set from Cellini. It consists of a 1.7m quartz stone top (from Europe) and solid wood frame dining table, a bench and two chairs. We love the quartz stone top, not only because it’s aesthetically pleasing, but also for its high durability and high resistance towards scratches and stains.
Now, we’re more or less settled with the big ticket items except our mattresses. This weekend, we shall start our mattress shopping. 🙂
