Tag Archives: kitchen

My HCE Granite Sink and Sorento Kitchen Mixer

25 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by in Home, Kitchen wares, Renovation, Shopping

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After using the HCE granite sink for a month (Read on why I choose this sink here), I really like it a lot. The only drawback is that IT’s not BIG enough. hehehee…

The color I chose is grey. I love how it makes the little specks of my quartz countertop more prominent. After hunting around, I finally matched it with a mixer from Sorento. I love how sleek it looks. The combination is perfect !!! (in my opinion anyway). hehehe..

Ta-da. Here’s my sink up close and personal. 😉

ohh.. Look..I even got the grill matching with the sink. (Actually, I got the sink to match my grills. hehehee)

I find the best way to clear the sink of water droplets after using, is to sweep it down with a squeegee (window wiper). It is really easy and fast.

 

Update : July 2013

Hi Ivan H & Pauline,

After some digging around, I finally manage to find a picture I took of the sink before they cover it with the quartz.

Sink mountingAs you can see, the sink is mounted like a top mount on the wooden carcase first. The contractor makes a step down so that the sink sit flush to the wooden surface.

After that, they lay the quartz stone over the sink. As per the picture above. Hope this helps. 🙂

 

Chulet’s Oven, Hob and Hood

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by in Home, Renovation

≈ 14 Comments

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After the cabinets, I think the oven, hob and hood are the next most important purchase for any kitchen…But, I might be wrong. As I recently learn, some places priority in refrigerator and microwave. Hahahaa… So, it really depends on your lifestyle. For me, I love to cook and bake. So, these 3 items are pretty important to me.

First thing you need to decide is what are your requirements for each of the items? Some might have higher need for the hob while others the oven or hood. So, it really depends on everyone’s individual needs. (e.g. if you have an open kitchen concept, then, you definitely need a really good hood. But, if you are planning to roast turkey, then, you will definitely need an oven which can fit the turkey in!!!)

I have dream of having a free standing oven / cooker since…. forever. I love how these standalone looks and also the capacity I get on the oven. As for the hob, I didn’t have much requirement except that it should have at least 3kW flame and a triple ring burner (Chinese cooking needs fire power! Hahaa..). The hood should have minimum suction of 1000m3/h. I didn’t need a super big suction hood as my kitchen is fully enclosed with window for ventilation.

The first free standing that I was so in love with are from SMEG. These are really beautifully made and it feels really solid. Unfortunately, the prices for one of these are crazy. I was quite keen to stick to my budget for the oven, hob and hood. After browsing around, I came across K’s blog (http://the-malaysia-project.blogspot.com/search/label/Oven). Her post on oven really helped to provide me with the stepping stone I needed with my freestanding cooker hunt. Hub was also glad that I got over my fixation on getting a SMEG. Hohoho…

After months of searching, I finally made my decision to grab the Delonghi freestanding oven cooker and hood during the HomeDec fair. The package price for the freestanding oven cooker, hood (inc. installation), delivery and a free 32cm frying pan was right below my budget too! Yay!!! (Got the picture from the Australian Delonghi website. You can check out the range they have there. The Malaysian model number is slightly different.)

A very important thing to check is the power source required by your appliances. Most of the heavy duty appliances like built-in ovens need higher electric capacity. No point getting your appliances in and then realized that you don’t have the right source! Save yourself the nightmare of hacking, re-wiring and patching. (It will be even more messy if your kitchen is TILED !!!)

Ta-Da, Chulet’s kitchen is finally done. 🙂 It’s exactly like the 3D sketch which I posted previously, except that I remove the top cabinet above the fridge. (Why?! because I have BIG plans for my fridge in future. Muahahaha !!!)

I love my freestanding oven so much. And, my kitchen island counter too…. (sighing in bliss…. )

Chulet’s Dream kitchen

20 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by in Home, Kitchen wares, Renovation

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It took me almost 8 months of planning and researching before I finalise my dream kitchen….phew.

Even hubby is now grudgingly complaining that the kitchen takes up a hefty portion of our reno budget. hohoho… Some of you probably think I am crazy spending so much time planing. But then, if you have a tight budget and big dream, you seriously need to put in a lot of thought on how to maximise each cent spend. ;p

Ta..da.. my kitchen in 3D sketch. It doesn’t come in colours. I add them in myself. not a bad job too eh? hehehe… it’s quite close to the final color I wanted.

Image of actual completed kitchen.

Countertop

To me, this is the most important item when building the kitchen. This is the surface where you will be preparing most of your food and subjecting it to your hot pots. It needs to be durable and wear lasting.

There are many types of countertop available in the market. However, my opinion is that the best would be professional stainless steel or quartz stone. Both of these materials are highly resistant to heat and are largely food safe. However, stainless steel makes me feel like it’s more to industrial kitchen and I wanted a homely kitchen. So, the decision was made to go ahead with quartz.

But, these babies are NOT cheap. If you are looking at the famous Caeserstone or Silestone, they can easily range from RM 300 – 500 pfr. And I have about 24 foot run of counter top space!!! Caeserstone boast one of the widest range of countertop colours. They have the most amazing colour range. Silestone on the other hand is very well-known since it is used by one of the top end kitchen maker in malaysia (signature kitchen)

http://www.caesarstone.com/en/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.silestone.com/in/

I refuse to give up having quartz countertop. So, when I found one company (HTrend) which offer it at RM 200 pfr during the promotion they have in HomeDec 2011, and in the colour which I can accept… I was very excited. Before I confirm with them, I actually demand to see the specification their quartz. It match quite closely with some of the big brands. And so, I was sold.

I was ecstatic that I manage to have my quartz countertop… Yay !!! The best thing was hub love it too. 😉

Mechanism

I know this seems weird for many but being an engineer, I can’t abide with lousy mechanism. Therefore, I waste no time insisting all moving elements must be either Blum, Hafele or Grass. These are the only brand I trust.

http://www.blum.com/sg/en/index.php

http://www.hafele.com/index_en.asp

http://www.grass.at/

Most of the reliable kitchen cabinet makers would know these brands…but, sometimes, they cheat! They will buy you the “copied” version to pass it off. So, it is very important that you insist on their warranty.

Cabinet

Not really my top priority as this would be easier to change in future (if you are sick of the colour). As for me, I ended up using matt polymer surface instead of the norm trend of gloss finish. Why?

  • I am not a fan of reflective surface.
  • If scratched, it is not as easily observed
  • I love the feel of matt surface.

Htrend made mock up samples of the cabinet in the matt finishing in the 2 colours I requested before I make my final decision. It’s really important that you see how these colours are in bigger piece as sometime it looks very different in small size !

Sink & Tap

If your kitchen allows it, always go for the BIG sink. It would be even better if you can have 2 bowls. Remember, we do a lot of asian cooking and think of the size of the wok you use ! Can it fit comfortably into your sink? The next you need to be aware is the thickness of the steel use to fabricate the sink. Commonly, 0.8mm should very sufficient. But, if you can afford a better one, why not? J The thicker the steel, the more solid is will sound when you place your item in your sink.

I really hate the ‘thang’ sound. So, I opted for granite sink. Muahahaha… And I think I got a pretty good deal. It’s from HCE. They claim it’s fromGermany. But, I normally take all these with a pinch of salt. Unless I see them participating in international market or they have international website, I am usually dubious about such claim. Nevertheless, it is made of granite and I love the overall outlook. Not to mention, it’s cheaper than some branded steel sink, so, why not? (I grab this picture from Builder’s Hardware, where I bought my sink). To Read more about the sink and tap. Go here.

As for the tap, I immediately decided I prefer the pillar style more than the wall-mounted type. Maybe it’s just my own reasoning… but I think the strength of the tap is better for the pillar style. Imagine this, you will be swivelling the poor thing very often. There are times where you might give it s tug. The strength of pillar is fully distributed along the length of the tap. But, for wall-mounted, it will be concentrated on the L-bend (abit like a fulcrum point).

Now, all is left for me to do is to wait patiently for another 6-8 weeks !!! (oh my… time goes so slowly when you are waiting) before I get can see and touch my dream kitchen. I’m so excited already !!!

** As for the electrical items I got for my dream kitchen, I’ll post on that another time. 🙂