HomeDec - Life Art Interior Designer Firm

[capitalone 0]

as topic

thank you

[cybermaster98 0]

I havent heard of them but i wish to warn you about Home Dec. They operate on this basis 'catch first discuss later'. U will notice that most of the exhibitors will provide you with a very attractive 1st quote and then get you to put a d/payment. Some offer u free gifts to entice you to take up their packages. U must accept the fact that there is NOTHING FREE. Everything is charged to you.

The problem with putting down an advance payment is that they havent seen your home. Later when they have seen, the price will increase for various inclusions. PLus if anything is too cheap, it means that the quality of the products are suspect. I always tell ppl never to take the cheapest quote. Most contractors will give u a very attractive quote to get awarded the job and then whack you with variations as the work progresses. This is a common technique.

I suggest you to use Home Dec to get ideas only. Then later get quotes from the various companies there but DO NOT place any downpayments.

I am currently helping 2 of my friends to analyse the quotes for various contractors and renovation options. Its sad to see how some contractors really cheat just to make a few thousand more income.

[capitalone 0]

thanks for the details analysis..

indeed its true... this company need a down payment of $8000 (free 32 inces lcd tv)

while others also offer "package base" quote..

which is not possible and the quote will ended up higher as the renovation for houses varies..

its headache to look for id firm..

looking for individual contractor is cheaper but its more time consuming..

while id firm's quote is too high.....

I havent heard of them but i wish to warn you about Home Dec. They operate on this basis 'catch first discuss later'. U will notice that most of the exhibitors will provide you with a very attractive 1st quote and then get you to put a d/payment. Some offer u free gifts to entice you to take up their packages. U must accept the fact that there is NOTHING FREE. Everything is charged to you.

The problem with putting down an advance payment is that they havent seen your home. Later when they have seen, the price will increase for various inclusions. PLus if anything is too cheap, it means that the quality of the products are suspect. I always tell ppl never to take the cheapest quote. Most contractors will give u a very attractive quote to get awarded the job and then whack you with variations as the work progresses. This is a common technique.

I suggest you to use Home Dec to get ideas only. Then later get quotes from the various companies there but DO NOT place any downpayments.

I am currently helping 2 of my friends to analyse the quotes for various contractors and renovation options. Its sad to see how some contractors really cheat just to make a few thousand more income.

[panda1020 0]

just to share a little of my experience on id firm shopping in homedec.

Life Art is one of the firm that we have considered and shortlisted. but in the end we chose Urban.(which only participates in Homedec Oct)

During homedec, some id firm offer "packages", some offer "fix the price list" (like Life Art) and some offer "design, service and consultation"

i strongly do not recommend the "package" type becos their items in package are STANDARD--ie include partition for living hall and dining hall, **x** ft tv cabinet, wardrobes, mirror and etc. sounds attractive, but not all the items are suitable for your house, if u dont need some items, they dont deduct them out. but if u need bigger wardrobe or some other design, they want u to pay more.

we have dealt with one very pushy id even insisted that "every house also need that partition one" without even looking at our floor plan. of course, we walked away.

the reason we consider Life Art is because of the understanding designer. She studied our floor plan, asked questions, give advices and even draft out some cabinet design and all that for us. "Fix the price list" thing is somehow good if u foresee the price is shooting up, if we took their "fix the price list" offer now, by the time we renovate, it really saves us certain amount. (building material like cement price can be really different from time to time.)

but one thing is their deposit is high. u may loss the money if any disputes or u changed ur mind later.

the one we chose in the end was id that offers "service, design and consultation", which is we paid for design (drawings) only. (lesser deposit compared to other ids).

if we like the design and ok with the price, only proceed with building and the rest. If we don't like drawings, we can change; if we dont agree with pricing, we can still get back the drawings(without details) and left. the id is also very nice, studied floor plan, asked questions, give advices and even draft out some cabinet design and quote the price to give us idea on their pricing.

just my personal opinion, i think it is safer this way for us as client. cos the higher deposit, the more u are "locked", it is quite risky if anything happens.

yes, getting contractor is always cheaper than getting id firm to do. u may do so if: 1. ur house has no major defect. 2. u have knowledge in design. 3. u have knowledge in managing reno project. 4. u have time (find ideas, sourcing, surveying and most important-monitoring) 5. u r able to find a good and reliable contractor. 6. u have network for the cont, sub-cont and materials

thanks for the details analysis..

indeed its true... this company need a down payment of $8000 (free 32 inces lcd tv)

while others also offer "package base" quote..

which is not possible and the quote will ended up higher as the renovation for houses varies..

its headache to look for id firm..

looking for individual contractor is cheaper but its more time consuming..

while id firm's quote is too high.....

I havent heard of them but i wish to warn you about Home Dec. They operate on this basis 'catch first discuss later'. U will notice that most of the exhibitors will provide you with a very attractive 1st quote and then get you to put a d/payment. Some offer u free gifts to entice you to take up their packages. U must accept the fact that there is NOTHING FREE. Everything is charged to you.

The problem with putting down an advance payment is that they havent seen your home. Later when they have seen, the price will increase for various inclusions. PLus if anything is too cheap, it means that the quality of the products are suspect. I always tell ppl never to take the cheapest quote. Most contractors will give u a very attractive quote to get awarded the job and then whack you with variations as the work progresses. This is a common technique.

I suggest you to use Home Dec to get ideas only. Then later get quotes from the various companies there but DO NOT place any downpayments.

I am currently helping 2 of my friends to analyse the quotes for various contractors and renovation options. Its sad to see how some contractors really cheat just to make a few thousand more income.

[capitalone 0]

i didnt have time to ask around in the homedec...

only talked to SpaceMatrix and Life Art.

I dont like the way SpaceMatrix market, as they offer package and have bad feedbacks online...

The person i talked to was quite pushy and care their business more than our reno..

For Life Art, like u have mentioned, the ID studied our floor plan, ask our requirements and draft out the design and details pricing for us..

but the upfront of 8k is holding me...

mind to pm me details of Urban.. e.g contact, the person u dealt with etc..

thx

just to share a little of my experience on id firm shopping in homedec.

Life Art is one of the firm that we have considered and shortlisted. but in the end we chose Urban.(which only participates in Homedec Oct)

During homedec, some id firm offer "packages", some offer "fix the price list" (like Life Art) and some offer "design, service and consultation"

i strongly do not recommend the "package" type becos their items in package are STANDARD--ie include partition for living hall and dining hall, **x** ft tv cabinet, wardrobes, mirror and etc. sounds attractive, but not all the items are suitable for your house, if u dont need some items, they dont deduct them out. but if u need bigger wardrobe or some other design, they want u to pay more.

we have dealt with one very pushy id even insisted that "every house also need that partition one" without even looking at our floor plan. of course, we walked away.

the reason we consider Life Art is because of the understanding designer. She studied our floor plan, asked questions, give advices and even draft out some cabinet design and all that for us. "Fix the price list" thing is somehow good if u foresee the price is shooting up, if we took their "fix the price list" offer now, by the time we renovate, it really saves us certain amount. (building material like cement price can be really different from time to time.)

but one thing is their deposit is high. u may loss the money if any disputes or u changed ur mind later.

the one we chose in the end was id that offers "service, design and consultation", which is we paid for design (drawings) only. (lesser deposit compared to other ids).

if we like the design and ok with the price, only proceed with building and the rest. If we don't like drawings, we can change; if we dont agree with pricing, we can still get back the drawings(without details) and left. the id is also very nice, studied floor plan, asked questions, give advices and even draft out some cabinet design and quote the price to give us idea on their pricing.

just my personal opinion, i think it is safer this way for us as client. cos the higher deposit, the more u are "locked", it is quite risky if anything happens.

yes, getting contractor is always cheaper than getting id firm to do. u may do so if: 1. ur house has no major defect. 2. u have knowledge in design. 3. u have knowledge in managing reno project. 4. u have time (find ideas, sourcing, surveying and most important-monitoring) 5. u r able to find a good and reliable contractor. 6. u have network for the cont, sub-cont and materials

thanks for the details analysis..

indeed its true... this company need a down payment of $8000 (free 32 inces lcd tv)

while others also offer "package base" quote..

which is not possible and the quote will ended up higher as the renovation for houses varies..

its headache to look for id firm..

looking for individual contractor is cheaper but its more time consuming..

while id firm's quote is too high.....

I havent heard of them but i wish to warn you about Home Dec. They operate on this basis 'catch first discuss later'. U will notice that most of the exhibitors will provide you with a very attractive 1st quote and then get you to put a d/payment. Some offer u free gifts to entice you to take up their packages. U must accept the fact that there is NOTHING FREE. Everything is charged to you.

The problem with putting down an advance payment is that they havent seen your home. Later when they have seen, the price will increase for various inclusions. PLus if anything is too cheap, it means that the quality of the products are suspect. I always tell ppl never to take the cheapest quote. Most contractors will give u a very attractive quote to get awarded the job and then whack you with variations as the work progresses. This is a common technique.

I suggest you to use Home Dec to get ideas only. Then later get quotes from the various companies there but DO NOT place any downpayments.

I am currently helping 2 of my friends to analyse the quotes for various contractors and renovation options. Its sad to see how some contractors really cheat just to make a few thousand more income.

[panda1020 0]

ya..i had the same bad experience with Space Matrix as well, they are very pushy.

i have PM u the contact. try talk to them and see how u like it. good luck!

[novrain 0]

ya..i had the same bad experience with Space Matrix as well, they are very pushy.

i have PM u the contact. try talk to them and see how u like it. good luck!

Hie PM me urban's contact as well...thx