We met Cherrie Ang from Urban Design through an interaction in Renopedia. We visited the showroom and some sites and were impressed with the works carried out. She prepared the estimates considering our extremely tight budget and also shared ideas to cut costs (something which other IDs could not do... more

We met Cherrie Ang from Urban Design through an interaction in Renopedia. We visited the showroom and some sites and were impressed with the works carried out. She prepared the estimates considering our extremely tight budget and also shared ideas to cut costs (something which other IDs could not do).

The works were started and completed on time. The designers helped to provide different options within a short span which helped in maintaining the timeline.

Cherrie is a pleasant, professional, prompt, communicative and disciplined person. She handled all changes well. We ended up with approximately 5% overrun which is decent considering our requirements were not very clear at the start.

The service and workmanship quality was very good.

I would highly recommend Urban Design House for home renovation!

When my new condo unit was turned over, it happened some of my friends recently bought new home and did renovation. When I asked my friends about their renovation, they recommended Kent Tan. After confirming he delivered projects on time with good quality and service for my friends’ home, I arrang... more

When my new condo unit was turned over, it happened some of my friends recently bought new home and did renovation. When I asked my friends about their renovation, they recommended Kent Tan. After confirming he delivered projects on time with good quality and service for my friends’ home, I arranged first meeting with him with no obligation. During the first meeting when he told us his company is CASE accredited, we felt reassured. So we engaged him to renovate our home.

Firstly it’s signing the agreement and paying the deposit. Then we went through a few rounds of meeting to discuss and finalize the actual design, which lasted about one month. Kent is very experienced and he made a lot of good suggestions. My wife and I had also done some research and had contributed some ideas. The process is more like blending different ideas together. The main contributions were from Kent. Some decisions were made by us from options offered by Kent. A small percentage were our own ideas. E.g., all false ceilings and lights were suggested by Kent and we decided only the color of lights. We built a few new cabinets. Kent suggested the sizes and the inner space and gave us options to select colors. My wife didn’t like the doors of our existing kitchen cabinets provided by developer. So we told Kent we wanted to change them. Kent explained to us there were 3 different types of material we could choose: 1. Laminated plywood; 2. Acrylic; 3. Tempered glasses. After comparing the costs and benefits, we decided to take 4G tempered glasses(4G glasses have thinner frame than 3G). Some original ideas proposed by me was tearing down 2 partition walls and replacing with laminated glasses to make our kitchen, living room and study room look more spacious. I guess Kent didn’t propose tearing down partition wall initially because he didn’t want us to have wrong impressions due to high cost.

The construction stage lasted about 2 months. During the project, Kent visited the site regularly to make sure it’s on schedule. I also actively discussed with Kent on how to optimize the sequence of the tasks. E.g., since I’d decided to tear down partition wall, I asked Kent if we could start destruction when we were still discussing the design details. When design was finalized and destruction was done, the construction work could be started immediately. We effectively shortened the schedule by a few days.
Kent is very patient, polite and accommodating which made the project a pleasant experience. Because I actively participated in the project, I constantly raised questions and ideas. Some may be constructive, and others may make no sense. Kent always responded nicely and quickly, be it text messages, phone calls or face to face discussion.
Admittedly nothing was perfect. There were some problems. Kent was able to fix them swiftly until my satisfaction or acceptance. E.g., one of the bathroom basin I bought was oval shaped, so the table top need to have opening of the same shape with slightly smaller size. When it’s first installed, I noticed the oval cut of the table top was not balanced on both sides. Kent quickly arranged the worker to remove table top and take it back to factory to fix it.

The overall rating I would like to give is 8 or 9 out of 10. Will I recommend Kent Tan to others? Yes.

It’s important to choose a good interior designer. It’s also equally important for the home owners to play their own parts to have a successful renovation as mine. I hope this review helpful for new home owners.

Dear Urban Design,

I am writing in to give an account of my working relationship with Chris Choo. I have gotten Chris' contact from my brother, whom he has worked with when he has gotten his unit in 2016. I did not shop around for contractors for the fear of getting lost in this renovation indust... more

Dear Urban Design,

I am writing in to give an account of my working relationship with Chris Choo. I have gotten Chris' contact from my brother, whom he has worked with when he has gotten his unit in 2016. I did not shop around for contractors for the fear of getting lost in this renovation industry and since my brother sings praise of him and I too acknowledge the good work he has done for my brother's house, so without much hesitation I reached out to Chris.

Chris' professionalism has made the whole experience a pleasant one - from idea generation to sourcing of materials to actual works, Chris offered me sound and professional advice. He is responsive to queries and transparent when it comes to billing and finances. As this is my first home, he was extremely patient in walking me through some of the ideas, explaining to me what the pros and cons are in making certain choices. Throughout the renovation process, Chris kept me updated on the progress and supplied pictures of the ongoing works to keep me in the loop. He’s gone out of the way on several occasions, including responding to my queries over the weekend and even when he’s away on vacations.

My relatives and friends were full of praise when they came over for visits. I would like to take this opportunity to thanks Chris for helping both my wife and I to create lovely and nicely renovated house and I am sure he will continue to deliver outstanding results in his future projects.
Thanks once again and all the best!


Best regards,
Raymond

I renovated my new condo mid last year. I had really regretted using the service of URBAN DESIGN HOUSE located along Balestier Road.

I had told the designer, KENT TAN, that this is a very rush job as I have only one month to let him complete the renovation. He assured me over and over again that ... more

I renovated my new condo mid last year. I had really regretted using the service of URBAN DESIGN HOUSE located along Balestier Road.

I had told the designer, KENT TAN, that this is a very rush job as I have only one month to let him complete the renovation. He assured me over and over again that one month is more than sufficient. He also assured me that their company will only used quality items and ensure good workmanship.

Renovation was done in July 2018 and disaster started. I have to EMPHASISE that all problems started because of this IRRESPONSIBLE designer. I will only mention a few major mistakes here.

During the one month renovation, I was there daily to check on the work and I have only seen the designer there ONCE during the whole month. (He was there to buy food for the workers, get my cheque and left)

Apparently, his communication with his workers are so bad that everything went wrong. Right from the painting, carpentry, marble polishing, parquet polishing, ceiling, lightings, etc.

1) Painting
- Very little protection sheets used and the painter splashed paint everywhere (including the staircase)
- Masking tape was not taped properly on the side skirt causing paint to peel every time we clean
- Indoor paint was used on the balcony and every time it rains, pain peel off and drop all over the floor
- Painter dripped paint on the floor and other places but did not clean off
- Painters would paint for 5 mins and sit outside the main door to rest for 10 mins, then carry on.
- I have told Kent Tan that I do not want this batch of painters to paint for me anymore but he ignored my complaints and kept sending them back one by one, thinking that I will not recognize them.
- Because the designer is not around to tell them what to do, I had to do the job. The painters were not cooperative and kept complaining and telling me they will not do the job.

2) Marble Polishing
- The polishing was so bad, it seems like the surface wasn't polished at all. (Amount refunded)

3) Parquet Polishing
- I really don't know much on renovation and did not know if one should polish the parquet floor first then install the carpentry or the other way round. Apparently, this designer had decided to polish floor last
- Problems came. I had custom made a bed with 8 legs and after the parquet polishing, the areas with the bed legs were not polished. It is so unsightly.
- Carpentry work such as TV console, wardrobe, etc had lots of vanish stained at the bottom

4) Carpentry work
- They left a gap of about 5mm on all custom made furniture and silicon the bottom because bits and pieces of wood were stuck at the bottom and is very unsightly. They used silicon to cover it up but most of the silicon started peeling in less than 3 MONTHS. There are more mistakes I do not want to bring up here.

5) Lightings
- Designer calculated the length of the LED lights wrongly and hence, I am still waiting for the stock of the driver till now

6) False ceiling
- Started to crack within 3 MONTHS. Designer kept arranging workers to touch up but can't work.
(The very first time, designer KENT TAN suggested using the simplest and easiest method, (silicon). After applying the silicon, it crack again within ONE MONTH)

7) Designer (KENT TAN)
- As I have mentioned, he is hardly around to make sure that his workers are doing the right things. Even after all these mistakes, guess what he did
- He arranged his workers to come over, DID NOT tell them and problems and DID NOT COME OVER. He gave my numbers to the workers and told every one of them to contact me instead. (As though Urban Design House pay me salary). What's more, when I gave him a time, ie. 2-5pm, he would tell his workers to come anytime between this time). That means, there are workers reaching at 2pm and some at 4pm+. I had to clean the house over and over again because of this
- After telling him to bring his own cleaning equipments like vacuum cleaner, broom, mop, etc; he came with only ONE piece of cloth.
- He assured me of good workmanship BEFORE I sign the contract, after all payments please see KENT TAN’s reply: "As for workmanship no one can guarantee ,all are handworks & labour works. But I m trying my best to solve the issue for u already.no one can guarantee all the worker won't happen any mistake or wrong .please be patient as I m no push away or finding excuse for all your request. I was actually trying to match your convenient & settle to issue for u too.”
- I have also told Kent Tan that I am not comfortable with the Malay painters and hope he can send a Chinese painter instead. He rejected me saying that his company only works with Malay painters. In fact, I told him to get other painters after seeing how this batch of painters work but Kent will still send the same painters. I have to bear with his again this coming Wednesday on 16 Jan 2018.

I have all the chats saved in my phone. Can produce screen shots when necessary.

I have paid them over S$50,000 for the renovation work, excluding, furniture, lights, curtains, etc. for a 2-bedroom condo and gotten lots of headache because of this designer.

I urge all of you not to use their service. Fyi, I have done a renovation work with Ciseern few years back and they did not even have to come back once after the renovation. Regret not using them again. But again, that designer, John, had left the company.

Elly was my ID, she is a young ID therefore there are shortcomings about her due to inexperience. But she is quick to make up with her responses and follow up skills which I am truly impressed. I am also thankful that despite the busy period of Christmas & CNY, she managed to complete my house renov... more

Elly was my ID, she is a young ID therefore there are shortcomings about her due to inexperience. But she is quick to make up with her responses and follow up skills which I am truly impressed. I am also thankful that despite the busy period of Christmas & CNY, she managed to complete my house renovation in time. Why I am writing this review is because I feel I need to thank her for her follow up even after weeks of handling over my house.

Will definitely recommendate Elly to my friends and family for renovation.

Thank you very much to Chris Choo once again for his dedication. My wife and I are very happy with his renovation work done nearly 2 years ago. Recently we need him to do some minor touch up and he does it without any problem and this is the third time we have asked him. I strongly recommended Chris... more

Thank you very much to Chris Choo once again for his dedication. My wife and I are very happy with his renovation work done nearly 2 years ago. Recently we need him to do some minor touch up and he does it without any problem and this is the third time we have asked him. I strongly recommended Chris Choo to whoever wanted to renovate their house based on our experience. His quotation is reasonable, always replying our messages or calls promptly, easy to approach as if he is one of your old friends and he is very patient too. 5 star rating for his service.

Chris Choo is easy to work and patient to answer all questions. Quotation is reasonable. with some highclass material the use(such as BLUM hinger). overall is ok but work/schedule can improve a lot as take 5 months to finish my project include to clear the defect(almost 1 month to clear the defect)... more

Chris Choo is easy to work and patient to answer all questions. Quotation is reasonable. with some highclass material the use(such as BLUM hinger). overall is ok but work/schedule can improve a lot as take 5 months to finish my project include to clear the defect(almost 1 month to clear the defect), suppose to finish in 6 weeks. 3D drawing take 1 month, even last time we only revise 1 color, still need to wait for 1 week

Chris Choo is easy to work with and reliable. Quotation is reasonable.
Some of the coordination work/schedule could be improve. Overall satisfied. more

Chris Choo is easy to work with and reliable. Quotation is reasonable.
Some of the coordination work/schedule could be improve. Overall satisfied.

We chose Chris as we were really comfortable with him. He was very receptive towards all the ideas we had which not many other IDs were. Their quotation was reasonable. Although the renovation could have been better coordinated, I like how Chris was very responsive to changes. What we really like wa... more

We chose Chris as we were really comfortable with him. He was very receptive towards all the ideas we had which not many other IDs were. Their quotation was reasonable. Although the renovation could have been better coordinated, I like how Chris was very responsive to changes. What we really like was that he was very accommodating to us. Whenever we point out any problems in the renovation, he would send his worker down without any hesitation to rectify it.

Our interior designer, Chris, is dedicated , very responsive and prompt to attend to our queries. As first time owners, he walked us through the whole design and renovation process. He gave us very constructive suggestions on designs that kept within our budget. We were so impressed with the 1st dr... more

Our interior designer, Chris, is dedicated , very responsive and prompt to attend to our queries. As first time owners, he walked us through the whole design and renovation process. He gave us very constructive suggestions on designs that kept within our budget. We were so impressed with the 1st draft of the 3D drawing & decided to proceed with the renovation. Our house looks exactly what we wanted! Very happy with the end result!