House Tour

Our renovation has officially started on 23.02.2012. We've hired a qualified contractor to do the job for us. Unlike our friends in US or Europe, here, in Malaysia we can't really DIY the knocking, hacking, building and all.

However, we are trying to DIY some carpentary and furniture refurbishment. Have yet to take off but we'll update you on this soon!

In the meantime, we thought that we would share with you some pictures of our new home BEFORE the renovation.

The front

Hall One

Hall Two

Dining Room

Dry Kitchen

Wet Kitchen

Upstairs

Landing Hall

Master Bedroom

Balcony

Bedroom One

Bedroom Two

We've got KEYS

February 11, 2012 (Saturday)

So the house is OFFICIALLY ours as we've got the house keys from the previous owner.

We now have to wait for the approval letter from the Municipal Council before our renovation can start.

Never been so happy to see a set of keys!

Moving In

When we were first looking for a property, Kelana Jaya was the last on our list even though that was where our base was. This was because the prices of property there were ridiculously high.

We were thinking of looking in places like Seri Setia Alam in Shah Alam and Bandar Sri Damansara in Kepong. We were thinking of buying directly from the developer.

The house that we purchased in Kelana Jaya was chanced upon when I looked into mudah.com.my. My first thought when I saw the house was that, it was too expensive - slightly more than half a million ringgit.

We went ahead to view the house. It is an old house - about 30 years old. It has some renovation done to it already. The house had renovation potential. It's located away from traffic and facing a playground indirectly and at the same time a small sewer.

We were in a fix because in order to purchase the house in Kelana Jaya, we had to sell our house in Kota Damansara due to our cash flow. So we took a risk :

1. Sell our home in Kota Damansara (this would take a good six months);
2. Purchase the house in Kelana Jaya (provided it's available);
3. Rent a house if the house in Kelana Jaya is sold and look for another house;
4. Lots of prayer

Thankfully, everything worked out, we've sold our home and the very next day put down payment for the home in Kelana Jaya.

So now the journey begins for us ...

Moving Out

We've been living in a neighbourhood called Kota Damansara for the past 12 years. It's a neighbourhood that has grown rapidly fast. Amenities are a plenty, shops, food stalls, KFC, Pizza Hut, McD's, hypermarkets : Carrefour, Giant and Tesco, shopping malls : Sunway Giza, The Curve and One Utama are all nearby. There are many parks and playground and there is even a school nearby our home too - about 2 minutes walk.

However, we have decided to move away because the children's school and tuition are all in Kelana Jaya, where my parents live. Even though there is a school nearby, the problem we had was that after school, the kids could not come home as we are both working parents. And after we had our domestic helper, we decided not to transfer the kids to this nearby school because you never know with domestic helpers, they might wake up tomorrow morning and decide not to work anymore.

Our initial plan was to renovate the current house but then again, the distance was getting to us already. So we put our house on the market and at the same time looked for another property in Kelana Jaya.

Praise and thank God that everything worked out, everything fell into place nicely, timing and monetary. Lots of dedicated prayers and also we had support and help of family members and good friends.

Some of the kids from our neighbourhood celebrating Timothy's birthday

We will be leaving a group of wonderful, friendly and caring neighbours. Now that is hard to do. Our neighbours' children are the same age as ours. They played and celebrated birthdays together.

So, I just cannot imagine the day we will leave our home, I wonder if there are any hugs and tears before we set off. I don't know if I will look back as we drive away.

One thing is for sure, that we will keep in touch via Facebook and will met up for birthdays and Hari Rayas.

Renovating Malaysian Style

Join us on our journey as we renovate our new home with the help of a qualified and appointed contractor.

Here in Malaysia, when we renovate, it's always depended on hired hands. Unlike our friends in the US or Australia where most of the time it's DIY.

So stay tune to our blog as we update you on our progress.