Recycled and Reused Louvers

For this blog post, I will be taking a detour from the House Tour and would like to share with you on some of the wood projects that we have been up to.

Hubby had his eyes set on some louvers that we saw at a lumber yard that recycles old wood items like doors, windows and woods.  These louvers are made out of Chengal wood and is easily about 100 over years old.  Just lifting a 2ft Chengal louver is heavy enough!

What is a louver you ask?  Well, according to Wikipedia, a louver (American English) or louver (British English) is a window blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine and noise.  The angle of the slats may be adjustable, usually in blinds and windows or fixed.

In Malaysia, you can find louvers in old colonial houses like those in Kuala Lumpur, Penang & Ipoh.  However, in newer houses, you'll not find them anymore as modern louvers (if any) will be made out of metal.

So Hubby had this idea of covering the air-conditioning compressor area with the 4ft louver we purchased.  He also had the idea of making the smaller louvers as bench legs which were 2ft each for our dinning bench.

An old colonial house with the louvers above the window shutters

Another picture of the colonial louvers

We were deciding on which louvers to choose.
Initially we thought of the louver lying on the floor with the hold in
middle.  We thought of adding in a Nyonya glass but decided against it
as it would be too much work to do.

So in the end we decided on this louver, 4ft and perfect
for the air-conditioning compressor area.

This is the louver that we bought for the air-conditioning compressor area.

Once we brought it home, we had to take out the planks,
sand each one down as well as the frame.

The planks which had about three or four coats of paints over the years.

After sanding down the frame, hubby varnished the frame
and gave it some chemical treatment.

In the end, this is the varnish color that we choose. 

The planks were also varnished and fitted back.

Here is Hubby fixing the louvers onto the air-conditioning compressor area.

Before : The air-conditioning compressor area is empty and open.

After : The air-conditioning compressor area is now covered up with the
beautiful restored and recycled louver.

After : Another after picture of the facade.

House Tour : Landing

Before you enter into the bedrooms, you'll find yourself in the landing area.  Normally, the landing area is for catered as a family hall.  Older houses have bigger landing area thus where the TV area is.  Unfortunately, newer houses don't have that luxury.  

Initially we have decided to put a comfortable rattan chair with a lamp and a small bookshelf for light reading.  However, now sits an old beautiful cupboard that I inherited from my Granny.  Above this cupboard, I place my altar.  Unfortunately this area is still in the cleaning up process, so no 'AFTER' photos can be show just yet.

We'll just leave you with the photos when they did the flooring and hopefully you'll be able to visualize the size of this landing.

The original landing with built in cabinets

During renovation, the right hand of this picture is the entrance to the 
Master Bedroom,  left hand side is the entrance to 
the Girl's and Boys' Room

The timer flooring in the process of installation

House Tour : Back Room

Normally, most double storey homes in Malaysia has a small room downstairs at the kitchen area.  This room would normally be converted into a store or a room for the domestic helper.  In our case, it is for our domestic helper.  This room is just nice to fit one single bed and a cupboard.

Initially we contemplated of making do without this room and this would make our kitchen larger.  After much thought, it was necessary to have this room for the privacy of our domestic helper.  The room is tile the same ash grey color as the kitchen, minus the orange insertion.

Here are some of the pictures before and after the renovation.

Before renovation ~ the original

After renovation ~ the ash grey tiles

During the renovation

After the renovation ~ from a different angle

During renovation ~ walls knocked down