Friday, August 30, 2013

Baby Rocking Chair

I found another Chair! ... rather I picked up another chair that somebody threw away. Hmm ... note to self, I may have a weakness for Chairs, besides Bags and Fabric.

Anyhow, it's a Baby Rocking Chair made out of rattan.  My little CinaBoy just loves it, he sits on it like a little man.  Of course, this chair would need some repairing, why else would someone throw it out.  Not to worry when I have Mr Hubby as my handyman.

Who would have thought that fixing this little chair would take almost one whole day. Hubby had to restring the chair together with rattan strips as well as nail them together. I am rather keen on spray painting the chair to a blue or teal color.  Hubby thinks that I should leave it as it is ... maybe I should check with my CinaBoy what color he wants ...

The Baby Rocking Chair
Different view of the Baby Rocking Chair
Needs repairing
More repairing needed
To use the rattan strip to tie and nail
Love the color, I think would look great on the Baby Rocking Chair

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Home Decorating ~ Think BIG

We have not had an official house warming since we moved in in October 2012, but we have received a few house warming gifts already.  To add, these gift are meaningful and we just love them.
The first is a lamp which a couple of friends gave us, JP & CMG.  It's installed in front of our main entrance.  It's to light up our lives, that we may have happiness always.
The light that lights up our lives

Then there is a BIG picture frame of a Chinese character "Fook" which means luck and fortune.  This was also given to us by a very good friend, LO.  Sometimes, the picture is placed upside down as a good luck charm.  This means that the luck or fortune is pouring in, in other words luck is coming your way.  It is normally displayed at the entrance of the home to welcome good luck and fortune. For us we displayed it at our hall.
The Chinese character "Fook" that means good luck

Then there is another BIG picture frame of green peonies with some Chinese characters also given by LO.  This picture is suppose to be harmonious and to bring the good luck to the occupants of the home.

The green peonies which means harmony

 

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Missing Links ...

It's been 7 months since we've moved into our new home.  We are still in the settling down mode.  Some items are still in their boxes, so many stuff to clear and get rid off.  So many projects lining up:-

  1. Fix knobs on all room doors
  2. Varnish all room doors
  3. Make study table for daughter's room
  4. Clear Mezzanine floor
  5. Put up photos & picture frames
  6. Make back splash for kitchen
  7. Refurbish a few furnitures
  8. Re decorate master bedroom
  9. Put up curtain rails  
  10. Sew curtains
  11. Build patio
  12. Sofa hunting
And the list goes on and on ...

One item on this list that we are taking our time is the sofa, we are taking our time as we do not want to rush and end up buying something that we are not happy with.  We do know roughly what we want but we have to look around at other retailers.  The EKTORP three seater sofa from Ikea is one that we are considering.

EKTORP three seater sofa in White - RM999.00
EKTORP three seater sofa in Risane Beige - RM1,499.00
Right now, we are temporary using a Teak two seater chair that is meant for the patio.  We purchased this Teak two seater chair from Kedai Kaki Lelong in Ara Damansara.

The Teak two seater chair in our Hall
Another picture of the same Teak two seater chair

Home Decorating ~ Think BIG!

Decorating your home can be fun and at the same time challenging.  However, I personally feel that you don't have to hold a certificate or degree to decorate your home.  All you need is a good eye for things and the internet!  We can consider ourselves lucky as there are so many write ups, photos, ideas and tips in the internet.  People are sharing and exchanging information about decorating from the patio to the backyard and everything in between.

When we owned our first home, we had a lot of small items that decorated our home, like small picture frames, small little trinkets and we had to wipe the dust off every now and then. One of our friends who has the same passion and 'weakness' for furniture and home decorating like us said "Think BIG and decorate BIG!"  This was an eye opener! Her home had all the BIG mirrors, BIG frames, BIG furniture and it worked out well!

So now all my small decorative items which have sentimental value are kept inside a display cabinet and the bigger ones are displayed out.

The teak cabinet with all my little displays
Divided into three sections : 1st shelf, all things Chinese
2nd shelf, all my miniature chest box
3rd shelf, some of my Dutch heritage on display
My brass Monk and a little puppy
Love the details on his facial expression
My three candle holder Monks, a Christmas gift from a dear friend

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Recycled and Reused Crate

There are a lot of projects on the internet for recycled crates and pallets.  So we decided to give it a try too. When I saw this crate, I fell in love with it!  I knew exactly it's purpose and where it would fit in our home. A shelf in our laundry area that could hold all our detergents for clothes, dishes and floors.

It was not in prefect condition, we had to change the base and make a few repairs but other than that, this was a pretty easy and fast project.

The condition of the crate when we first brought home.
Love the text at the side of the crate
Had to remove the foam from the box.
Had to remove the remnant of the foam by using a blade.
The crate had to be repaired here and there.
The broken piece.
A little nail and hammer did the job.
The broken based was removed.
Replacing the base with a thin plywood.
Our little laundry area.
It's up! We now have a laundry crate shelf!
The laundry crate shelf with a hook board at the bottom.
The laundry crate shelf now holds all the detergent.
A close up of the hook board.  It was priced at RM29.00 but
because it was missing a hook and the picture a bit torn,
I managed to get it for RM10.00 AND I suppose
it's a blessing in disguise as the 'missing' hook
is missing at the right place because of the plug point. 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Tiles

Choosing tiles for our home was not an easy task.  We spent many weekends visiting tile shops, comparing tile prices and quality.  We were so spoilt for choice, from ceramic to homogeneous, different types of grades, colors and sizes.  I roughly knew what color tile I wanted for the hall, dining and kitchen.  When it come to bathroom tiles, it was a little more challenging.

We bought our tiles from Super Ceramic Tiles in Jalan 222, Petaling Jaya.  We were serviced by a very friendly, approachable and experienced sales lady.  I strongly believe in good customer service and this lady sets a good example of how customer service should be.  She gave us advise on the tiles, gave us suggestions on design and so many more advise.  Their prices are reasonably priced too.

We used the same tile for our living and dinning ~ 60x60cm, color : Off White, price : RM6.50 per piece.  For the kitchen and domestic helper's room ~ 60x60, color : Ash Grey, price : RM7.00 per piece.  For the kitchen wall ~ 20x40cm, color : White with Grey stripes and for the wall boarder and floor insertion ~ 30x30cm, color : Vivid Pumpkin (basically it's Orange color).

We used the same tile designs for all three bathrooms (didn't want to spend too much time thinking of which bathroom has which tile color).  For the bathroom wall ~ 20x40cm wall tiles, color : Black (RM3.00 per piece) & White (RM2.70 per piece), for the bathroom floor : 30x60cm, color : Black, price : RM5.40 each.

For the porch, we used Terracotta tiles ~ 30x30cm, price : RM3.60 each and for the boarder ~ 30x60cm, color : Black

To lay the tiles, we had hired help of Indonesian tilers and price paid for their labour was about half of what the contractor wanted to charge us.

Trying to match the kitchen wall tile with a boarder
More options to choose from
Trying to match the kitchen floor with an insertion
Part of the tiles that arrived at our home
The Indonesian tilers tiling the dining area
The Indonesian tilers tiling the dining area
Dining area all tiled up
One of the hired help cutting the tile
Trying to match the Terracotta tile with a boarder
The kitchen wall tile ~ finally decided on a orange color tile
The kitchen floor tiles, with orange insertion
The Master bathroom with white insertion
The Master bedroom with pebble wash at the shower
area to avoid 'mishaps'
The Children's bathroom 
Tiling completed for the Children's bathroom
and with pebble wash at the shower area
The Guest bathroom, also with pebble wash 
The entrance landing with Terracotta tiles
and orange insertion

Thursday, April 4, 2013

House Tour : Mezzanine Floor

We have created an extra space, or rather an extra floor to the house.  It's another floor after the 2nd floor.  Typically in Malaysia, when you say you live in a double storey home, you just say, downstairs and upstairs. So I suppose you can say that we created another floor after the upstairs and this would make our home a 2.5 storey home ...

We loving call this the "M Floor", M for Mezzanine.  It's basically an open space where the TV and library are. This is also a place where the children can sleep when guest use their rooms.  They just love it up there, it's like 'camping' they said.  

It's also has a small little storage area in the roof.  Yes, you read right! Our store room is IN THE ROOF!

Can't visualize?  Well, I think I'll photo blog this post!

Before renovation, the upstairs and landing area
Before renovation, the upstairs and landing area,
will eventually lead up to the M Floor
During renovation, the M Floor in the making
During renovation, from down looking up
During renovation, the 'raw' M Floor
During renovation, the M Floor being screed
Overview of the M Floor, the 2 windows faces the backyard
The M Floor with walls painted in lilac
The M Floor with the timer flooring,  if you can see a
little entrance on the left, that is the door to the store room
which is also the roof
View when standing at the staircase, we later fixed the railing
The timber flooring at the M Floor has been varnished
The personal library being organised