My Home - Almost there...

Finally shifted on 10 Jan and settling into my place. Getting used to wiping the splashes on my master sink area after each use, frantically cleaning my white kitchen top whenever a spot is noted, lifting stuff and not dragging them across the cement floor, conscientiously placing almost everything on coasters...in short, lots of very "careful" measures undertaken in my very sensitive home. It was a bit troublesome initially, but it is becoming sort of a lifestyle.

But overall, quite happy with my home. I love the white theme, uneven tones on my cement floor (although quite a few people thought my floor hasnt been done yet =P), Christmas-looking lights in my study area, the very pretty mosaic table, the rusty tiles in my master toilet, the purple tinge in my kitchen light, and not to mention the great view from my place.

Here are some updated photos.

Living Area

Study Area
Breakfast Counter (Plus very delicious home-made pineapple tarts made by my friend)
Kitchen

Common Washroom
Yard
Washroom Area
Land of dreamzzz...

My Home - Work in Progress Part V

I am hoping this will be my FINAL work-in-progress post. It has been 3 months since I penned my 1st renovation-related post, and I'm shifting tomorrow. Technically, that is. Tomorrow (at a timing strictly specified by my aunt) is the auspicious day/time for me to shift home.

After many frantic days/nights watching old TCS 8 drama serials (in case you are interested, these shows are usually screened in the afternoons and late at nights), taping up cardboard boxes (which by the way, cost me $1.50 each), stuffing the boxes, sealing the boxes, labelling them....I'm finally almost done with the packing. I was so stressed with packing that I had no mood to study till the packing was done.

Tomorrow - I'm hoping to wave goodbye to the stress of living alongside mould-infested wardrobes and flying insects after my movers finally transport the many items that make up me to my new home. But alas, the "and they happily lived forever" ending is not yet in sight.

I paid my new home a visit this afternoon (actually, it was to meet with my ID who never turned up) and realised that the most important area of my flat is not properly done - my cement floor which spans my living, wardrobe & sleeping areas is blotchy and contains tiny little holes at several sections.

I have absolutely no idea at this point in time what sort of rectification work is being done. My ID only informed me that he would try to redo the floor today so that my stuff can be moved in tomorrow. He is supposed to confirm, but he didn't. For the first time in my life, I am actually fuming at my ID. I wasn't angry when there was no work done to my place for 6 weeks, accepted the fact there would be delays to the renovation, was quite okay when he didn't showed up for today's meeting...but the fact that he is careless with the floor when he knows I am shifting tomorrow is upsetting me. I have given in to him many times, and I AM PAYING.

This is frustruating. There is no way I can postpone the shift. The auspicious date has been set (by my family), arrangements with the movers have been made, furniture is coming in the next few days, my school is starting soon..and my floor is in a mess!

While I still appreciate his creativity and think he is quite a nice person by nature though pretty disorganised, I'm wondering whether I will ever want to work with him again, given my current experience.

Argh. Hopefully it's not that bad. Hopefully he has done something about it even though he hasn't updated me like he promised. I'll just have to see tomorrow. The shift will be done, but I prolly gotta spend some more nights in my curent place.

Anyway, enough of my anger-venting. Looking from the positive angle, a lot of progress have been made in the past weeks. Here are the latest photos of my place.

Living area

Kitchen

Breakfast Counter

Bedroom (honestly, despite all the unhappiness,I love my bed!)

Master Toilet

Shower Area

My Home - Work in Progress Part IV

Finally, I can write about my home renovation again. Why so long? Haiz, my ID lah. There was no work done at my place for almost 2 months, then suddenly, when the deadline was approaching, renovation works started again.

The original deadline for my home renovation was 24 Dec, so that we can shift home in time for New Year. But we subsequently agreed to postpone it to end 2007, and by the looks of it, renovation will probably be completed only 1st/2nd week of Jan. And I've been chasing my ID and giving "gentle" reminders. So I think my ID gets the idea, and promised to complete the renovation by next Sat. Hopefully he keeps to the deadline cos it has been a really long time.

Anyway, my hubby and I are generally pleased with our new place, except for some really impractical locations of the light switches on which we were not consulted. Haiz, can fume when I think about it cos our choice of applicances and location of certain stuff are affected, but what to do?

Living Area
Breakfast Counter + Wardrobe
Kitchen
Study area

Wardrobe (ex-doors)
My new sink!
Outside master toilet
Inside the loo
Uncompleted bedframe
View from master-room

My Home - Work in Progress Part III

After yesterday's failed attempt to enter our home, we went back again today to try our luck - this time round clad in our oldest & dirtiest slippers, just in case we had to trek though wet cement..we were ready for an adventure, and determined to get in the house..just to ensure there are no hidden surprises for us laterwards.

Lucky we made that trip back. Once we set eyes on the tiles in my master toilet...we knew that it was not what we wanted. We love the copper-looking tiles, but the grey tiles just look terribly out of place. After staring at the half-completed toilet for what seemed like almost half an hour, we decided a change was a must. Oh dear, my ID is not going to like the bad news. And my dear hubby decided to task me with the unpopular task of conveying the news to my ID. According to him, I have better rapport with the ID - maybe its becos I enjoy toking nonsense. But anyway, my ID was really quite nice about it...he initially misunderstood and thought we wanted to change all the tiles, and sounded relieved when I told him only the grey tiles had to go.

That's the master toilet. The copper tiles are there to stay, but we will be removing the grey tiles.

Looking into toilet from the pretty (but dusty) mosaic table

That's my hubby standing inside our wardrobe - deep in thought about our toilet.The bricks for the mini-wardrobe in my masterroom is up! Fantastically messy view from the kitchen. That's my fav slanted wall on the left. And of course, my hubby's fav mosaic table deserves mention too.

My absolutely open-concept kitchen!View from the living room into kitchen. How I wish the brick-look of that wall will be a permanent feature.The practical and cool hollow wall in living roomPosing for a shot right in front of storeroom, hee

My Home - Work in Progress Part II

Guess what! For the 1st time in my life, I'm blogging outdoors! The other exception was when I was so frustrated during my computing class that I was blogging from my school's lab...but I"m now seated at Starbucks sipping a cup of java chip frap, and logging on!

Call me a laggard..I dun deny I'm a techie idiot..never the first the own the latest gadget in the market. Partly becos of the practical side of me (or you can also say the cheapo/thrifty side of me). Good or bad that's me..and the not so-tech advanced me is using SG wireless for the first time....well at least I've progressed lah hor.

Just went to pay my new home a visit earlier...but the workers were doing some work on the floor (laying cement I think), so we weren't able to step into our place. So the following pics are all taken from the main door/window view =) A pity I can't see my wardrobe which was being constructed when I was there last week.

Nonetheless, quite a fair bit of progress I must say. The tiles for my kitchen and study are already laid. My hubby's fav mosaic table is up, and I love the slanted wall right in the centre of the mosaic table! Only gripe is that my place doesn't look as open as I expected...especially the wardrobe area..but I guess it's a sacrifice I have to make cos I needed more wardrobe space..despite my ID's persuasion, I knew that 4 wardrobe doors just weren't sufficient for me lah. So no choice, more space for shopping to make up for the reduced space.


This is the view from my 3rd bedroom. The hollow wall on the right is my fav feature of the house (although I kinda have a new fav now too - the cool slanted wall - love it!). Anyway you are looking pass the kitchen tothe yard, and the window at the far end is where my yard is.

This is taken from my main door, and looks directly into my living area. At the far end is my study area (where the slightly raised platform is). And that rectangular structure is the pretty mosaic table - my hubby's fav part of the house!

Another view of my living room, but this time round, you can see the hollow wall that serves to block out my corridor window.

This is taken from the corridor window just in front of the hollow wall. If you look carefully, you can see the other side of the mosaic table, and of course, the cool slanted wall! Looking at this pic just makes me smile..really excited about my new place...can't wait to shift in soon. Sighz, but I'm reminded I'll have to go through 2 more exams before my place is ready.

My Home - Work in Progress Part 1

Went to check out my place on Sunday..and noted progress in the renovation works (*happy*).

This wall is my favourite part of the house - both aesthetically as well as practically. The corridor window is actually just behind the constructed wall - which allows me to look out of the house, and yet gives me the privacy. Well-meaning relatives have indicated that the walls will probably trap dust...but I'll think of a solution to that next time. For now, I love this wall!

The contractor had actually built up the wall to the spare room wrongly..and after I told my interior designer on Fri evening, I was pretty surprised that the wall had already come down when I went to visit on Sunday evening. Their efficiency is quite commendable =)

The brick wall is where my TV will be mounted..just behind the brick wall will be the kitchen area....which as you can tell..is not really fit for cooking just yet.

That is my wardrobe at the far-end (just beside the window), made of concrete...my place will have minimal carpentry, mainly the kitchen cabinets, shoe rack and tv console. Otherwise, we are using alternative materials such as bricks, cement, concrete - which is good cos I'm not a fan of wood. I even suggested having my main door made out of glass, but was shot down by both my hubby and the interior designer. So guess there goes the cool main door.

As HDB ceilings are not exactly very high, we decided to do away with false ceiling (a feature that I'm also not fan of) for most of my new place, and will have black electrical conduits running across the walls/ceilings instead. Initially, I was a little apprehensive..but my hubby and I were beaming away when we saw the black tubes traversing our walls - cool!!! One more thumbs-up to my ID.