tristesse

The Golden Birds decal were purchased from Greener Grass Design while the Iron Vines were purchased from Blik Blik. A selection of Blik wall decals are available at Molecule as well.

Thanks applefreak! Yup, it was painstakingly put up by yours truly. Of course my better half helped by even more painstakingly removing the details on the golden birds that simply refuse to budge during installation. Took a couple of hours to finish this. But the pain was all worth it in the end! I've put up one cat decal too on the staircase - will post pix another time. Am still trying to decide where else I can put up more cat decals!

VINYL STICKERS UP It's been a while and my excuse is that I'm still getting used to the routine (and household chores!) after moving in. Before my t-blog fades into oblivion, here're some updated pix with our vinyl stickers up. Plain walls no more as Blik's Iron Vines adorn our bedhead. The Golden Birds wall decals helped jazz up the wall at the upper storey landing. Our lounge gets a quirky touch with the Owl print cushions created from vintage fabric - lovingly sewn by my grandma. Our study - still missing a bookcase, drawer unit and an ergonomical chair. The cushion on the swivel chair is yet another creation by my grandma. I did a little photoshoot - this pix became the visual of the eInvite I created for our mini house warming.

wow... mr low's suddenly upped the popularity stakes! hopefully you find his quote competitive against the others you've gotten! but no lah... shan't be shameless and ask him for a house warming gift ooooh mafiawife - your place is so cool! I really dig the cottage/vintage vibe. good thing it didn't go en-bloc - it would be a real pity to have to shift into a run-of-the-mill landed home or condo. and yes, I definitely love the styling of the pix you posted. do try to search for shabby chic items off ebay to go with the look. i purchased some as well (shipping was a bummer, but at least the items are unique). you can also try searching for vintage chandeliers or wrought iron chandeliers - perfect for the look you're aiming for. alternatively, the tord boontje garland lamp system would add quite a whimsical touch.

Allos again! I agree with you on all counts about the rustic look being more "classic" (in the sense that the style will not go out of style). My husband and I decided on this look cos we wanted to save on plastering (uneven walls go with the rustic look mah), plus we wanted our place to have its own identity. And as the only IDs whom I think would be able to value-add to the vision I had in my mind's eye are the boutique firms (that would charge an arm and a leg), we went straight to a contractor instead. The ideas for the house were all ours - i had a little scrap book with pictures that served as inspiration and we basically told our contractor all the items we wanted done. We also made numerous trips to check out all the tile suppliers at Balestier and Defu and selected the tiles on our own! It was quite a lot of work, but the end result is that each and every bathroom looks different. And yes, my contractor applied for the reno permit. Boon Siew's not really a PCK style company lah... I must admit when I first saw their portfolio of work I wasn't impressed, but I reckoned that so long as they can execute what I wanted, it's not gonna end up like any of the houses in the album. To be fair, the pix were taken quite a while ago, so they are not an accurate indication. Besides, I had a look at another forummer's blog who used Boon Siew as well, and decided that it wouldn't be that big a risk cos it looked modern.

hi mafiawife, thanks for the compliment! and i'm happy to meet someone who's of the same mind when it comes to brick walls! try laying real bricks instead and painting over - I think the effect is much better than using brick tiles like mine. plus there will also be less joints to dust. my mum was joking abt spiders making home there and it really freaked me out - gotta remember to dust and wipe once a week at least. actually i think so long as you hire a reliable contractor, you needn't worry too much about the pace or quality of works right? so long as you give detailed instructions and call your contractor each morning to follow up (which was what i did. think my contractor must be glad to have handed over!). and yes, do share your ideas too! would like to see what mood you'd be creating if you were going with the brick wall. i initially wanted a shabby chic look, but with the black lounge seater and chandelier, it looks a bit too glam. oh well... the bird cage one was purchased off the ebay Australia site. i do believe i purchased the last gold one available, but if you're lucky there may still be ones in silver left. the gold leaf chandelier (in the living room) was purchased from the US site. there're lot of unusual chandeliers to be had off the net - happy surfing and shopping!

The picture's still missing a white rose teak coffee table - to place my mug of hot chocolate on. Heehee. The piece we ordered had a bit of a chip upon delivery, and the store is reordering a new piece for us. Can't wait till it gets in - nothing beats a comforting hot drink with a good book!

Getting there! I'm thinking of putting up a tree branch (with birds and leaves) wall decal on one of the walls of the balcony. We're saving the prints for the wall at the staircase - probably a pastiche of framed photos with drawings and prints etc. And yes, we had pebble wash flooring done for the balcony (and dining area) for a more outdoorsy feel. The rest of the first floor is done up in matte grey homogeneous tiles.

We had the table customised from UNIQ at Sungei Kadut for $450 (natural oil finish) - the store is now located at the IFC building at Sungei Kadut. Different finishing options are available but we liked the grain of the teak to be more visible.

Whew! M and I spent another crazy weekend working on Project Home Makeover. What we managed to accomplish over the past two days: 1) Repositioning of our dining set 2) Rehoming of 98% of E's CD collection, 30% of E's books, 100% of E's DVD collection 3) Purchase of crockery and cutlery from Sia Huat (not exactly the cheapest, but it was convenient) and crystal glasses and water goblets from a warehouse sale at Henderson 4) Unpacking of 21-pc cookware set (an early housewarming present from Mum - Thanks Mum for the very handy prezzie!) 5) Rehoming of all kitchenware into their "official" positions in the cupboards (thorough cleaning to commence next week) 6) Sign up for cable (M and I had to endure almost a one-hour wait before we finally got the yellow slips and installation date. What a waste of time!) 7) Purchase of potted flowers and fixing up of shabby chic wrought iron planter stand for balcony purchased off ebay - to add a more homely touch. 8) Purchase of grass carpet for dining to lay over pebble wash (for "events purposes" to quote M) The pebblewash balcony is finally clean - thanks to M, who worked up a sweat vacuuming up all the dust with our newly purchased ultra-powerful Philips dust buster. The perforated white roller blinds have also been installed in the balcony and we finally moved our dining table, bench and chairs into their proper place. The bird cage tealight holder's another purchase from BKK. Another two cushions have been added to our lounge seater, and some of our books have already found a new niche for themselves (along with some assorted decorative knick knacks to break the monotony) on our book shelf. To add an element of fun into the living room, homemade cushions from quirky vintage fabric will be added (perhaps in another week or so). I find that the lounge sofa still looks a bit too formal and stuffy with the existing damask and floral cushions - we'll need to give it a more fun twist for the living and dining spaces to segue seamlessly.

Thanks sumobear! We've actually purchased more odds and ends from BKK but hadn't the chance to display them yet. Hopefully I'd be able to find some time this weekend to put up my wall decals. There're a few branches around but I went to the Thomson Road branch. Check out Star Furniture

Hee... that's the only tree we can accomodate. I'm sure doggie dearest will have a fun time should we have brought in a regular synthetic tree! Our sofa is quite firm, so I don't think it'll sag much. You can check out Furniture Warehouse - it's still retailing for $1,880 now I think (we paid our deposit before the GST hike this year, and paid abt $200 less).

They're from Robinson's - from the Balmain counter.

We broke the bank at Suan Lum - lots of chic stuff, but unfortunately the prices can be a bit of a deterrent! Picked up other decoratives at shops like Playground at Thong Lor as well. Yeah! It's been such a tiring 2 months... we're certainly glad to finally see the true colour of our floor tiles.

Another look at our living room - our gold leaf chandelier has finally been unwrapped! We're pleased as punch with our first set of bedlinen - Balmain 600 thread count sateen sheets in cream with dark brown trim. Alongside our bed is our 1920s Danish inspired bedside table from Bangkok and fantastically quirky birdcage bedside lamp. Olive blackout curtains add a touch of glamour... and complements the wallpaper style laminate on the wardrobe. (Unfortunately silly me wanted to capture the warm light and decided to turn off the flash on my camera. The result? A fuzzy image that doesn't show the print nor the rich sheen of the curtain. DUH. Will try again another day) And our master bathroom is finally clean! We added a mirror on one wall for a spacious effect. To complement the mock-croc tiles, we purchased a white and silver mock-croc shower curtain from Bangkok.