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.

With most of our furniture in, our place is starting to look a lot less like an empty shell. We've been adding on quirky little extras to up the style quotient (we try at least!). Our very first Christmas tree - a red acrylic 3D one no less - greets all visitors. Now if we could find some pint size baubles.... White powder coated steel bench from Bangkok - our shoe bench. A cushion made of vintage-print fabric will complete the look - cushion cover's a work in progress as yet. A peek at our open kitchen - pardon the mess, was trying to play catch up with work. The black leather LATTE lounge sofa against the white brick wall. It's still missing another 2 cushions! Have recently purchased a green one with a damask motif and a black and white one - haven't time to add them all in yet. Customised teak wood dining table and bench - to be paired with acid green plastic chairs from IKEA. What you see now is a temporary placement... we'll have to scrub the pebble wash flooring at our balcony free of dust first before the dining set is relocated there permanently for an al fresco dining experience.

hey hey phoenix! thanks for checking back ;o) Yeah... reno's complete and most of the furniture is in... have just been too busy to take and upload pix. Will do so this weekend and next - check back again!

Congrats on the momentuous occasion in your life! Your home styling for the wedding celebrations is impeccable as always - do hope your photog captures more wonderful pictures of the festivities at your new place!

RENO DAY 39 - Lighting Up Our Life! Our contractor has been given the mandate that completion should be by Wednesday, 21 November... and things are chugging along towards that deadline. With another week to go, M and I have given him an exhaustive list of what else has to be done and touched up on. The following works have been lined up: Wed 14 Nov - Completion of electrical works and installation of more lighting fixtures Thu 15 Nov - Laminate flooring on staircase to be redone Fri 15 Nov - Installation of mixer taps etc Sat 16 Nov - Painting works Touch up on carpentry and tiling to be done next week, before washing on Tuesday or Wednesday. Am keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be smooth till then. During our visit this evening, we realised that the day was a fruitful one for the electrical team - all the lights (except for our master bedroom which we brought over this evening) have been installed, and the gaps between the ceiling and the casings sealed with Painters Caulk-It. Yay! No more ugly gaps. I was happy to tick several items off my checklist. Kitchen stainless steel backsplash up Full-height book shelf in the living room Half-height book shelf beside under staircase storage door Our birdcage chandelier, suspended 8 feet (I think!) down from the upper floor ceiling Gold leaf chandelier in the living, still protected by the plastic wrap Can't wait to see more changes tomorrow evening! *crosses fingers*

Thanks! Not everything's perfect of course, but they are things that we can live with. Sigh. Reno's such a nightmare - I really don't ever want to go through the whole process again! Am just keeping my fingers crossed and holding my breath that everything will be completed by early next week. Our furniture's all arriving on 24 Nov and we're cutting things real close!

RENO DAY 37 - Carpentry Completed Both wardrobes have been completed! A close-up of the wallpaper style laminate: And so has the vanity cabinet for the common bathroom: As well as the kitchen cabinets:

hi phoenix, perhaps it's a trick of the camera angle! by most standards I think our tub isn't particularly long - bathtubs usually range from 1.5m upwards to ensure comfort when seated. I think washing shouldn't be too much of a problem with this free-standing one. So long as it comes with legs, it's definitely possible to wash the floor beneath without any real problem. will PM you my contractor's contact shortly - I think his schedule's pretty tight for the time being, but you can always contact him anyway.

hi phoenix, the Bravat claw leg bathtub cost $1,300 (incl of pop up waste) from Ideal Bathroom at Balestier. We decided on the free-standing variety instead of the built in ones due to constraints in space. Basically should we have decided on a built-in tub, it would cover the drainage outlet for the toilet and should there be chokage problems in future, the bathtub would have to be removed. To avoid this possible problem, we decided to opt for a free-standing one instead. Should we ever decide to move, we can easily cart it along as well! we didn't engage an ID for our reno - the concept and "vision" for the place was entirely mine and my husband's. the contractor we engaged (Mr Low from Boon Siew) has been able to achieve the effect we had in mind, and we're pleased with the works to date.

My mum had the shock of her life when she found out I had the contractor grout the tiles in grey instead of white! But my husband and I really like the effect.

RENO DAY 34 - Carpentry in Progress The skeleton of our kitchen cabinets under warm light And a closer look under white light Some adjustments and relocation is required to the interior - our Teka oven in particular will have to be shifted 5" upwards. It's currently too close for comfort to the floor! The row of drawers will likely have to be shifted to the end of the L shape as well. The skeleton of both wardrobes are also in place. Hopefully the wardrobes will be complete by Wednesday before we leave for our trip!