Category: General House Musings

House Renovation Update #3 – Things are taking shape!

Hi guys, do you have any idea what these are? :D

Any idea?

Well they are our windows! Today we went to the house to let the contractor know which directions do we want to open the windows out so that they can install them accordingly.

I love, love, love my windows. I love, love, love my windows. They’re exactly how I had envisioned them to be but better :D

Windows

# – This picture is taken from our backyard. You can see that the window frames have already been installed. Next will be the installation of the panels.

# – Here’s me with one of the first panels installed. My face is pixelated because mornings do not agree with me :P

Backyard

Speaking of backyard, a roof has also been erected there so that I can do my laundry regardless of the weather. I love it so much because it’s supported by these strong & beautiful wooden pillars and beams. Initially we wanted to use polycarbonate roof for the backyard but eventually decided on roof tiles/wood for a more natural look.

# – This is the backyard roof. Do you notice the black cables extending out from under the roof? That’s our telephone line and it’s so ugly!! Anyone have any experience with getting TM to fix it coz it looks so third-world urghhh.

Lets move on to the other progress of the house…

Master Bedroom

# – Remember the masterbedroom? After all the hacking it looked like this.

# – The master bedroom looks like this now. The french door on the left have been covered up so that we can maximise the space in the room. (fantasising on how the room would look like with the king-sized Serta Hilton bed we’ve booked last month)

Master Bathroom

# – The master bathroom: post-hacking, pre-extension.

# – We extended the master bathroom because it was too tiny even for me. Now we have a decent sized shower area at the back of the bathroom and I love this new layout because the toilet bowl and basin area won’t be soaking wet after a shower :)

Wardrobe/Activity Room & Guest Room

# – The sad state right after the hacking out of the old doors and windows.

# – The door frames and window frames are in now. The shared bathroom is also waterproofed, ready for some kickass tiling and sanitaryware installation :D

Pantry

# – This little room in the middle is supposed to be a storeroom. But we’re converting it into a pantry as it’s just next door to the kitchen.

# – The hole on the wall is for a ventilation fan to keep the room dry and cool. I’ve always wanted a walk-in pantry like Nigella Lawson’s and by the looks of it, I think I’m getting there :)

You know this year, we have stopped almost all kinds of splurges like holidays, new clothes, food and gadgets because renovating is not cheap -_- But as we see the house slowly taking shape, it all becomes so clear. It’s really worth it to have our lifestyle suspended for this because by next year, we’ll be living in our dream home, enjoying our dream life :)

House Renovation Update #1- Demolishing

This morning we dropped by the house to check on the progress and also to discuss with the electrician on how many power points, switches etc that we want.

It’s quite surreal to see the transformation. Just two weeks ago the house was in a sorry state with ugly as hell tiles and overgrowth of shrubs and unidentified insects crawling around. Now it’s almost completely bare.

Here are some pictures:

Kitchen

# This is the kitchen before.

# We demolished a section of the wall so when it’s done the kitchen will extend into what is used to be a wash area. All the old tiles have been stripped off. The entire kitchen except one wall section will be tiled floor to ceiling. In fact, the kitchen will be the biggest space in the entire house, that’s how serious we take our food, hehehe.

Stairs

# This is the staircase before.

# We have ripped out all the parquets and old wooden railings from the staircase. We are putting laminated wood flooring for the staircase and the entire upper floor.

Living Hall

# This is the living hall before.

# The old tiles have been ripped off. The concrete bench under the windows have been demolished. We’re also putting in new doors, windows & grills. As for the ground floors, we’re not tiling the them at all, just going for smooth cement render.

Master Bedroom

# The master bedroom before.

# The parquet flooring has been removed and will be replaced with laminated wood flooring as with the rest of the upper floor. The old door frame has also been hacked out. The french doors on the left will also be removed and turned into a wall.

Room 2 & Room 3

# The rooms before.

# Room doors, bathroom doors and old bathroom tiles have been hacked out. Parquet flooring also removed. These rooms will be my wardrobe/vanity/activity room and guest room.

So there, some updates on the progress of our new home :)

And also, if you’re not into this sort of things, here are some pictures of me mucking around:

# Say no to fugly grills :P

# Here’s me dressed up in solidarity with my contractor. Hehe.

# And another one in the now bare toilet.

Till the next update, happy house renovating!

To read about what you should do before buying a house, check out my partner-in-crime, ShaolinTiger’s Guide to Buying a Property in Malaysia.

Project renovating has finally started!

Finally we have appointed a contractor for our house renovation. You will start seeing a lot of postings about its progress, our joy and pains on this blog.

I really can’t wait to move into a home of our own. Can’t wait to cook in my kitchen (you may not know but I really enjoy cooking) and throw a lot of parties. Oh my gawd, can’t wait to finally install a washing machine and have fresh laundry everyday!! Heaven knows how many times I’ve had to dress like a banshee because my clothes were still at the dobi :P

What about suzyganas, my poor Suzuki Swift that has to endure sun, rain and dust on a daily basis parked illegally outside our current rented apartment. But most of all, I can’t wait to start having a family of my own and by that I mean me, the bf and Charlie :D Right now there’s no baby room on the agenda…just a walk-in wardrobe hehe.

Let’s just say I’ve never been so happy seeing a massive rubbish bin :)