It’s almost done!

Hello. Sorry, we have been really busy. D. has actually been devotedly shooting the whole renovation process, but he hasn’t had time to download the pics or blog because of well, stuff. I think once this is all over, he will probably have this huge ass post with gazillion pictures. But in the meantime, you will have to make do with this not so intricate update. So yes, Montreal is almost done. And for Abigael’s sake, I am posting a picture of the glass window that she had envisioned for us, with a “Darrensoh signature fuzzy passerby” no less. While the Mothers have issues with the bright yellow Creative Corner, it makes us happy and I’m sure there will be cheery times ahead. There are still MORE surprises for this part of the house (cue Ee Shaun & Martin).

The last bit now is the carpentry stuff. And recently, the slabs for THE Bookshelf arrived and this got D. very excited as he gets excited by things like that. The plywood does look quite lovely, I admit. The bookshelf will be our version of the glass display cases of teeny crystal creatures and menacing wooden tigers our parents seemed so fascinated about in the 1980s.

More updates soon! I will poke D. about it!

Week 2 update

D. is away on a work trip now so I am supposed to give the update. Well, basically, the tiling for the living/dining room and bathrooms have been done. We have to wait another two weeks for the cement to settle in the bedrooms so the parquet flooring can be installed, and the tiler uncles are presently working on the kitchen wall tiles, which I am really liking!

The wall we planned to hack was hacked this week, and now the tiling uncles are filling up the bottom half (for a nice surprise – to be updated). I am very fascinated by the “brick laying process,” the cement sounds so slushy and I love how he “tok-tok-toks” the hollow blocks into place.

It seems we may have some difficult neighbours above. Besides covering our balcony view with a wet drippy duvet cover on a regular basis, they have not responded to the leaky pipes we spotted in our kitchen and bathroom areas despite official HDB letters/visits. Poo.

The flowers that stayed

I am so glad D. is ok with floral wallpaper for the bedroom. We’ve even bought flowery bed linen from Robinsons. Best of all, he is open to flowery tiles! (with exception to the ugly original ones in our kitchen)

I spotted these bathroom tiles a few months ago at some Balestier tile shop and felt they would be most fitting for our WC. They were a really strange measurement, however, and made tiling arrangements a mathematical nightmare. Ever the keep-things-simple me wanted to just scrap the idea and have normal plain square tiles, but D. stubbornly refused to let these flowers go. Abi eventually came up with a solution that allows for a lovely flowery strip which will undoubtedly bring cheer to many a shower. Big thanks to the tiling uncles too who had to do a lot of slicing to make things fit.

Shopping for the Johns

As D. has mentioned, we went to get our bathroom appliances earlier this week, and it was a strange retail experience. Firstly, the whole piping/heating business befuddles me so all the terminology talk about mixers and what nots whizzed past my head. Secondly, I really find it strange perching on various toilet bowls in the showroom, as the salesgirl insisted we do, lids flapped up to simulate the real um, processes. Psychologically, I just think toilet bowls will smell and approached that section very gingerly.

What I liked best: the efficiency of the shopping trip. Chop-chop everything buy in one shot, and even covering kitchen sink, hob & hood too. Whee!

p/s: This will be the sink for the guest bathroom. We hope our mothers would not have difficulties getting water from the knobbly thingmajig tap.

We have tiles!

Today Mel and I made a visit (one of many many many to come) and to our surprise, we had tiles!

Well, some tiles anyway.

The tiling shi fu (whose name escapes me now) was hard at work when we visited to sort some things out with Ronny our main contractor. Usually these “sort out” sessions involves the upping of the final $$$ amount so it can be rather painful.

We have also bought most of our bathroom fixtures (bowls, taps, sinks, showers) from a place aptly anmed Indulge. With the kind of money they’re charging, it SURE is an indulgence siah.

Still, we’re happy.

The Accessories Wish List Vol. 1

As the non-visual counterpart, it’s been a struggle for me to picture the way I would like things for the home or even understand what Darren/Abi/R. are talking about. As such I get fixated on the smaller-scale stuff – such as picking out frilly wallpaper for the bedroom (thank goodness D is pro-floral), choosing vintage/movie posters for the creative corner, and hunting out red kitchen appliances, of which I am strangely fascinated with. Pining for goods is infinitely easier than say, designing a bookshelf with a colour coding system, so at least let me try to put in some effort in consolidating this list  for our reference, as well as nifty wedding gift ideas for the rest of you all (heh).

1. A roundish-edged red toaster. It has to look friendly, shiny and do its job of making the bread crispy.

2. Red Kitchenaid Standmixer. I don’t bake, but I will if I have this (I promise!)

3. Montreal-themed posters. Anyone who goes to Montreal or knows of this band called Of Montreal – please do look out for some kitschy souvenir posters relating to them! For those of you who don’t know, we are living in this neighbourhood called Montreal. Around us are streets named after other northernish areas, such as Wellington and Canberra.

4. We are also interested in these detachable rug things called Flor Tiles. If anyone is going to the US, will most appreciate it if can “tompang” and buy a set of these for the coffee table area.

That’s all for now!

…november hack…

Renovations started today.

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen so much sand being hauled into a single apartment.

I was onsite to meet with R our main contractor and saw firsthand how they ripped up our two toilets. Music to my ears it was.

Here’s a picture of my ol so cool hacking and hoisting foreman. His guys rock too!

…in the beginning…

…there was a colourful plan of a bookshelf…

Stayed up till 3 to figure this one out.

Never thought I’d be using graph paper this way ever in my life but here it is.

Colour-coded to reflect the different sizes of the shelving units; orange bits are for paperbacks (Bryson, De Botton), green bits for coffee table books (Alex Webb, Bresson etc), red bits for DVDs and CDs and lastly, light blue bits for photographers with gargantuanly self-indulgent monogaphs. Nachtwey and Hido will go there I think.