Home Reno - Front Terrace

I'm back :D

Remember when I promised you something on THIS PREVIOUS POST ?
So here's the built-in wall cabinet turned into seating cabinet/ bench..

Not bad, eh?

Looking at the size it's more on the day bed side, but we use it as a bench. 

The cabinet was reinforced with extra wooden structure so it could function well as a seating. The doors painted white and the body varnished.. and I got a 'new' bench which is also a roomy storage for shoes etc.

I didn't put seat cushion for practicality reason, but as you can see in the photo some throw pillows are enough to make the bench looks more inviting.

If you notice the checkered floor tiles, it's actually started from an accident where some of the (then) installed plain white tiles were flawed.. So I made a design decision to alternate the plain white tiles with ornate ones. We (I and hubby) search high and low for the ornate tiles, and finally found these ornate blue-white tiles that I think are perfect! :) 

Home Reno - Green Design

Reduce, reuse, recycle. 

Sometimes it's easier said than done. 

In my home reno, while I planned to reuse existing materials, I was sometimes tempted to use new ones instead because of some reasons, one of them is the fact that upcycling old materials sometimes cost the same (or even more) than buying new ones.

Like my carport flooring which use broken pieces of my old floor tiles.. It costs just a bit less if compares with using new tiles (but looking at the unique result, I don't regret my decision).

The same thing goes to my single seater sofas. I got them from my parents and it's been a while since the last reupholstering and they look outdated, so this time I brought two of them to Jakarta Vintage to be refurbished using my Ikea fabric. It costs almost the same like buying new ones, but the stunning result and the idea of keeping a bit of family history is priceless :)

That's being said, I must also share the old stuff that are being reused and/or upcycled which cost only fraction of the cost if using new materials..

I reuse almost all of the existing doors and frames at the 1st floor. A fresh coat of paint was all the trick needed.

These wooden beams were salvaged from my old roof. 

The step stones by the old fish pond are also reused, now they sit prettily in my front garden. 

Reupholstering is the easy and affordable way to spruce up chairs and sofas.. well,  depends on the fabric you choose ofcourse :D I bought this sofa at Ikea when we're still living in Spore. Over the years finally the fabric's torn, thus reupholstery to the rescue :) (I got it reupholstered at Helloilmare)

More hand-me-down furnitures from my parents.. a big divider cabinet and an audio shelves.

We had the cabinet painted in white with new antique handles installed.

And then drawers were added to the audio shelves. We had the previous finishing stripped off, so now it's in a raw condition, perfect for future DIY project.

And finally, the kitchen set :) with new island counter, granite counter top and backsplash installed, also freshly painted old cabinets with new handles, the kitchen now looks completely new! Though it costs quite some for me, but we managed to save by using existing cabinets, fridge, stove and hood.

One more upcycled furniture I designed is built-in wall cabinet turned into seating cabinet/ bench. I'll post the picture next time.. Be patient, stay curious ;)

Home Reno: Kids Room

The only room that's pretty much done is my twin boys' bedroom. 

I designed the room to be a loft bedroom, while the boys take part in choosing the wall paint color and the flooring. We also discussed the room layout together :) 

We didn't purchase any new furniture for this room. The only thing that's 'new' is an old rocking chair made of teak wood, which we got from granny in Jepara.

Home Reno - Week 27

No, our home reno is not finished.

The master bathroom is not done yet, but since the reno is long overdue, we decided to move in!

Yes. No kidding.

Since the house is still in mess, here's a glimpse of my bedroom only.

Not bad, eh? 

Yeah the truth is, the other half of my bed  is cluttered with unorganized clothings and other random stuff :p 

Home Reno - Week 23

Lighting galore!

The lamps are mostly installed, yet the contractor haven't provide the light bulbs for the standard downlight *sigh*. The following are lamps designed and provided by me.. Except for the Ikea lamp ofcourse. 

These birdcage lamps are literally made from regular birdcages and light bulbs. The stripey shadow from the cages looks nice, don't you think?

We bought this string spotlight on sale at Ikea a long time ago, while we're still living in Singapore. I love how the light hit the wall surface.. It's a faux concrete wall, btw.

This group of bare light bulbs suspended on black cables is so simple and honest, and that's why it looks nice. The exposed brick wall complements the lamps, together they give strong visual of industrial vibe.

While I'm pleased with the lighting, there are other problems that give me a bad headache.. An aluminum door that's wrongly executed and turned up as a window (doh!), flawed floor tile that has been changed many times and finally fixed but only to be flawed again by the kitchen contractor (double doh!) and many other things that haven't finished while it should have :(

Home Reno - Week 22

Have I told you that my hubby is obsessed of having a Gebyok door for our house's main entrance?

Long story short, the Gebyok door has been installed. What surprises me is the full intricate carving on it, a far cry from my original drawing that has much less carving.

It does look great.. Grand! There goes my concept of having a simple understated facade.

Well, what hubby wants, hubby gets. 

Here's some pictures of the Gebyok.

Home Reno - Week 21

Good morning ;)

The almost finished facade. But I can't say the same for the interior.

Patience.. Inner peace.. 

Home Reno - Week 20

A small part of the facade. The windows haven't been installed yet, but it looks awesome from this angle, don't you think ;)

A glimpse of my dark-metallic bedroom floor. 

Railing on 2nd floor, still not painted yet. Love the industrial look of the faux concrete wall panel and the steel slings.

Last but not least, the unfinished stairs :) 

That's pretty much it.. The rest is still a mess :p 

Home Reno - Week 18

Slow (yet steady, hopefully) progress.

Wishlist - Au Naturel

The following are some things that are on my wishlist right now. Actually it's a pretty long list, but I thought I'd share just a glimpse to save you from boredom.

The items here are random, but you might notice that they are somewhat have a thing in common. Natural. Raw. Rustic.

 Image source: http://www.missionstonetile.com/

I was torn between having a glossy light colored floor or a dark rustic one. Since my house is quite small and I'd like to make it look more spacious by maximizing light colored surface, I compromised by having the dark floor only in small areas. As for the bronze metallic tile like in the above picture, I was lucky to find similar tile at the nearest Mitra 10 store.. Yay! Those tiles will be covering the master bedroom floor, for the intimate rustic-glam look I'm after.

 Image source: http://www.zalora.co.id/

I'm not in the pink of health these last few weeks, so it's only normal if I took more time (trying) to rest and relax. I hope this detoxifying natural clay mask will help me in doing so. Instant spa, just a click away ;)

 Image source: http://bagatellebali.com/

My Pinterest is full of furniture references that are made of natural reclaimed materials and has raw-industrial feel to it, but they are all made abroad, far from Indonesia where I reside. So I was overjoyed to find the above coffee table is available in Bali! But then I'm thinking about the shipping fee and have a 2nd thought.. hopefully I could find something similar here in Jakarta.

 Image source: http://rusticahardware.com/

I'm picturing this rustic sliding door as the master bathroom door. Hopefully the contractor could find all the right materials and make it come true.

There you go, my wishlist :) 
So what's yours?

Home Reno - Week 16

It's starting to take shape ^_^

Home Reno - Week 12

We found out that we have to change almost all of the old utility piping. That means extra time and money, and we certainly couldn't keep the existing ground floor's tile.

Although at first I wanted bare concrete floor (which now seems like a good excuse to make one), but we finally decided to use new floor tiling. We chose granite tile in broken white color to match the tiles on upper floor. 

We also planned to cover the carport flooring with reclaimed broken tiles from the ground floor. 

Enough about the flooring, because actually the work now is still around finishing the wall. We decided to strip down all the existing wall to its bone and start the finishing from scratch.

The good thing is that I will get the raw finished wall that I wanted :D Although most of the walls will be painted in white, but there'll be some accent raw finished walls. Yes I'm talking about exposed concrete and brick.. yet not as rustic as the above picture ;)

Home Reno - Week 8

It's up! ^^

Yet still a long way to go..

Home Reno - Week 4

Structure work ongoing.. we've started doing the 2nd floor. It rains almost everyday, but the show must go on :D

Home Reno - Week 2

There's not much to show, so I won't share any photos from the construction site. We're still in the early stage of construction with all the concrete beams and columns to make.

Initially I wanted to preserve the old building as much as we could, especially the floor tiles. But seeing the work progress where many existing tiles are broken here and there, I know it's almost impossible to do so. Yes it's quite frustrating at first, yet it gave me new ideas on the finishing. You see, I'm always drawn into sleek white interior because I see it as a versatile blank canvas. But I also love raw finishes such as concrete floor and brick wall, which add depth and texture.

So I'm thinking, wouldn't it be nice if we could opt for bare concrete floor instead of the previous glossy ceramic tiles (which now are nowhere near glossy anymore). Oh and bare concrete ceiling too :D Going raw like that, it certainly would save us the finishing budget. And like I said, the combination of finished and raw surfaces will add more depth and dimensions to the space.

And it just so happens, I saw these beautiful rooms. I could just see them in my house :)

pictures from apartmenttherapy.com

But the thing is, my hubby is not very keen of the raw finishing idea, with his own reasons. So now we're still looking for the perfect solution (read: I will make him agree).
=))

home reno

This is what my house looks like right now..

Yes, it's a major renovation, finally! It's something that we wanted to do since forever :)
Meanwhile, we're moving to a rented house next door until our house is finished, hopefully in 7 months or so.
Wish me luck with this one! ^^