renovation - lights, paint and kitchen

So, here are some photographs from the last couple of days. Things are moving, but obviously not as quickly as I would like. So many little details are still in need of being sorted out, and I dont know why things are just not being done. Some days, neither Mr. Soo or Mr. Eng Hoe are on the site, and it just sits there! Sigh.

THIS is the primary lesson of any renovation - PATIENCE. Learning how to breathe through it, ask the right questions, insist on work being done. Slowly, I am trying to learn!

All that said, there are quite a few things that have been done.

• The painting of the flat is almost complete. It looks gorgeous, and the second coat has really solidified the colour choice, and made it feel very polished.
• The lights have been hung. This is very exciting for me, because I sourced them from so many places! I really like the look of them!
• The kitchen cabinets have been about half installed. The kitchen stove, etc still need to be installed within the cabinets though, and I need to get a kitchen faucet.
  

But many more things need to be done (and we have four working days!). These include:

• Skirting board. Without this, most of the built ins cant come in. Mr. Eng Hoe said that its coming on Tuesday. (Mon being a public holiday).
• Builtin bookshelves, in living room, and wardrobes in bedroom. Mr. Soo is waiting on the skirting board!
  
• Deal with the wooden window at balcony. :(
• Bathroom needs to be installed... everything from shower head to toilet. I dont know why this has taken so long.
  
• Kitchen needs to be finished.
• One more coat on the floor.
• Airconditioners, fan, two more lights, and light switches and plugs need to be added.
  

I doubt that it will happen by end of week this week. We shall see. If anyone is reading this, hold thumbs (as the SAfricans say!) for me :)

So here are a few pics from the last couple days that will show you some of the movement that has happened:

All the lights lined up and ready to install. I had new lights for the living room (4), bedroom (2), hallway (1), entrance (1), kitchen (1), bathroom (1), washing room (1) and outdoor area (1). Plus a new / vintage fan that Mr. Soo is sorting out.

Kitchen light installed.



Final coat of paint in the kitchen. We used the Light and Space, and it works REALLY well. Beautiful!

Kitchen, shot from the airwell. Cabinets are almost all in - and ask you can see, they are made specifically for this kitchen. The electric cabinet, the bookshelf (above), and the podium for the stove.

More cabinets, and the fridge. There will be a small slide in cabinet next to the fridge may be.

Mr. Eng Hoe taking a break in the living room.

Mr. Eng Hoe asking me how low I want the living room lamps to hang. I got these special lamps from Gudang - gorgeous (if very expensive) shop. Went during their Christmas sale, and adored these lights! The wood is very delicate, and single pieces are bent in a very soft and sensual shape.

Living room lights hung! And the space has had its second coat of paint.


Mr. Eng Hoe trying to figure out the damned window at the balcony.


All the appliances sitting in the living room waiting for installation.

My VERY funky bedroom light (chosen by Chyspilla - thank you darling) - a kind of 1960'd/70's wood chandelier. Got it at KDK lighting in Puchong - ask for Melissa!

The light in the bathroom. Also from KDK in Puchong. Basic, but slightly modernistic in its contours. And waterproof! When Melissa at KDK was selling me these lights, she kept saying that they were very popular because they were "See - fon" lights. Reminded everyone of a "see - fon" cake. I couldnt figure out what she was talking about! Ten minutes later, it dawned on me that she was saying chiffon!!! Heh.

The bathroom with its second coat of paint. Really beautiful now.

renovation - the last push?

Well, its late. I got back from Mamma Mia! tonight (it was fab fun -- though the woman playing Donna looked like she was sleepwalking through the performance). I fell asleep on the couch - and woke up with a warm fur Kai collar ... very manja and happy.

Im exhausted. Partly because we had Christmas for 30 people here and partly because the renovation has hit that moment where everything just needs to be DONE... and its going slow. Its like the final hump, and you just have to push on through it. Everyone seems to be waiting for everyone else, and not much gets done in a timely manner.

The kitchen was installed today. Hopefully will go check it out tomorrow. It was supposed to be done on Tuesday, but Mr. Soo was late getting to the house, and then it was supposed to be done on Wednesday, but when I got to the flat, I found nothing had been installed.

Basically Mr. Soo measured the wall space at the outer edges - without measuring the inner edges. When he went to install the built in cabinets, he found there was a difference of between 1 - 2 inches. Sigh.

In came the sanding machines, etc. And a ton of noise on Christmas eve! What an incredibly frustrating process! Mr. Soo always seems to take at least twice (if not thrice) as long as he says he will. The thing is though, because he is such an artist, the actual end result is phenomenal. So its worth the wait, but it is stressful.

My upstairs neighbour is only adds to the stress - he called and abused me over the phone the other week. Yelled at me because it was taking too long and it was too loud! I wish upon him the responsibility for a renovation and a neighbour who is ten times as obnoxious as he is. Its called karma baby.

Anyway, the cool thing about all the built ins is that they are going to be hung on the walls. What this means is that when/if I ever leave or sell the flat, I can just take all the built ins with me. Very nice.

The other thing with the renovation that is stressing me out is the window that I put in on my balcony. When I first put in the application, it was with wooden shutters and frame. I was told I couldnt have the shutters - the outside of the condo needs to look uniform. What I wasnt told was that the frame itself couldnt be wooden either! So when it was installed, big drama. I now need to figure out if I can put aluminium siding on the outside, and keep the wooden windown inside, or if I have to take it all out and put in an aluminium window. Ugh.

The renovation is supposed to be done by the end of this coming week. Fat chance, lah. I think it will probably take another 2 weeks, for a total of about 3 months. It was supposed to take 2, so I guess its not THAT huge a change, but to be honest, I am getting sick of living in a high rise. I dont like not having windows open. I hate the fact that I am constantly breathing indoor air - and my sayangs are pining for some natural light, and some real plants.

Will take photos tomorrow and post.

renovation - the floor - almost done

Isnt it beautiful?! This is the teakwood floor - and its almost done! Everything is ready for the fixtures to be moved in -- Mr. Soo will do a final protective layer once everything else is in and sorted out.

Its gorgeous. Its deeper and darker then it looked when they were sanding it - it has an incredible texture, and pattern. It still feels like silk. Mr. Soo is so happy that when he and I met on Thursday to see the floor, he was jumping up and down like a youngster! And he should be proud. It took a while, but he did a phenomenal job.

As Mr. Soo said, new teakwood just doesnt have this kind of character. I LOVE my floor! A totally successful part of the renovation.



The view from the front door. I am also replacing the plywood front door with a solid teak wood door from Mr. Soo.


You can see the colours of the floor - this is the living room and the balcony.


View towards the balcony.


The bedroom.


Lighting fixtures and paint all waiting to be applied and put up - all next week!


My airwell and kitchen are feeling very sorry for themselves - they havent had any attention paid to them - all the focus has been on the floor, and the walls. Nevermind, next week, Mr. Soo and his crew are bringing in the new built in cabinets for the kitchen, and Mr. Eng Hoe and his crew are going to start hanging the lights and finishing the other fixtures, including the bathroom. Ooooh I am sooooooooo excited!

renovation - the floor - grinding and sanding

So this teakwood floor of mine is one HUGE process. Again, went in blissfully unaware of the actual step by step process, and thank the good goddess for that one! Obviously, it would have been much quicker, cleaner, faster and easier to get a new floor -- but that would have been defeating the purpose of this exercise. I am lucky enough to have the time and money, and supportive friends, to be able to wait. I was able to let the artisans do their jobs, and really prime the floor for living.

After it was installed properly, Mr. Eng Hoe and his guys ground it (to even it out and take off the layer of lacquer) and then Mr. Soo and HIS crew came in and did their thing.

Basically, they started off by hand-sanding the entire floor. I cant tell you what a difference this makes - it feels like silk underfoot. Really soft (which is strange for wood!). Its lemak. Delicious.

Of course, Mr. Soo and his guys were supposed to take 2 days to do the floor. It ended up taking a week. Lesson: patience is a virtue ;)

However, I believe the wait was worth it. The floor is the basis of this home - it holds everything. It needed to be solid and strong. And it really is.


This is the floor after the hand sanding. View from the living room towards the balcony. The floor is light, but so full of texture.



I like this photo -- it shows the amount of dust that the sanding created. But Mr. Soo is a true artist - he really cares about what he does, and it shows.


The view of the floor from the balcony. You can see the machine for sucking up all the dust.


Mr. Soo is justifiably proud!


Mr. Soo showing me what the colour of the floor will be once it is fully coated

renovation - video - halfway through

This is a very amateur video of the flat about halfway through the renovation! I basically walk you through the apartment, and show you the various bits and pieces that have been done. The floor has been laid down, but not ground or treated. We are about halfway through! Yay!

renovation - teak wood floor

So finally, we were ready for the teak wood floor to be put in! How exciting! I couldnt wait for this part, because it meant that after this, all the rest of the renovation would be putting in the fixtures and fittings…

I was suprised, again, at the number of stages it took to get the floor right. First we had to treat the underflooring with termite solution. Then the floor was laid down. They thought it would take two days to do this job, but it only took one! The photos below are of the floor as it has been laid down. Then the floor had to be ground. (Who knew?!). This grinding process was in order to ensure that the floor is completely even, and able to be treated well. Mr. Soo then took over and treated the floor. Originally, we were going to use beeswax. But Mr. Soo decided that beeswax wouldnt be long lasting enough. Given my abhorance of solvents and stuff, he is going to use a water based treatment that will use tung oil and linseed.

Here are the photos of the floor as it was laid down:

Entrance hallway - isnt it lush?

The living room - with the wooden windows in - gorgeous in the late afternoon sunlight. The balcony extends the living room but is its own space.

Bedroom, with the floor put in. I love how it glows in the light.

Close up of the floor. Obviously, it still needs grinding and treatment.

renovation - prep

I never knew that there were so many stages in a renovation. In many ways, I am glad I was so relaxed about it going in, otherwise I would have just freaked out. I am also so glad for Mr. Eng Hoe, my contractor, who was easy going, kept his word, was pretty much right on time (most of the time!) and was able to adjust to changes in the space.

This is what I call the “prep” part of the process. The underfloor was put in (concrete) and the teak wood was moved into the house. The walls were given their basic painting, and the final placing of the electric plug points was decided. The house started looking neater, though still a construction site! They also laid the floor to the bathroom (my gorgeous pebbles!) and put in the glass bricks. Also, they started the cement wash on the walls of the bathroom. I have to say the glass bricks were not my first choice (I would have preferred plain glass without any ripples) but I can live with them. Here’s another lesson from renovation: you cant have everything you want!

Here are the photos from the preparation phase:

The cement floor, and the entrance hallway. So smooth compared the the hacked up phase!


The hallway - note the paint on the walls. This is the Natural Paint.

This is a view to the balcony. The wooden window has not been put in yet. Note the teak on the right hand side!

This is the reclaimed teakwood from Ipoh! Gorgeous, eh?

This is the bedroom, with the feature wall (the porno pics walls) painted in a Moroccan blue. I adore this colour!

This is the entrance to the bathroom. Note the doorframe painted white. The glass bricks are okay, but not my first choice (would have preferred clear plain glass). I love the pebble floor, and the cement paint walls.

Close up of the bathroom floor. I love it I love it I love it!

The first layer of the cement paint - another dusty blue. One more layer will go on later. I love it :)

The floor was treated with an anti-termite solution (I didnt like the idea of chemicals, but it was necessary in the tropics), and the wood floor was then put down! Next post will show the floors after grinding and Mr. Soo's coverage.

renovation - sourcing and destruction

So I sourced a lot of my own stuff for this renovation. I bought a Garmin GPS navigation tool. This was invaluable, because it allowed me to go to places I had never ever been before, and find my way home! Without my Garmin, I dont think I would have braved the traffic congestion to source out things from all over the Klang valley. I am so glad I made this investment because it really helped me widen my scope of buying, and helped me to see parts of my city I had never seen before!

First of all, about three months before the renovation started, I joined Shopping and Sales email list. This was really easy to do, and I got an email notification of sales every day in my email, as they happened. This made it really easy to purchase all my major appliances at about 60% below market value -- as long as I was willing to go to warehouse sales in the back of beyond (hence the Garmin!). I purchased a new oven, hob, extractor fan, washer, dryer, airconditioners (2), kitchen mixer, and all my bathroom fittings (rainshower, sink, toilet, taps, bidet tap) from sales - and at huge discounts. I scoped out the stores first so I knew the going rates, and thus knew when I was getting a good deal. Scoping out the stores first also meant that I knew what I wanted because I had seen it at the retail stores first. Very pleased about that.

I also decided I needed to re-upholster my amazing sofa that Aunty S gave me (its actually also a fold out sleeper bed) and my comfy but tacky arm chair that had been in the flat since day 1. I looked around at various textile places, and was not impressed. Upholstery textiles start at about RM100 (USD30) per metre and just go up! I went into Janine, which is owned by a friend of mine, but the staff were kind of snooty. They showed me stuff that started at around RM500 and that was their low end! Sigh.

I did a lot of research about textiles, and found something called "peace silk" or "Ahimsa silk." Basically, this is a silk that is manufactured in India, ascribing to the philosophy of Ahimsa - or harm no one. When you wear or use regular silk, 1,500 silk worms get boiled alive per metre of silk! I know, theyre just worms, but they are sentient beings. For me, as a vegetarian, this was very very disturbing. Peace silk is created completely differently. The silk cocoons are collected by hand after the silk worm has become a moth and flown away. Thus, no one dies in the process! I found a great American company online that sold this silk and had great descriptions, but their prices were high given the conversion options. So I decided to use Alibaba -- the business directory -- to see if I coudl find a manufacturer in India, and write to them directly. It worked!

I found the Vanilla Silk Company, and I emailed them. Ravin answered, and was incredibly professional, full of information, and helpful. I ordered 22 metres of the most gorgeous slubby, thick, hand woven, raw peace silk called Dark Tussah / Dervish Cloth. Check it out . Its hand dyed with natural dyes like bark and leaves so each piece is unique. This meant that they had to create my very own roll so that all the upholstry would look the same - which they did, and posted the resultant cloth to me directly. AMAZING!!!

The silk uphosltery that will go on my sofa.

I was really pleased with the process, and it made me commit to trying to make my house as eco-friendly as possible, using as much that I could source locally, and with as little environmental impact as possible.

So I then moved on to my floor. I wanted teak, but there are so many issues around harvesting of hardwoods, especially living here in Malaysia. Mr. Soo, who is phenomenal (any one who wants to connect with him, just send a message here), had a friend who was taking down three old shop-houses in Ipoh (in the state of Perak, where my dad comes from). He was taking up the flooring, and Mr. Soo asked me if I wanted it. He gave it to me for a very very good price -- about 20% of what I would get it for on the market! Plus, its a recycled floor. Just looking at it, one can see the history in the wood. I am very glad that I didnt go the "new" route.

And then it was on to my paints! I did a HUGE amount of research about paint. The major issue is that there are horrible VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) in paint that make it smell, and off-gas for years to come. This can cause people to have "sick house" syndrome, where their home actually makes them ill! Even if you cant smell it, your house is probably busy off-gassing! Heh. Also, a lot of paints in Malaysia used lead, which is deadly. I wanted a natural paint, in organic colours. I searched high and low, and couldnt find anything. There were a few paints that were LOW in VOC's, but nothing that was really natural. I found a couple places online that you could order paint powder that was made of milk, and other natural additives, but I was concerned that they would have to be shipped from America or the UK. Plus, they hadnt really been tested on our humid conditions.

I thought I might go with the Nippon Odourless All in One, which seemed okay, but wasnt really natural. Still had a lot of petrochemicals in the paint, and other stuff to cover up the smell. I still thought this might mean the paint would off-gas in the aftermath of the renovation. I did like the Nippon range though - nice colours! I also liked the Dulux ICI Light & Space range -- this is a low VOC paint that has been specially formulated to lighten dark areas in the home, and to make rooms seem bigger. I decided to use it in the kitchen if neccessary.

However, I finally found the company I had been looking for while perusing a local interior decoration magazine - Murobond Paints! I went to see them in Sunway -- and after a bit of a rocky start (they said they didnt have what I was looking for, when they actually did!), I found my paint nirvana. It was strange that process. I called up, I went to visit, and I was told they didnt have any Natural Paints. When I complained (to the manager), she reiterated that they didnt have any Natural Paint. I went to leave, and then decided to go back for one more try. I told her how disappointed I was, and she then said, well, actually they DID have Natural Paints (!!!!!) just not all colours or shades, and would this be okay. Of course! Once that strange wobble was over with, the customer service could not have been better -- very responsive, intelligent, helpful, and engaged. I was impressed after the first difficulty.

Renovation lesson: ALWAYS try again, because you never ever know why people are telling you No. Just try and be both polite and forceful at the same time!

I ordered several kinds of paint from them, but the major purchase was the Natural Paint (along with the natural undercoat).

Here is the ingredient list for the Natural Paint: Fresh milk, casein, egg white, vinegar, calcium carbonate, titanium dioxide, talc, marble powder, borax, linseed oil, methylcellulose, glycerine, sodium silicate, alum, essential oils (thyme, pine-tree, mint).

Cool, eh? And it was available in some gorgeous shades of white. I chose Raw Earth. I also got the Cement Paint for my bathroom walls. I wanted the bathroom to feel very organic -- and I decided against using tiling on the walls. I wanted a more faded, funky feel, and Murobond is the only company in Malaysia to carry Cement Paint. I painted the walls of the bathroom a dusky blue - this will have a faded patina and only get better with age. I really loved this!

Here are the various colour choices I made for the flat in terms of paint:

I tried to choose a soothing and organic colour palette. I love blue, and feel its a good accent with the warmth of the wood that will be in the floor and fixtures.

I was also really happy to get some good suggestions for things that would add to the overall feel of the house.

D, my lawyer, who is a major house renovator in his spare time, said I should get an Austin Air Filter. This is a HEPA rated air filter, and from their website, and also independent comparison sites, seems to be the most effective air filter out there. Luckily, they also have a local supplier.

S suggested that I get an Acoustic Revive RR-77. This is an amazing product. Its made in Japan, and was developed as a techno-gadget to enhance listening and recording experiences for high end phonophiles. Its basically a little box which generates a pulse called the Schumman Resonance - which is the hum of the earth. Here is a good explanation of it. This hum affects all living things (from plants to animals) and is absolutely critical for our well being and health. The Acoustic Revive creates this electromagnetic pulse, and was originally developed to make recordings sound better on high end systems. However, users found it affected them at a much deeper and more powerful level -- affecting sleep patterns, emotional well being, illness (from asthma to migraines to Lupus). Its pretty powerful -- its like the original OMMM. I was glad to find a distributor in Singapore, and have already installed in in my temporary space. The sayangs love it!

While all the sourcing was going on, Mr Eng Hoe and his crew were busy in the destruction phase.I was stunned when I saw the house. They had pulled out all the built ins, they had hacked up the floor, taken out the sliding glass door, and basically dismembered the bathroom. It was quite a traumatic sight! I couldnt believe this was my flat ... I didnt recognise it. I also was astounded at how small it seemed - I cant believe I actually fit so much junk inside it!

This is the entrance hallway. I was so happy to see the end of those ugly blue tiles!!!

Where did my living room go?!?

I also rewired the flat and moved plug points to areas which were more logical for me. It was something I wanted to do for ages, and is such a simple change, but affects every day working and living! Note also the heavy brown paint around the door frames and the staining on the walls from where the paintings used to be. So ugly.

My kitchen and airwell look kind of sad without the beautiful plants.

My bedroom also disappeared! Heh. :)

This was when I really started to get excited...

renovation - moving

I had to take everything I owned out of my flat because there was no way I could do such extensive renovations and still live there. Its just way too small! It took me a while to come to an acceptance that I had to move my stuff out. I got rid of some stuff as I moved, and once I moved, I went through everything, gave stuff away, and also had a massive garage sale which made me over RM2,500! Not bad at all.

I decided to go the sane way, and hire a moving company. THANK GOODNESS for my friends, because Pling gave me a wonderful contact. They moved my stuff over two days, and did an extraordinary job. Nothing was damaged in the move. I was most impressed. I also hired Mr. Ben to come the day before and remove all my pictures. I had something like 57 pieces up on the walls, and a total of about 70 pictures, including those that I had not put up. Sigh.

Here are photos of from moving day:

We filled three of these trucks, with stuff mainly. A lot of my furniture had actually been given away, so it was mainly books, clothes, and STUFF. I was amazed, and ashamed, at how much there was. It made me rethink my spending habbits, my consumption, and try to understand why I needed so much stuff surrounding me -- to make me feel safe? to fulfill me? Whatever, slowly but surely, hopefully, I am working through these issues.

Very patient moving guys. They worked sooo hard. It was a team of six guys, and it still took them 2 days to complete!

My house looked very empty when all my stuff was out. The other noteable thing was how incredibly stained the walls were! You could see the marks where the pictures had been. Yuck.

The entrance hallway sans pictures on walls

The living room, without anything in it but the couch and easy chair. Man I hate that floor!


Ahhh, I did take a photo of the ugly built in cupboard in the bedroom! Its still reaaaally ugly.


Empty bedroom, save the surfboards, which have now gone as well :)


My last view of my un-lamented bathroom. Note the ugly windows..