Hahaha... Nothing is in purple in the kitchen actually, iphone just can't take good picture... The floor is cement grey, cabinet doors are in crystal white, melanine panels are grey with some linen cloth-like texture, plaster ceiling ofcoz in white, the other side of the wall is full height matte white tiles, lightings are much yellowish and nicer in real life...

I bought the house mainly (70%) for it's centre courtyard and it's not direct facing nor back-looking to anyhouse...i love the view and the feel of open space. However, i'm installing a blind too for privacy sometimes..

Lightings is the magic tool in all Id.. No matter how high-end is the furniture, it won't be much appealing without proper lighting effect... Talking about the led light under the cab, i find it would be quite helpful to light up for a clearer view when measuring water for rice cooking, making milk for kid, making drinks, using coffee machine, extracting juice, etc. For me, i will most probably leave only the led strips to be on at night. So that we can still walk in/out the kitchen to get water, washing hands and to get things from fridge.

About my posting around the clock.... hehe.. that's because I work on flexible hours... and Im an night owl sometimes... Most posting at night coz i prefer to be back home and do posting with my ipad instead of typing till my eyes popping out with hp like now...
If im busy with work task or reno works during daytime, im still reading new posts with phone but not replying till Im free and bck to home..

I already bought some black color wooden barstool. Nothing fancy, coz im avoiding those barstool with chair back or small seat. Im the one who will be using the barstool most for food prep, so definitely not getting those that i have to sit straight and politely....

Wow.. You noticed the cabinet side panels! you've got sharp eyes coz the camera can't capture well actually...
Haha... You also think the power sockets are useful ler? Kekeke~
Yup, we can also charge our phone when we are busy in the kitchen, or even charge our tablets or laptop when we are using them for recipes....

I can't seem to find the setting for such white balance... Bro, any idea? Im using iphone..

This post has been edited by maxxon: Apr 11 2014, 06:01 PM

I also hope I have a million dollar budget for renovation!
I think I'm still able to keep it in my budget of rm300k, including some basic furnitures and electrical appliances.

After learning my lessons thru out the reno, the following are what I can think of....

Do:-
- list out all the items according to 'needs', first of all instead of all the 'wants'.
- set the budget and work it backwards.
- home design and the consideration when buying things should be based on your family daily routine and habits.
- always remind ourselves to renovate for ourselves but not to please the guest. How often do you get guest visit a month? How much is people's 'wow' and compliments value to you? Does it really justify for you to splurge on that certain things?
- pls omit the 'kiasu' mentality, you just can't get everything in premium range and get whatever the salesman tells you that it is the best model, unless you really have millions to spend.
- do research and price comparison. Negotiate.

Don't:-
- Don't ever buy decor stuff until you move in (except souvenir bought in oversea). Why? Renovation takes many months to complete and that haven't include the time spent on research, permit application and filtering of contractors. If you had done your renovation, you gonna agree with me that human being just tend to change their mind too fast!
Another reason, you will sure splurge on something 'not-really-neccesary' at the initial stage as your pocket has yet to dry out. Eg. of my case, I have spent a good few Ks on just some wooden rocking toys....
Now that I think it over, It shall be more value if I use it to buy an irobot...

- Don't always think spending a few hundred over your budget for a thing is alright....if things keep over the budget here and there, those shall later add up to a good few thousands or more.

This post has been edited by maxxon: Apr 13 2014, 11:26 PM

She is nice lady and bubbly..but i personally find zean is better in suggestion and guiding purchase selection.


That's what I did...



Since I'm so lazy to take pics with camera and thru phone is still the most convenient way for me to upload pics here, so you guys pls bear with me and my poor performing hp camera...

Yup, me too like to lepak in the kitchen with my granny and mum. Even my husband like to go kitchen and 'kacau' my mum.. kitchen is definitely a place for family bonding...

- About the 3' clearance, that's the best width I can have, so I've got to live with that....

- Would you want to consider getting a kitchen trolley or the portable island from Ikea? They look quite scandinavian actually.

- There is no laundry basket next to the washer. It's gonna be someting like the pic below from ikea that I will install outside of my master bathroom. Not the entirely as the pic but probably the part at the middle and the right hand side. With this installed outside the bathroom, we can just dump our worn clothes there straight after/before bath. The hanger rode also allows us to hang some clothes which are not ready to wash first especially jeans and clothes that we have worn for just a while. I think you guys also not washing all your clothes straight after each wearing, right? So, where do you guys hang those clothes?





- About the kitchen positioning, i think the oven is not necessary to be placed near the stove.... It just needs a counter top nearby.
However, following are my reasons why don't I place the sink and stove the other way round:
1) The further inside is the stove, the hood ducting gonna be longer to reach the output. As such it really affect the suction of the hood.

2) i just don't feel comfortable for the stove to be so near the tall unit cabinet...moreover, i'm using a gas stove. As of why can't I make the sink nearer to the middle, I just want to keep the stove and sink in further distance due to feng shui consideration. When fire and water is located at the same row, I should better make them further apart. For the sink which sits near to the tall cabinet, I can stick some waterproof kinda sticker or wall panel from ikea to avoid wood damage due to water splashes. I'm considering to buy the waterproof material which I could brush it on to block out water seepage. One lyn forumer is selling that...

3) I'm putting the stove in such away to avoid facing directly with the downstairs room's door and the bathroom's door.
That's pure feng shui reason for such.


- About the granite sink, it's not a big difference in price compared stainless steel sink actually (at least my HCE is not as costly). I just need to top up RM350 to change it from a Cabana double bowl ss sink which comes in the package with Fotile hood and hob. Concrete top with tiles can look nice too, provided if you choose the right color tiles match with the same color grout to minimize visibility of its grouts. I think black tiles is a good choice....

- Basic downlighting is good enough. Simple and nice. Other lighting can always be added when you have your furnitures in. You will sure have lots of inspiration by reading some Id books/magazines, and also by visiting showrooms...

This post has been edited by maxxon: Apr 12 2014, 02:38 AM

Got this parcel courier delivered to door yesterday by Fotile HQ. They are 2 pieces of very nice, thick and heavy stainless steel stock pots which I got from the lucky draw during last year's Homedec. This is an extra lucky draw gift besides other gifts given by Builders Hardware.

Loves these pots!!!

Don't feel like recommending them, they are terribly slow in after sales service and rectifications. They are the same vendor who did my casement windows and sliding doors. However, you may take the price I posted as a reference...

Thanks... Just some common design...

Yup, Toshiba. Mine 700L @RM2500.

Err..i will...but got to be later, coz the 'toys' are still kept in the shop....and it has been kept there for almost a year already...my mum warned me how if the shop 'chap-lap' (close-down)....
Luckily they are still surviving now...

Where do you stay? If PJ SS2 is not too far from you, you may check out Happy Household and Legend which is same row with Murni restaurant. You may check out Weng Hing electrical in Kepong too. Tell them to give nett-nett price and you have many electrical items to buy (even though you just have 2 Items to get)

I got mine 700L@ rm2500 at Happy Household, the sales guy said 650L is about two three hundreds cheaper. If you want, I can PM you their number so that you can call in to check the price too.

One item save rm80, 10 items already rm800 in your pocket!

You may look for Bryan at Happy Household if you pop round there. Nice and patient.

This post has been edited by maxxon: Apr 14 2014, 11:06 AM

I bought most of my alpha fans there from the Happy in puchong... Their fans are cheaper than Top Ten actually (included kdk and panasonic). But do they have other electrical items? I didn't notice that actually....i just saw lots of fans inside...

This post has been edited by maxxon: Apr 14 2014, 11:27 AM

I bought my Mitshubishi air cond from Happy (SS2) too... Compared price from 6 shops in total and found the best deal there. Got few free gifts too. For york aircond, out of the 6 shops (all nearby) that i compared, the cheapest is at the corner shop direct behind ESH (SS2 as well), even cheaper than Legend.

Yup, Alpha fan has longer rod... However, it has no problem with my guest room which im using energy saving downlights. One more thing, as i have 2 bedrooms to be compared side by side, I actually love the ambience from the energy bulb projection more. I find its light projection is more beautiful and softer to the eyes.
Since you are using the same downlights, i agree that you shud get fans with shorter rods. Are the panasonic fans you bought with abs blades?

I heard from the sellers said panasonic with ABS blades is all above rm500...

The LED lights im using is 3000k in color temperature. My energy downlights not sure how many k but just warm white... projected horizontally (to minimise plaster ceiling drop-down) with YET Plus fitting.

I use all from Mitshubishi Electric. I was asking quote for both Mitshubishi and York as I was not decided which brand to buy that time.

For the price I've got, it's already at post#338.

Eerrrrr.... I haven't move in.. but i think Toshiba no problem geh.. In fact, fridge of all brands also seldom give problem...

I only use a few lighting and fittings from YET Plus.

I have actually shared quite some posts much earlier about my lightings already. I've even plotted out a 'polka dots' plan. If you don't feel like reading the whole sharing, you may search the keyword at the page bottom, but you must search it inside my thread so that it only give you search results found within my page.

I suggested you to search previous post but ended up I searched it out for you. It's at post#249 and #250. You may also refer to the polka dots of where do I use LED and where with normal downlights.
You also have a thread, so I thought you may understand my feeling of such as we have put in such effort to post the sharing....