First of all, the hse doesn't belongs to me yet, it belongs to the bank to be exact.
Used to work in some MNCs and worked in oversea before. Hubby and I are running some small biz right now.
For the renovation, it's our hard savings thru out many years (sounds like someone's wifey but I'm not as easy as her  )
I'm already in my thirties btw. Nothing comes easy, and so does our journey. However, I think I'm just a tiny little kacang compared others. Just like you, I'm also curious how does others make their money and afford those luxury semi-D, bangalow and luxury cars. I really dreamt about it...tell you this and pls don't laugh at me, I'm just drving a 7 years old Myvi. 

I've bought some basic lightings lately and here's the sharing:-

I went to the offfice of a forumer (zealless) in Puchong and got some led lightings from him.
- 11W 4" LED downlights, 850 lumen @RM75ea. Bought all in colour temp 3000k accept for one which is day light 6500k for the area near dressing table. They come with 2 years warranty.

I prefer downlight in round shape instead of square because I think round lights generate better ambience...


- 6W eyeball LED spotlights, 450 lumen @RM35ea, pairing with Osram transformer @RM10 ea. However I did't get their fittings as I prefer the matt white ring instead of the glossy white ring that they offered. I thought it supposed to be in standard size to fit into all other fittings selling in the lighting shops but it seems not as I could't get a matching ones after searching high and low from a few lighting shops. Thier bulbs are obviously 1-2mm larger and coudn't be secured by the normal ring. I've rang them up and they promised to source a matching one for me by tomorrow, otherwise I would need to buy theirs...

I'm going to use those eyeballs to light up some areas like feature walls, the whole master bedroom (for the cosy ambience) and the back of my kitchen. I've learnt that there are 2 different lighting degrees for eyeball meant for different usage. 24 deg are for light effects on wall whereas 36 deg are for general lighting.


- LED Track light to be installed at my entrance foyer for the flexibility of its lighting positions and I can just add in lighting unit anytime in future without the hassle of re-wiring.
11W LED track light giving 650 lumen @RM95ea, and 2 meter track @RM38ea.

I also went to Classic Hi Light in Bandar Sri Damansara to get some other general lightings. I've actually paid a RM300 during an exhibition fair in last July to lock the promotional price as they claimed that they are the major distributor of YET Plus lightings. However, very soon after that I found the price that I paid for the YET plus PLC downlight fittings are actually more expensive by RM5.30ea compared to CIMA Lightings. (I'm comparing the same brand, same model here)... So, i've actually overpaid a total of RM58.30 for 11 sets here, with the so called exhibition promotional price!   

Following are things I bought in Classic Hi Light:

- 2 units of 20W sensor outdoor LED spotlights @RM150ea.
Going to put one unit each at front porch and back yard.


- 20W YET Plus Outdoor spotlight, warm white, 1840 lumen, @RM98. This is for my court yard.


- 6" YET Plus round horizontal down lights with 1 pc Sylvania 20W E27 bulb, @RM28/set.
For the comparison apple to apple, CIMA Lighting is selling the same fittings @RM15.70, and Avalon selling the Sylvania bulb @RM7ea. It totals up to RM22.70/set.

I'm using this normal PLC E27 d/lights in all the bathrooms and in the spare room.

- Econlite LED recessed emergency light @RM150ea.
This is a local brand with sirim endorsement. I'm gonna put it at the first floor's ceiling near the staircase.



- Bought an Alpha 56" ceiling fan with incorporated emergency light in the middle @RM360. This is so that we won't get kelam-kabut when blackouts happens.

- A Taiwanese made ceiling type motion sensor @RM100. That is to be installed to control the down light at the entrance, so that it will auto lights up once we open the main door and step in.


- Lastly, I bought some YET Plus T5, 4' @RM15/set; 2' @RM12/set.
After Classic Hi Light, I went to CIMA Lighting on the same day and bought some Yet Plus 3W (276lumen) LED eyeball for testing.  CIMA is having sales now and I saw some Oxyone led d/lights are selling cheap...

There comes the installation of my 5'x7' security door. It is from Top Security which their doors are locally made in Klang. I chose this type of full panel doors over the one with a sub-panel because it is better break-in-ressistance compared the latter.

Although it's named as 'security door', but nothing is 100%, even the seller would tell you the same.
However, we are just adding more barrier features to make it harder for the intruders. Thus, our home security is basically a combination of various features.

Normally people do not install grill when they have the security door as it is already a metal which is harder to cut. Further more, it has more lock sets to secure the main lock and also the upper and bottom locks.
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The door is moulded so that the lock set is hidden from outside of the door. As such, it is not expose where people couldn't reach the lock set with metal ruler or cutter.

Actually, I'm kinda curious how did you guys tell your contractor on what colour to paint on which wall?
To avoid mistakes and confusion, I've sent my contractor the following few pics, plotted out which part and which colour that I want (based on nippon paint colours brochure) . My contractor said he was amazed to see so many polka dots when he opened up the files....guess I'm the first ever client of his doing this...     









The first layer of paint was done and I'm kinda satisfied with the chosen colours accept the living room and family hall which has been painted in 'hush white'. The 'hush white' colour is too yellowish/creamy to my liking. It makes the room looks smaller and the walls were looked like those already painted for more than 10 years...
I failed to convince myself accepting the colours so I have to tell the contractor to re-paint it to another brighter colour (orchid white). I think I better change it now since it is just painted the 1st layer, rather than regretting for many years to come living in it...