We all know wall painting is the most cost effective design tool to achieve a nicely done home.

Everybody can be his own "artist" to paint our house DIY, there are a lots of ideas and examples on the net we can learn.

Instead of painting all walls in a room with single colour or painting at one selected wall in favourite colour yet keep all other walls in white, we can actually do some simple geometry painting techniques like the picture below:



This is a simple job done without broken our pockets

This post has been edited by ehwee: Jun 2 2020, 07:10 PM

This is a technical question rather than Interior design question, so I might not able give you a good answer.

If you want to DIY better ask for carpentry workshop suggestions.

Nippon paint Hydro wood satin have many darker color options that can darken the wood yet retain the wood natural grains.

In fact, solid wood will get darker by its own gradually as the time goes by, so I suggest may be you can consider looking for a clear water base varnish instead.

You might also get one from Ikea, BEHANDLA
Beeswax clear varnish.

If there are any carpenter reading this thread, why not share your expertise advices to us, thanks in advance.

Sorry chuanhong, I am aware of your post will find my time to think about it and give you some suggestions.

Pls bear some time with me, I am a bit tied up these few days for design works.

I found the most concerned area for better space planning and full use of available space is the corner where you place your altar cabinet.

Here are my 2 suggestions for you. Instead of having a new brick wall which will cause some awkward and not fully used space behind the wall, you can just do a full height cabinet that can double up as separated wall.



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Yes, you can use cool white for all 3 areas, it is a personal preference.

some of my clients insisted to have day light for all areas because they prefer brighter lighting environment
for kids study and household activities.

If you(1)living area- cool light with some warm white spot light on wall surface
(2)bedroom - warm light with some cool white wall or table lamps
(3)toilet - cool white

Yes, I would say option 3 track light is a better choice, can use 2-3 nos of adjustable track lights to light up different spots.



This post has been edited by ehwee: Jun 11 2020, 01:25 PM

should be ok, suggest go for cool white instead of warm white colour that is brighter and suitable for kitchen.

You can consider having spot light under the top hang cabinet also to light up the kitchen work top.

First of all, I think if you wish to have an option to open up the small room occasionally for large gathering, I will suggest you consider hacking partially upper part of the wall between the living and the small room. As the solid wall has block the visual connection between the 2 areas.



Then do a new sliding or fix glass window above 1 meter, this will help to indirectly merge the 2 areas into one so people on both sides can see other others.

As for folding door you can opt for 2 folding glass doors on each sides as shown below:

It shouldn't be a problem to open a window hole on existing brick wall as long as you didn't touch the columns and beams.

Unless it is a load bearing wall that you can find out from the building management.

A quick tips for easy and low cost home design threats, for only around RM 80 for 50sqft get an chalkboard paint and start input some refreshing touches into our home space!

Here are simple chalkboard DIY ideas to put a memorial mark in our home while expecting the lockdown to be lifted in near coming days.

Tips One
chalkboard painting 3 feet wide on one of the wall in the living room. Do some doodling while feeling bored, it makes an conversation starter among family members too!



Tips Two
buying a chalkboard wall sticker and paste it on the bathroom door or somewhere in kitchen for casual fun kid drawings and daily household notices.



Tips Three
buying a chalkboard panel at online platform and hanging it on an study corner as you would for art painting. Accompanying with a cup of coffee, this makes your reading session feels GOOD!

Why don’t create some creative activities with the kids? – let the kids doodling something on the wall. 🙂



This post has been edited by ehwee: Jun 21 2020, 01:28 PM

Yes the RM 3.30 / sqft is for flat plaster ceiling only without L box and ceiling painting.

The quotations you received looks OK generally , as it's depend on the actual discussion and design requirements you ask from the contractor.

This post has been edited by ehwee: Jul 7 2020, 05:32 PM

There is no right or wrong on having dark theme for small condo. Ultimately it's still a personal preference, if you really like cozy, warm living environments, you can definitely choose to have dark painted wall, black tile, grey sofa and warm timber dining table and some nice spot and wall lights.

Dark theme is nice also as long as you comfortable with it. Especially in city region, a dark and cozy home can make us feel more stress free and calm down after coming back home from daily fast and competitive working day!

Most people still prefer bright environment due to several reasons. Examples, bright lighting environment for safer if you are living with older parents. Study and kitchen area are better and workable in brighter light condition. Toilet try avoiding dark environment due to slippy floor and safety.

Other than these places, by all means you can opt for dark theme for living, dining and bedrooms.

Dark theme is especially good for tv showtimes though

Your attached dark theme pictures with warm timber flooring look good, hahaha👋

This post has been edited by ehwee: Jul 8 2020, 11:47 AM

alexloon some tips for you for dark theme home design, types and lighting design scheme play an important roles in dark theme, as you will need different combination of lighting selection of ceiling downlight, spot lights, wall wash light, floor and table lamps just nice enough to highlight and light up the main spots you need.

how to find a good balance between lighting selections to achieve desirable brightness in different space in a tricky thing to really take care.

Hmm, most common arrangement for most people will make the yard into cooking area so you will have more working space at kitchen area, something like this.



Yet if you want something different and don't mind little bit of small walkway around the area as a result, this is what I suggest you can consider.



Cheers!

mascot123 It's depend if you looking for id consultation firm, design & build company or freelance id, they provide different scope of design services. May be you can take a look at this lowyat tread to get some clues.

https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...r+vs+contractor

Shall you wish to know about my design services and charges, do welcomed to pm me for sure.

Cheers.

alexloon you can consider make one of the wall timber feature wall, paint the ceiling in slighting darker grey colour, it will look even better, don't you think so??




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120k for 1300 sqft home is about RM 92 per sqft which is suffice to say enough, yet still depend on what you actually plan to do.

Normally if without doing structural extensions then the cost is around 45 - 100 sqft ranging from simple reno to quality furnishing works.

This post has been edited by ehwee: Aug 1 2020, 05:49 PM

Do you seek fungshui Master help on position of TV, some master might indicate specific position for tv also.

If the master said your sofa back cannot facing main door, that means your sofa have to position in a way facing the main door.

That mean the tv have to either put at middle of living area or put at the front of the sliding glass door next the entrance.

May be you can seek master advice whether there is a possibility to shift the main door from right to left side. This way might help you to get a better orientation and position for tv and living sofa arrangement.

This post has been edited by ehwee: Aug 1 2020, 05:48 PM

Hacking internal wall for open kitchen won't be so expensive, just make sure you allow contingency costs for relocation of existing and new electrical wiring and plumbing piping anyway.

6 to 11k just for ceiling on the areas you mentioned seems quite high, not sure about what kind of ceiling and lighting trough design you have, it will affect the cost also.

Do share more about what you need for kitchen and your usual daily work routines in the kitchen, then I can only made some design suggestions for you, pals.

This post has been edited by ehwee: Aug 6 2020, 07:02 PM