Before & After: Common Bedroom / Study

Before & After: Master Bedroom + Bath

Storeroom

The original storeroom was redone into a walk-in-wardrobe. The original storeroom entranced was sealed up and another opening was added on another wall to allow direct access from the master bedroom. The innovative use of pole wardrobe system frees up necessary space that it was possible to function as a changing room.

Master Bedroom

Attached Bathroom

Before & After: Kitchen & Toilet

 

Common Toilet

Before & After: Living & Dining Room

After completing the renovation, it would be interesting to see how much transformation the crib underwent.

We added a dining area besides the living room by pushing the living room / kitchen divider wall back.

Photo Project: Finale

We got lots of feedback when we asked for advice about our dining room photo. We really appreciated everyone's comments because it helped us in selecting the best photo for our dining room. Choice B and C were popular choices.

Eventually, our interior designer cast the final vote and we went with B. According to those who chose this photo, it has brilliant contrast and depth which can add layers to our small dining room which makes it appear bigger. In addition, the cityscape theme complements the cosmopolitan loft interior of the apartment.

Personally, my interpretation of this photo is that it evokes a sense of serenity and calm amidst the hustle and bustle in a busy city. It kind of puts me in a scenario where I can imagine myself unwinding at a sidewalk cafe or Starbucks at the end of a hard day's work. Here's how the photo on canvas looks mounted in the dining room:

For the kitchen dining photo, we worked on a smaller budget and got it developed in print instead of on canvas. The quality turns out fine after enlarging it to 50 x 50cm. The IKEA photo frame kind of goes well with it. Now the kitchen wall has a nice splash of red strawberries and it looks interesting. Excellent! =)

Sofa So Good: Finale

Our sofa from Sanctuary dian arrived several days ago but we did not unwrap it until the crib was cleaned. Yesterday, we peeled off the plastic wrap and were delighted by the results.

The sofa inspired by Patricia Urquiola's Field design sits well with the colors of the dining set. It also blends nicely with the wood flooring and brick wall to effect the cosmopolitan loft effect that we envisaged.

With this last furniture in, we have gladly arrived at the conclusion of this renovation project. Time to heave a sigh of relief and then move on to the next stage - house moving.

Progress and Regress: An Update

Renovation Progress...
About our previous issue with the feature wall production (read here), it's still in progress. In comparison, it looks better this time but not without it's flaws. Tomorrow, we are meeting the contractor company to iron out the unresolved issues and the project might be completed by early next week. Worst case scenario, we allow them to try for a third time but that will probably happen after we have move in on December 15th. Yes, it is finally happening!

Renovation Regress...
The unfortunate thing about the damned craftsman who was working on our wall was that he doesn't use appropriate floor protection. This had caused some damages to our apartment flooring and timber skirting. On the bright side, the contractor company has agreed to pay for repairs and we are getting our laminate guys to come back to replace the damaged ones. 

Paint hardener seeped through the newspaper "floor protector" 

and coagulated on our laminate flooring.

Our timber skirting was hurt by the misuse of a scrapper. Ouch!

Damned guy accidentally penetrated the laminate with his tools.

The Dining Room Photo Project

Dear friends, we need your help in picking out the best photo for our dining room.

After successfully finding our kitchen photo (link), we are now working with YC of TwentyOne-Fifty Photography to pick a photograph for the dining room. The following cropped photographs were shot by YC during his Chicago trip. Please let us have your views on which is the most appropriate photo for our dining room.

(A) Silhouette Skyline

(B) Windy City

(C) Up In The Sky

Using simple tweaks on Photoshop, here's how each photo might look on the actual wall:

(A)

 (B)

 (C)

Looking forward to your vote and opinions. =)

The Kitchen Photo Project

We are looking for a picture for our kitchen. The main idea is to add a dash of red color to the kitchen for better feng shui. And also as kitchen deco, close-up photograph of some red vegetables or fruits would be an ideal subject for the picture. It's more personal if the photograph was self shot.

We were privileged to have a lot of help from YC from TwentyOne-Fifty Photography (see their wedding photography portfolio here / YC's personal portfolio here). He came over to the apartment on a Sunday and we attempted to shoot macro-photography of some strawberries and bell peppers.

YC contributed a lot in the lighting department. Without his light/soft box and his guidance with light play, the photos wouldn't have come out nice. Although I was doing most of the shooting, my 50mm prime lens proved to be inadequate for macro photography. The focal length was insufficient. Even with YC's macro extension attached to my lens, it was still hard to focus perfectly. Hence the session was a bit harder and time consuming because of the inadequacy in the lens department.

Strawberries were a lot of fun to shoot. Their rich vibrant color and textured skin provided a lot of details in the photographs. The outcome looked impressive, I couldn't believe that it was shot right on my kitchen cabinet top. We also made an attempt with some bell peppers.

Bell peppers were tricky. Despite having a rich color and nice shape, we could not capture the right feel. We even attempt using a different background, like shooting on a piece of my floor laminate. The wood texture looks nice so we tried shooting other subjects on it.

Out of the many shots taken, those that made the shortlist had to fulfill our criteria and have the right feel for our kitchen wall. After rounds of review and post-processing, we found our winning shot...