Posts from — May 2008

Instead of just flipping through magazines, go out there to see and feel how ID ideas are implemented. Being a foodie, I like trying out new eateries and often times I feel that modern restaurants more to offer than just food- you can dine in yet take-away the ID ideas from restaurants to implement in your own home.

Last weekend, my wife and our friends went to Bijou, a cozy little restaurant located in Mont Kiara serving French cuisine. Setting is rustic- white walls, white wood panels, white wooden floorboards, modernized by its wall hangings and art pieces and decorative ornaments. It tries hard to show off its clean lines and open spaces with table configuration being set far apart. What I didn’t fancy was the pink drapes used to partition sections of the dining area. Also, perhaps a little overdose of pink with the fake flower bouquet on each table.

I’m not here to critique the ID of the restaurant so let’s see what we can take away from it to implement in your home.

photo courtesy of bijou.com.my

The Barstool

Simple, functional and elegant bar lined with low-back modern barstools. Today’s modern homes often incorporate a bar counter or a breakfast top where counter/tabletop height is approx 42″ off the ground. These require high chairs or barstools. Where would you be able to get barstools for a reasonable price? Check out GDO (gallery of designer ornaments) – an outlet retailing designer furniture at affordable prices. I go to the outlet in Kota Damansara due to location convenience and they have quite a massive offering there- two floors of furniture and lighting, very cluttered so you’ll need to take time to sift out the gems. If you’re there, look for Frankie as he has the authority to provide further discounts. Check out the light pieces too while you’re there.

Art

Most of the art hung up at Bijou are prints on stretched canvas. A colourful piece of modern art (suggest to go with motives or abstract pieces) really adds life and colour to your walls and entire living area. Don’t know where to get em?

• First off, IKEA’s a good place to find many prints for under RM300, if you’re not conscious about your guests coming over and saying ‘oooh, I’ve seen that at IKEA’
• Flea markets (Mont Kiara, The Curve) have stalls that offer local art and prints. There’s a stall that’s situated between the Curve and Tesco that sells art on canvas by local and Hong Kong artists. Not too pricy either- just go give you an idea, a hand painted 24″ x36″ sells for around RM200. Look for Carmen.

Fabric Partitions

Bijou utilizes light lacey fabric to partition its seating areas. Personally, I do not like the colour tone they’ve chosen as it cheapens the look of the place and gives me the impression of a try-hard attempt at making the place look cheery. Leave that to the art and ornaments really.

photo courtesy of bijou.com.my

However, it’s the concept that is important. Curtains need not only be used to drape windows but as illustrated in this case, be used as partitions instead. Advantages- cost savings, non-permanent and can be removed at any time, adds a softer and more comfortable feel when right colour schemes are selected. See below for a good example of partitioning the living area (behind couch) where the curtain tones complement the living area. Note that if you do decide to use cloth partitions, add weights to the base of the cloth so that it doesn’t flap about in the wind when the fan’s turned on.

Many of us own apartments and computers. Ideally, you’d wanna have your own study room with a large proper desk and your computer sitting on it. Then again, wouldn’t you rather utilize the space and turn it into a guest room or another bedroom instead? Then where would you be placing your computer? Answer: against any empty wallspace with a power socket close by. Presenting… heckler design’s OneLessDesk…

What a concept! And that’s exactly what I’m getting at- the concept. Purchasing this table from heckler design will set you back a handsome sum of USD$1,199 (inclusive of shipping fees). I haven’t seen this chic desk in any of the local designer home stores thus far. I know this site is supposed to provide readers with economical ways of furnishing their home and this desk isn’t exactly economical… but it’s also here to provide IDEAS and this is one heckuva idea on space-saving computer tables.

Location: Desa Parkcity

Phase: Nadia Parkhomes

Details: Gated community, Type T3- 3 Storey Parkhomes; Built up- 2,800sqft; Configuration- 4+1 Bedrooms

Facilities within Nadia: Resort-style open and shared gard

ens, swimming pool, sauna, function room, 2x children’s playground, ample visitors parking, car wash bays, shuttle service to Mont Kiara, 1Utama and Ikano Power centre

Facilities within Desa Parkcity: Access to clubhouse (August 2008), Central Park and Lake, Fifa sized football pitch, 2x basketball courts, The Waterfront (retail centre), International school (2009), Private Hospital (2009)

When I first set my eyes on the T3 unit, i was captivated and I knew this was the right place for me to purchase. The layout was great- requiring little wetworks renovation to be done; the lifestyle concept it offered was brilliant- shared gardens and open spaces to breed interaction between neighbours… something of a rarity in these modern times; the fact that Desa Parkcity was still in its infancy and I could see the potential in this whole area.

My wife and I moved in on 11 Nov 2008, the day after our wedding. Prior to that, it was a crazy hectic period where we had to plan and coordinate the wedding as well as the design, renovation and furnishing of the our new house. I have to admit that I had a lot of fun doing both, but more so the latter. And I would like to assist all of the other young home owners out there by providing design ideas, places to shop for good deals, and find economical ways to decorate the place without cheapening the interior.

We really like living in this lifestyle-concept-community. The shared open spaces really do create better opportunities for interaction between neighbours. Our neighbours have been really nice to us and occasionally come over to give us cakes and other yummy snacks that they’ve cooked up. These days, you hardly can get a neighbourhood with such neighbourly inhabitants. For kids, it’s a great place to let them roam and play without having to worry about traffic or other external dangers. The guards make sure that children do not go outside of the community unsupervised by an adult.

We’re really enjoying the entire experience of living here in Nadia, living on our own, gradually furnishing our place to turn the house into a home. We are far from finished with the furnishing… it’s a process that never ends for true home lovers and I intend to chronicle our progress on this blog too. More pictures of the interior of our home to come.

I fit into the following scenario. Do you?

1. Worked a couple of years
2. Saved up some money to make a downpayment on a new house
3. Researched and found the right place
4. Purchase it
5. Then realize that you still have to fork out a whole lot more CASH for renovation and interior design?

It’s probably the greatest feeling in the whole world, walking into an empty enclosed area which is now your new house. Just knowing that you have your own piece of real estate makes you feeling extremely proud. I felt all that. But i also felt the frustration that followed when i realized how incredibly expensive furnishing a house could be- even with the basics e.g. a kitchen, wardrobes, basic furniture

Like most young working adults, I had grand modern ideas and concepts in my mind on how I wanted my place to look- chic, modern, urban, cool and yes, a place my friends could envy. I flipped through dozens of home magazines and websites for ideas on how best to furnish my place. Being a creative person, I ended up with tons of ideas in my head. Then came the price shocks- ‘huh, you mean a kitchen cabinet cost that much?’, ‘what? that simple table costs so much?’, ‘I just want a decent sofa at a decent price…is that so hard to find?’, ‘I’m not paying that ridiculous amount for that piece of art’.

I had to find ways to furnish and decorate my place at a fraction of the cost and yet still look pretty desirable to live in. In fact, i found it very fulfilling when i get to discover where to buy household items at a discounted price, how to negotiate better prices and still get the most out of my contractor, searching and finding many other ways to really decorate the home at a fraction of the cost if you were to buy them at designer stores.

This is howshouse.com and I am here to share home ideas for those of you like me, to help you save some $$$ furnishing your abode, stylishly. I’ll also be sharing D.I.Y tips and featuring designer furnishings along the way.

Last night, sitting on the floor in my room, hunched over the laptop (new house, no proper desk yet), I did a check to see if my desired domain name was available. When i found that it was, I set up my paypal account, purchased and registered howshouse.com.

Several minutes and several clicks later, I am now the proud owner of howshouse.com. You may be wondering why there’s no WWW prefix? Well, WWW is deprecated, but typing in the domain name with WWW prefix will forward you to the non-WWW site anyway- there’s really no impact to YOU so keying in my new blog address with or without the WWW makes no difference. Just remember to bookmark my blog if you’re interested in home and interior design, finding good deals at affordable prices for items to furnish your home with, ideas and tips for home organization (the next post will tell you more)

This is my first view of howshouse.com. Next, gonna get busy with blog settings and design, then my first post- WhyHow’sHouse? Exciting times ahead…