Making room for fun :)

~ The living room ~
We live in a small apartment, so space is at a premium. I'm constantly thinking of ways to maximise space, it has become I'm afraid.. an obsession! Since we had Amir, I've thought of ways to make the rooms safe and fun for him. The family spends most of its time in the living room, so it was important to introduce kid-friendly features there.

~ Amir's 'village' ~
We've named this corner Amir's village. He loves it here. We did away with the old couch and replaced it with throw cushions and a cheerful carpet. I use the white cabinet as storage for my art class materials & decor magazines. Sitting on top of it is a box from Ikea, it's for storing DVDs. That lovely brown cushion with big red roses is also from Ikea. Ikea fans might also recognise that white cabinet, it's a TROGEN cabinet / changing table that I've painted white.

We painted the wall behind it in washable paint by Jotun. It's good to invest in washable paint, otherwise you'll have to live with unsightly blotches!

Here is Amir in his village. He loves to hang out here :)

21st November 2005 - I'm very happy to announce that "Amir's village" was highlighted in a fantastic blog for Ikea fans! Here's the link Amir’s village in Positive fanatics. Amazingly, it was featured the very same day I created this post! They also e-mailed me with this message:

Hi Adline,
Congratulations. We have featured your beautiful IKEA setup in our new blog, positivefanatics.com. I'm sure our readers from around the world will be delighted to discover your "IKEA Style".

Kind regards,
Armand B. Frasco
--
www.positivefanatics.com

Thanks so much Armand! Great job on the website!

Furniture from the internet Part 2

13th November 2005 - The finishing touch! After weeks of eyeing this lovely bookshelf Rezad found on lelong.com.my & waiting for it to be delivered.. it finally arrived yesterday! This Leksvik bookshelf retails in IKEA for RM185.00, but I got it for just RM70.00. In addition to that, the seller was kind enough to deliver it to us all the way from Puchong! We considered our made-over guest room to be incomplete until it arrived! It's the perfect addition to the room. The seller was puzzled that I wanted the bookshelf so badly and that I loved white! He considered it unusual! LOL... Here is a picture of it as shown in the auction. See why I instantly fell in love? :P

Description: Leksvik bookshelf from IKEA. Solid wood (aspen) painted gray-white. Width: 93 cm, Depth: 26 cm, Height: 80 cm

Here it is in our guest room. It fits in perfectly.

Guest room makeover

~ GUEST ROOM MAKEOVER ~
We had planned to make changes to our guest room for a while. We were finally able to execute those plans during our recent long "Hari Raya" break. My mum uses the guest room during the weekdays when she stays with us, while Rezad and Amir usually take refuge in the room on weekend mornings during my art classes. The room was a great big mess and I have "before" pictures to prove it:
_______________________________________________________

~ OLD FLOOR ~
Ratty old carpet, horrendous parquet flooring and rubbish everywhere!

~ NEW FLOOR ~
Rubber mat flooring with natural wood pattern. Cost me about RM50 to cover the entire room with it. A soft cotton dhurrie adds a touch of comfort.

Amir just loves to sprawl around on the floor now :)

___________________________________________________

~ OLD BED BEFORE ~
Tired old mattress, just plain uninspiring!

~ NEW BED ~
Comfy new spring mattress from Dreamland, new pillows, new sheets and a beautiful new quilt! The wall next to bed has also been treated with a coat of washable paint.

I've always loved quilts, I found them on sale for just RM60.00 at Carrefour Subang Jaya. I also bought one for our bedroom and another as a gift for mum.

Amir loves these quilts and the comfy new bed! He often wakes up and heads straight for his grandma's new bedroom. Here he is, still in his pajamas.

Like all kids, he loves to jump on beds :) He seems to have a lot more fun with a springy bed and a quilt!

The bedside tables have also been painted white.

________________________________________________

~ OLD SIDE CABINET ~
Messy, cluttered! Yucks! I hate clutter!

~ NEW SIDE CABINET ~
Painted the walls, changed the position of the side cabinet and de-cluttered with the help of my new Ikea Leksvik rack from lelong.com.my!

These lovely Hakebo baskets are also from Ikea. They're inexpensive (RM15 for a set of four) & great for organising your stuff! That new Lampan lamp in white on the bottom shelf is also from Ikea, costs just RM12.00! Of course, I would only use an Ikea energy saving light bulb to go with it!

There's just enough room on the side cabinet to display mum's old hand-operated sewing machine. When our neighbour in JB threw it out, she asked if she could have it.

____________________________________________

~ OLD CUPBOARD ~
Dirty surface, broken handles, bursting at the seams with rubbish!

~ NEW CUPBOARD ~
Revived with a fresh coat of paint. The broken handle has been replaced with one from the lower drawers.

I love "throw therapy". I got rid of stuff I didn't need & placed extra items in neat plastic storage boxes above the cupboard.

Brass lock for a touch of glam, but aso to keep the doors shut!

______________________________________________

~ OLD WICKER CHEST ~
Mum picked this up at the dump, someone had thrown it out. Although it looked worn out, it still had good structure.

~ NEW WICKER CHEST ~
Gave it a fresh new coat of white, water-based emulsion.

Neatly arranged at the end of the room :)

_______________________________________________

~ OLD TV CORNER ~
Yucks! Yucks! Yucks!

~ NEW TV CORNER ~
Tidied up quite a bit! That ghostly apparation is Amir dashing out of the room by the way! The Lack sidetable from Ikea makes a great tv table, I love its clear lacquered birch veneer.

____________________________________________________

~ OTHER NEW ADDITIONS ~
New curtains, in keeping with the green and white theme.

Wooden hanger that I got for just RM1.70. Mounted it behind the door, I like to hang my bags here :)

2nd December 2005 - Last, but not least, this makeover was featured in my favourite ikea fan blog. Here's the link Guest room makeover in Positive fanatics