Fulfilling my Childhood Ambition: Interior Designing

Doing up our new place allowed me to fulfill my childhood ambition of being an interior designer. Haha...Apart from my other childhood ambition of being a broadcast journalist:) It was tiring and mind taxing but it seeing how it all came together - is really very satisfying for me. 

To be honest, our new house is hardly filled with new furniture, much to the disapproval of the older folks. It is filled with rag and bone stuff [of course specially selected] and refurbished items. For the past few months, I would sketch my impressions and scoured craigslist, and other local sites hoping to find the furniture that would best fit my idea of a home I would love to live in. I have to admit, it was time consuming but I realize that I really enjoyed doing stuff like this.

I got my inspiration from http://www.houseofturquoise.com/. That coupled with my inclination towards clean scandinavian design and retro furniture basically summed up my design direction. And a philosophy of design I adopted was, Do not be afraid to break rules. Furniture don't necessarily have to match, neither fabric, neither era. But in its eclectic-ness, to maintain a subtle form of symmetry. 

Here are some of my furniture finds, before and after refurbishment.

My major sofa piece. I like white french furniture but really didn't intend to buy one for the house until I saw a posting of a lady giving away an old antique piece for free. Before I could agree to take it, I had to make sure I found a good upholsterer to do it. It was an hour of intense googling and calling and connecting before I took the free sofa. 

Before: Free Antique Sofa

After: My White French Antique Sofa

My upholsterer [I would highly recommend Kailun from In-Expat] did everything according to instructions. I had the material redone in off-white suede, cushions were replaced and the wood was sanded downed, primed and repainted in stark white. The cushions were bought from Spotlight during their sale. 

This white sofa is flanked by two wing chairs - one in off white and the other in turquoise. This spanking new white wingchair was bought from someone off gumtree. 

The other wingchair which flanks the right of the sofa is my next refurbished project. A couple of years back, I had bought a chequered wingchair from a lady who had the chair custom made in Hong Kong. But after having it for 8 years, she decided not to take it home with her. Took a bit of bargaining and bought her well made wing chair for $80. It was only in the last month of before I shifted that I thought, why not have it reupholstered and pair it up with the white wingchair. So, I went for my favorite decor color - turquoise.

Before: Chequered Wing Chair

This is not the actual wingchair but the closest I can find as I didn't snap a pic of my old one. 

After: Turquoise with White Piping Wing Chair

Before: Brown Ottomans from Barang Barang

I had these ottomans for the longest time and they were certainly well used. Since Sammy was around, the ottomans had also suffered some attacks as he poked pens into it. It was indeed time for some refurbishment. 

After: Ottomans with White and Turquoise Piping

I have to admit, I tossed to and fro about the color of these ottomans - wondering if the colors would create a willy wonker house. Haha...but they turned out very unobtrusive to my relief and the latest update is: they have become Sarah and Samuel's temporary trampoline, sigh...

Before: Retro PVC chairs

There is a story behind my dining chairs. It all started as I was parking my car along the lanes of Joo Chiat during BSF. These chairs caught my eye as I crossed the streets. I liked them very much tho they really looked old and dirty. So I approached the uncle who owned these chairs. It was apparently a renovation company and these chairs were placed outside for them to take a breather and relax. Initially, they were puzzled why I would be interested in the chairs and they refused to sell them to me. Well. I left my number just in case they would change their mind and they did. I bought 4 of these chairs for $80. 

After: White refurbished retro chairs

For these chairs, I engaged Gharlib to restore these chairs to its former beauty. I chose white PVC and had him sand down the revarnish the wood. I like them very much. The other [thonet looking] chairs behind as seen in the photo was a retro set [dining table and 4 chairs] that I bought off someone from the internet. 

That's Sarah and Sammy having breakfast in our retro dining area:) I am still thinking that my bare turquoise walls badly needs a masterpiece or two. 

Other Finds: Side Table

This unique pair of side tables that I bought for $50 off craigslist. The family from Israel had it custom made in the Philippines. It fitted in the living room perfectly as I decided not to have coffee tables. 

Antique Roll Top Writing Desk from Hock Siong

Believe it or not, this was my birthday present to Daniel. A writing desk that has many compartments so that it can store many of his stationery and books and still look neat after use, thanks to its roll top. I got this from Hock Siong - a garang guni store made good. Hock Siong buys furniture by bulk from hotels which are refurbishing and resells to people like me:)

Armchairs from Rtiz Carlton Suites

Chiao Chyi alerted me to this batch of hotel furniture from Hock Siong. Haha...it seems like I never get enough of armchairs. But I think chairs are great - for reading and talking over a nice hot cup of tea.

A close up of this corner also reveals an old colonial side table. I got two of these from a man who had colonial furniture inherited from his parents. But I was thrilled that he sold these tables at $60 for both. A real good deal for a piece of history.

Our last item that sealed our two living rooms were the turquoise curtains that lined our entire house. I like them very much and was glad that the shop we went to had the color. 

Ok...that's our house tour for now. There's still our kids' room and our other rooms. But that's other posting at a much later time.