Sunday, January 4, 2009

New chamber for the belles...

Remember when Hilman had his snip-snip and I took a 2 weeks leave to be his dayang? Well, besides being Hilman's dayang, I was also wearing a couple of other outfits - the girls' removal contractor and interior designer, when we decided that Hilman needed to have his own room as he's a big boy now.

The top-floor which consists of a nice sized bedroom with an attached bathroom had never been used ever since we moved in to SD in 1999 (well, at least not as a bedroom, that is). It also has a roof-top garden (which to people like me who can't even keep a cactus alive, makes no difference, really!) It has basically served as a storage room for the kids' unused toys, old clothes, and books all this while. Believe it or not, we even found Ayah's Form 4 books and exam papers up there in one of the many, many boxes! And the kids got all excited when they found all my love letters written to Ayah all those years ago. Ayah had kept them neatly in one big box. Aaaawwwwhhh... :) Suffice to say, both Ayah and I got teased by the kids when they read some of the mushy stuff I wrote him in those letters. Mega cringe moments, I tell you...Hahaha!

Thinking that 10 days would be enough for us to convert the top-floor room to the girls' new room, we took our own sweet time to clear the junks and whatnots from up there. Little did we realize that after 9 years of being the store-cum-hoarding room, we were actually heading for a giganormous task of sorting the treasures up there. There were things that we wanted to give away. There were things that we wanted to keep (especially some of the kids' cute little baby clothes which had some sentimental values to us), and there were things that DEFINITELY needed to be chucked out. TONNES of them.

Suffice to say that as we cleared the room upstairs, the rest of the house also became like a tongkang pecah. The family hall which became a transit point for all the junks, especially, looked as if Hurricane Katrina had passed through it at least 3 times! (The pic of the family hall in the slide was taken BEFORE Hurricane Katrina hit actually. So, you can just imagine how it was after it got hit ;))

After clearing the room of all the junks, we had it painted. The girls chose ICI 'Vineyard' as the colour for the feature wall, and 'Barley White' for the rest of the walls. And alang-alang dah cat bilik the girls, Ayah and I decided to get Voon (our trusted contractor) to re-paint the whole of the front of our house, including the fence/gate/grills, etc. Luckily I was on leave and was able to supervise the work.

It was supposed to be a minimum make-over of the room as we plan to move out to the new house in BJ at the end of this year anyway. The room already had its own built-in wardrobes and also a queen-sized bed. So, the only things that we needed to get were the girls' study tables, and of course - the curtains. Or so, I thought. But, you know lah, bila dah sampai IK*A tu, the list got longer and longer by the second... And we ended up buying shelves, storage boxes, scatter cushions, lightings, a carpet, and the whole lot of other jim-bangs for the room! We also had to instal an air-cond unit and also a water-heater unit for the girls. Maklumlah budak zaman sekarang. Kalau tak ada all those things, tak boleh tido and tak boleh mandi...kononnya lah, kan?

Anyway, Voon only managed to install the water-heater and also the shelves yesterday afternoon, and so, the girls only managed to finish tidying up the room late last night. It had been a pretty tiring experience for all of us - mentally and physically, but, it was all worthed our efforts and time. And the girls just love their new room :)

Here are some pics taken from Day 1 and as we progressed throughout the 2 weeks (or more, I think?!) of completing the project.

My next project will be to help Ayah furnish his new clinic at TMC, and I'm soooo looking forward to that :) I don't think it'll take too long as we'll be left with a free-hand to furnish and decorate a nice-sized EMPTY consultation room without any junks attached to it. I'm already playing with colours in my head for the room now. Can't wait!

Oh ya, by the way - if you happen to get Metro Ahad today, please flick through and read Page D6, ya. There's an interesting article written by my Tuan Doktor in it. (Promote....jangan tak promote!!! Hehehehe!) or you can just click here :)

And I now present you guys with....(drum-rolls!!!) - THE GIRLS' ROOM!!!

Enjoy the pics, y'all :)


32 comments:

udinb said...

Congrats!! ... the make-over room look fantastic.

Must be seronok (lucu?) budak-budak tu baca their parent love letters. Not many people are able to keep that old stuffs.

Really u allowed them to read it? :-)

May be our love story ada sedikit 'unpleasant', so I told Ana no more cerita lama to kids (beside the one that we revealed in the blog)

Enjoy ur weekend.

Ummi365 said...

Ha ha ha i can imagine the children reading your love letters.. i do get goose pimples reading my own..rasa macam eh jiwangnya aku masa tu.. malu pun ada.

Their room is nice and cosy. I especially like the shelf at the bed side.

Have a nice day!!

Ezza Aziz said...

best nya jadi anak kamu yer....cantik dah bilik kamu ni...errr boleh acik tumpang tidor tak?

Sahan,artikel tu dalam metro ya..alahai! akak beli kosmo pulak....

Waterlily said...

The girls' room looks lovely Shana. Love the curtain too.

Ermm..I wonder what would happen if I stumbled upon MY parents' love letters..cannot imagine lah. .."adinda kekanda..arakian..bla bla.."
.eee...

IBU said...

Phewwww....... I can imagine the sweat, tears & sneezes!

Congratulations - finally siap! And looks very cozy too! Well done.

kay_leeda said...

Ohh..tell me about house renovations. It must have been great relief when the girls' room is finally ready yah.

Congratulations to the designer and the ground troopers!!!

Scarred Soul said...

Nice room for the girls kak Shana...

:)

jabishah said...

Hilang letih kan after looking at their faces. But I can imagine how fatigue it was for all of you. Im sure if my girls happen to watch the pics mesti wld want to do something their room. Hats off to your girls & esp to their mom lah kan... ;-)

Kak Teh said...

wow, wanshana, kalau macam ni boleh buat programme home makeover sendiri. The slides make it look so simple! Tahniah.

wanshana said...

Dear Udin,

Thank you :). Yup, we're quite happy with the end results. So much so, I think I spend more time up there than in our own room now - much to the girls' despair! Hahaha!

We only let them read 1-2 letters ajer (even then not the whole thing). After that, access not allowed anymore :)

All the best to Aina for her first day in Primary School. I'm sure you and Anna will be quite busy this week settling her in. But, I'm sure she'll be fine.

wanshana said...

Ummi,

Thanks. I love the shelves, too. Senang..tak berselerak all their small, itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny stuffs :)

Yup, I also cringe when I read my letters to Ayah. Mak oiii...so jiwang (and, errr...so unlike me now! Hehehe!)

Have a nice day, dear. And make sure you take a breather in between your running around settling the kids in school, okay? :)

wanshana said...

Kak Ezza,

Thanks :) Jadik lah untuk Hanna and Hasya lepak-lepak and have some sisterly times together sementara kat SD ni.

Bisa diatur, akak. Kak Ezza boleh tumpang tidur kat bilik tu anytime. It's Open 24 hours ;)

And about Ayah's article tu, don't worry, akak. Just click on the link provided, okay?

Take care, akak :)

wanshana said...

Waterlily,

Thanks :)

The girls chose the material for the curtains themselves. Memula tu, I tak berapa berkenan, but they insisted on it. Bila dah jadi langsir, cantik lah pulak :)

Hmmmm, our parents punyer love letters sure macam those dalam cerita-cerita P.Ramlee, kan? Would be interesting to read them, I think?

wanshana said...

Ibu,

Thanks :)

Yup, a lot of sweat and sneezes, alright. Tu yang Hanna sampai demam hari tu, I think. So far, no tears yet. Hopefully none will be coming our way!

It's cozy alright, sampaikan Haizal and I asyik lah dok tertido kat their bed. Tension bebudak tu. Hehehe!

Ini kira trial run untuk our BJ house lah ni... I have to start thinking of the theme for every single room in the house, maaann! Fenin...

wanshana said...

Hi Kay,

Thanks!

Yup, it was a great relief alright. I was worried the room would not be ready before school re-opens. Nasib baik sempat :)

Ini baru minor make-over. I dah start fenin thinking of the major reno and ID for the new house nanti...Aiyayay!!!

wanshana said...

Scarred Soul,

Thanks, dear.

It's high time the girls had a room of their own to share just the two of them, without Hilman crashing through and kacau daun with his Hot Wheels all the time. Hehehe!

Take care :)

wanshana said...

Ja,

Thank you, dear :)

Yes, the looks on their faces as the room began to take shape were precious!

Hey, you can do the same with your girls' rooms, too. I think it's more fun to do girls' room make-over, than boys', for obvious reasons. So many sweet and cute stuff (and pink?)out there to choose from :)

wanshana said...

Kak Teh,

Thank you :)

Boleh lah - small project for the girls. Kalau nak buat programme home make-over sendiri, sure migraine all the time. Hehehe!

It's to co-ordinate with the contractors, air-cond, curtain people, etc yang fenin sikit. And of course, when you have so many segala tok nenek punya old stuff in the room all this while. Part nak clear and sort the stuffs tu yang tak sanggup tu!

Keep warm, Kak Teh. Heard that it's gonna be the coldest winter in 35 years in Britain this year...

MAMAMIA said...

Ingatkan I sorang aje yang ada 'the beginning room' macam tu. Nak buat camana kan, dah confirm hoarder...

Love the endproduct.

Bila tengok your Ikea hanging green basket, teringat that we also have one ( or two?). Tapi sampai sekarang tak gantung2 lagi...

Busybody said...

Wow Shana! You are really talented in interior decorating lah..

Busybody

bella said...

Kak Shana...wow, the room is sooo nicely done. paintwork/curtain/shelves and voila...a new life to the room!
Love letters???hahahha...I have love letters org kasi kat I, I'm not a big writer(really???lol!)and its so funny(weird funny) to reread, and since they are all in french, hubby cannot understandlah so cover line la jugak.I keep them for memories sake that's all, no more feelings dahhhh...hehehehhe..bella

wanshana said...

Mamamia,

Tu lah tu! For the last nine years, we've wasted the top-floor room to hoard everything we could under the sun! I've told myself that nanti dah pindah rumah baru nanti, I WILL NOT HOARD ANYMORE! Insya Allah. Penatnya nak memunggah hari tu. Pffftt...

But, I think we're not alone kot yang macam ni. I'm sure there are many others yang ada penyakit ni...Hehehe!

The end-product tu, alhamdulillah okay. Thanks :). I think the IK*A hanging thingies tu pun, kalau my contractor punya workers tak tolong gantungkan that day pun, sure tak tergantung sampai now.

FYI, we REALLY took the opportunity that day and mintak tolong they all gantikan ALL the bulbs kat our house yang dah berbulan-bulan dah meletup. Sanggup tu hidup dalam separa gelap for months coz' malas nak panjat tangga mengganti bulbs. Inikan pulak nak gantung basket tu...

wanshana said...

Jah @ Busybody,

Thanks! ;)

Boleh lah sikit-sikit...tapi, tak boleh buat cari makan lah, kan?! Hehehe!

But, the girls gave a lot of input into the whole project, too. So, the credits should go to them, too :)

ms hart said...

Wanshana, just one word - CAAAAAAANTIKnyaaaaa!!!!!

p/s Ello, ello taukeh...ada ambik makeover job sampai Melaka kaaa?:)

tireless mom said...

Dear Shana

Cantiknya bilik the girls. Must be spring cleaning season cos that's what we have been doing too the past few days.

wanshana said...

Bella,

Thank you, dear :). Yes, it's amazing how some paintwork, curtains and shelves can transform a boring (and so semak) hoarding room into a warm and cozy bedroom (and some nice lightings, too, if I may add :))

Waduuuhhh...love letters written in French?! It COULDN'T get more romantic than that, could it?! Simpaaaannn....jangan tak simpaaan. As you said, buat kenangan ajer, kan?

Btw, you may have noticed that I've linked my blog to yours already (before getting the greenlight from you! ;)) Okay, ya?

wanshana said...

ms hart,

Thank you, tapi mana boleh challenge skills orang Melaka nun in ID, okay?

I yang nak import skills orang Melaka sinun to KL sini, tau?! ;)

wanshana said...

K.Yatt @ Tireless Mom,

Thanks. It's simple but quite cozy - just the way the girls like it :)

Yes, I think so - I also have a few friends who have been doing some major spring-cleaning at their houses in the last couple of weeks, too. It must be to sambut the new year, kot?

Hope you're done with your spring-cleaning (or still bergelut ni?)

Take care, Kak Yatt :)

MrsNordin said...

Kemas.... jangan tak kemas, dik!

I'm sure the girls are happy with their new room. From the photos, it looks quite spacious too.

Well done!

wanshana said...

MrsNordin,

Thanks. Yes, the girls love the room alright :)

Hmmmmm, the kids' rooms dah siap kemas dah, BUT the family hall on the 1st floor tu masih berselerak! Tak sempat-sempat lagi nak kemas until today :( Hope to clear everything by this weekend, insya Allah.

Yes, the room is quite spacious. When we first moved in dulu, we thought of making it the Master bedroom because it has its own spacious bathroom, and ada privacy coz' it's on its own kat topfloor tu. But we decided against it coz' the kids were still small and we didn't want them to sleep on the 1st floor all by themselves!

KG said...

Shana,

Our house is currently in the state like in the pictures...tengak being painted and after this got to betulkan the toilet in the master bedroom, change the parket flooring upstairs sebab dah terok sangat and get new built ins in master bedroom...Haq and I are moving back to the masterbedroom (now occupied by the 3 boys), coz got to provide space for the baby cot :)

wanshana said...

Yani,

Good luck with the reno/repair/make-over work! It's so exciting, kan? But, it can also be quite stressful. So, you'd better not stress yourself up too much, okay? NOT in your condition ;)

Kalau tak larat tu, just biar ajer semak-semak kat rumah tu...Take your time clearing them, okay? You have about 7 months (?) before the baby arrives, kan? :)