green giraffe

Love these 2 photos... reminds me of some scene from Wong kar Wai's movie "In the mood for love". Can imagine Maggie Cheung in her beautiful cheong sam, sitting forlonly on the chair by the window with a cigarette in hand and staring aimlessly at the lacey curtain. Next scene, Maggie putting on her red lipstick in front of the (wonderfully retro) oval mirror. Classic!

Hi wind30, Your toilets look sleek and classy. Love the ample storage and the plants give it a nice touch. Wow! that TV in your home theater room is humongous man. How big is it?

The handleless frosted glass door looks good but it came with a lesson learnt on balancing aesthetics and safety/practicality especially when we have young children. Originally, there was a long translucent rubber stopper along the edge of the glass door but ID said to remove it and replace with round rubber studs on the top and bottom of the glass door. Before the rubber studs were fixed, our super strong 2 year old tried to close the sliding door and this was the result of aesthetics over safety. Thank God he was not hurt. We have replaced the frosted glass door and now we have a short strip pf rubber stopper at the top and bottom of the door. So far its working fine and everybody in the house is more carefully when opening and closing doors. Yes, we also have the Bosch oven and steam oven. In fact, its a Bosch kitchen. The fridge and dishwasher also from Bosch. I agree with your wife....they do look good and can double up as deco pieces but its such a waste cos the ovens are also very easy to use. We are learning to bake currently starting with Betty Crocker idiot proof pre-made mix and my 11 year old has become the oven expert in the house. Grilling chicken, fish, chicken wings etc is also a breeze. If it is still too daunting, can also call Bosch to send someone down to give you a demo.

Am using the electric mosquito and insect killer currently. Seems to work a little. A stupid question.. what to do with the neem oil mixture? leave it around the house like essential oil or spray it at the mosquitoes?

Filling Spaces The part that I enjoyed most in this entire renovation process is shopping for furniture. Its a joy to find the right piece of furniture that is comfortable, durable, aesthetically pleasing and reasonably priced to fit into a space. Most importantly the furniture must speak to you and feels right in the intended place. It is a time consuming process and it will always be a work in progress. Living room. love the bird nest wall clock and recycled wood stools. Still looking for an arm chair and a standing lamp. Staircase to 2nd floor. Twisted branch as hand rail. Door to Powder room on the left of staircase.

Hi wind30, thanks for the kind comments on our loos. 2 of the loos are still work in progress. Will be adding hexagon mirrors in a random manner on the mosiac wall to make it more interesting. Will also be adding some decals on the kids bathroom door to make it fun and lively. Watch this space for photo updates, k? We have a creative ID who could translate our needs and wants into reality. We wanted a music room where we could have jamming sessions and she turned it into a stage cum store room cum playroom. On the left side of the stage behind the curtains is a mini "store room" with shelves and space for tall and bulky things like ladder, extra chairs and foldable tables. On the right side behind the curtains are open shelves for toys and books. It is the best place for the kids to play cos it is carpeted and we can keep an eye on them when we are in the kitchen.

Thanks livinstyle, how's your reno getting along? Our heliconias is still adjusting to their new home. They look skinny and undernourished. It will take them 6 months to settle in and flourish. As for the bamboo plants, still leafless for now. Hubby is happy that he can soon take a sweep at Winter Olympics Curling event. Having plants with lots of shedding leaves give him ample opportunities to fine tune his sweeping techniques which will definitely give him an edge in sweeping the ice and help Singapore win it's First Winter Olympic medals. Perhaps your friend would want to turn the sweeping nightmare to an Olympic dream.

Thanks lee, it still looks nice for now. Hope it can last for a while. Was told that bamboo doesnt last long in the outdoors.

OMG.. that's quite a horror story. Fish or no fish...? Will definitely give it some thought.

Back rub sounds like a wonderful idea. But first will have to head down to the nurseries to get some mosquitoes repelling plants and maybe Venus fly trap cos am still trying to get used to living with nature, birds, bees and bugs. A true blue "concrete jungle" tortoise, never seen so many bugs, ants before and also never been "victimized" by so many mosquitoes before except when going to a resort. Hubby said it fits our theme to a T, bugs and all...

Guppies sound like a wonderful idea. Have always like the small fry. Will definitely consider.

Plantissimo Our first foray into gardening. Plants at the back garden. Bamboo plants at front garden. In the day and night. New Heliconias intersperse between existing trees at side garden. Still look very sparse. Cant wait for it to grow... Solitary orchid plant in a planter which we wanted to use as an outdoor dust bin at first.

Poor fish...rip. Will be putting some fish but not sure what kind. We are not the "koi fish" type so will most likely throw in some longkang fish. Just wanted some mosquito larva eating fish. Any suggestion?

Yo bro, was fooled by your Dala.....and hahahaha. Didnt know you are also a bard. Its really nice to be able to enjoy a beautiful house that will become a home soon. All the best to the rest of the reno and your big day!

Confession of a Water Plant Murderer I did it. I killed some water plants (so sad, dont even know the name or species) with my enthusiasm. The water fountain at the back of the house was the last to be completed. First we waited for the tiles to dry before we could turn on the water. Next fountain filled up, pump working, water trickling down not only fountain wall but also flow into maid's room and dining floor....we have a leak!! By then we have already moved into the house. Contractor came to fix the leak, waited for a few more days, repeat the process and voila! We've got ourselves a long awaited water feature in good working order. Without haste, we went out to buy hanging plants and water plants to dress up our fountain. We went quite pleased with our (unusual) efficiency and were patting each others' back for being able to strike off another item on the mile long to-do list. Here's some proof... Two days later... The water plants turned pale and had white spots on them. They looked like they have been bleached. After some investigation, the verdict was out. We have killed our plants with our enthusiasm. We were told by our gardener that there was still some chemicals in the fountain. We have to wait at least 2 weeks for the chemicals to settle in the water, drain out half the water, fill it up, wait again, drain it out, repeat step 1 to 3 before we can finally introduce living things like plants and fishes into the fountain. So much for our premature effort....

Thanks beginning of the year, love your choice of dining table too. Good thing it can be extended, comes in handy for parties. Hope you can find matching dining chairs.

Yes they do during the school holidays. Have been sending them to NAFA holiday art classes. However they are still very amateurish.... just bought a few packets of peanuts, will have to train the monkeys to do Matisse to Monet, Van Gogh to Warhol. When they are good enough, can sell the art pieces to patsy to earn back the cost of peanuts. hee hee..

Might consider when A) we run out of space to display their art work or B) there is a cure to Hoarder Syndrome (Hubby is unfortunately inflicted with it and finds it hard to part with anything that occupies space in the house) Thanks. Love the table and chairs too. However still waiting for 2 more Wishbone to arrive. Not very happy with Lush's delivery service. Ordered 4 but only 2 came after waiting for 3 months. Now got to wait for another container to bring in 2 more Wishbone.

Art in the Loo - The Self-Portrait Season An art gallery in the kids toilet featuring their self-portrait. A giraffe in a cage, a cheerful elephant and a gentle dino. A colourful expression of self (eldest son)ala Picasso

From Dawn to Dusk A quiet moment at the dining room with the soft glow of morning light streaming in. Before nightfall and the din of dinner time

Thanks your royal highness. We are already enjoying our kitchen. Have yet to whip up a feast but the kids have already baked cookies and brownies.

Thanks pinktini. We are slowly filling up the house and still sourcing for some furniture.

You are right! Gardener said exactly the same thing, there's also some bamboo loving insects that will help you shorten the lifespan of the screen. Wonder if they will succumded to Bygon. If you are seriously considering the bamboo sticks, go to Far East Florist. The cheapest for a 2m x 3m is $69.90. They also have 2m x 5m going for $109/$119. Much cheaper than the ones i got from hawaii landscape. About $1.80+ psf. I heard there are different types of carpet grass but did not have time to do research on it.

Are you having black granite or solid surface top? Heard black solid surface will show up scratches more than white. Actually black granite top is beautiful. An island will definitely come in handy, size not withstanding. We are taking baby steps when it comes to baking. Just did our very first batch of chocolate chip cookies with the kids, thanks to Betty Crocker.

Dont want to do the desert theme lah..prefer the green green grass of home. Hubby is the only coffee drinker in the house. Will probably get him a Nespresso as a present...shhh dont tell him ok. Hey band members, we've gotten ourselves a ke tai compere. Dont worry will de-Beng him and train him to be more zany.