Interior Sketches

"Our homes should be designed around the way we live".

I couldn't agree more with Australian interior designer Shaynna Blaze. She gives this and other pieces of very good advice in her book Design Your Home.Sure, I salivate over well styled interiors featured in glossy magazines (and Pinterest) but in the every day life, I agree that practicality comes first. So when planning our new home, the hubby and I decided on a simple strategy; plan the practical (need to have) stuff first then slowly layer in the fluff (decorations and want to have stuff).

Here are some of our early sketches of what we wanted our interior layout to look like. It was important for us to roughly map out the placement of key pieces of furniture and work out the flow of the rooms.

 

 

Our early sketches also helped a lot in communicating our vision of the house to the contractor (having not hired an interior designer). They also went a long way in helping us make good and fast decisions when shopping for furniture, giving us a sense of what pieces were require, what extras we had room for and the rough dimensions of the furniture we could use.

I am so glad the hubby and I sat down to do this up front. I imagined it also helped the reduce the number of disagreements we might have had. Now as the renovation of the house is in progress, I'm even happier we also sat down to plan out lots more of the tiny details. Boy, did we really get down to the nitty-gritty. We even have drawings after drawings and a multitude of spreadsheets detailing locations of each of the electrical sockets (number of points carefully decided based on our usage), TV points, phone lines, LAN cable, lighting, fans, air cons etc. Can't help ourselves, both beings nerds by profession.

Maybe I'll share those in another post....we'll see.

One night in Ipoh

Weekends.

How to keep them interesting?

For this lazy girl who loves her comfort zone, the most interesting ones usually involve the least planning. Like this one weekend when I just hopped on the proverbial bandwagon of someone else's plans. 

Try a different mode of transport. 

I'm pretty sure I can count the number of times I've been on a train in Malaysia on one hand. But travelling interstate? A definitive zero.

So when I heard that we were going to be travelling by train for this trip, and that it would only last a bearable two and a half hours, I said why the heck not?

Indulge in food. 

As always, discovering good food in new places is always a plus!

Stay in an awesome place. 

I went only knowing where we were going to stay, and all the thigs people have told me about other Sekeping er...hotels? 

Did not do any research on the one in Ipoh. 

When we got to Sekeping Kong Heng, the first thing I saw was the library. 

Fell in love instantly.

Soak in the place. 

Taking a walk about the town, randomly discovering stuff, and just watching what a Sunday looks like here was pretty awesome. Even better when you have commentary from a former local. 

Quote of the Month: July 2014

Bad Hair Year - Part3: L'occitane Soothing Shampoo and Conditioner Review

Two shampoos into my bad hair year but I still had not found one that really helped. By this point, the hair loss had eased a tiny bit but the itching and flaking continued. A very dear friend who knew about my hair woes promptly went and bought me the L'occitane Soothing Shampoo and Conditioner to try. (Thank you so much dearie!). There were many great reviews on this product range and I was thrilled to have received this wonderful gift.



Shampoo description:
"Formulated with a natural origin vegetable complex of 5 essential oils, this shampoo helps soothe sensitive or irritated scalp. It also adds a genuine softness to hair, delicately cleanses and purifies the scalp and immediately eases irritations and aggressions. The scalp returns to a healthy and comfortable state, for stronger, beautiful hair"








Conditioner description:
"Formulated with a natural origin vegetable complex of 5 essential oils (chamomile, mandarin, cedar, basil, and lemongrass) and sweet almond oil, this conditioner helps soothe sensitive or irritated scalp. It immediately eases irritations and aggressions and helps to protect the scalp against the damaging effects of environmental stresses. Hair is detangled, soft and shiny"





My verdict:

Like all L'occitane products the scent of the shampoo and conditioner were heavenly. It felt calming and soothing every time I washed my hair and inhaled the delicious scent of the essential oils. In my book when it comes to scent, this reigns champion. Apart from having to use a slightly generous amount of shampoo to work up a good lather, both shampoo and conditioner worked well, leaving my hair feeling wonderfully clean, soft and light. However, in terms of helping the scalp and immediately easing irritations and aggressions, they did nothing for me. The itching and flaking so frustratingly continued on and so did my search for a shampoo just right for me. 

Falling in love with Interior Design - Inspiration by Abigail Ahern

I came to read about Abigal Ahern by chance really.

She was featured in the March 2013 issue of Australian Home Beautiful which I happened to pick up at that time. I loved the article but didn't think much about it until seeing a picture of her loft again online.

Image from deardesigner.co.uk

I knew I had seen that aesthetic somewhere before. A little more digging after that led me to her website and on to her blog. Then on, I just fell in love.

Maybe it is her easy to read and candid style of writing or the stunning and unique photos but it all just seemed to resonate with me. Full of ideas and inspiration, Abigail's blog is a gem. Most importantly, she offers fantastic tips and honest advice on interior decoration (the Abigail Ahern way).

Her interiors are extraordinary - at the borderline of over the top, quirky and on the "dark side" (as she puts it) but undoubtedly captivating . I know it's not the definition of my decorating style but all the same Abigail's little tips resound in my head...

"Don't be afraid to play with scale"

"Add texture"

"Experiment, play with colours"

"Forget the rules"

"Baby steps"

"It will turn out well, I promise"


Abigail has really inspired me to be much bolder than I'd ever though I'd be when working on the new house. Just last week, I convinced my husband to buy this over sized wall sconce for the stairway leading to our rooftop patio. Something I know I would never have done otherwise.

My husband and I took a leap of faith and painted all the bedroom doors dark grey (instead of keeping them white). Baby steps........the doors turned out fantastic and we absolutely love, love, love them.

I'm now working on a very bold look for the foyer and I just know it will turn out well.

Weekend Project: Customized Wedding Gift

I spent a weekend crafting a wedding present for my baby sister's friend. Such is the un-glamorous life I lead. Sigh.........

We got the inspiration for this project from a specialty store we chanced upon while in Singapore last year. Ink was in wedding gift heaven trying to choose between several beautiful wedding themed china, stationery and loads of cute typography pieces for D's wedding. I didn't mind owning half the things in the shop either.

But, as usual, we hit that point where we looked at each other and said "Meh...we could make something like that, too!"

After the trip, I came home and decided to do a customized piece of my own. Handmade and personalized items are always the best wedding gifts!

And so here it is,  the "Mr & Mrs" plaque, customized for D's wedding.

Bad Hair Year - Part2: Burt's Bees Pomegranate Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner Review

After having the Kheil's shampoo work not so well for me, I went on to try yet another volumizing shampoo. This time I picked up Burt's Bees Very Volumizing Shampoo & Conditioner with Pomegranate. Again, great reviews online. I know volumizing does not equal hair thickening but I was willing to try anything to ensure my hair loss didn't become too apparent. 

Shampoo description: 
99.6% Natural

Turn up the volume and body of your hair with our Very volumizing shampoo. This gentle shampoo easily rinses and adds super shine while leaving your hair feeling thicker and looking oh-so fuller. Formulated with antioxidant-rich pomegranate seed oil and jojoba protein, a natural moisturizer. It’s the nourishing shampoo that gives you beauty-FULL healthy looking hair.

• Moisturizes with pomegranate seed oil and jojoba protein
• Add shines to hair
• Smoothes and reduces frizz
• Sulfate-Free

Conditioner description:
98.8% Natural
Show your hair how much you care when you naturally boost its volume with our Very Volumizing Conditioner. Lightweight and amino acid-rich, this gentle conditioner not only rinses easily but also leaves your hair looking fuller and feeling thoroughly thicker. Formulated with nourishing pomegranate seed and avocado oils, it helps detangle while adding softness and body every time you use it

• Nourishes with pomegranate seed and avocado oils
• Rinses easily and detangles
• Adds volume and body to hair
• Leaves hair looking beautiful and healthy
• Sulfate-Free

My verdict:

Being sensitive to smell, the scent of the shampoo is usually the first thing I notice. This was not love at first sight (first smell in this case). I initially thought it to be a bit weird. I could smell the pomegranate but it was very faint and muted. I kind of wanted the scent to be a stronger. I guess being 99.6% natural there is no added perfume. Certainly different from what I'm normally used to where the scent jumps right at you and is an onslaught to the senses. In the conditioner however, I thought the scent was a bit stronger.

However, as I used the shampoo again and again, I got used to it and began to really love it. Both shampoo and conditioner were lovely. They helped with volume and my hair felt great overall. Also rather surprisingly, itchiness of my scalp reduced a bit although the flaking did not stop all together.  

I finished the set and have kept both the empty bottles.  I definitely plan on buying the Pomegranate Shampoo and Conditioner again and will return empty bottles to Burt's Bees to get a discount the next purchase.