What I would want to renovate first is the area where we take shower.

Having a shower enclosure will be a great idea so that the rest of the room will not be wet by the current environment.

I am checking out the website at www.betterbathrooms.com. If only we have that kind of vast choices in Malaysia. I wish to share some pictures here but their images are copyrighted. So please have a look at their website to get a picture of what I have in mind for my next bathroom renovation.

They also have baths suitable for limited space. Their range of small baths available starting from 1500mm in length. Of course if the budget is there, I would love to have a Whirlpool bath. I could be enjoying at home spa treatment by soaking myself in a warm, nice bubbly bath. What a nice way to wrap up a hectic and long day.

So what about your choice? A jacuzzi shower or a bath?

So I searched again but found another shop that has the kids wall decal patterns like Pororo. The online shop is IR Korea Deco.

This transparent decal is available in Size: 50cm X 70cm and priced at RM51. And they also have designs like Thomas, Cars, castle, you know designs that will suit a kid’s room.

In my craft room I want to put decal design like this flower motif.

This Wind Flower motif comes in size 35cm X 50cm and is priced at RM28.

What do you think?

For those who never heard about Feng Shui, it is a Chinese discipline that aims to reduce clutter and improve atmosphere by attracting and enhancing life energy (chi).

Reading through all the points listed in that article, I found out that I have been making most of the mistakes, which is maybe why I waste all the energy and potential to earn more all these while..huhu!

So time to clean up all the clutters and scrub the stoves..hehe!

Ever wonder what termite images will look like? Check out the link and you can see how warrior-like and nuisance those tiny creatures really are drilling your wood furniture. I know my craft cabinet is going to dissolve soon. This is what happen when you buy cheap furniture made from untreated wood..huhu!

What should I do with the infested furniture? Reading what the readers ask on the website made me shudder in fear. Quoted here, “If a piece of furniture is infested, you can either trash it (which may not be a big deal if it’s old or used) or have it treated. Treatment will require a pest control company. Usually they will drill a hole in it and pump in pesticides in liquid or foam form. It may not be worth it if the furniture is cheap. However, you CAN’T just let things be, because if you do, they will migrate from the furniture into your home in general. If you have already had the furniture inside, you should get your house inspected as well.”

I have about 2-3 wood furniture situated nearby the infested crafts cabinet. Those bunch of furniture are quite expensive, I spent around RM3000 for the TV cabinet, a side cabinet and the crafts display cabinet..huhu! Should I get help from pest control company or just let it be?

Lesson learned, next time buy treated wood furniture from IKEA..heh!

How would you like to have a dream game room in your home where you can play all you want without having to fork out the small change?

With my magic slots machines your dream of a mini Vegas could come true. Imagine your friends and nephews enjoying the fun time together playing the slots and winning with greater luck. Of course you need to make sure that the machines you are going to buy will give higher payout so that it won’t deter the motivation of all the new players..heh!

Or if you know any relatives in need of repair job for their old slot machines, Ace Distributing has been in the business of trading, selling and repairing slot machines since 1975. Now who says fun couldn’t be achieved in your own home?

Since I have moved everything related to my craft business from the lower level of my house to a room upstairs, I was thinking of getting a proper workspace furniture.

It should be something like a table for me to work on – my scrapbooking, ribbon embroidery, decoupage, folk art painting etc while the other furniture should also be able to display and store most of my craft stuffs.

I found one article that mention about workspace for craft project: Your Craft Table Workspace Can Make Or Break A Project and I think the problem now is to find the right furniture solution that I need.

After searching online, I found something that could be used for my ribbons storage at smartfurniture.com. What do you think of it? At least with an open cube furniture like this I can get to see the type and different colors for the ribbons.

Now the next big question, how much do I have to invest into all this workspace makeover? huhu!

Anyway, if you are planning to invest in a Sony Bravia flat panel, by all means go on with your plan as I have read many reviews on the Internet and no one ever regret their decision to buy one. With its superb 1080p picture, the review says those with Xbox 360 will definitely appreciate this feature. The same goes with owners of PS3. I guess that’s why my rich friend who is an avid gamer decided to buy this flat panel for his gaming quest.

Oh, if you like to accessorize your Sony Bravia, it also comes with designer bezel. The kit comes with matching color trim pieces for the TV’s screen bezel and pedestal stand in color like Arctic White and Pacific Blue.

Next time I get money from blogging, I will save up for this TV..hehe!

If my place has extra space outside, I would love to consider having one of this DIY Future Steel garage/workshop to be erected. Browsing through their business website, I read that their Future Steel buildings are made of the finest steel available in the world today, Galvalume PlusTM from Dofasco and it comes with 30 year warranty. And for a company that has been a steel building manufacturer for 25 years, I know they know the best in the steel matter.

Oh, they also have blog that shares news and tips from their clients and readers. I have been thinking of painting my living hall for ages but I am so scared that the chore will turn into a messy situation. Do read the Future Steel entries in the category of DIY Tips and Mishaps.

What do you think? Will I be able to assemble and raise my own Future Steel building? hehe..I doubt it..sigh!

One thing I love the most when going on vacation at 4 or 5 star hotel is their superb bathroom. I always imagine that one day when I have a big house, I will make sure that my bathroom will be very spacious so that I could invent my own spa in the home..heh!

But for now maybe what I can do is accessorize my existing bathroom by buying different style of tap, shower head or heated towel rail. Check out this online bathroom shop. I love the idea of having heated towel rail in the bathroom. I hate to be wrapped in damp and wet towel.

I would also love to have a separate shower enclosure so that the bathroom could be kept dry most of the time. Hopefully one day I will be rich enough to afford this Hydro therapy quadrant shower enclosure in my bathroom.

I’m sure I will enjoy my bath moment so much..wink!

I’ve read somewhere that in America, many cases of identity theft happened in Western states through mailbox digging. Yes, those unlocked mailboxes are treasure troves for those identity thieves. You might not think that all those bills, bank statements sent to your mailbox everyday would mean much (except a proof on how much debt you have..heh!), but for the thief, that’s all they need to be another you.

It’s time that you change your normal mailbox to a more secured, locking mailbox. Having one of the sleek locking mailboxes like this provides not only harder target to the thief but it could give you a peace of mind whenever you have to be away from home for quite some times and have no one to help you pick the mail.

One of the steps that you can do to prevent identity theft is to promptly pick the mail after delivery and never leave the mail overnight in the mailbox during weekend. If you can send the outgoing mail through your own mailbox, avoid doing that and send them at the post office. And if you are living in apartment, ask the management to provide a security mailbox clusters for the residents to use.

Don’t let yourself be vulnerable just because you take it easy on the mail.

At the moment all the houses in my area are having standard column mounted mailboxes with a slot so small that the postman has to fold my magazine in two in order for him to put inside the mailbox slot.

There is nothing more annoying than to find all my craft and scrapbooking items which I ordered from overseas and were sent as letter to be damaged just because it could not fit through the mailbox slot.

I really feel what the housing developers should think when they are going to construct new houses next time is to change the standard size of the residential mailboxes.

Maybe I have to get one of these commercial mailboxes.

For example this Dvault DVU0050BL Black Column or Post Mount Delivery Vault will let the postal guy do his job faster and I could get my parcel in good condition.

With its small bundle and package drop door, the delivery agents could simply open, drop and go. I’m waiting for another package of scrapbooking embellishment next week and I hope this time I could catch the mailman before he manage to do any excessive damage on that fragile stuffs..huhu!

A friend came over today for some handcraft projects. While doing the work we watched a show on the cable TV about interior design. I found it really irritating that the solution for the designer to beautify the home of the participant is by taking out all his furniture – sofa, TV rack and even his living hall curtain and changing them with his choices of furniture.

I wonder if those kind of designers come to my house, how much of my junk they will throw out. I would applaud them if they manage to decorate my home without changing anything major like sofa etc. That’s the real challenge for me, to make do with whatever I already have, rather than spend money to buy a new one. (If that is the solution, I don’t need an interior designer to settle my problem, right?)

Anyway I found one article that might help those who are in the same boat as I am. Check this How to Clean Your Room Fast. I will try to implement this..when?..huhu..maybe later..haha! I think the tips would be really great when you have some unexpected guests coming over..or your in law coming to spot check your room..heh!

If you are a busy woman, how often do you clean your house?

I mean clean like sweep the floor, scrub the toilet, mop the floor etc. In my case I think I only clean the house like once in two months (or less frequent up to how much the dust gather under my feet..haha!)

I know there are people who clean their house everyday.

They mop the floor of their kitchen every time they finish cooking, they sweep the house like every morning and I salute them for their tidiness freak trait.

If there is one part of the house I really dread to clean it is the kitchen. Not that my kitchen is really a big mess, but it is not immaculately clean as Martha Stewart’s kitchen.

So if you are like me who don’t know where to start on kitchen cleaning, hopefully this cleaning tips would help.
(Photo by bruno-free)

Everytime I intend to throw away that pile of books, that box of old shirts, one weird feeling of being very, very sentimental envelopes me and in the end I put all those stuffs back into the so called store under my stairs.

You see I live in a double storey house with big wooden stairs leading to the second floor and underneath those stairs is a large empty space (it used to be empty when I moved in 4 years ago..hehe!).

The space is open to public view because I think the house developer never thought they would have any occupant like me who has so much junks in her life..haha!

So since I would never have enough rooms (all have been filled with other stuffs that might be useful for now) to keep all the junks, I have to resort to put the boxes on the floor, on that “space beneath the stairs”.

I think it’s time that I try this Keep-It-Clean Plan.

Hope I would be able to do some real spring cleaning this year!
(PHOTO: FROM REALSIMPLE.COM BY MIKKEL VANG)

I always want to have blinds in my room but with the kind of weather that I’m having at this side of the globe, I don’t think it will be suitable. I always imagine having extra cash to renovate my SOHO so that I could have a sliding tinted window and put blinds instead of normal curtain. On good day I would be able to peep through the Venetian blinds and see the sexy neighbor at the back of my house (as if he is sexy..haha!)

Which one would you prefer? A Venetian or Roman blinds? If you are interested with wooden blinds to decorate your window and sliding door, check out the selection they have at Terry’s Fabrics.

The one on the right is Venetian Blinds in Chalk color. This 35mm Slat Venetian Blind made from quality hardwood is available in Chalk and Mocha with a 160cm drop. Whereas this left-side image is an Old Colonial Roman Blinds in Fiji design. These blinds all have a long length of 180cm (71″), and come in 4 widths and available in 4 colors.

All these blinds are easy to maintain as you just need to wipe them with soft cloth. Using wooden blinds as window dressing is very popular nowadays especially with the rising acceptance of contemporary room styles and the use of wooden floors.

I found a local article about how to dress up your window. As it was written for newspaper that is well-known for good grammar and proper sentence I kind of like what the writer was writing about.

I always have a great fond for sheer curtain but I am yet to implement it bravely in any room. I only have sheer curtains on my sliding door in my living room but even those are accompanied with heavy drape.

Maybe when I move to a bungalow on top of the hill, I would be able to have sheer curtains everywhere so that I would be able to enjoy the outdoor view without worrying that people could see me in less appropriate clothing..haha!

Do you have rugs at home? If you have, why do you choose rugs instead of other types of floor decorative element?

I have a friend who hates the idea of having carpets and rugs at home. She said it will be hard to clean and they collect dusts, bla bla.

Personally, I like carpets and rugs to cover the cold, hard floor of my living room and bedroom. I hate to walk on cold floor.

They absorb sound and comfort my feet, give it a sense of luxury and peace for a house to be called as home.

I’m being romantic again over this rugs issue..hahaha..

Well seriously if you need to buy one for your home, read the guides on how to choose rugs and carpets here.

If you still have doubt on why you should have carpets and rugs at home, check this articles on benefits of carpets and rugs.

I always want to have a room specifically designed for me to enjoy reading. I don’t want something that looks like ancient library, rather a soothing and calm looking room that free of everyday clutter. It should have a nice space for me to lounge with my favourite book of the week, with stool to rest my feet and a side table for me to put my freshly squeezed orange juice.

Perhaps there will be bookcases too in that room so that I can carefully arrange my book collections accordingly. A proper air ventilation system will be needed because I don’t want to be trapped in a hot and stuffy room.

Enough of my makeover plan, maybe for now I just have to make do with my bedroom and find ways to read in bed more comfortably. Check the items they have for reading in bed. Check also the tips on how to work in bed. I never know that there exist a special pillow for reading. Now I have to check the local store for such items.