Get organised - Finding Homes!

I am a naturally messy person. Not messy in my work or outlook but very much messy and disorganised in the way I keep my things.

I would start with arranging things nicely but after that , I just dump everything in any space I have. It would not be visible though because everything is tucked away in boxes or drawers but if you look inside, you can seriously faint. Not joking.

My husby is the exact opposite. 90% of his things are organised and he knows where to find his receipts, belongings etc. I basically just lose everything. Maybe reading all those 'How to Keep Yourself Organised' books really did help.

Even his work cubicle is soooooo much nicer and neater than mine! I get quite jealous whenever I go over to his school and sits at his desk.

I'll show you mine first.

That stack of papers has been there since forever!

Another stack....perhaps they are meant to be permanent fixtures at my cubicle :P

Boring boring....super boring. I shall go find ribbons to spice things up a little. 

And now you will see his......................

Seriously? It looks like a toy shop and everything is neatly filed and placed in separate shelves at the side. Oh Wow... and check out his cool phone !

His advice to me was everything must have a home. It is much easier to clear any mess when we know where every single piece is supposed to go.

That's my main problem actually. I would just dump my things in any storage space available. As long as it looks nice and neat from outside, I don't really care about how it looks inside. Heh. So unladylike yah?

I have tried to improve slowly though and it has worked whenever my things have their proper homes. Amazingly though , I have managed to keep up with the neatness (only when the homes are specific).

Recently I bought this inner scarves organiser from an online seller Sue Tariq. .. and I am seriously recommending it to anyone out there who wants to their inner scarves or socks to be neatly arranged and easy to grab!

This used to be how I stored my inner scarves. I do suffer from mild OCD where everything that I wear must match. Pink shawl must have its own pink inner scarf and the shade must be similar. That explains the numerous number of inner scarves I have. But see...so messy! 

I like how the stripes remind me of one of the COACH designs :P

Each slot can contain 2 inner scarves for me - I roll them. There are 36 slots together so definitely enough for my 48 inners !

Neat or what??? When I took the photo, some of my inner scarves were still in the machine. After putting them in, I had about 5 slots left . They were used for my socks :)

I super love my inner scarves organiser. The measurements are just right to be placed in one of my drawers. It has been a few weeks now and they still look neat. This is definitely for keeps!

Another shop I would like to share for great storage boxes and home products etc would be Howard Storage. Husby and I have bought many things there  - from soap dispensers, laundry basket to even toilet paper holders. I love their designs and their functionality as well. 

Aesthetically pleasing yet practical - best combo ever! 

I have been wanting to purchase this acrylic organiser for my make up but they cost $135. I thought it was little too expensive so the plan has been shelved so many times.. until recently when I noticed the price went down to $68.75! Yeah!!!

The one at the back is recommended for jewellery but I use it to store my make up instead. The lipstick holder costs about $15  (cannot remember exact price). I originally bought the lipstick holder for my mum until I realised that she only has two colours that she rotates each day so I decided it would be a waste to give that to her :P 

I then spent about half an hour going through what I had and  throwing out those I rarely use or  were past their shelf lives. Oh god...the amount of nonsense I stored!

It is seriously  very therapeutic doing such things ...and I love the end product!

The lipstick/cream holder on top left costs about $25. I like how the organiser has a flat top - that enabled me to add on the separates.  

From top to bottom:
 Lipstick ,handcream , eye cream, liners
blushers and individual eyeshadow pots
concealer, highlighters, more eyeshadown pots
foundation, pressed powder, two-way cakes
eyeshadow and lip palettes

Now I really understand what the husby meant when he said that life is easier when everything has its own home. I no longer find myself digging through my 3 make up bags to find just that one item now that I know where everything is. The see through acrylic case makes it even easier as I can see the items before even pulling out the drawers.

I feel so neat (at least only in this are) that it feels surreal.... hahahahah.... told ya I am a naturally messy person so this is a HUGE progress for me!

One of the compartments in my wardrobe (yup, I have no dresser)... super much neater than how it used to be.
The black round Anna Sui inspired container is where the many rings go to,  the two candylicious cans (bought from Candylicious store at USS)  are for my flower and ribbon brooches, and the brown box is for my other brooches.
Notice the photo frame?That's of bestie and I after our graduation. We went to some makeover studio...hahah....we looked kinda funny there!

As I have mentioned, we love going to Howard Storage! I can spend a long time inside looking at everything and imagining which ones I would need for the home (but we all know that women always end up buying unnecessary things, agree?)

But the things there are a little pricey and I always have to think twice or thrice , and make two or three trips, before deciding if I should get them. There is no point waiting for sales because they rarely have them. :(

My friends and colleagues (and if you follow me on Instagram) would know how crazy I am over bags, shoes and accessories! Again, all I did was dump them into a big box until I decided to get the stands from Howard Storage.

This faces my bed and has been filled up , to my joy. Our bedroom is pretty simple so I love how these colours brighten up the place. Some were gifts while others were bought from anywhere and everywhere. My favourite places would be Louvisa, Diva and ALDO.
The stand was about $26 each.

As for the mister, he opted for this stackable storage boxes from the same place. There is no cover and you can just buy more and stack them up, when necessary. 

If you had noticed, together with my make up strorage, there is a 3-level wooden box. It works the same way as husby's one... just stack but you can buy the lid separately as well.

The interior  of each level varies... you can get those suitable for storing rings, necklaces, cuff links etc.. My third level is the same as the one on the right. Again, I've forgotten the price but it should be about $20 -25 per level. .. got to buy all separately.

We really like this Howard Storage store. If I have the moolah, almost every imaginable storage in my house will be from there.  Our only wish now is for it to embark on some VIP / membership loyalty perks that we can enjoy ... hehe...

Well, that's a small part of me that has been organised (and still going on strong) . I hope to work on my toiletries storage next  and then to the more ambitious area - the kitchen. I have very little time left though - school hols are coming to an end - so please do not expect too much . Heh

Hope this helps a little for similarly messy people out there!

Remember, get homes!

CUSTOMISED WARDROBE PART 2 - UP WITH THE NEW AND SUPER LOVING IT!

From my previous post on my customised wardrobe, someone asked if I was going to have a walk-in wardrobe. As much as I wanted to say 'yes', sadly the answer is 'no' - we do not have a spare room for that and I would not settle for a teeny-weeny walk-in wardrobe just for the sake for having one.

The person actually replied,"Then it is a customised cupboard, lah. Not wardrobe!"

Oh please.... To put it simply, a cupboard refers to any kind of storage unit and you can have it in your kitchen , living room , storeroom etc to store whatever kinds of knick-knacks. A wardrobe is exclusively a place to store your clothes. It comes from the French word 'armoire', which means a free standing closet used for storing clothes. Now there are variations to the type of wardrobe one can have , for example, walk-in , built-in and customised.

Thus, wardrobe is basically a subset of the bigger group 'cupboard'.  TSK.

Anyway, it took them a week to get the wardrobe ready and finally, it was time to put it up in the room.

The dense me did not realise it would take more than a few hours to put everything together ... I thought it would take them an hour max. Thank god I did not arrange for anything else that day. It was pretty exciting, I tell you, to see  every little progress of our little wardrobe.

So have you guessed the colours?

Let the work begin!

I was basically stuck in the living room doing my own thang...and kept peeping every few minutes. Haha... that defines anxiety.

It was really pretty exciting to watch the workers bringing in the different parts... I saw everything from scratch. From the clear glass doors to the white shelves to the bright colours, god, I just wished they would finish in ten minutes or so! Haha.... if only there were magic to replace all those screwing and knocking!

Finally , after what seemed like ages , our lil wardrobe was ready!

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TA DAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I love the coloured sliding glass doors - so glad we decided on those. 
The single-standing cupboard was kind of like an afterthought. 

Do you like the colours?

I love them - so bright and cheerful! Our built-in wardrobe and furniture in the master bedroom lean more towards dark wood and bronze-gold finish so I wanted colours for this room.  A little unconventional and may not go well with some people but that's alright. My home , my wardrobe. Haha.

I always like to take my photos from a slight angle - don't ask me why! Anyway, a friend commented the colours make it look like a children's playroom. That's good actually... plan for the future :) 

This may sound weird but it was a rather enriching journey, planning our new space. We had wanted to just buy a common wardrobe off the shelves but that would mean we would have to make do with whatever interior that comes with it, rather than catering to our needs. Although it wasn't much, proper planning was essential to ensure that space is maximised to its potential.

I decided that I wanted more shelves (of different sizes) to make space for all the curtains, bedsheets etc etc, and less of the clothes rail.

Yellow hangers from Daiso!

'Heavy duty' things go to the bottom of the wardrobe - curtains and bedsheets.

Soon, it filled up.... I am quite a sucker for bedsheets ..must remind myself to stop buying!

Since we have too many baju kurungs , all are folded and go to the shelves. That includes my dresses. Only the ones in more delicate fabrics are hung. Somehow, I feel that saves space! 

Soft Closing Mechanism for the sliding doors - We did not ask for it but we got it! No more irritating sounds when closing the doors.

You would have noticed the opened orange shelves on the left. I initially wanted them on the right  but after studying our room space and beams, our contractor suggested them to be on the left instead. Eventually, they turned out more than fine and since the shelves do not have any door, it is good to hide them a little.

I had to give to away at least a hundred shawls and scarves. There were just too many and as long as I do not get rid of some, I won't be able to buy more , even with the new space.

Initial count was 258 but I am only left with these for now ...

It is definitely easier to have access to my shelves without the doors, especially when I am in a rush to grab my shawls. After a few days though, I got a little irritated. Since the shelves are tucked away in a corner and blocked by the separate shelving (go back and see photo if you have no idea what I am talking about :P) , it was too dark for me to locate the shawls I want or to see if the colours match my clothes. 

As always, my dad came to the rescue! He bought me LED lights that can just be stuck onto the walls of the shelves to give me the amount of light I need.

$8.50 each from any shops selling electronic goods. 

Problem solved!

No more squinting in the dark! 

And yes, I promised my bags that they would have a new home and would no longer have to squeeze and fight for space. Promise carried out! 

Still  a little messy... will sort it out when I have a bit more time. Whenever that is :) 
I realised that when I can see all my bags, I tend to try to use all of them as often as possible. Otherwise, I always stick to my usual ones. 

Needless to say, we are satisfied with what we get for a very reasonable price. 

A friend of mine engaged Mr David Seah from MU Designs to do up her Duxton apartment and recommended him to us. What makes it all very personal is that unlike the bigger companies which outsource most of their jobs, MU Designs does all the carpentry on their own. Mr Seah would also personally come to view your place before giving a quotation, keep you updated of the progress of your project (no matter how small) and finally comes down to monitor the installation itself. 

If you have any home projects in mind, do consider this very friendly man. You can hop over to the website http://edleuro.com/ or contact him directly at 96693287. 

Ok , bye! I need to to do the laundry! 

Customised Wardrobe Part 1 : Down with the old!

Five years ago when we moved into our current place, I brought along my then-already-3-yrs old cupboard. They looked pretty new and dad had given it a new coat of paint. Although we had our own customised wardrobe in the master bedroom, we felt that we needed some extra space.

And boy , did we need that!

I've always thought that it was big enough but you should have seen how cramped it was inside! Bedsheets, curtains, shawls, bags, traditional clothes, towels, praying attires etc etc. All squeezed into this 4-door cupboard , without much of a space to breathe. [All our work / going-out clothes and accessories are in our master bedroom.]

The left side is something like an L-shaped cupboard which allowed a little more space.

But a year or so ago, this COURTS cupboard started to fall apart. Shelves gave way and the clothes railing could no longer bear the weight of our baju kurongs etc. What we did then was to shift most of the clothes into IKeA boxes and only left a few on the rail. Each time the shelves gave way, I would put them back and arrange my shawls all over again.What a horrendous chore!

Finally, last week ,we decided enough is enough. We are going to have a customised wardrobe in the guest room , after much procastination.

We got a contact from a colleague of mine and after some market research and quotations, we finally decided on this recommendation as the price was the most affordable :)

We contacted Mr David Seah from MU Design Associates. He came to our place to look at our room , draw out our ideas and gave some of his own in return.

I am always particular about who we deal with - I must be able to communicate with that person and he must somehow be able to 'read my mind'. Make sense, no? Thus, Mr Seah gave me good vibes as he understood what we wanted and able to draw it out for us to visualise.

He came on Thursday night and said that they would demolish our current cupboard on Saturday morning.

What?!?! So fast??? That would mean I have to clear the cupboard in just one night...

Therefore, that was our Friday night project.... EMPTY the wardrobe!

The bottom area was mainly used to store bedsheets and curtains. I swear that they take up so much space! I must get rid of some soon...let go of the older ones.  Second shelf from the bottom (on the left) are some bags.

My poor bags having almost no ventilation as they are stacked up like that :( ...Patience babies...ur new home is coming soon!

Like a Tsunami-hit zone! Having nowhere else , we dumped as much as we could on the 3-seater sofa while the rest went on the floor.

Still not enough space..we had to spill over to the study room. Oh Gosh! 

On Saturday morning, Mr Seah and his workers came over to demolish the old cupboard and take measurements for the new ones....ooohh....exciting!

That's Mr Seah in grey. Look at the amount of dust on  the floor!

We haven't seen this side of the wall for a long, long time.  Soon, it will be time to say goodbye again.

For one whole week, I had to endure this eyesore in the guest room. It just looks super messy with everything on the sofa and the floor.

But hey , good things come to those who wait. Our new wardrobe will finally be installed tomorrow morning. I cannot wait to organise my stuff etc !

Look out for my update soon!

Oh, wanna guess the colours of the wardrobe?

Home Cleaning Services

One thing I have to admit is that the husband and I are definitely not neat freaks.

Yes, we love having our home looking nice and cosy but we are not like those who are very particular about every single corner of the house (sometimes I wish one of us is like that!).

We are also , honestly, very busy people. Our workload often spill into the nights and weekends. During peak periods, we can go without much of a social life as we persevere to finish our job , which fortunately or unfortunately, is also our greatest passion.

Thus, we have toyed with the idea of a part-time maid more than a few times. Both of us are violently against the idea of having a full-time maid staying with us so a part-time one is the next best thing.

After months, or probably years, of toying with that idea, I finally succumbed a few months back because  I could not take it anymore! Honestly , no energy left to do those tiring house chores ! (simple ones are still ok...)

So I went online and decided on Domestic One Home Services.

Initially, I wanted to go for the fortnightly services. That would mean paying $288 for agent fee and then $15 per hour for a minimum of 4 hrs per session - sounds very reasonable. However, husby reminded me that this superbly busy period will cease towards end of school semester and we may not need such a frequent home cleaning service. Finally , I decided to just opt for an ad-hoc service.

It was $110 for a 4-hr session. I was satisfied with how the housekeeper cleaned my house so a month later, I called again.

This time round, I was informed the price had been increased to $120 . So expensive lah...but no choice , it is something we really need at this moment. This time round, it was a younger lady but she was just as efficient as the first one. I have to say I am happy with the services of  Domestic One.

The third time, I decided to try out pinkmaids.sg , just because they are way cheaper - $80 for 4 hours. I was a little skeptical - what if the housekeeper was not as good as the first two?  But to my pleasant surprise, she was great as well! They all have their own strengths and weaknesses but as long as my house is really clean after that , I am happy!

However, the boss of pinkmaids is this really rude man. I do not want to go into details but omg , I really could not believe that anyone in the service industry could be so so rude! I may not return to them just because I do not want to experience the same rudeness again. A pity , isn't it? You have a great staff working for you but you lose customers just because you are short-tempered like that . Geez.....

I'll probably call back Domestic One for the next round of house cleaning .... just hope they won't increase their prices again!

Just a little peek into my humble home....

Lots of red and black!

So this is how the rich live life.....

We went down to Marina Square this afternoon to look for a housewarming gift for my sister.

After walking down the lane of shops selling home decor and furnishings, we stepped into this particular shop that seemed to be selling pretty unique stuffs.

But oh my... at exorbitant prices to boot!

Look at those chandeliers! Nothing was below $1.5k

 As we browsed around, there were some that caught my eyes and I started pretending to be able to afford all.... Hehhee... Here are pictures of some of the things I like.

Pewter-silver carpet at abt $1000 for that size. Oklah... not so bad. Shall consider :P

This wall clock caught my eye immediately. Was suggesting to husby to get it for ourselves but he was not convinced if it will fit into our home concept. Never mind, too ex anyway . $700+

Decorative pieces for the coffee table @ $739 for both. I wonder if that includes the fake cherries?

I like this table lamp! You cannot really see it but there are a lot of blings in the middle of this masterpiece. $2646

Isn't this gorgeous?I can really imagine it near the corner of my TV console. $3531 . * faints *

LOve this!!!! The whole stem is actually made of crystals...imagine when it is being lighted up? I cannot remember the exact price but it was about $9k? *faints again*

This whole dinner table set costs a whopping $32 000!!! Wahhh.... I can renovate my whole house again with that money...

Guess what this beautiful $3000+ carriage is for? To store bottles! Cannot be wine bottles since those would be too big. Evian ? Haha.....

Seriously, I am sure this is nothing to the rich. They probably come in and buy 10 pieces in a blink.

As for me, I am satisfied with just admiring them..LOL..

We finally did settle on something from the shop ... a rather worthy buy. But cannot put the picture up yet in case my sister drops by :)

I hope she likes our choice...if she doesn't, she can always pass it back to us because we love it too!

:P