Before & After: Hallway and Staircase

Before

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After

In fixing up this house, I've noticed that we've been trying to recreate parts of our apartment in Singapore. For example, the picture frames in the hallway - they're positioned the same way as when they were hanging in our Residences @ Somme bedroom.

As to the gallery wall by the staircase, this was the first thing I thought of doing when we bought the house. Putting it up was harder than I thought, but I think everything worked out in the end.

Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas everyone!

This year, our theme is minimalist - mostly because I was so busy fixing up the house, I forgot to buy holiday decor. By the time I got around to shopping for a tree, I was informed that the type I was looking for had been sold out by September. My idea was to place a pencil slim tree beside the foyer table to save on space (not to mention that it's the only logical location in our house for a Christmas tree).

As to the other decor items, most of what I was interested in, were either sold out or the last piece. My problem with the last piece is that it's not in a box and has probably been on display for weeks (meaning dusty). So, of course, I didn't want that.

Given the situation, I told my husband that we'll decorate next year instead. He was disappointed. Considering this is our first Christmas in the house, I could understand his sentiments. Fortunately, a trip to National Bookstore turned out to be lucky and they still had decor items stored in boxes in the stockroom. That's where the wreath and the tabletop Christmas tree came from.

The snowman stocking was sourced from SM and the red and gold balls were the ones we had on our old tree.

Supplier Ratings: Upcycle Manila

Supplier: Upcycle Manila
Price Tag: Php 9,000
Rating: Php 9/10 (10 being the highest)

Pros:
Another furniture piece I'm in love with! Even the underside of the table is smooth - many furniture makers don't give the hidden areas much thought. They're probably thinking that if no one can see it, why bother? Not the case here and I didn't even have to tell them about it. I usually instruct my suppliers to ensure that all sides are smooth and even then, there's no guarantee that they'll follow.

They also promised to deliver in 2 weeks (including weekends) and they kept their word.

Cons:
Can't really think of any, unless you count the time they forgot to do the order form. They already started on the furniture before I actually signed anything.

On hindsight though, I should have gone with my original measurements and made the length and width 10 centimeters longer. The table looks smaller than what I had imagined it to be (despite measuring many times).

Window Shopping: Accent Table

We need an end table to go between the blue sofa and the pale yellow armchair. But I want something with metal that way, it will add a bit of interest in that not everything is made of wood.

So, I started asking around - Mandaue Foam can do custom-made furniture, but not the ones with metal and it will take three months as their factory is in Cebu. Our most recent furniture supplier, Woods Innovation Center, doesn't do metal either. Other suppliers I asked were busy so I just ended up with two quotations.

Initially, I was considering 80 x 90 x 65(h) cm, but thought that the table might be too large for the space.

Dimensions: 70 x 80 x 65(h) cm

Biara Furniture
Rate: Php 19,200
Delivery Fee: Php 3000

Upcycle Manila
Rate: Php 8,000
Delivery Fee: Php 1,000

There's not much to think about here, Upcycle Manila wins hands down.

Before & After: The Study

Before

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After

By the way, that the fabric of the armchair color coordinates with the picture frames was not on purpose. I forgot that the prints were yellow and black, and had I remembered, I would have chosen something else.