Colour makes the world go round

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aquamarine office, aquamarine study, blue hallway, colours make me happy, nippon paint, paint, purple bedroom

Oh yay. See how much a splash of colour (yes, it is rather liberal splash) can make a place look so much happier and prettier.

Blue Charm in the hallway

Blue charm in the hallway. I love the variation of blue due to the shadows. At first, I wanted Cosmic Navy but my dad argued that it was too dark and so I chose Blue Charm which was a medium-shade saturated blue. It was already an uphill fight to get him to agree to anything other than white for the hallway. I’m glad of my choice. White will have looked too ordinary and shadowy. Instead of brightening, it will have emphasised the lack of light in the hallway.

Charming Lilac for the bedroom

For a while, I second-guessed my choice of purple for the bedroom. While I loved it for my bedroom (aka the girls room), I was wavering for the master bedroom. It seemed a little too childish and too romantic for the parents. A neutral may have been better? However, after moving in the furniture, it wasn’t as immature as I imagined. Instead, it acted as a more modern touch to the room. Plus, the colour fit in well with the rest of the house.

a tiny slice of the aquamarine study

I love love love the aquamarine in the study. I was initially afraid that it will be too bright or too harsh but the colour is just so perfect.

Initially, I wanted to DIY the painting and open up the kitchen. However, due to the lack of time, (we had to move out of our then-current place within 3 weeks of getting the keys to the new place), the kitchen renovation was scrapped and my labour was redirected into packing for the move.

We engaged a contractor to complete the painting, refinish the hardwood floors, do some minor removal of built-ins left by the previous owner, polish the toilet tiles/marble and overall cleaning. It was very reasonable: total cost was around 3800.

I will say that the contractor did a pretty good job though I wished that he used low/no-VOC paint rather than the default paint option. I had a horrible headache from all the off-gassing on the first day of the move.

(note: 9 days from the day of the move and the house still smells)

Paint used: (paint codes to come when I finally unearth my paint samples)

• Living room – Nippon Paint Urban Grey
• Hallway – Nippon Paint Blue Charm
• Doors – Nippon Paint Bodelac White
• Master bedroom – Nippon Paint Charming Lilac
• Bedroom – Nippon Paint Charming Lilac and Lilac White
• Ceilings – Nippon Paint Matex (white)

What I will have done differently:

• used the more expensive but less headache-inducing paint option: colour-match everything into Nippon Paint Odourless EasyWash or Odourless premium all-in-1 and Nippon Paint Aqua Bodelac

oh sad sad place, you will be loved

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before renovation, blah, original house

Here’s a look at our new place when we finally received the keys. It does take ages to actually buy a property, approximately 2 months from the day you put down the option to the day you actually get the key. I got a feeling that all my friends are sick of me talking all about moving without actually having a place to move into.

the entryway

Well, here is the real deal. It does look kind of sad and dingy. I will even say unloved. There are some places of water damage from the rain, leak, etc.

entryway – step right in

the living room – down with that “mirror wall”. I do like the blue colour but nope, it will go too.

another angle of the room

look at that gorgeous night sky

the narrow hallway

and the first door leads to…. the bathroom

bedroom for me and my two sisters aka the girls room. Tight squeeze

1 closet for 3 girls?!

going into the final room of the house – yup only 3 rooms for 6 people. Go figure

the larger room which will be the study room

the closet in the “study” room – designated purpose: storing the brother’s stuff and other unknowns

entering the master bedroom

master bedroom – look at that strange built-in (yes we are removing it)

master bedroom – view of the outside

master bedroom – linking back to the hallway

and a look into the kitchen – it is right by the front door

Still there are some things to love like the gorgeous wooden flooring and the full-length windows. I have no fear of heights (at least in the context of safe solid floor and sturdy window frames) and I just love the view from the living room.