Showing posts with label IKEA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IKEA. Show all posts

Monday, September 7, 2015

Killer windows

Windows cleaning is no joke. I kid you not.

Spent the entire Sunday before last, washing and cleaning the many windows in our house. Between my good friend and I, we covered 4 that day (ie. 2 each). There were 3 more to get done... Foyer windows, which I've cleaned thoroughly once (after wet works) so I may just give those a wipe-down before we move in. Living room windows, which the bf did once (but he only cleaned the glass, not the frames - doh!). Yesterday was spent doing the one set of windows that's the hardest of all to clean - the bay window in the bedroom. But boy, what a sense of accomplishment it gave me seeing the end product once it's done.


Nice clear view from the platform bed. Not much to see but it's windy at least. :P And no more blotches of dust and dirt on the glass~ 3 pails of water it took me before the water turned a murky grey. (Needless to say - the first 2 were almost black.) I had to stick the fully-extended window sponge/squeegee cleaner out thru the tiny casement on top (while standing) to be able to reach the bottom of the bay window glass panel on the outside. 4 hours of hard work to get it sparkling clean!

The intention is to turn this area into a cosy reading nook - lay a fluffy carpet on the ledge, throw in a couple of different-sized cushions and we'll be all set!

Painting has been completed. Mr Leong was not a happy bunny and complained that I took too long to get back to them for touch-ups, so I had to top up an additional $100 for them to come back. Pfft.

Also had our 'new' TV wall-mounted this weekend. The bf's friend recommended the full-motion Sanus VMF220-B1 so that was what we went with. Love how it swivels left and right. I can watch TV while doing the dishes in the kitchen now! :D



The ID is arranging for the final round of cleaning this week. Have some slight defects on the platform that I need him to fix but he said the carpenters are already complaining at the number of trips they've made back to our place. Hope they can fix it - I don't think I can live with cracked laminate and broken silicon edges.

This Friday is polling day. My colleague and her husband will be coming over after voting to help me with the installation of our IKEA curtain rods. Wardrobe and fridge will be delivered on Saturday and I aim to get some diy wallpaper in the foyer. If time is on my side, I also hope to get enough packed on Sunday to start moving some of the smaller stuff over from my parents' to ours, with a driver friend's help.

In other news, Bailey's condition is deteriorating... :( She seemed to be improving slowly 2 weekends ago, so I actually called to cancel the appointment with Cat Clinic the following Monday and just retain her existing review appointment with Joyous Vet. But since she got back from her review last Thursday, she looks to be having difficulty lifting her hind legs in the litter box to poo even! Not good. Dr Heng is only at the clinic this Saturday and her appointment slots are full. So I may have to bring her in for the cartrophen jab as a walk-in patient.

Bailey's health issue is the only glitch in my happy moving plans right now. I might have to leave her with my parents if she doesn't get well anytime soon, cuz a move (ie. a change of environment) may prove too stressful for her. (Not sure if my prolonged absence will be any better tho.)

Seesawing between depression and anticipation...

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Off to IKEA I went again

Spent the entire Saturday last weekend at IKEA Tampines shopping by myself (the bf got his knickers in a twist at lunch and stomped off -that's a story for another day- but pffft, who needs men!?). This trip was mostly to get wall fixtures initially - towel rack, kitchen hangers, curtain rods etc and I thought I could bring it home by myself in a cab but I actually got told off by the cabbie when I tried to board cuz my rods were too long (2.1m in length) and they couldn't fit.

Uncle: It's too long! Cannot fit across the back seat!
Me: Ohh. How about we put it between the front seats so it goes across from the front to the back?  
Uncle: No no no! What if it goes thru the glass behind my back seat!?
Me: ...
Uncle: Or later the rod whack me in the face how!? Who's going to be responsible!?
Me: ..........
Uncle: Cannot cannot cannot! I cannot take you! You go find those 9-seater cab!

All these complete with agitated hand gestures. Not sure what I owed him previously. :P Oh well, after that episode, I decided to go back upstairs to arrange for delivery rather than to waste time trying and risk getting blistered by yet another angry you-owe-me-money-in-your-past-life cabbie.

Some of the things I bought in the 1st round:


After queueing a good 30-45 minutes to arrange for my stuff to be delivered and then finding out that (besides having to pay a good $55 to send those few miserable items) I had to hand carry the smaller pieces home cuz the delivery guys were afraid they might lose them, I figured I might as well check if I can add more items to my delivery order should I buy more. It actually costs $5 per add-on item after you've made arrangements, but I appealed to the kind lady handling my order by telling her how the cab driver didn't want to take me and I really only had a few items, so she took pity on me and told me they will let me do it as long as it was by that night. YES! Back into IKEA I went...

More things I ended up with in the 2nd round:


Also wanted this mirror but it was out of stock when I got to the aisle. Added to my shopping list for the next IKEA trip!

Sunday saw me joining the ranks of the 月光族 handing over the final cheque to the ID... 

Monday had me rushing Bailey to the vet cuz she's not well again... She was hiding under our bed the entire Sunday and looking giddy on Monday morning. Her historical imbalance problem seems to be back. :( Dr Heng prescribed daily painkillers and nerve support supps. Not sure if that's going to help much... Will be getting a second opinion from Dr Geetha next Monday at Cat Clinic.

Wednesday was me looking for that industrial sealant at Selfix Jurong Point for my shoji door tracks in vain - they only had the rubbery finish type. Also found out that I can't vote in the area where our new place is at (gotta register with your latest address by Feb 2015) so I guess I'll just continue to vote at my parents' area, boo~

Today scored me a good deal off someone from Carousell. Bought and picked up a used (1 month+ old) 49" LG UHD TV. The size seems a bit much for my tiny living room and it was $200 past my original budget for a TV, but it was too sweet an offer at $1K with almost 5 years warranty so I ran with it. Looking forward to my couch potato days! :D

Tomorrow is family dinner.
Saturday is windows-cleaning + mattress delivery.
Sunday is painting touch-ups (postponed from tomorrow) + IKEA delivery...

Busy busy week!

Saturday, August 8, 2015

I is for IKEA & Inspirations

Hopped over to IKEA Alexandra yesterday for some furnishing recce and was really inspired by some of the smart decorating ideas they had in-store. Wasn't very fond of the crowd tho - it was just absolute long-weekend madness.

Finally found the E27 3.5W warm light bulbs that I needed for the 2 bedside lamps. The original ones that came with the lights were in 2 different colours! (Just goes to show you again that you can't trust China products/sellers too much - they have no quality control whatsoever - they just throw in whatever and hope you don't complain) The bulbs at IKEA weren't cheap, but after already wasting money on 2 cheap ones that aren't of the right dimensions from Qoo10, I decided to just go with what I can see in IKEA rather than buying blind and risk getting it wrong again. Even if the price is double what it is. :(

Also scored this awesome Ryssby 2014 lamp shade (in birch) that was originally priced at $119 for just $20. :D I was already eyeing it 6 months ago when I first spotted it at IKEA, but $100+ for a lamp shade seemed like a bit of a splurge back then, so I couldn't convince myself to part with my money. But $20 now??? How to resist!? I willingly handed it over this time lol. Probably priced to sell cuz it has been discontinued and they just want to clear their remaining stocks pronto. But doesn't matter to me, pretty is pretty even when discontinued hahaha.

Gonna be the replacement for the Japanese shoji paper one (also from IKEA) I have up in our foyer right now. It may not be immediate cuz that one still works, even if its pretty old and tattered as you can probably tell from the pictures...

 

Other plans this weekend - vet today with Bailey and more diy goodness (with some cleaning thrown in, if I have time) tomorrow at our new place! :)

Update: Just got a notification email from 65daigou this evening that my Japanese sliding doors are in town! :D Earliest available delivery date is actually next Tuesday but with work being as busy as it has been lately, I'd much rather not take the risk of not being able to make it home in time, so I've arranged for delivery on Friday night instead. Can't wait to see those doors!