skip to main |
skip to sidebar
On Friday and Saturday, the builders worked until close to 8PM (not supposed to have worked beyond 5PM, but oh well...) to try to finish the work on my flat, but the bathroom basin, washer/dryer and cabinets were still not installed.
On top of that, the delivery guys who brought in the fridge/freezer damaged part of the floor, dragging the heavy stainless steel unit across the kitchen area. I could not stand having those scars on new floor, so I asked the builders to see if they could fix them. The answer was that they could, though they could not completely cover the floor underneath the kitchen cabinets. I decided to go for it, even if that was the case.
So, with this additional work, three guys are sent in yesterday to work on my flat, and by 3PM, the work was completed. There are still small things here and there that need to be adjusted/fixed (on Saturday), but it is now in the live in condition.
I love everything about my new flat, but especially the bathroom. How lovely it is to have a bath, separate shower, and a washer/dryer. It looks a bit exotic, but not too much...and definitely NOT a hotel bathroom. I have more cabinets than all 3 bathrooms I had in my past apartments combined; amazing to be able to place bath towels within the bathroom cabinets!
The kitchen is gleaming with stainless steels (hobs, microwave, fridge/freezer and bin), but with wood (cabinets) and stone (splash back), it doesn't look too sterile.
While the completion took a week more than initially scheduled, it was actually within the time frame in my mind. Having launched few websites at work, I know that doing small things, such as debugging, takes far longer than initially scheduled. I usually schedule for additional week at the launch, and I did the same here. Fortunately, it was just as I thought it would take.
As for my rented flat, my landlord still has not found his new tenant, and so it is being viewed by stream of people through 5 agencies. Now it won't matter much, as I'm spending more time at my new flat than the rented one, and I'll probably completely move out in the next couple of days.
The refurbishment is now in the finishing up stage...another 2 - 3 days for completion. Unfortunately, the builders have other assignments to attend to, so no significant progress has been made yesterday, but things should start to pick up again tomorrow.
The tiling in the kitchen has been almost completed on Monday, with green/ivory colored marbles. They've somewhat modernized the kitchen.
And...the decorative tiles from Istanbul is fixed on the bathroom wall! The painting on the tiles is called "Tree of Life", and I thought it appropriate to place them on the bathroom wall, where water, the source of all lives are used everyday.
One other thing about the bathroom...I used to manage an office in Taiwan, and as we moved to a new office, I was asked by my Taiwanese staff to bring in the Feng Shui master for the office layout. It took him 2 full hours of careful calculation to lay-out the office...and we did exactly what he has instructed.
It's not that I became the true believer of Feng Shui, but now that I'm introduced to the concept, it's not something I could completely ignore. So, as I was putting together a design for my flat, I searched several Feng Shui websites for the general understanding of what I should avoid.
One thing that I found out along the way was that the location of the bathroom is not a very good one according to Feng Shui. There was no way I could change the location, but there seem to be few things I could do, such as avoiding to locate taps in several points and not moving the toilet. The focal "bad luck" point in the bathroom is where the "Tree of Life" is tiled...and what better shield could I think of to block the bad luck with "Tree of Life"!
Of course, I was not thinking all that when I went to buy "decorative" tiles on one Saturday in Istanbul. I was quite impressed with the tiles on the mosque, and thought it would be nice to have a piece of beauty at home. I also had no idea what colors I wanted my bathroom to be, and imagined that the decorative tiles would dictate me in the right direction. The idea of "protective shield" only came in when I encountered these tiles at the bazaar.
These tiles really dictated the entire color scheme of the bathroom. I decided to choose turquoise color because of the colors that appear on these tiles. I also went nuts on mosaics because I wanted "Tree of Life" to be in the right environment. I didn't think it would fit with the large stone tiles that are more modern and cool. Actually, I didn't want "modern and cool" at all, because I spend too much time at the designer hotels, absolutely beautiful but not "home".
I'm taking holidays starting today until the end of next week for the move. By the end of next week, I should be quite settled in...at least I should be living at "home" as opposed to the rented place.
Since I got back on Wednesday, I haven't yet seen a notable progress with the bathroom...the builders are still working on the tiling.
One progress in the last 3 days has been the fixing of the ceiling lights. And I have to say that this really made my week.
The ceiling lights, especially the chandelier was going to be the center piece of this flat...and once installed, I knew this made this flat my true home.
Chandelier was something I always wanted to have since I was a little girl. I also knew that in order to have a chandelier, one cannot live in a rented property where the lighting position can't be changed and where ceiling heights are too low. In my mind, chandelier represented an ideal home that's truly mine.
This particular chandelier came from Istanbul. When I visited there in May, I came across an area where there were close to 100 shops selling lights, one next to the other. The place was close to my hotel, so I walked over and browsed through 20 shops or so...not intending to buy one, as the thoughts of bringing back the heavy ceiling light seemed ridiculous. Then, I encountered this chandelier. I instantly fell in love with it. It was more than what I budgeted, and the risk of breaking it on the way to London was there, but I could not stay away.
I negotiated with the proprietor through one customer who I've initially mistaken as a shopkeeper. He helped me with the translation for close to 2 hours while it gets packed and paid (he was with his newly-wedded wife purchasing several lights for their new home.) The proprietor was adamant about not going below certain price, noting that the chandelier was made of real crystal. It took him over one hour to pack, and I ended up with a bulky and heavy box weighing over 10kg.
I had to pay 80 pounds to bring this back to London as an extra luggage. I thought I was out of my mind while I was on my way home. The only remedy then was what the proprietor told me, that there was another customer coming in the next day from London to pick up the ceiling lights that looked three times as bulkier and heavier than mine.
Now that I see my chandelier, I think it was all worth it. It is the heart and soul of my new home. I love the way the lights are reflected in the ceiling, and how the crystal balls look as though they are large raindrops falling to the ground. It is a classic, yet modern piece (Victorians would not have made the chandelier this way).
As for the construction, I doubt it will complete by the end of Tuesday...tiling in the kitchen is not yet done, bathroom tiling is still not complete, and bathroom furnitures are not fixed. End of the week sounds more realistic.
I really need to move soon...my rented home is now raided by the agents and the viewers. The viewing started at 10AM, and ended at 5:30PM on Saturday...with 4 viewings conducted without advance notice. Since agents have keys to the flat, I've been constantly looking out for someone coming in unnoticed. I hate this so much that I stayed away from home on Saturday until 6PM.
Two more weeks of patience...just two more weeks until I settled down.
I've been away for 9 days on a business trip, and just got back in town today. I was so anxious about my new flat, the trip felt like a month rather than 9 days.
As soon as I left luggages at my rented home, I rushed to the new home to see how things are.
With a sigh of relief, I saw everything moving along nicely. Bathroom walls are tiled, save for the decorative tiles (the ones I purchased in Istanbul), and two-third of the bathroom floor are now tiled as well. The bathroom is a calming turquoise, not "too blue" as I feared before the trip.
Kitchen units now occupy one corner of the reception room, with all appliances (except for the free standing fridge/freezer) installed by the kitchen fitters. During my flight out to Tokyo last week, I pondered my saneness for selecting the "calvados" wooden furnishing for making the flat looking old-fashioned and dull. It was therefore a nice surprise to find that the units not only looked modern, but also cozy and unobtrusive.
Most of the reception room is now covered with wooden flooring along with half of the hallway.
The builders told me that their target finish date is next Tuesday...meaning I have less than 1 week to wait for the completion! I may even consider moving in before my stuff arrive from San Francisco. I'm getting really annoyed with 4 real estate agents leaving messages on my mobile phone requesting for the viewing at the rented flat...I really need some privacy after 12 hours flight!!
