Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Renovation

We're contemplating on a little renovation. Basically, we're considering putting in a built-in wardrobe in the guest room of our house. This will eventually become Baby's room.

Our problem is that we bought an overly small home. On top of that, we were too poor to afford proper furniture so we left all the other rooms bare. We do have one of those El-Cheapo Gigantico wardrobe that we bought from Ikea for RM 599 when we first moved in. Then Mae's wonderful auntie and uncle gave us a nice bedroom set and so we moved El-Cheapo into the guest room. But because of the akward design of our house, it doesn't quite fit anywhere without getting in the way. And due to hopeless furniture-relocation skills, El-Cheapo looks like it might collapse. So the only solution we could find was to have a built-in done.

A built-in would be perfect. It would fit quite nicely, maximising the space in the room. It would look neat. And we wouldn't run the risk of having El-Cheapo the behemoth fall over and turn Baby Noodle into Baby Fettucini. Heh!

We got a quote today. Built-in plus some grilles for our apartment would set us back RM 5,000. My eyes jumped out of its sockets and rolled around on the floor before I regained composure. Wow! RM 5,000! What kind of honest working stiff can afford RM 5,000 on a whim? Okay. I'm sure some of you can, but I can't. At 5,000 buckeroos, I'll have to decide if I want the wardrobe or if I want Baby delivered in a proper hospital.

Mae and I decided we'll get the wardrobe. And I now have 45 days to learn how to deliver Baby. Hahhahha!

Nah. Looks like we'll be keeping El-Cheapo for a while longer. *sigh*

21 comments:

  1. built-ins are always more expensive. for 2k lesser methinks you can get a very good combination from ikea. :D

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  2. That's a lot of money to spend on storage space, although I wish I could have a built-in too. You should get a few more quotations just to be certain.

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  3. i wanna buy*
    sorry brain injury a bit doing complex stuffs just now ;)

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  4. errr.... ikea things very expensive.
    i remembered once i wanna bought a single bed frame from ikea. the cheapest ones were around rm 650.
    after thinking for a while, i hit the furniture shop downstairs and got :
    i) single bed frame
    ii) 3 plastic chairs
    iii) 1 small book shelf
    iv) 5' table with 6 drawers
    all for rm 450

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  5. james..it is toooo expensive, u dont need....i prefer moveable furniture than built-in but the best is empty room with just mattress and also very easy when u wanna move......

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  6. Hmmph. What does a walk-in closet gotta do with the baby? You want to put him in there if he behaves like Sasha?

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  7. Aiks! How would u learn to deliver the baby? From going for baby delivery classes? :| sounds kinda awkward doesn't it? :P
    Anyhows, hehe, din see ur last line there and kinda lazy to retype...don't think built ins are absolutely nescessary are they?
    We (my family) used to be so poor, we din have a proper cupboard until i was finishing primary school

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  8. ikea is pretty and also very expensive! when my parents bought the current house, it was bare but they went around to smaller furniture shops and got quotations from various furniture stores and then made their decisions. you can see the difference of quotations from different stores. if you shop properly, some of them can even do ikea-like furnishing for you at half the price! :)
    45 more days !!!!!! *faints* soon James soon! :)

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  9. james oo, if it's possible could you sketch out the floor plan of the apartment, with legends on where the current furniture is ..... plus the dimension of the built-in cupboard's dimension.
    I'll ask one of my old interior designer lecturers on how to maximize the space.
    =)

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  10. http://www.kianclassic.com/ - they specialise in built-in wardrobes. sumtimes u see their ads in the papers. i think u can get a built-in wardrobe for below 5K from them. check them out & get some quotes. in fact, check a few other palces out b4 deciding.

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  11. Built-in and grilles for RM5K. Maybe it is not that expensive. I got mine for RM10K Kitchen + Bedroom. But things started falling apart after 1 year. :(
    So most important is quality and durability.

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  12. You're right, pickyin. Though I have seen some ads offering one of those sliding-door wardrobes for RM 2K for an 8-ft run.
    Yeah, we'll have to get a few quote b4 we give up, Norzu.
    There's always something cheaper, ryuu. But less nice, maybe? :o(
    No place to put things lah, phoenix!
    You won't believe the amount of stuff the kid needs, Gina. But it's not all for Baby. Mae and I have need for storage too! As it is, with Baby's stuff, our wardrobe is overflowing.
    Not, necessary Leokoo. Just nice to have. :)
    Actually, depending on what you get, Ikea can be quite affordable compared to other places.
    Thanks for the offer Leo, but ours is really basic, bare minimum. :)
    At RM 5K, we might just use cardboard boxes, Olivia! :lol:
    I suppose you're right, Papi. But yeah, I'm concerned about things falling apart too!

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  13. James, it's better if you go to those "Jualan Gudang" joints ala Courth Mammoth. It's waaaaaay cheaper than Ikea. Besides, baby don't need that much wardrobe space, unless you're contemplating some for yourself. :lol:

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  14. ah...indeed, shallow graphic designers :P not like i'm complaining, heh
    :) keep up the good blog!

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  15. james-if you're still interested... you know what to do ^_^

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  16. Hehe...am sure the Lamaze classes would come in handy...Doctor James!

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  17. james, there's lots of cheaper things that's nice. if it's not nice, u can always find that if u walk around in ikea, those things are not so much different, just probably better polished or with some extra stuffs. u could do all those extra stuffs DIY at low cost, and save those extra monies to be spent on Baby. or even Mae :)
    DIY can be a new hobby too ;)

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  18. Mdmafia, it's not all for Baby. Mae need plenty of space. It's a woman thing. I'm sure you're familiar with that. :lol:
    Thanks Leos (yes, both of you!)
    Ah, it's a cinch Zsarina. Just hold out your hands and catch! :lol)
    Ryuu, I actually do like the idea though it's not gonna work out. I have a habit of abandoning projects halfway! :lol:

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  19. will power james, will power!!! :) du it 4 baby (DI4B) no more DYI

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  20. DI4B!!! Man, KA, you say the funniest things.

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