Lunch at Crystal Jade

Crystal Jade Yu Sheng 鱼生.
Their Yu Sheng has no green! Totally no speck of green can be found in this dish. I thought there were suppose to have some cucumber shreds and green pickled thingy yah?
But at Crystal Jade it's totally being replaced by fried taro strips and carrot.

The taste was ok.
But I still miss the crunchiness of a cucumber.

Stirling HDB terrace - Moose shape clock

Here's a new clock where we bought from Oddjects. One evening we were shopping at Great World City and there was a bazaar held at the atrium space and one of the vendors happened to be Oddjects and they were selling this moose shaped clock which hubs thought was so cute.

we didn't really have a space for it yet when we bought it but thought that we can find one.
So here it is, placed on our wall, right next to Jules' sleeping corner.

cute moose shaped clock

CNY decor - Lucky bamboo Shoots from IKEA

added more new green items to my vase of lunar new year decorations.

This time i bought 2 stalks of lucky bamboo shoots from IKEA. 

A pair always symbolises good fortune.

As the saying goes in pair 顺顺利利！

Stirling HDB Terrace - How we transform our study area to a baby activity place

We finally sold both of IKEA Alex vika drawer units and keep the table top under a bed. Now the study area has revamped into a baby's play corner where we put Jules' bumbo, stool and playmat.
We kept the summer rattan chairs there to keep a watch out on our baby while he plays by himself...

 a cushion cover i bought over the lunar new year period. keeps me "breathing".

 heart shaped cushion covers from IKEA...some time back now...

click here for previous post on how it looked before.

Hougang Maisonette - Concept

it's all about cooking + living

Both ideas were conceptualize from 2 key elements in iron lady chef's life -  namely cooking and living. 
The original HDB floorplan has clearly defined each individual areas for their own purpose which did not allow the flow of spaces and openness which was something that the couple was looking for - bright, airy, spaciousness and no restrictions.

 

concept 1. 

Looking at the elongated floorplan, we set out to divide it into 2 vertical zones.

Zone 1 played on the idea of the extension of the cooking area into the living room as the current kitchen size was a little too small for iron lady chef.

Zone 2 was for the couple to rest, relax and entertain their guests and family.

concept 2.

This idea puts the kitchen fun right at the doorstep of her house while the relax area is tucked further in to the back of the flat. That way, she can entertain her guests purely at the front portion of her flat.

The cooking area is now a huge box where all the related activities will be amalgamated.

Zone 2 will be a lush and green sanctuary for the couple to wind down after a good meal.

Happy Anniversary Darling

this year, i bought hubs a diffuser from MUJI and a bottle of orange flavour aromatherapy. Because he has been telling me that a pair of hongkong feet in the office is making him nauseous.

DIY - Upholstery of our Garden Chair

Our garden chair really needs a facelift and I have just a piece of vintage fabric that will do the trick!
So I got hubs to gun staple the fabric down onto the cushion one night and this is what we have done.
I think it looks so cute now! I simply love the bright colours!!!!

Chinese New Year - Hanging my 福 coasters

click here for previous post on where to get these 福 coasters.

Home Made Weekend Big Breakfast

lovely!

breakfast made by hubs and i *heart* the egg.

Old and New Coasters

out with the old and in with the new.

the old mushroom coaster - Daiso

the new tree coaster - 100 Yen shop, Tokyo

Hougang Maisonette - SML...XL?

hubs came up with XL wardrobe space now. hubs is so Rem Koolhaas.


i think all the girls out there will cry.
maybe iron lady chef can start collecting tea towels, table runners, cushion covers, serving trays, dinner mats and store them in the wardrobe!

think stripes. dots. weave. checkered. so many fabrics out there!!!!

Hougang Maisonette - Retro hollow brick

i think this will look really uber cool in the powder room with small black and white floor tiles!

i hope she likes it just as much as i do.

Hougang Maisonette - S.M.L

even though iron lady chef says that the walk-in pantry is the most important but i think the wardrobe in the master room is important too and we want to maximise all the space that she has in that big room of hers.

so we did a S, M, L study on the different layouts which we can come up with in that room so that she will have enough storage for clothes, linen, towels, bedsheets, his and hers wardrobe space...maybe even some shelving space for her princess!

OMG. 6.5m of wardrobe space!!! that's even bigger than mine now!!!

i think her wardrobe will make so many girls out there super envious!

Hougang Maisonette - 1st meet up

iron lady chef wants

1. walk in pantry, lots of shelving - organise. organise. organise.
2. kitchen island - lovely!
3. side to side door fridge
4. stove using gas because it's in the opposition party. haha! so retro.
5. loves ariston products
6. deep sink
7. wooden louvres plus glass railing overlooking staircase. great idea. l love overlooking.
8. ceiling fan -  a treehugger. 
9. queen size bed in master
10. shoe closet at entrance
11. balcony to change floor tiles
12. dining to have 6 pax
13. main door grille to change
14. top load washer - hmm, shelving at the top for detergent will have to go higher. nvm she is quite tall and so is her partner.
15. powder room - yay! cos the common bath is so small. i think we can do something uber cool here. since there's nobody going to shower here.

iron lady chef has mood images to share!
(+) she knows what she wants.
(+) good! at least that will get us somewhere.
(+) i think we share similar design styles.

(-) shoe string budget. will have to work around it.
(-) there's a roof over the balcony so can't overlook from master to balcony below. well at least it's weatherproof! Just have to clean the roof or do some painting works.

did some sketches for her during our 1st meet up.
so exciting! 

Chinese New Year decor from IKEA

I just purchased some felt coasters from IKEA. It comes in 2 sizes and only one design.  The small coasters came 4 in a pack while the bigger one came 2 in a pack.
Here's what i have done to it -

I tied one of the coasters to my flower vase and added some red cherry blossom sprigs. And at the bottom of the vase, I placed the bigger felt coaster.

The remaining 3 coasters, I tied to another vase of mine with huge flowers. Will take some photos and post later.

click for photos!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Hougang Maisonette - more emails

she has a dog!!!

does it need a room?

i think all dog lovers are nice people right? like me. ah-hem.

Hougang Maisonette - floorplan

just after the new year, I received a floorplan from the iron chef lady.

ooo.... this floorplan is slightly different from the one which we did in Serangoon.


random thoughts in my head.

(+) The bedroom can overlook into their own balcony! Interesting!!! can do a really nice landscaped lushed area to overlook in.
(+) kitchen looks huge!
(+) utility can be the walk-in pantry, link to the kitchen


(-)  yard is quite small.
(-) master bath looks small.
(-) common bath on 1st storey is small too, if expand then no more yard!!!

Garden Dwarves

cute little garden dwarves which I bought from Daiso!

it's just too bad that the day that i bought them and put them out in the garden and it rained like crazy. So they have sand and dirt all over them now.

Hougang Maisonette - 2nd email

nice lady who loves to cook wants a walk in pantry and she has found her maisonette!

WOW.
she does things real quick.

WTS Ikea Vika Alex Drawer Unit - Before and After Photos

Remember my earlier post on me wanting to sell off my study table and drawer units so that i can do a new activity corner for Jules?

well one drawer unit has been sold off already! and now my study table is being held up by my pile of architecture books. Now it's leaving another drawer unit to go before i can commence on my next little project for my son.

Hougang Maisonette - First email

received an email from a reader who loved our work on the Serangoon maisonette and wants to know how much the whole reno works costed...

sounds like a nice lady who loves to cook!
and donates the proceeds from what she earns from cooking classes to charity for 8 years.


very inspired.
velle

 

Reno@Yishun - 4 Bedroom floorplan

click for larger image

One of our latest project, a 4 bedroom BTO at Yishun. Couple is looking to getting their keys in 2013. So we have plenty of time to design and come up with a layout for them.

basically they are a simple couple who wants to keep all their rooms, have lots of storage, not sure of what they want. or rather perhaps it seems like there's still a long way to getting their keys so they haven't really thought of what they really want.

hmm...

i don't know whether is it a good thing to have clients that do not know what they want, or clients who know what they want. well, i guess this is the part where we come in to advise them.

stay tune for more updates, though i think it wouldn't be so soon!

WTS: IKEA VIKA ALEX

 Hi there,

Just wanted to try my luck here to sell off my current study table and 2 drawer units from IKEA.

I'm planning to do a children's study cum play area by the window sill thus the need to do away with my study area.

Hopefully can sell them away then I can start on my new little project for the little one!

Wish me luck!

xoxo

velle

Stirling HDB Terrace - #349 XMAS new bed sheets from IKEA

here's a limited edition bed linen from IKEA called Fjalltag. Wanted to buy the alphabet series but it was all sold out when i got there. sobsob. yes yes, i truly understand the meaning of limited edition.

Stirling HDB Terrace - #348 XMAS 2012

Puppy with his Santa Hat

Idea which i got from IKEA

Bought some artificial sprigs and silver ribbon from IKEA to dress my bar chairs! The star, mushroom and baubbles were from IKEA 2011 series.

Even my lampshades are not spared!

A Wreath from IKEA

Here's another item which i had gotten from IKEA this year! Will take more photos to show my loot, mostly on kitchen stuff!
Happy weekend to everyone!

Stirling HDB Terrace - #347 IKEA LIVE Magazine

CLICK on image to view it bigger

 Hi there!

Just wanted to share with all my readers that our little place was featured in IKEA LIVE magazine. We are exceptionally happy that IKEA was doing a feature on our place since we are such big fans of their stuff!!! I love their kitchen tea towels, quilt covers and especially their seasonal designs during Christmas and the Lunar New Year!

This year's xmas decor from IKEA went onto the shelves really early again and I was there to make sure that i had my stuff all bought. Unlike previous years when I keep missing out on the stuff which i wanted to buy and realise that IKEA do not restock their xmas products!!!

ritey,

TGIF!

xoxo
velle

My first pair of Ferragamo

Yes! I finally FINALLY own a pair of Ferragamo shoes after all the years of waiting!!  HAHA!

thanks to hubs!!
MUACKS!

it's not an early xmas present but a present to reward me for being top of my cohort for the Professional Exams! 
*WEE!*

My new Spikey Flatties

Happy Anniversary Darling!

Birdie wine stopper

we are happily married for 3 years now!

Stuff from Franc Franc

I bought a new cushion cover and polka dot 16 pc cutlery set!

IKEA Green Adum Carpet

Thanks for the overwhelming responses and queries!

Carpet has been SOLD.

^_^

Selling Ikea Adum Carpet -CHEAP CHEAP!

New Good condition Ikea Green Carpet for sale!

2m by 3m, Green. 

Usual $369, selling for less than half price at $150.

Self Collect.