Tuesday, February 10, 2009

A glimpse of my new home

We purchased this property a year ago. Since then, there has been countless ideas of how we both wanna make this our dream home. We had all kinds of brilliant ideas ...but as usual, we try to stick to something that is workable in both our bank account vs practical use of things.

Progress wise, I think we should be able to receive our keys in Apr or so. To me, that is just round the corner!

Front view of the property (actual unit).


Many say that a practical budget for a home renovation is 30% of the purchase price, meaning if your home is Rm300,000, then a budget of Rm90,000 would suffice for your renovation plans. I surely do hope that this amount includes all furnitures and fitting as well cos 30% to me sound quite a big sum!

Having done a budget for our home, our renovation budget would be only 20% of our purchase price ... and bear in mind, the only thing we have currently that can be re-used in our new home is our wardrobe, dressing table and our bed ...hahaha! We have detailed it into a room-by-room budget (in excel sheet okay, dont play play) and I think we have to be very very careful in keeping to our budget as it is a pretty tight one.

Below is the view from the entrance of the unit looking into living area, courtyard garden area, dining area and staircases leading to upper & lower floors. (Pics taken 2 mths back).


View from the 1st floor looking down into our living hall & sliding door area. You can also see the porch area (which is not tiled yet).


Master bedroom's (below) flooring done.


















Our sunken bath area half done in the master bedroom. The sunken bath is large enough to be converted into a jacuzzi but we will skip that idea for now due to limited $$$. Moreover, dont have the luxury of time to soak in one :-(

What I really liked about this purchase is we were entitled to 3 units of air-conditioner, water heater, auto-gate system as well as the home alarm system. I do not know if those given complimentary would be suffice for our use but even if not, we only need to fork out a small sum to top them up for a better spec-ed system. So saved quite a bit there already.

We also saved up our credit-card points and after ALL THESE YEARS we plan to redeem quite a number of electrical items such as a food processor, a tower fan, and quite a few more .. can't remember, but I already circled them in the redemption book for hubby to submit soonest as they take a month or 2 for these items to be sent over. Moreover, not all items that we want might be in stock .. so let's see how this goes.

Certainly cant wait for the letter to arrive .. letter meaning asking us to go over to collect our keys lor .... so exciting. It's even more exciting than planning for my then wedding!

27 comments:

Josephine said...

I am so envy of u ler.
When can I have my own house?
Can tell the location of ur new house ar?

Vickylow said...

Can't wait to see your new home when it's done. Do keep update us of your dream house.

Jo said...

Aiyo envy you, your house is so big and nice. Eager to see how you are going to renovate your kitchen. Have fun planning!

LittleLamb said...

nice house there. i'm sure after the reno..it will be stunning.

if u dont mind, can u tell me where is this place? or u can email me too... cos i m house hunting now..

Family First said...

Hi Josephine, our place is in Cheras. Near your mom house or not?

Dear Little Lamb, I heard that they are 100% sold from the developer but there shd be subsale available in the market if you are willing to pay a higher price for a 2nd hand unit (but still new). Is Cheras an area you are willing to consider?

LHS said...

wow, the staircase seems to long for me :)

very nice house you have! the house is always a dream house when the family stay happily there!

Family First said...

Dear Huisia, yeah staircase a bit extra steps but that is because we have a very high ceiling which makes the entire unit looks so much spacious than standard units ;-)

Princess Mom said...

Looks very nice! All these renovation pics make me want to move into a house too. Just too comfortable at our apartment at the moment.

Anonymous said...

very nice house ... envy you :)

Anonymous said...

There's a room in the lower ground? For family room or storeroom?
It seems very spacious!

Anonymous said...

wow nice place...now all the modern homes designs are so much better..regret buying so early leow..

Family First said...

Dear shoppingmum, yeah, there is a guest room & maid's room as well as a family room too plus a yard for washing clothes, etc & toilet. Quite spacious, yes.

Dear laundryamah, you can always buy another one mah ... cos you big boss, sure can afford one :-)

sting said...

oh, am so excited for you too! you could also pop over to those show houses to check out their ideas on how to decorate / renovate your house.. :-)

Anonymous said...

Congrats.. It ain't easy to buy a house. I just buy a small house around 90K...
i think it suit me..

Kristie said...

wow there is a stairs to another floor below??? cool! it's so basement like... like u can have a stuio or something downstairs, so nice and private... i love the concept of ur living room area with the courtyard garden and all, so nice!

dont mind sharing the price? :)

Baby Darren said...

wow...your house looked so big..envy..envy...can't wait to see the pics after renovation.

Sticking to the budget is def not easy but I believe if you are firm enough, it can be done. Somemore there are so many electrical items given free already..so can really save a lot from there.

Regarding the bread maker...it is super easy. Just dump all the ingredients in and switch on the power..3 hrs later..ta da...a freshly baked bread is there...it's good to get one if your family consumed a lot of bread.

Anonymous said...

There is nothing more excited to 'dress up' your own dream house :) I am very happy for you!

Family First said...

Dear Baby Darren mommy, sounds easy wor. Ok, will see if I have enough point for another Kenwood breadmaker :-)

Serene said...

You got a big and nice house there! Keeping your credit card points for redemption is a good idea ya.

Oliveoylz said...

Happy renovating! It's a lovely house:) Can feel and share ur excitement on getting the keys leh...

Unknown said...

wow, ur new house looks big. My new house will be done on mid next year...yesss, it's so exciting than planning for wedding. How much is ur house? I bet its very expensive.

MamaFaMi said...

Wahhh mesti can't wait to move in kan? Syok betul kalau dapat new house. Tapi ma rasa, I'm settled with this one for the time being. Aiyohhhh tak kuasa nak keep kemas rumah! Penat!

Anggie's Journal said...

so nice house u have ... the paint colour white and green also a nice combination ..fresh & modern !!

cant wait to see ur new home when everything is done and well renovate !! ... how long ar ??? hihihi

agnes said...

wow.. the exterior itself is so attractive adi!!!! contemporary!!! after all the fixing, it must be GREAT!!! cant wait to check out more pix!!!

please, post them up!!!!

Mummy Gwen said...

Wah!!! Your new house very big and nice. That seems like major reno wor. The staircase so long. Cant wait for more pics of the house. Sure cantik gila.

javapot said...

i like the look of it.

vialentino said...

very nice house ler...