Random Stuff

No stranger to trickmycrib.blogspot.com, these cute hugging salt/pepper shakers have made cameos every now and then. They were a Christmas gift from good friends of ours.


Bought from Bali, ethnic yet stylish, black yet shiny.


Any hour is happy hour in the crib.


Salt cow and pepper milk in a tray. Another set of shakers, another Christmas gift from another good friend.

 
Oil painting from Bali. I only wish we had more money to buy more of this stuff while we were there.


Wooden blinds from Ikea.


Philips toaster which we got as a Christmas present, from an aunt.

DIY: Bar Counter Finishing Touches

The bare concrete bar counter admittedly wasn't finished very well. Shoddy workmanship from the sub-contractor and all who obviously was in a hurry to get it done. Well, if you want things done right, you gotta do it yourself.

Here's what the surface of the countertop looked like before. Dollops of paint from the painters and generally rough around the edges.



This is the surface after working upwards through 120, 240 and 400 grit discs on the power sander. Much smoother and no more blemishes. The swirls you see are the 'grain' of the concrete, much in the same way wood has grain. It's part of the character of the concrete. You can see how the grain in some places has changed after the powersanding.



Next up, wet sanding of the whole surface by hand, using 800 and 1500 grit tungsten carbide sandpaper. Concrete is itself very abrasive, containing sand and other rough stuff. It really wears thru the paper as you can see in the pic. By the time I finished the wet sanding process, it had been a solid 9 hours of sweat.


Here's how the counter looked like after the whole grinding/polishing process.


Next up, sealing and waterproofing the concrete with acrylic water-based sealant.

Step 1: Saturate the surface with water. I used a sponge for this. Let the water penetrate into the concrete for a few minutes.


Step 2: Wash the surface with 50% sealant solution. Let it soak in for a few minutes


Step 3: Gradually add 100% sealant onto the wet surface until its fully covered with full strength sealant. Let it penetrate for a few minutes. When it's soaked in nicely, wipe up the excess with a damn cloth. Let it cure for 30 mins or so, then repeat a 2nd coat.



Here's what it looks like all done. You can see a slight satin transluscent sheen on the countertop. That's the layer of acrylic that's formed on the surface. It's now waterproof.



And after all that hard work, ladies and gentlemen I present to you, the piece de la resistance...

Le Tour de Downstairs

Sorry for the long silence, I've been busy honeymooning, settling in to married life, getting my ass whipped at work, and most importantly, we didn't have internet in the crib when we first moved in.

Anyway, the house is done, and we're now living in it. We managed to move in the day after our wedding, spot on the deadline which is great.

I suppose you readers all want to see the end result of all the hard work now, so here goes...

This is the view through the front door, as you first enter. The faux-wooden 'boardwalk' is in. The material is Chalet Oak from Inovar floor. It feels great to walk on, almost like real wood.


This is the view standing at the front foyer and looking towards the back of the house. The pillar with the iron pipe has been boxed up with a shelving unit.


The living area, before we unpacked the sofa. Flooring is Canyon Oak, from Inovar. It's their entry level product, but it looks and feels decent nontheless. You may notice the lack of skirting on the wall. I requested for a flushed installation with end-profiles. Skirting is so yesterday.


L-shaped sofa set. From Enoma Collection, LDP Furniture Mall. Sounds like a cross between Renoma and Enema. No Enemas on my sofa, thank you. That said, it's pretty comfy and we got a good deal on it.


View from the kitchen looking out towards the front. Pardon the curtain rail, at that point it was just makeshift and I've since installed it properly and trimmed it to size. Finished pix on that later. Pardon the pile of trash too.


Several shots of the open kitchen.




And this is the view that greets us in the morning when we come down the stairs.

I Love Concrete - Low Cost High Style

Okay, not everyone will agree with me on the above.
Fact is, design sense and a limited budget don't play well together.
Finishings in particular, cost a lot of money. Tiles are expensive!
So screw the tiles and expensive wall finishings, enter concrete. Bare concrete.

I love concrete. MMMmmm... crunchy







These are from a different crib. Seems quite do-able. Hmm...