Javanese Wedding Dolls

My hoard of old objects grows with a pair of antique Javanese wedding dolls (patung perkahwinan) that I found in Jakarta's Jalan Surabaya Antiques Market. Wedding dolls are supposed to symbolise peace in a marriage and come in various designs depending on the particular region of Java that they originate. Mine are typical of the Central Javan region.

Example of a Jogja couple. 

The Swivel

The worse thing one can find in a living room is a built-in designed to fit a giant TV and nonsensical items such as crystal rock collections, liquor bottles, crockery or travel knick-knacks. There is really no excuse for these monstrosities now that we have flat-screen TVs, which, as the name suggests, should lie flat against the wall with minimal fuss and embellishment.

While having my new 37" installed recently, I made a fairly useful discovery that no TV salesman ever proposed. Rather than the usual straight bracket, the installer suggested a swivelling bracket which gave me the option of placing the sofa at right angles to the TV. My living room space is much larger now and I can still watch and lounge comfortably.

The Pièce de Résistance

One of my most expensive purchases was a 7-foot couch that I customed from Alisia Home in Plaza Damas. Inas, the owner, makes the most beautiful pieces and if you are stuck with ideas, visit her shop for a jolt of inspiration. Inas helped me select a Latimer model à la Tricia Guild in Fuchsia Oxford Cotton, complete with castors (wheels) and feather cushions.

I had a much more affordable sofa in my old apartment. It looked fine except that the cushion wore thinner quite noticeably after a few months. The fabric shrank after I washed it and the cushions moved about like jack-rabbits whenever someone heavier than 60kg tried to get comfortable. Moral of the story: Don't stinge on your sofa.

Grey as the New White

Having a grey room gives you all the benefits of a neutral colouring and a cosy atmosphere. I picked it for my bedroom because I didn't want the surroundings to give out too much energy.

Choose a dark enough shade and it would make the whites in the room pop up in a nice contrast.

The Malacca Cupboard

This cupboard made its debut in an earlier posting but it finally made the journey to KL. It is now a three-shelf cupboard for my handbags. Anyone interested in similar pieces, let me know. The lorry guy offered to bring 3 more units up to KL for my inspection.

Antique Burmese Tiffin

Can't help buying travel souvenirs so I lugged this Shan lacquer tiffin back from Yangon. In the old days, Burmese ladies used to fill these tiffins with food, place them on their heads and walk long distances to temples (...visions of Kipling's Mandalay Girl...) but nowadays, they rarely make these big simple ones but mostly the ornate types for decorative purposes.

Penang Reading Chair

This is a recent find that I am very pleased with. A teak armchair circa 1920-1940 salvaged from one of the old colonial houses of Penang. Clearly, Campbell Road still has its treasures...

Free Furniture

One of the perks of having a bunch of relatives is that they usually have plenty of redundant furniture which they are happy to give away. Collecting these old furniture is a good way of saving money but it has to be done with deliberation or you might end up with an apartment that looks like a junk shop. So far, I have been offered:

1) a rattan living room set - declined because of uncomfortable cushions
2) 10 orange moulded plastic dining chairs - declined because too many and too retro
3) a bookshelf - declined because I already ordered an 8-foot behemoth
4) a Singer-sewing machine table base - no space but KIV
5) a pair of armchairs - accepted (see below)
6) an iron bed - accepted after modification (see below)

My mum's friend, Aunty Florence, gave me a pair of chintz "Dancing Dolls Chairs". When my mover went to collect them, she gave them each a kiss goodbye as they had been with her for over 30 years. The chintz would have to eventually go and what I have in mind is to repaint the wood in black and to reupholster the fabric bits in pinstriped wool - the same kind used for men's suits. I first saw one redone like this in the Brooks Brothers' window display in London more than a year ago and have wanted similar chairs ever since. However, painting and reupholstering costs upwards of RM500 plus fabric costs. So the Dancing Dolls are safe for now...

Aunty Florence also gave me her father's queen-sized iron bed which she lorried down from Ipoh. It was originally a four-poster bed but I had the four posts chopped off to fit into my low-ceilinged bedroom. This is the bed with the work halfway done.

Renovation Pains

Decorating the apartment has become rather a chore as I struggle to choose the right kitchen appliances. My personal agony is over how much to spend on a hob/hood/oven/microwave. As a non-cooking type, the specs are subsumed to cost and aesthetics. Unfortunately, these objectives don't often coincide.

Even an interior designer does not help as mine was able to convince me to keep my lime green living room wall and opt for a bright coloured sofa (fuchsia!) but no thanks to my limited budget, leaving him to choose the appliances is not an option. Otherwise, my budget would be bust three times over.

Lime wall and the kitchen space:

Wardrobe Conundrum

I'm agonising what to do with my built-ins and was struck by the iD's remark that some people use wallpaper. Sure enough, found an interesting one from the David Hicks collection from UK wallpaper maker to the Royal blah blah, Cole & Son.

To crucial question is: does this print make your head spin?

The Bauhaus Building in Dessau

Since I started on the Bauhaus subject, there is so much more to say. Gropius started his movement in the old German city of Weimar but decided to build his visionary school in Dessau. The Bauhas became home to revolutionary artists such as Klee, Kandinsky and Mies van der Rohe.

The Bauhaus broke with tradition in that it used exclusively clean and simple lines, glass and concrete to create an open, bright space for young minds to flourish. Of course, what sounded right in principle didn't always work as the glass facade also made for easy heat loss in the cold Dessau winters and glaring days during the summers.

This is the dormitory block which was itself revolutionary because Bauhaus students were allowed the luxury of their own rooms, each equipped with a balcony.

Bauhaus in 21st Century KL

Hurray! After a long wait, my little Centrio unit is finally ready. Hope to get the keys this week and pop down to Interiorscape to get some suggestions on wardrobe and kitchen designs.

Just as well that I recently found inspiration in the Bauhaus buildings in Germany. The Bauhaus movement was started in the 20th Century interwar period by the architect Walter Gropius who was inspired by the reform vibe of the times to merge an art academy and school of arts and craft to create a movement that teaches form and functionality in design. In a purist sense, although there are iconic Bauhaus buildings in Germany, the movement does not refer so much to a particular style than it does to a philosophy of functionality. Thus, one can stay quite true to the Bauhaus spirit so long that one designs for utility and comfort. At least, that is how I understand it.

But then, I am not much of a philosopher and the classic Bauhaus designs are what caught my attention. If you want to know what I mean, check out the photos below. The first two photos are of Bauhaus Masterhouses in Dessau built in the 1920s. The third photo is of my apartment block circa 2010. No need to guess where the architects got their inspiration.

1920s Bauhaus Masterhouses:

2010 Centrio:

The Lamp

One of the funny things about hunting for home items is that something fabulous always comes along when you least expect it. And when you are least equipped to carry it.

So it was that I was on a holiday with my cousin in Munich when I found the perfect vintage industrial lamp. I don't know how I did it but I lugged one almost 10,000km home!

Vintage Work

Braving the BB traffic has its rewards. At a little vintage furniture store, I found some potential additions to the collection:

1) Nyatoh dining table?

2) Work Desk/Vanity Table?

3) Bedroom Screen

Talk about Cashing In

Browsing through the today's classified section, I spotted some Centrio apartments listed for sale. I got mine at the launch price of around MYR280 psf but there are people trying to flog theirs off for between MYR580 psf and MYR730 psf. Are they for real?????

So close I can almost touch it...

Yay-yay. Finally received a letter from YTL saying that I will probably get my SOHO unit by the end of May. Drove over the weekend to have a look and must say that it all looks quite good. Counting the days!

To Buy or Not to Buy?

This is definitely a case of an itch that I shouldn't have scratched. Spied these ceramic stolls at Ombak over the weekend and thought they were way out of my budget. But made a random call today to the store and found out that they have been discounted further. Conflicted now. Pretty collectables or useless junk?

The End of Ombak

After a good run, one of my favourite soft furnishing stores, Ombak in KLCC, is calling it a day. Popped in today to check out the closing down sale.

There were a number of table lamps but the ones that I liked were already sold. A nice pair of ceramic chinese stools but the discount was only 20%. Some interesting prints but I haven't decided if they are right for my future place. Some colourful cotton pieces from Barbara Samsoni's Barefoot collection but I decided that I already have too many bedspreads.

In the end, I picked up a Barefoot dodo for my friend's toddler. Still time to go back if I change my mind on the other items.

Sale continues till April 25.

Water, Water, Not a Drop

Bad news this week. The handover date of my anticipated Centrio apartment has been delayed until July 2010. The YTL manager-in-charge informed me without apology that the expected delivery date 'by Q12010' has been pushed because the development is not ready and neither are the letters to inform homebuyers that they have to wait an additional four months. Hello professionalism?? Homebuyers really need more protection.

While still in my state of ignorance, I headed to the Gudang sale and bought their fab Belut rack. Thankfully, they are quite accommodating when it comes to storage.

What's Ethnic about Ethnic

I get an inward shudder whenever I hear people describe their interiors theme as being "ethnic". It conjures up images of multiple Sarawak vases and swathes of pua kumbus or dangly Indian ornaments like the ones here.

 

It's all fine and well if you are a student living in a small dorm room in a grey and cold city somewhere but it is really taking things too far when it actually becomes a interiors theme.

Some people do it not as a matter of taste but one of helping out minority communities which I don't disagree with but there are always ways to support the crafts without going overboard on the ethnic or the tribal.

Over the years, I found some of the best 'modern' pieces in the most unlikely places. My latest discovery is this black clay vase and dishes from a crafts market in New Delhi. This small collection was brought over from a village in India's Mizoram state which borders Burma. 

Got lots more examples but will have to wait till I unpack my boxes again.

The White Exception

I know I started this blog with a rallying cry against white rooms but I must admit that when done right, white rooms can be very charming.

The place I have in mind is a boutique hotel in Galle called The Sun House. I recently holidayed here for 5 days and fell in love with the place, including its white theme. There were a couple of elements that made the place so wonderfully cosy. The first was the use of dark hardwood furniture and brass antiques.

I was completely charmed by my Aliya room which was furnished with a four poster bed, a hardwood desk and cupboard, a colonial sofa and day bed. This room opened through double wooden doors to a bright shower, illuminated by a skylight and air vents.

I also managed to sneak a peek at the Dumas Suite while the house boys were cleaning one morning and saw this pretty study.

But for cosiness, nothing topped the evening atmosphere that was a quaint combination of colonial sluggishness and British eccentricity. The English owner, Geoffrey, ran Dick's Bar, Galle's favourite spot for sundowners. His deputy and countrywoman, Henri Tatham, flitted among guests dressed everyday in a different pink printed moomoo and pink feathered fascinator. Here are some decor pieces that really remind me of them.

Definitely the most memorable hotel that I've stayed in. 

A Question of Cupboards

I used to tell myself that given a choice, I would not install any built-in wardrobes. I hated them because the room I had in my parent's house was already on the smallish side and the built-in they installed took up a huge chunk of space. But years later when I bought my own place, I did the once unthinkable. After years of living in cramped rooms, I decided to compromise for the extra space to store my clothes, bags, shoes and textiles.

Now, as I look to moving again, the inevitable question has resurfaced. How do I get storage space without cramping the style I want to achieve? I'm running a poll for feedback. Here are the options:

1) Floor-to-ceiling built-ins. I was persuaded by Amazon.co.uk to buy this wonderful book, A Girl's Guide to Decorating by British designer Abigail Ahern. The designer recommends this simple design for closet doors. I quite like it.

  

2) Antique Chinese cupboards. I am definitely not interested in anything too 'ethnic' so I am qualifying this by putting up a photo of the exact design. I found this A-shaped giant Chinese cupboard at the Jalan 222 treasure trove, Danasti. According to Ho Lee who runs the warehouse, this piece was refashioned from recycled elm wood by Chinese craftmen. Check out the gorgeous brass hinges and door lock.

3) Pick-and-mix flea market finds. In one of my earlier postings, I wrote about finding a sweet little cupboard in a Malacca junk store. Instead of getting new ones, it may be an idea to try to rescue as many pieces as possible. It would be cheap but I may have to sacrifice space and design integrity.

And now...vote!

The Bawa Factor

I've just had a wonderful holiday in Sri Lanka and I am still brimming with enthusiasm about the place. If you are interested in modern Asian architecture, this is definitely the place to visit. Long before modern minimalism became popular in Asia, Sri Lanka had its own movement growing under the influence of the late (and gifted) Geoffrey Bawa.

Bawa started by transplanting European designs but later developed his own version of tropical minimalism. He experimented with creating bold geometric structures using local natural materials. But don't mistake the Bawa look for Balinese exoticism. I don't think Mr Bawa had a lot of patience little decorative things other than what nature has to offer. What I love most about the Bawa style is the signature courtyards - wide and airy in the shadows of tranquil frangipani trees. 

Here are some photos of the newly built Era Beach Hotel in Thalpe. I think the designers stayed true to quite a number of Bawa elements. 

By the way, this is what Era Beach is most famous for - the weather-hardened stick fishermen.