Lighting Around the House

Recently we were contacted by Sweet Home magazine, a magazine that features homes in Singapore, Malaysia and other Southeast Asia locations. They wanted to interview R and I as foreigners living in Malaysia and also do a photoshoot of the house for the magazine. We said yes, but the house wasn't ready for a photoshoot!!!! We had under a week to get as much done as possible before they came. One of the things most noticeable (well besides the totally empty 'family room' on the second floor) was the light fixture wiring all over the house. For the past year we have been looking for the perfect fixtures, and when we would find one, we would buy it. But, now we needed to finish so I went searching all over Seremban for lighting.

I found this simple spotlight that looked nice. Bought two for 'family room' one for the ceiling and one for the wall.

Installed on the ceiling it has a rainbow effect on the wall, which I guess works ok with our color scheme for the 'family room' or what we are calling the library.

Also decided to add one of these white spots to the dining room so it is complete. Once I get the art, I may change the lighting, but it won't be for awhile.

Dining Room Serving Ledge

Before we went to Bali the last of the new items B made for the house was installed. We opted for a simple white seven foot Serving Ledge instead of a buffet or console as the space between the wall and the table isn't that deep. I like the sleekness of it. I'll try to find something else to place on the ledge or get a few more of these great Chinese blue and white serving dishes and line them up in a row of 5 or 6.

Now all we need in the Dining Room is a spotlight for the big wall. Eventually I want to put up six traditional bird color etchings (you know the kind you see in very traditional dining rooms) only I'll add some contemporary colored mats or even do some black and white ink drawings on mats and then frame them in strong silver metal. I change my mind all the time on this, and probably will many more times because the bird etchings are with my other art in storage in the US and I won't be getting it until we go back next year.

The Dining Room

After searching for the perfect rectangular wood table and chairs to seat 8 and not finding any viable options, we found this round table with brown glass top and chrome legs that seats 6. We decided on the smaller table because we didn't mind it, it was less expensive and given the shape of the room (kind of a weird octagon-ish shape when you factor in the bay windows on one side) we thought that this table fit in the room better. So we bought it.

We had looked at a lot of chandeliers and light fixtures in general for the house and recently happened upon this fixture which is made of mirror and chrome (I think). It has two rows of reflective squares forming a circular shape, but also looking a bit octagonal. We thought the shape of the chandelier went nicely with the shape of the bay windows and the cut out design pattern on the chandelier compliments the grill and window square shapes. So yesterday they came and installed the chandelier! The hook for the fan had to be cut off which took the installers over an hour. I really didnt want to cut it, because I thought we or someone might want to use the hook for a fan there in the future, but the fixture we bought has a small cover at the top and the hook was too big. So we said goodbye forever to putting a ceiling fan in the dining room (this is very common practice in Malaysia, to keep the room cool but we have the AC already there and I guess I am one of those people who thinks a dining room without some kind of hanging light as its focus is not really a dining room).

Turning off those strong downlights during dinner last night was fantastic, finally some ambiance in the room! Actually when just the chandelier is on, light reflects on the ceiling and the walls... R wasn't too into it, he thinks it looks like a children's bedroom. But I don't mind it because it takes some of the starkness away. At least until we can properly finish off the Dining Room with a big piece of artwork on the wall and a buffet table under it or in front of the bay window which will give the room some more character.

Interior Painting

We have been busy working on the house the last few months. We had professionals paint the Living Room, Dining Room and Guest Bedroom on the first floor because we were having our first guests visit in October. What a rush to get the house habitable and furnished for the guests, but we made it just in time! We used Nippon White paint in the Living room and Dining Room. The photos here show before the room was painted after skim coating some of the uneven walls.