Entryway Ledge and Mirror

B completed and installed the Entryway Ledge and Mirror the other day. I'm happy to finally have something in this place because the electric box was really starting to annoy me.

Above is a photo of what it looked like before the installation or you can read my previous post here. I came up with the idea to create a white laminate door above the mirror to access the electric box. My design was one door so there wouldn't be any seams down the center of the white. But B thought one door would be too heavy and would sag. His solution, two cabinet doors. I think it looks fine given the awkwardness of what we were working around. Also, he had to make the cabinet and mirror six inches out from the wall in order to fit over the electric box which I originally thought was too deep. But after installation, I really like that the mirror and cabinets sit out that far from the wall it makes the mirror more stylish and contemporary.

Living Room Coffee Tables

We haven't found any tables for the Living Room and we still aren't sure what we want B to make for us maybe one large rectangular table perhaps? I was thinking that right now the living room was looking a bit bare and a bit cold and un-home-like. So I pulled out the two 34" laminate pieces I had from B in brown and brought them down to the living room. I hadn't thought about two coffee tables, but I have seen some larger living rooms in magazines that featured two. So I placed the laminate on the floor in front of the sofa and sure enough, the two work fine. I had seen some concrete blocks in all kinds of sizes at the construction stores throughout Seremban. I love going to these places to see what materials can be used. Most places think it's weird that I'm out in their big grounds searching junks and construction materials. So I remembered these long concrete blocks that might work as the under part of the coffee tables.

I went back to the place and asked if I could buy a few instead of a full skid. Apparently they are used to make house walls here in Malaysia. So they let me buy 8 pieces and I loaded them into the car. Actually, I couldn't take anymore, because they filled up the trunk. The weird thing about these concrete blocks is they aren't as heavy as they look, but they are heavy enough!

So I came home and started playing around with how to build the base. I found that a table worked best with 8 blocks instead of 4. Which meant that I had to go back the next day and get 8 more blocks for the second table.

All in all, I think they look pretty good. Laminate cost 70RM for both and the blocks were 72RM so for both tables it came to around $47 USD. Not bad for some temporary tables.

I left enough space between the sofa and tables to fit the ottoman in front of the sofa for watching movies.

Below are some images of tables I have collected as possible table styles for the living room:

Malaysian Patio Furniture

It is an underestimate to say I am dying (me not R) for some Patio Furniture for the house. Even our cat T would love at least something to lounge on out on the patio. But you can see by the photo that the patio remains furniture-less. Since we made an offer on the house I have been looking for the perfect patio set. But there are a couple issues here... Firstly, the patio furniture in Malaysia is expensive... and I’m not sure why when everyone has patios to fill. Secondly, my idea initially was to do some very cushiony comfortable sofa and chairs to lounge in; but the overhang on the roof doesn't go out that far so in bad weather, the rain comes crashing into the space at times all the way over to the sliding glass doors. Therefore, buying cushion furniture that is not at least trying to be outdoor fabric (mold resistant and in a neutral color where dirt wont show up easily) I write 'trying' because brands made here or china might imply they are water resistant, but that doesn't mean they will weather Malaysian storms over time. Some of the options are the plastic type rattan patio furniture like what is offered at Houz Depot which are expensive and I don’t really care for the sets. Houz Depot is like the Home Depot of Malaysia. The company boasts that they are the largest home improvement wholesale hyperstore in Malaysia with 120,000 square feet of shopping space. But, it is no Home Depot (we did get our Rubine Microwave from Houz Depot at a great price, so they do have some things). See a few images of Houz Depot’s Patio Furniture below or check their website here (the prices I pulled from their ad catalog I picked up at the store awhile ago):

HOUZ DEPOT POSHZ Rattan Outdoor Furniture Set GCV802V-4A Regular Price 5,528 RM Sale Price: 3,888 RM

HOUZ DEPOT POSHZ PVC Rattan Outdoor Lying Bed MJ-08SL018 Regular Price 3,868 RM Sale Price: 2,699 RM

HOUZ DEPOT POSHZ PVC Rattan Outdoor Furniture c/w Cushions MJ-08S006 Regular Price 8,498 RM Sale Price: 5,988 RM

But even the cushions on these outside sets we can't be sure are mold resistant.... so I am forced to reconsider the cushion issue unless I can find cushions that I think will at least last a couple years. I have been looking at books of houses especially in Central and South America and see that they use some Rattan and it looks pretty cool. So I think to myself, maybe we can do something special in Rattan that is made locally and has a Malaysian feel that you can't find elsewhere. But the problem with this idea is that most Malaysian Rattan is pretty traditional (in a bad way) and often the furniture does use cushions which are not mold resistant. There is a Rattan place near our house where the guy makes the furniture right on site and there is a chair called a Coil Chair that I thought looked neat and I can't find online outside of Malaysia. This is not a Papasan chair (one of those big round rattan chairs with a cushion that they sell at Pier 1 in the US). This chair doesn't use a cushion.

A photo of the Coil chair, but this isn't a great photo as it makes the chair look like a satellite, from the side the chair is quite stylish

But they seem a bit small, so I asked the guy if he can make 2 bigger coil chairs and he said yes, but he wants a huge price to make them! The smaller Coil Chair I tested is very comfortable without a cushion actually, so here we wouldn't have to deal with the cushion issue. I even like the guy's swing chair and thought maybe we could rig one or two on the side of the patio between our house and the neighbors which would give us more privacy as the swings would do some blocking, but rattan swing chairs are very trendy right now around the world and might be out of fashion before we take our first swing.

The Rattan man told me his price is high because there is a lack of Rattan material right now to make new products. I'm all for re-using and buying a used set if we can find some cool vintage (or older rattan) but I haven’t seen anything just right yet.

If I could get my hands on some of this type of furniture in the photo above which looks similar to the Danish Mid Century Retro furniture, I think these have been made in Malaysia, it would be great. But the price is bound to be high and the furniture will need cushions.

For now, I keep looking...