ideas for Open-Plan Decoration

Vibrant open-plan living room

Make your living room an extension of the outdoors with clever use of vibrant textures, fabrics, plants and ethnic furniture.

Bold open-plan kitchen/diner

Red and cream walls highlight the sleek MFI lacquered units and wooden worktops in this kitchen. Two stainless-steel curved cupboards with roll-down doors add a modern edge. A breakfast bar gives extra work space. In the foreground, a glass table and contemporary chairs create a dining area.

Classic dining room table

For an evening table setting, replace chair cushions with smart white box-pleated skirts and transform a New Heights dinner table with a Ralph Lauren runner in delicate shell-pink linen, and co-ordinated place mats in a faded floral.

Modern family kitchen/diner

This kitchen has a wooden floor and simple flush units in lacquered white, both practical choices in a busy family space. The walls, units and paintwork are all in light-reflecting white to make the room seem bigger and keep it airy. The centrepiece is a Terence Conran wooden table and benches from Benchmark Furniture, with bright cushions and accessories and a lime green runner. Simple but striking blinds and glass pendant shades from Baileys Home & Garden complete the streamlined, modern look.

Open-plan contemporary living room

Everything in this eclectic contemporary living room is low-level, from the Designers Guild sofas to the coffee table that is in fact a dining table from Ikea with its legs cut down. The wall print is an enlargement of a Jordi Labanda picture from his book of illustrations, Hey Day.

Zesty open-plan living-dining room

Dark cabinetry in stained oak and high-gloss ties in well with the lime green furniture in this open-plan scheme. The 1970s-style modular sofa in faux suede is ideal for separating the living space from the dining area. Statement furniture like the multi-level coffee table add a modern touch to the retro scheme.

Professional kitchen-dining area

Sleek lines and modern appliances give this open-plan kitchen a professional feel. A breakfast bar zones the modern kitchen, while the chic glass table and chairs add to the sophisticated yet welcoming feel of the room. Solid oak flooring keeps the look from being too stark and modern.

Open-plan dining area

A low shelf unit has been positioned to create a division between the dining and living area of this open-plan space. It also creates storage for the dining area and a handy surface for buffet-style lunches or drinks. A large table is useful for a number of activities such as homework, paperwork, as well as dining. Pendant lights have been hung above the table to add further definition to the area.

Cosy living-dining room

A comfy modular sofa is used to mark out the living zone in this living-dining room. Cushions are piled high for extra comfort and wallpaper is used to create a focal point. Homely accessories and light-wood ensures that the open-plan scheme is cosy. A modular storage and a cream rug is used to define the living space, while handy storage clears clutter.

White open-plan dining area

A reinforced glass panel on the staircase acts as a balustrade while maximising light in this open-plan dining area. White gloss furniture creates a contemporary feel that is softened by wooden stairs and surfaces. Modern orange dining chairs add colourful accents to the scheme.

Helping Us Make Interior Design Affordable - Part 2

Today, I'm continuing on my previous posting about my passion and mission :

"making ID work more affordable."

I need to put up this 2nd part quick because I'm getting an avalanche of enquiries but the people who enquire about our service are getting it all wrong.

To help us lower our costs so that we can pass cost savings to customers, we need customers to cooperate. This is how to go about it :

1) We can only pay you a site visit when you have received the keys to your house.

TIME is a major cost. If a customer asks us for quotes on a house that is not ready, we will need to put in much more time than if we go in when it's fully ready. There would not be any urgency to confirm the designs and the work will drag on and on. That's why we don't quote using just layout plans. ID work is not cabinetry work alone but includes electrical planning, colours, restructuring, etc.

2) We need customers to plan own budget first.

Plan how much you need to allocate to buy electrical items, how much for sofas, beds, etc. Then you'll arrive at the left over figure that you can spend on renovation work. We need customers to give us a budget so that we know what to propose, what materials to propose, what areas to concentrate on ( because most people will have a LIMITED budget). Again, this will help us save time so that we do not have to play the guessing game not knowing what to propose. I've written on another article that a bungalow owner has only minimal budget and only wants the cheapest
materials but another condo owner has a budget that is 5 times larger and is expecting trendy items. We also do not quote per sq ft because a kitchen of the SAME size can be RM10k or even go up to RM40k! That's why we can work much smoother and faster if we don't need to guess.

3) We need customers to find out their own likes and dislikes.

Most people will approach an ID and say " Design this house for me" without identifying their own likings. Customers think that " I'm paying you to do the designing so why must I spend so much time thinking?" THAT'S THE REASON why IDs must charge very expensive for their service! This category of customers use up a lot of our time - changing and changing the concepts and proposals without knowing what they actually want in the first place. Can you imagine what our time costs will be if the designing process stretches over many, many rounds of endless discussions?

4) We cannot allow more than 3 times amendments to 3D designs.

This area is one of our big advantage over many designers ( young graduates who rely too much on computers ) and traditional contractors - both Chee Hoong and I are equally able to draw free-hand. By being able to draw free-hand sketches, we are able to present our ideas and concepts QUICKLY to customers on the spot and get them to confirm the layout and internal of cabinetry work. When we give a price quotation, we are able to show what we are quoting by attaching the relevant sketches. Free-hand sketches done on the spot are much faster than having to go back to the office and reworking changes to designs on computer. ONLY AFTER the design and pricing is agreed on, will we do a proper colour design in 3D.

5) What I'm trying to do is making ID service more affordable.

This doesn't mean we are selling low! What I mean is, by keeping close watch on time efficiency, we are able to sell considerably lower than other IDs but we are not skimping on other costs like materials or workers' wages.

From the Cost Triangle above, I'm presenting to you the relationship between COST=TIME=QUALITY . The Cost of a service or product depends on how much TIME and QUALITY we put into the production. All these elements are inter-linked. In order for Meridian Design to pass cost savings to customers, we need to reduce either TIME or QUALITY.
Reducing QUALITY is definitely out of the question here! We didn't strive our butt off over the last few years to build credibility and reliability for nothing. So the only logical and workable thing to do is to keep TIME under control and reduce it by striving for better work efficiency.

Helping Us Make Interior Design Affordable - Part 1

Some readers are asking why I'm updating this blog more regularly nowadays. The reason is…there are not that many interesting activities to distract me lately. What I mean is, reading is my topmost hobby but my current reading lists are unusually dull and dry - in the car is the book Businomics, for bedroom reading is Project Management and the only bright spot is the colourful Practical Feng Shui in the living hall. So blogging is a nice alternative to fill my spare time!

Today, I would like to share my vision and passion.

This was what happened and is still happening in the renovation industry :

1) In our parents generation, renovation work was done by the traditional contractors. Contractors are skilled but they were unable to give much consultation. Interior design was exclusively for the very rich.

2) In the present day, there are still many contractors operating in the traditional manner. They normally sell cheaper in order to compete with their many competitors that engage foreign labour. There's nothing wrong with this. In fact, competition brings better value to the consumer in terms of cost savings while helping the company to be more efficient and reduce wastage. Again, these groups have not progressed beyond providing the basic construction skills which is labour based.

3) IDs are still very much exclusively available to those who are willing to pay the big bucks for it. Exclusive ID studios will ask to collect a designer fee before starting any work.

4) Many IDs are also based in kitchen studios where they are fully concentrating on kitchen design. If people are wondering why many people like to do the kitchen business, it's because they come in modular sizes and are easier to manufacture and easy to train workers to install or sell a kitchen set. Besides, the market for kitchens is huge.

My vision and passion is :

" Making interior design affordable "

… at least, to more people. Notice that I don't say for everyone because there are some people who are looking for something of the best quality but of the cheapest price. In reality, whether such a product or service is in existence remains to be proven.

The costs of every product and service roughly come from these items :

1) Design -
Ideas and creativity are not cheap. That's why traditional contractors are fighting based solely on price alone.

2) Skills of craftsmen -
Ever wonder why in your own office, some people are paid higher and some are paid less? Point made.

3) Materials -
Contrary what most people think, materials are not the main contributor to product/service costing. Just pay RM20,000 to 2 contractors for a home renovation. Contractor A may come up something but Contractor B will come up with something very different even though both are paid equal price. Why? Because, there's something called intrinsic value! 2 jobs may require the same cost but it take the soft skills of creativity and a craftman's skill to produce something that Contractor A cannot see nor realise.

4) Overheads -
While materials and labour are variable costs that fluctuate with production activity, there are many other costs that are factored into the product pricing. Fixed overheads include salaries for non-production workers, advertisements, rent and rates, etc.

…and how am I going to do it?

I'll share more of what I'm doing in the next posting.

Nov 28 to Dec 2 : Don't email, don't call, just leave sms

I kinda find it funny having to announce both Chee Hoong's and my study leave in public like this. The last month when we also took 1 week off to attend a Money Management seminar in Singapore...our email box was overflowing and I had to answer to customers and potential customers what was happening - no replies to phone calls, no replies to emails... If I could read into people's minds, probably someone could have suspected we had disappeared with lots of debts!



This time, we are going to attend a Project Management course at UTAR from Nov 28 to Dec 2. Yes,we are committed to keep learning and improving so that we can provide better and more valuable service to our customers.


Any enquiries, please sms to :

Lim Chee Hoong 019-3938448
Lola Lim 016-2926357

Minosa Bathroom Blog & Sydney Bathroom Product Showroom

www.minosa.com.au

Welcome to the Minosa blog. In the coming weeks and months we look forward to showcasing images of completed bathrooms we have created, new bathroom products, what inspires minosa, bathroom trends and anything that may inspire us all to create beautiful modern bathing spaces.

The Minosa design team are here to assist anyone with questions thoughts or general feedback.

Here are a few images of our Annandale showroom, if you are Sydney based feel free to come and wander thru, we would love to run you thru the design concepts. If you are renovating or building new, bring your plans in and one of our award winning design team can take a look for you.

Best Wishes

Minosa Bathroom Product Web SIte

www.minosa.com.au

Finally the luxury bathroom market has a website they can visit, interact with and be inspired by.

This boutique bathroom design company - Minosa are set to define the web experience for those that are researching quality, chic modern bathroom furniture.

The one touch navigation of the Minosa bathroom product website is simple and effortless to use. With one click of the mouse you can visit any part of this extremely advanced & sophisticated website. Completely clutter free, the sites architecture is so logical, it is a dream to use.

Also, thru the use of advanced optimisation technology all of the bathroom products are showcased in high resolution. In doing so the sites’ focus is on the remarkable Australian designed & hand crafted bathroom furniture; allowing the consumer to easily submerse themselves into the very stylish bathroom collections.

You will find the new Minosa website is instantaneous & constantly engaging! This bathroom furniture and washbasin website offers the end user inspiration, innovation and a truly unique experience.

Be warned though it will leave you wanting more! Visit the new Minosa website at

http://www.minosa.com.au/

Bank Negara Checked On Us !

My God! My heart did a double flip when a recent customer told us that in order to approve his renovation loan, Bank Negara did a financial checking on our background! You see, this couple (who has since become another of our close friends) are Bank Negara employees and in order to approve their renovation loan, the bank will do a thorough checking. We were wondering why the bank is taking so long time to make a payment to us and we were certainly not expecting this!

Later, we were cleared and that was a great relief! Actually I have been keeping a close eye on our financial standing since a few years back after reading "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. I have carefully maintained a clean record to prepare for our big step into property investments. Look, no bank will loan us anything if we're not in the clean. Yeah...I'm tooting my big horn.. I had initially thought having clean financial standing will help us in investments but I had not realised it would matter when a customer applies for a loan!

The pictures above are of our Property Mastermind Group, graduates from Renesial Leong’s Property Mastery seminar and are currently under KC See’s Money Mastery mentoring programme. These were taken last week at The Gardens, Mid Valley.

Top pic : Seated left to right, Lee Loo, Siew Yin, Dr Jahaber and standing, yours truly. Other members Wan Nazmi, Fong and mentor KC could not make it .
Bottom pic : We were discussing the marketing of our latest designer hostels in Shah Alam, pouring over leaflets designed by yours truly.

** Latest update Nov 26: Siew Yin and Wan have received numerous calls to book time to view the accommodations! Awesome!

It just occured to me to write this today in order to help people make wise choices to choose a contractor. Especially in obscure times like this, more contractors will likely buckle under the weight of the economic downturn.

What I’m about to tell you may not be something that has crossed your mind before… EVERY YEAR I can hear people saying times are tough. But I don’t start hearing this only during this time of economic downturn! I hear this every year! I have even seen our peers in the industry carrying debts since few years ago which is only getting bigger and bigger this year. What I’ve learnt from KC and also recently from Harv Eker in Singapore is that everything originates from our “money blueprint”. People having wrong attitudes towards money will always be in shortage. In contrast, people having the correct attitudes will always get more WHETHER IN GOOD TIMES OR BAD.


What we’re learning from the programme is simply awesome! Chee Hoong and I are just so excitedly sharing what we’ve learnt and experienced with people. However most people think we’re trying to sell them insurance or mutual funds or direct selling products. What a blow!