Before and After

A condo project in Kelana Jaya...

Reflections…and Remembering Our Social Responsibility

Reflections





Happy New Year 2009 !





Another year has come and gone. I would like to take the time to reflect the year gone by and thank all our clients and readers of this blog. We are experiencing a change in the way customers think as compared to those days before I attempted to write this blog.





What changes am I talking about?





Before, we always meet customers who simply refuse to reveal budgets for fear that contractors will cheat them. There shouldn't be any need to fear. It's a free market out there. If one feels that a contractor is trying to take advantage or not fully trustworthy, one can just go on to the next one. We want to thank customers who have trusted in our approach enough to reveal their budgets so that our work becomes so much easier not having to guess and proposing all the wrong materials in the process. I remember a time a few years ago that I proposed melamine boards with the thinking that a particular customer may want to economise but got a rebuke for offending him instead.." You must see what kind of house I'm having! Why are

you not showing me the higher end materials! " Again, I would like to thank all those who have made our work so much easier not having to make wrong guesses.





Customers are also now coming prepared for meetings - equipped with layouts, list of electrical items for every room, list of their likes and dislikes and also their allocated budgets so that we could help them prioritise their spending.





Remembering Our Social Responsibility





While some people define "social responsibility" as caring for the poor and destitute, I personally think the definition should also include caring for our extended family members, friends and workers. In times of economic uncertainty like this, if we see people close to us who are suffering we should offer help in every little way that we could. Last time, Chee Hoong and I would just give some cash to people who lost their jobs and sympathised with them but now I realised we made a big mistake. By giving cash, we were perpetuating the cycle of poverty because the recipient does not know how to come out of it. What we should do if people were to come to us again is to teach them how to make money and where to start and then give them enough cash to tide them over for 2 days.





What we've been doing is to share our knowledge with our workers about upgrading their income and life through the pursuit of life long education. The whole concept is simplified as " Our income is in direct proportion to the value that we provide" . Our senior supervisory workers are paid based on a profit sharing basis so that they have the vision to move forward together with us. Unfortunately the saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks " holds true and very often we have to leave certain workers behind when stubborness makes them blind and refuse change their mentality and continue to carry detrimental attitudes.





I also want to remind myself not to forget the orphans, the old folks and the single moms. I personally feel that we shouldn't tighten our belts so much as to reduce giving back to society, from whom we've received our blessings. If we've not lost our jobs, no one in the family been retrenched so that our financial burden now increases, then there is no reason that we cannot continue in our giving. If anyone were to ask me which organisation to give to, I would like to suggest seeking out the small and lesser known ones simply because they have not been proactive or just do not know how to "market" themselves and solicit for funds. If you still do not know where to go to share some of your blessings, you might like to send a cheque to Desa Amal Jireh, a village set up for orphans and old folks in Semenyih.

Ideas for Bedroom Decoration

Black and White All Over

Black and white is a popular contemporary decorating trend. This black-and-white duo is both flirty and sophisticated. Two floor-length mirrors complement the black wood-framed bed and highlight two glass chandeliers. Above the bed, three floating shelves allow for space to display photographs or other favorite accessories.

Floor-to-Ceiling Simplicity

This well-lit room with floor-to-ceiling windows is the perfect space for contemporary design. Simple bedding pops with colorful pillows in different textures. A sleek partition wall in a neutral shade keeps the bed space separate from the rest of the room.

Style Combination

This room transitions between contemporary and traditional. To make the two work together, subtle hints of traditional style sneak onto the bed with striped and floral pillows. A contemporary headboard with an upholstery pattern is nestled into the windows behind the bed.

Pillow Talk

In this room, modern elements can all be found in the bed. Oversize pillows in contrasting colors are a dramatic touch to a neutral down comforter. A tall headboard with a ledge allows for a unique way to display artwork.

Calming Retreat

Contemporary doesn't have to be bold. For a pared-down modern look like this, choose furniture pieces with simple lines and neutral colors. Unique lamps on the bedside tables provide additional modern flair.

Sleek and Fresh

Simplicity, subtle color, and clean lines help to define contemporary style in this master bedroom. While maintaining a very neutral and simple palette, two chairs in the sitting area add some personality and a dash of color. The design and visual appearance of the glass partition wall finishes the modern look.

Confident Color

This bedroom is exploding with warm colors, prints, and texture. Color and pattern were brought into the design with several pillows, contrasting rugs, and bold paint. A neutral couch sitting in front of the window allows for color to be spread beyond the bed and walls.

Understated Elegance

This room features a tone-on-tone color palette that relies heavily on brown, light blue, and pure white. By keeping the room basic, the brown leather headboard and decorative pillows are able to pop off the wall even more.

Wall of Windows

A wall of draperies calls attention to the focal-point bed with an extra-high headboard, plump pillows, and striking geometric throw. Nearby, matching contemporary lamps sit atop similar, yet different, night tables in dark wood.

Twist of Lime

Dark chocolate walls outlined with white moldings reinforce the geometry of the furnishings. A rectangular bed, striped bedding, squared-off nightstands, and angular lampshades are offset only by a handful of rounded elements.

Modern Canopy

This contemporary bedroom gets a shot of personality and interest from a repeating pattern of boxes and squares. Wall niches, built-in bookshelves, and a metal canopy bed each include geometric shapes. Canopy draperies are made of striped fabric hung from tabs.

Brown Beauty

Dark walls make all the difference in this contemporary space. White feminine bedding is offset by lime green fabric accents throughout the rest of the room. A built-in bookshelf displays modern accessories and hides personal belongings. A retro-inspired chair in front of the window completes the look.

Color Coordination

Contemporary style is a display of beautiful contrasts in both texture and color. This room focuses both on bold color and the basics of line, shape, and form that are signature to contemporary design.

Into the Woods

Contemporary style transcends all aspects of this room: the walls, the floor, furniture, and accessories. Natural wood elements bring warmth and beauty to the minimalist design and are combined for an unexpected but working mix.

Damai Perdana

Recently we had a lady who was very adamant to see the full colour 3D design before job confirmation. Try as we might, we cannot convince her that software designs are time-consuming to prepare compared to sketches and that we normally present quotations together with sketches, which is enough to let most customers know what it is that we are quoting on.

You see, kitchen showrooms are able to produce 3D designs fast because they just present a modular cabinetry design without considering the surrounding tile colours, the wall colours, the usage of surrounding areas, etc. A few years ago, when we were just doing kitchen cabinets, that was what we did. MERELY design the cabinets, without considering the surrounding areas.
I later empathise with the house-owners who, despite spending lots of money on house renovations, just didn't know how to get it right for the rest of the areas - the plaster ceiling was wrong, the electrical points were wrong, the furnitures were of wrong colours, the wall colours and tiles were all not matching, etc.

That's why now I go on site visits ( which I did not do a few years ago ), to meet clients to understand their likings so that I can incorporate the information that I gather into my designs. That way, I will understand which direction the sunlight comes in, whether to propose thick curtains or just sheers, whether my proposed designs will match the exterior of the house, whether the exterior colours will match the interiors etc.

I would like to share the various stages of my work from quotations to 3D designs…

We are currently halfway through renovation work at Damai Perdana. These are the stages of our work.

1) We asked client to give a budget for us to know what to propose.

2) I did some hand-sketches and submitted these along with the price quotation.

3) When customer agrees with the pricing, then we asked for a 10% non-refundable deposit to start the designing work.

4) I submit the 3D drawings with a few colour combinations for them to choose from. When the colours are agreed upon, then only we start the actual renovation work with the collection of another 20% payment.

5) Subsequent payments are on a weekly basis as work progresses.



This job costs :


A. Living Hall

Divider at entrance RM1,750.00
Altar RM980.00
Carpentry work at TV area RM3,660.00
Divider at TV area RM2,950.00





B. Dining

Framed mirror c/w bevel edge at dining area RM1,650.00






C. Kitchen

Wall cabinet RM2,100.00
Base cabinet RM1,200.00
Solid surface RM1,260.00
Tall unit RM1,800.00
Fridge cabinet RM1,200.00
Tear down dividing wall RM1,200.00
Concrete slab c/w 2'x2' tile RM3,150.00
Under slab door frame, door & drawers RM1,795.00
Mosaic tile @ hood area RM1,200.00
Sink 2 bowl with tap RM580.00
Plumbing work
- reposition inlet & outlet & reconnect RM600.00



D. Painting

Exterior wall & interior wall painting job (incl. Nippon paint) RM5,200.00
Skim coat on uneven wall surface only RM800.00

Updating The Client


Because this customer is working overseas, I will take pictures of the house every few days to update him on the progress. Our payments are collected on a progressive manner depending on how much the job has been delivered. I have an idea to write a posting on determining progressive payments and how much to pay to help those renovating the house on a DIY basis so that you reduce the risk of contract workers absconding with the money.

It's Great Being An Agent Of Change

Last Sunday was the launching of our designer hostels in Shah Alam. It was exhilarating looking at the excited faces and the exclamations of " I love it !" from the people who walked into our doors. And the immediate booking for those rooms! The exciting part actually started a few weeks BEFORE the apartments were ready. Quite a number of people were already rather anxious to pay money to book their rooms without seeing it!

Competitors had torn down all our promotional posters except one. Instead of feeling angry, I suppose we should feel flattered that they thought us to be a big threat especially since we are not competing in a price war.

Again I would like to emphasise that it's not a matter of how much we spend on renovations but the ideas and creativity that makes the overall package nice. I shall not talk in detail of what exactly we've done because that would be revealing our " trade secrets " and that wouldn't be fair to my partners. What is important is that we are being an agent of change - changing the way rental apartments look and creating " a home away from home " for our tenants… and we are having some fun along the way.