Tags
DIY, interior decoration, kitchen, new home, painting, renovation, Singapore, stencil, yellow
We are moving! We’re finally joint homeowners and settling into a place that we can own and call home. For once, I feel free to make a lot of changes without feeling that I’m doing something that a landlord or future renters may not like and that I’ll have to “erase” when moving out. The only major renovations we’re doing is gutting the bathrooms and renovating them fully. Considering how small a bathroom is (especially in SG), I thought it’d take a week or so and we’d move in by end of the month. All those who have renovated or done any work on a home are scoffing right now — a week?? Apparently, more like at least a month (“likely more”, according to anyone who has any experience with renovations). In the meantime, before we move in, I have been obsessively browsing the online world for fun home decoration projects. I love DIY stuff, though it’s not as easy to do here as in the US– there is no equivalent of “home depot” or “michael’s” here in Singapore–there’s a store called Spotlight, but it’s insanely expensive and has limited supply so it makes DIY-ing a very expensive hobby. Traditionally, in Asia, activities like painting walls, fixing up a home, carpentry, etc are not considered hobbies–most people view it as hard labor to be contracted out if you can afford it. In fact, when I showed a picture of my painting to my parents on whatsapp, my mom thought it was hilarious and said “You are so handy!” “You are a good Handy Man! Ha! Ha! Ha!” Adorable.
Not me though! While I’d love to have started building us a kitchen island from scratch, the thought of saws, wood and dust in our living room didn’t sound too smart (for now). Instead, check out Project #1: Paint Stenciling my Pantry!
Isn’t it cheery? It only took lots of research, 2.5 weeks of anxious delivery time for the stencils (purchased at The Stencil Closet on etsy, more research on where to buy paint in Singapore that isn’t horribly toxic (this is “Marigold Sunshine” from Nippon Paints), 2 saturday afternoons (it would have taken longer if my darling friend, Amy, didn’t join in the fun on both days with a marvelously positive attitude and a lot more wall painting experience than me), a significant amount of acrobatics with Amy on her tippy toes on a step ladder (since she’s taller and could just barely reach the top corner once we added a book on top of the step ladder) while I lay on my stomach with my head precariously perched immediately below her feet so we could both fit in the small pantry and paint together…
I joke. It really was’t that hard! The anticipation and nervousness of engaging in my first project took a lot more time than the actual painting.
I’ll write a post on how this was done, but in the meantime, since I’m excited, here’s one more picture:
The pantry is hidden behind a door at the entrance of our home/kitchen so I’m sure I’ll come up with all sorts of excuses to open it just as our guests are walking in. G was asking why I was going to all that trouble for a “storage closet” (hmph!) but I know it’ll make me feel good every time I open the door to get my canned tomatoes or umbrella (did you notice in the Before picture, the previous owners put in a nice built-in umbrella box? debating whether to paint it but for now I left it white).
Do you have any easy DIY projects that personalize and spruce up your home? Please share! I am eager for ideas!