A Living Space by Kit Kemp

If I can only choose one favourite designer, it would be undoubtedly be Kit Kemp. Her sense of style is always full of surprises, injection of mood-provoking patterns, colour of patterns. When I saw that she has her published her one very book, it didn't take me much time to pre-order it online.

A Living Space

Strandmon Wing Chair

I've been looking around for a comfy armchair for my master bedroom. The chair has to look sleek and has to be a spot for me to sit down with my legs up to do some reading or just chill. Of course, budget has to be in within parameters too.

Never have I been so excited for an Ikea product, coming in 1st October 2012 ! - The Strandmon Wing chair, together with the ottoman is on top of my wish list!


I am never a big fan of flat pack furnitures but I allow myself dosage of small quantity of very little accessories from IKEA. The last thing I want when people over to my house is to notice the Billy Bookcase, or the this and that $9.90 coffee table that looks like someone with a student budget has.

But this chair definitely looks very attractive and I'm very eager to own it, it comes with Blue as well which is perfect with the colour scheme of my master bedroom.

Foyer

My foyer & study is depressing as hell and I have been working on it for the past 2 weeks. The first thing I did was embark on my first paint job ever. I have been inspired by a lot of greys and wanted something bold for a change. 

I was in Geelong today and saw this mirror at an antique shop. I have always wanted to try out a gold something in my home but have never got the guts to. For some reasons, the mirror really appealed to me and to my disappointment it was sold as a set with a console. Despite that, I wanted the mirror so bad, I bought the whole thing anyway. 

Watching Tom Ford Visionaires the other day, I, too was inspired by his stage setting. Very simple chic focal point of a gold detailed mirror. 

End result, I'm quite pleased with it. I picked up the two prints from a flea market, sold to me by a French dealer. With his French accent, anything he said was credible. He said they were 1950s and he advised me not to change the aluminium frames as they were original 1950s frame and I'm glad i listened to him.

Hotel Penaga, Georgetown Penang

I was in Penang a few weeks ago to visit a friend while taking the opportunity of a mini vacation from my business trip to Kuala Lumpur. Georgetown being a UNESCO World Heritage Site - had experienced a boom of so-called boutique hotels to cater for its increasing tourist influx. 

My colleague swears by the Mr & Mrs Smith hotel group and me having never been to Penang I took the plunge and book a boutique hotel from Mr & Mrs Smith website. I decided on Penaga Hotel, right in the heart of Geogetown. 

Housed in one of refurnished pre-war townhouses Georgetown is famous for, I'm not really a fan of its decor, the materials they use looked really cheap..you can tell by the mirror and the scone lightings. 

Bathroom

 Bedroom decor. Not sure about the green latex-like couch. Not very comfortable either - I had to wear ear plugs because the street noise was never ending from motorcycles and beeps and the room was so badly sound proofed.

Hotel Facade

 Wall Art - Georgetown is embracing its artistic culture. 

 Lush & nice tropical landscape 

Would I stay there again? Definitely not, for USD160 I can opt for a full serviced 5 star hotels in Georgetown which may be too 'generic' or 'commercial' by some but at least I can be assured I'm getting bangs for bucks rather than the 'boutique' hotel which failed in proving me efficient service (turned up to the hotel and the receptionist was so unprofessional claimed I have no bookings under their hotel) and a comfortable stay. 

Philip Crangi

Browsing The Selby, my regular blog reads, I stumbled across this inspiring room:

Love everything about it

Loving the big scaled table lamp

Love the banana yellow couch

Cosy reading chair with industrial lighting

Great Britain tourist campaign

Love this photo for the Great Britain tourist campaign at Saville Row 

Master Bedroom

I used to dislike my bedroom. I hated the $800 kilim rug that I bought thinking it was a mistake and it looked dirty and old.  The rug used to be under the bed and it looked small and unattractive. I hated the length of the drapes and I was kicking myself for not measuring it correctly. It's crazy how a bit of accessorising and rearranging can transform the look of the whole room. Anything ugly or unattractive can be made right with the right accents and arrangements. 

First of all, I rescued back my ex dining table slash ex garage workshop table and brought it back to my room to be used as a writing table. I accented it with a chair that used to have no purpose. I added a stripy pillow to connect the strips of the rug.  I moved the rug from the bed to anchor a smaller space. I added a floor lamp with matching shades to match the side bed lamps. (they are from Ikea, shhh..)

Finally, I put some art on the wall - a painting I bought from the Philippines and on the other side two smaller frames which I bought from Vancouver & San Francisco to give a sense of scale to offset the bigger head board. 

I love my room now, if you can see the balcony, I also added some hanging basket with red flowers. It makes the place look more welcoming and very European. I have seen red flowers being used a lot by balconies in Europe. Here's my inspiration, town hall in Munich. I'm not saying my house looks like this amazing gothic building - just that I have obtained this tiny inspiration to be added to my house.