saujana residency 2014

another year to be rented out by someone new. photos of the unit just before being handed over to the new tenant.
salute to the previous tenant who took good care of it for the past three years.

the living room

the kitchen and dining area

master bedroom

master bathroom

second bedroom

store room

crap i forgot to take photo of the second bathroom. oops.

SOHO - the final product

so we finally managed to complete the unit and have it rented out by the time June came around, thank God.

managed to convince Significant Other the need not to over furnish the unit as per our agent - does nothing to increase the asking rental price.

management still owes me 2 defects though. i can't believe just a teeny bit of plastering pun susah nak buat. and i really don't understand how the bracket that they initially fixed went missing on its own. grrrr. shouldn't they have spare furniture parts for defects purposes?

our agent is nice. i didn't know it at the time, but he's the random guy that helped me lug my fan from the parking lot to my floor, haha. and i do hope the tenant is ok. they seem pretty decent. their only request was for us to tint the windows, i'll see what can be done about that. baru 3 weeks into confinement, definitely not a good idea to go hardware hunting right now.

anyway photos of the final product. i must say i still prefer our other unit better, but hey, with the price it can command, who wouldn't?

downstairs living room

washing machine and refrigerator, came with the unit

the kitchen

the odd one out

bathroom, the only one in the unit

stairs leading upstairs

the studio concept - open bedroom

added lightings and drop down fan - DEKA

curtains drawn for bedroom privacy

upstairs bedroom closet and mounted telly

bedroom furnishings

second to last of soho progress

i've finally hauled the carpet to the unit to flatten out the edges  because they start to curl upwards after being rolled up for a long time.
and what's left to do before i lose my sanity completely:

in the bathroom:
- install water heater
- install bathroom mirror
- install towel hanger
- install toiletries stand
- replace bathroom light
- install door stopper

in the kitchen:
- add another light point
- install cabinet lights * 3
- install fridge
- plaster brackets to conceal wiring
- cabinet bracket missing

in the main hall:
- install washing machine
- figure out a way to cover up washing machine outlet
- install fan with 3 feet extender
- replace living room lights with drop down ones
- *KIV* add 4 light points (recycle original bedroom n living room lights)
- add 4 power points
- replace switch initially installed for main hall
- double check main door (not closing on itself properly)
- install door stopper

outside:
- install outdoor ceiling light
- install doorbell

upstairs:
- add 2 power points
- replace bedroom lights with LED lights
- touch up plastering around LED lights
- install tv
- polish stairs
- polish flooring
- touch up area around switch/plug points
- replace side table's broken wheels

curtains

doorgrill

things to add on:
- dresser
- bed headboard
- dustbin
- floor mats
- microwave
- cleaning utils

ganbatte kudasai... chaiyyokkkk

curtain affairs in soho

well, at least the curtains are up. if you ignore all the dust and comotness, the unit might actually be livable by now.

it's like putting on a show pulak

this is Significant Other's big idea in lieu of a sliding glass door. and i must admit, zaira's workmanship wasn't too bad either.

the view from downstairs

all the curtains in the unit were of the same design, only different color. we chose off white/beige as the room divider, and chose golden-brown for the main windows because i can just imagine the curtains 'changing color' after a year of being rented out, it goes without saying that if it's not yours, why bother taking care of it, right? huhu.i wonder how efficient the curtain divider will be able to act as a way to trap the cold air from the upstairs aircond.

but in terms of display, Macy did a better job i guess for my SR unit. they hung the curtains in such a lovely way that it felt almost sacrilege to ruin their presentation, or even to undo the drapes to close the windows, haha. ini zaira? this was how they left the window curtains at:

ta-da, upstairs windows. simple pimple

they did the same for the downstairs windows, so i tried to connect the two edges to get that drapey effect. as nice as it looked, i think it kind of limits the amount of sunlight that enters through the windows. heck natural lighting within the whole unit became limited once the curtains were up that you had to turn on the lights.

pretty presentation

how the curtains look drawn

now i feel like ordering curtains for my own room, haha. last time i was a total noob, back when there were limited curtain shops in the area we bought material and had them sewn into curtains, all from Ikea. material pun bodo-bodo je, haha.

House of Zaira
No. 51, Jalan Plumbum P7/P, Pusat Komersial Seksyen 7,
40000 Shah Alam, Selangor.
+603-55233090 
Operating Hours Daily: 11am - 8pm

what's left, for mister contractor to complete finishing touches to his workmanship, acquiring a dresser + sidetable for upstairs, and clean-up then i hope we're good to go. oh and there's two defects that managed to spring up only after renovation was completed:
- all four of the upstairs side table's wheels were damaged, as if someone deliberately stood on top of the side table T__T
- the stupid connector for the bottom of the kitchen cabinet went missing, as if someone deliberately stole it, initial defects included this as well so that's why i'm pissed

and by mid of next week i HOPE i can finally show the unit to an agent. i can't remember already when i first got the keys to the unit, defect-fixing and renovation took so long i'm sick of the place already, haha.

soho photos wip

some photos from the last visit. curtain oh curtain, when you wanna come do installation???

SOHO

the staircase

the washing machine

the bathroom

the kitchen

cabinet lights

upstairs

extended fan and lightings

the bedroom

i need to get a simple dresser and side tables for the bedroom. then the rest is minor touch ups. i do hope the contractor finishes the tasks i've asked him to do. 35 weeks and being stressed out will do nothing for the little one @_@

soho progress take 2

what we have so far after a sabbatical disappearance to LIMA last week:

in the bathroom:
- install water heater
- install bathroom mirror
- install towel hanger
- install toiletries stand
- replace bathroom light
- conceal/waterproof water heater wiring

in the kitchen:
- add another light point
- install cabinet lights * 3
- install fridge
- plaster brackets to conceal wiring
- cabinet bracket missing

in the main hall:
- install washing machine
- install fan with 3 feet extender
- replace living room lights with drop down ones
- *KIV* add 4 light points (recycle original bedroom n living room lights)
- add 4 power points

- double check main door (not closing on itself properly)

outside:
- install outdoor ceiling light
- install doorbell

upstairs:
- add 2 power points
- replace bedroom lights with LED lights
- touch up plastering around LED lights
- install tv
- polish stairs and flooring
- touch up area around switch/plug points

curtains - awaiting installation

doorgrill

progress much? alhamdulillah.

soho progress

they say you need to constantly give him a gentle nudge in order for things to move faster. i kinda agree.

i left the unit in his care for a week + now, so far there's still alot more things to be completed. i called him up earlier this week, he said he'd be done by end of the week. well, today's Thursday -__-

jangan lambat yang terlampau sudah. the curtain people have called, and i'm already starting to feel the strain of overwalking here and there.

the whole place is currently in a mess, i might say. most of the plug points are currently in progress, however he still has yet to start on the lighting. the only completed items on his to-do list are in the photos below.

that's the tiny bathroom. i guess i saved by getting the mirror and toiletries stand at Ikea, instead of getting it customized or at the place where i got that towel hanger. luckily the size just just nice too. we overestimated the toilet lights and i had to exchange it for a smaller size.

i have yet to test the water heater. did anyone do something to conceal that grey wire in the back? or just leave it as it is?

the controversial fan. hahaha. initially we bought KDK for the unit until we realized that the fan needed to be extended and with the way the base of KDK fans are designed, it wouldn't be a proper finish. so i got this classic Deka instead. my contractor was nice to let me view a unit which installed their fan with a 5-feet rod, which seemed a bit too low for me. in the group forums they kept recommending either 5-feet or 3-feet. i got a 3-feet rod for our unit, but couldn't help asking why not 4-feet. someone answered, '4 not good number lol!'. hahahah chis.

oh yeah, the first thing that was completed in the blink of an eye was this:

well, here's hoping he does manage to complete it this weekend. the curtain people have called wanting to install this weekend, quite impossible to do since the whole unit's a dusty mess.

in the bathroom:
- install water heater
- install bathroom mirror
- install towel hanger
- install toiletries stand
- replace bathroom light

in the kitchen:
- add another light point
- install cabinet lights * 3

in the main hall:
- install washing machine
- install fan with 3 feet extender
- replace living room lights
- add 4 light points ----- (recycle original bedroom n living room lights)
- add 4 power points

outside:
- install ceiling light
- install doorbell

upstairs:
- add 2 power points
- replace bedroom lights with LED - confirm dimmer (to be bought)
- install tv

curtains - awaiting installation

doorgrill

soho abandoned

i thought pushing management to get my defects done was a tedious task.
to actually get a contractor to commit to renovation is another not-so-easy task.
grrr grrr grrr grrr if i was 8months+ pregnant, i'd have delivered in my unit out of sheer frustration already.

things to be done:

in the bathroom:
- install water heater
- install bathroom mirror
- install towel hanger
- install toiletries stand
- replace bathroom light

in the kitchen:
- add another light point
- install cabinet lights * 3

in the main hall:
- install washing machine
- install fan with 3 feet extender
- replace living room lights (to be bought)
- add 4 light points ----- (recycle original bedroom n living room lights)
- add 4 power points

outside:
- install ceiling light
- install doorbell

upstairs:
- add 2 power points
- replace bedroom lights with LED - confirm dimmer (to be bought)
- install tv

curtains - measurements

doorgrill - 2 weeks' time

macam tak banyak je... now if only the contractor can move their butts and complete all this in speedy time...

little SOHO

i don't exactly remember when we got our keys for the unit because to me it felt like forever since we paid for the keys LAST December, but i think it was a little over 2 months ago. it's already been 2 months and i'm still fighting with management over their handling of the unit defects. mau mati kot. one part i hate in buying property - you pay so much, only to get so little in terms of quality.

at one point i had to practically yell at them because our doorknob was faulty - we couldn't lock the unit, so if my furniture got stolen i'm simply gonna pin it on them, yes? so they said okok they'll do it immediately, but you know what they did? i dropped by the unit a few days later only to find my door totally KNOBLESS. wau. apparently they thought that a door without a knob couldn't be broken in to?

T___T homaigod.

(they finally fixed it after another yelling-visit to them).

to be fair, the person i brought my complains to was being a 'bit' helpful, what started out be so-many-defects-i-can't-even-keep-track-of, is now i-can-list-them-one-by-one-from-the-top-of-my-head.

here are photos of our delivered unit. we bought it furnished to save hassle on the renovation process (it was a nightmare for us with SR, i guess it all depends on who you choose to be your contractor kot?). the unit still needs renovating though, although only minor like adding more light and power points to the unit, including the installation of electrical appliances, not to forget the grille and curtains.

furniture provided in the unit, including tv, fridge, washing machine

kitchen window overlooking Subang Jaya. we get the morning sun

the built-in kitchen cabinets

the one and only bathroom downstairs

stairs leading up

a duplex, you could call it

the only items upstairs, including the bed mattres and a tiny side table

as of yesterday morning, i labelled a total of 15 defects in the unit. i purposely bought those florescent yellow stickers to stick everywhere per defect. telling them by mouth or writing them down no use one, only enter one ear and stream out the other.

need to get started on renovation pronto. and also tenant-searching.