dreaming of home

since ilhan and i have been staying in PB and Penang these past few months, shuttling between them every few weeks, i've been keeping myself busy with little 'projects', including reorganizing my parents' house. i've been cleaning rooms, organizing the accumulated stuff generally associated with little birdies having flown  the coop, and throwing away a looooooooooooooot of throw-away-ables that neither of my parents have had the heart or energy to throw away. its been satisfying to be able to help declutter my parents' lives, and it has also made me feel extremely nostalgic about our little home in putrajaya.

ariff and i started our life together in a teeny-tiny apartment/flat home, government quarters in putrajaya. we didn't have much money then (not as if we have any more now haha), so we couldn't really do up the house in a way we wanted. but as time went by, we built our little home with bits and pieces we loved. soon enough, we established a sort of style or look which i like to call 'kindergarten chic', but which our parents call 'oh please grow up will you' :) since both ariff and i like brightly coloured and adorable things, we ended up buying a red sofa and lots of accent pieces in bright bright colours. we got posters and pictures of our favourite movies and sports and things that we hung together with a select few of our personal photos. we loved that our first home spoke so much of who we were, but on a budget :)

since money was such an issue, we had some rules about the procurement of household items. besides the essentials like electrical appliances, the rules were

• if we don't LOVE it, we don't buy it.
• if we LOVE LOVE LOVE it, but there's no space for it or there's no practical use for it, don't buy it.
• if we can't afford it, we don't buy it. BUT, if we can afford it in the future and its not a necessity, save then buy it in the future.
• if we don't love it, but we need it urgently, shop around, make sure there really is no other affordable choice, and only then we buy it.
• if its necessary and quality's not an issue, just get the cheapest we can find.

these rules were very useful because they helped stop us (okay, me) from buying things that we'd just regret having sometime in the future. this is especially so for knick-knacks or souvenir items; we always made sure the pictures or vases or cushions we bought would fit in the scheme of our house. as much as we didn't really 'decorate' the house, our restraint helped everything coalesce into our kindy haven. in hindsight, i think its important to think, early on, about how you want your house to look like. choose a style that fits your family's needs because it helps you edit your purchases. remember that the furniture you buy, if it doesn't break, will be with you forever. if you pay good money, make sure you get a piece that will not just stand the test of time, but also the test of your changing styles and needs.

but of course, no matter how beautiful and glamorous a house, it's always what you make of it that makes it a home. i miss our little home and the big memories...

The guy that made it home for me :)

Friends always make it better

 Nothing like food and flowers to cheer us up!

And of course, the magical balcony that this blog was named in honour of. No matter how tiny your balcony, it can take you to places you never knew you could be.

but the era is over and we move on. now ariff, ilhan, and i will be building a new home in delhi. it will probably be just a short stay of 3 or 4 years, but that is never an excuse to live in a house you don't love. i'll miss precinct 18, but ooooh, all that dreaming and planning and buying/renting and nesting! i can't wait!