Coming Home To A Surprise
Salams everyone!!! God it feels good to be back, alhamdulillah. Back at home. Back at work. Back on the blog. Just back home basically. As much as I love traveling there's nothing quite like dropping your bags and snuggling into my LtD Lounge sweat pants and getting comfy on the bed.
I've been in and out of the country for the past few months and have been too unorganized to focus on getting the new house in order. So I was excited to come back from London knowing that I won't be going anywhere for the next two months, which is rare for me because I'm always thinking about where to go next as I sit in my uber on the way back home from the airport. But all I want to do now is stay in KL, go to work, and come home to my new place and start turning it into an actual home little by little.
Before I left for my last trip, my sister's room was fully decorated and oh-so-cozy because she's one of those super organized and always on the ball with everything. So she only took two weeks to sort everything out. Me on the other hand. Half my things are at the new place, and the other half, still at my mums place across the street. My bedroom had my bed, an indoor plant and a faux fur carpet I had brought back from Kmart from my previous Brisbane trip. There wasn't anything wrong with it. It was just really bare, lacked coziness, character and the feeling of home which is what I want.
I knew I wanted to add something to it. I had spent time on Pinterest but I hadn't found the exact look I wanted yet. And I realized that putting a room together is a whole other ball game compared to mix and matching clothes. The only thing I had stuck in my head from a few years go, was this picture of a living room that had one feature wall with a stunning wallpaper of a few large peonies blooming. And I showed that to Toots awhile back (if you're new to the blog, Toots a.k.a Ajjie is one of my closest friend/bestie).
A few days before I left for London, my mum randomly told me that Toots had contacted her to ask if I will be leaving my house keys behind. So I had a feeling she was going to do something like put on a wallpaper or something. But then I dismissed that thought because I knew just how busy she was with work, her son and also the fact that she was heavily pregnant with her second son inshaAllah (exciting!!).
Okay, I'm going to cut this story short because I talk too much sometimes and need to learn to just get to the point. The point is I came back that night from the airport, less than an hour to midnight tired and feeling quite down for a few reasons (one of them you'll read in the next post, the other because I left a few valuables on the plane). And all I wanted to go was go home and sleep so I could wake up the next day feeling refreshed and better. Vivy and Toots had other plans for me that night.
They had texted the day before saying they'll pick me up, but I texted back saying don't worry, it's going to be late and I just wanted to go straight back home. Of course they didn't quite listen.
As I stepped out of my Uber with my luggage I saw them two jump out of the car. Two extra cheery faces came to greet me at the gate in their pajamas. Ahh, sure felt like home. I thought they came to literally come get their Ben's cookies from me, lol. Turns out they had some surprises up their sleeve for me.
They followed me up to my bedroom pretending to help me carry up my luggage then opened my bedroom door. And there it was. My room all spring'ed up.
Makeover done right for sure. They brought spring into my bedroom in a way I couldn't imagine to be more perfect. I LOVE my new feature wall. It wasn't the wall paper I showed her. It was even better. And, because last week I dropped my phone and my screen cracked so bad almost half the screen went black, they also got me a new one. I swear I almost wanted to cry. Almost. Okay fine I teared after they left just before I went to bed.
There really isn't anything they wouldn't do to make me happy. There were real Peonies too on my new dresser that night so the room smelt amazing. It wasn't even my birthday. It was just pure love. Sigh, what did I do to get such amazing people in my life besides my family. Alhamdulillah again and again.
I'm going to continue this post by reposting Toots' story from her side. Hope you guys enjoyed this long read (sorry, I swear it started off to be a quick short post, but you know how women are, they start with doing one thing and end up doing something else lol). See you in the next post inshaAllah! :)
The One with the Feature Wall
April 22, 2017 in Friendship, Interior
So, if you've been following my old blog you would know that i'm a sucker for two things - surprises and beautiful interior. I would spend dayss planning a surprise and my idea of the perfect chillex time is being on my bed, watching Fixer Upper marathon with Z #definitelythirty
But what I've never done before is combining these two - surprising someone with a beautiful interior. So imagine how excited I was when I first thought of the idea and there was no one more suited for this then my long time buddy, Asma'.
This girl is just...something else. She goes through life with this unwavering faith that whatever happens is for the best. And just seeing how she deals with everything really is a reminder of what a special gem she is. And I thought she deserves a nice surprise.
Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is what a sweet friend is supposed to say.
In reality, what I really wanted to say is - she just moved out, her new room is empty and not instagram-able and it's screaming for some upgrade. And in came her self appointed, interior designer best friend, BAHAHAHAHA.
I wanted the room to be very much like Asma' - she has a classy taste, but it's not those generic ones you see everywhere else. It's always one of a kind and yet, on point. She was leaving for London for a business trip, so i thought those 7 days that she was away was the perfect time for me to get my stuff together.
A pronto discussion with Titts over Whatsapp to finalise the details and bang, we're game! We had it all planned. Her room will be simple and classy - black, white with a little sprinkle of gold. But she will have a huge statement wall to set the wow factor and make her room not generic. And Asma' loves black, so we wanted to risk it...and paint her wall black!
The only problem then was finding a talent to handpaint the wall. Bless my sister and her contacts from @eventsbyazzwaa, we got to know @yaulacap who does wall paint and chalk paint. To be honest, I was a bit nervous and skeptical to engage him at first, I mean a black wall could go really wrong and make your room look smaller and ugly. On the flip side, the right wall can do wonders. But the moment he started sketching, my doubts dissipated into thin air. I knew he was the perfect guy for the job. Seriously, you know talent when you see one and this guy sure's got talent!
If you know me well, you know i'm a sucker for all things white - no matter how unpractical it is. So I was pretty fickle about turning her wall black. And the moment they started with the first coat, i almost screamed stop but had to brace myself. 🙈
But then when things started coming together, I had butterflies in my stomach and I knew this inshAllah was going in the right direction :)
Now, when you have a legit feature wall, you don't need much anymore. My initial idea is just to turn her other wall into a full size wall mirror to make her room feel more spacious. But apparently that was gonna cost a bomb so scrap it, I don't love her that much. Ikea and SSF it is 😂 😂 😂
Off to IKEA I went on a Sunday and it was the worst decision of my life. It seems like everyone on the planet was there and I could barely make it pass the crowd. Tried to get some people to help me with my mirror and table but all their staff were occupied. Almost gave up until someone magically appeared to help this 5.5 months pregnant lady out. Paid, and all ready to leave when i realised the dresser would not fit in my little Wucii.
-____________-"
So I had to call for Grab XL to bring the furniture to Asma' and Wucii left IKEA, empty without any of those purchases. #uselessWucii
I managed to get Uncle Dad to help with the dresser, @yaulacap to paint her mirror black and white (because it was initially green and I had to buy them because thats the only color left) and even dropped by SSF a few days after to get her a stool.
The stool was a funny story, because I wanted to get her gold legged stool with fluffy white covering. But they only have fluffy stool in silver or a gold stool with blue cushion. -_____-
If I buy the former, I will have to spray paint it gold. And if I buy the latter, I have to cover it with white faux fur. Couldn't decide between the two stools, and Tiits was useless cos she said both were pretty so I ended up buying both. Thank god for birthday month discount! 😂
Back at home, I started my first DIY project and cut some white faux fur to cover the blue cushion and walla, my gold-white-fluffy stool was good to go! The other stool is now just sitting in my living room, untouched. 🙈
On Thursday, we wanted to pick Asma' up at KL Sentral and surprise her but she wasn't the easiest to deal with. First she said her bags are too heavy so she's just gonna Uber home, then when we said we'll meet her at home she said she's too tired and will just see us tomorrow
-_________________-"
Being the understanding best friends that we were, we told her we totally understand and that she should have a good rest...all that while we got ready to go to her house. Hehe. Titts in her kaftan and me in my #LtDLounge at midnight, on a weekday. Sigh, such is love.
She was so surprised to see her stubborn best friends at her house when she arrived, and gave us what we really wanted. Ben's cookies from London, baby! ❤ I dont think she had any idea what's in store for her, even when she was asked to close her eyes and walk into her room.
Her response was just one to remember, and even though we didn't stay very long because we were all ready to crash in bed, I would definitely remember this for the longest time to come.
Enough with the ramblings. I share with you here the final product of our Project X :D
There is something very fulfilling about making other people happy and I hope it is always my mission to make my loved ones as happy as they have make me, if not more!