A Funny Little Thing Called Home

We were at our new home yesterday evening, taking measurements as we had forgotten to measure certain parts of the kitchen.
I am slowly getting used to the idea that soon I will be living in this ground floor apartment unit as opposed to my first floor apartment.
I’m thinking of reasons to love being in this new house.
Actually I don’t have to think of many – it has a lot of potential to be diamond. Right now it is a diamond in the rough. An unpolished gemstone.
I love the location. It is 5 minutes away from my favourite mall and when I say favourite, it does not mean I am a shopaholic, it’s just that Jusco and Borders are both in the same mall. I can imagine popping into Jusco or Borders just for fun.
It’s also a brief walk away from cafes and restaurants. Penang is not a pedestrian-friendly place, I admit it. So to be able to walk to get my food – now that is a new approach to being the eco-urbanite that I am.
In front of my new place is a huge park suitable for jogging. With basketball court, stationary exercise machines, children’s playground and even monkey bars. In our current residence, we have a gorgeous swimming pool. So we had to think really hard about this when we decided to buy our current place. Could we change our exercise habits from swimming to walking or jogging? Was that a sacrifice?
But what made me love our new place is the idea that it feels like a terrace house, with a car park lot right in front of the house and a wisp of a garden at the side and back. The kitchen has a back door! I cannot tell you how strangely fulfilling it is to know that I can unlatch the metal door and walk out to the back of the house! (I could never do that in my present apartment).
Some things become so precious suddenly! Years ago I would’ve laughed out loud if anyone told me I’d be better off with a back door and a garden.
I’m also terribly excited that I can now fulfill my role as a good citizen of the earth by having space for composting. I can have my compost bin out in the garden. I can keep recyclables easily without messing up the kitchen (as I do now as I stash almost everything under the sink).
The best part? I can plant all the herbs and flowers I want because it’s a garden. With SPACE. With lots of earth under my feet.
I am thinking – let’s have basil, lemongrass, pandan, maybe even some chives and spring onions. And I can plant bamboo!
And there’s even space for a little deck out at the back. With a deck, we can put up our feet, count the sparkles in the sky while sipping pu-erh tea. A brilliant plan for utter hedonism!
Of course, all these are in my mind. The contractor has not even given us a proper quote for the kind of remodeling we want. He considers it minimal remodeling as we won’t be tearing down walls or putting up awkward structures. A thought crossed my mind – I really wouldn’t mind painting the house myself (with Nic of course). It’s not alien to the both of us. We did paint the current residence we are living in right now. I consider that a little elbow grease never did hurt. It would be backbreaking though.
And decisions to make on all sorts of things – things I had never bothered about. What colour for tiles? What kind of lighting? What colour for the walls? What type of kitchen? Galley? L-shaped? What type of furniture to match what we currently have? What style do we want? And where do we put Margaret’s bed? Her cat litterbox?
It’s funny how a new home gets people dreamy!
Do you have any tips to share for new home owners like us? What to do? What not to do? I’ll really appreciate it!