I NEED to....

in random order lah....

1) save $$$ from my cupcake sales to NOT ONLY buy a bigger oven, but also customize its 'built-in' cabinet.....
(gosh! coz I can't see where I can squeeze in another oven in my current kitchen now.....and besides, such ovens require its own built-in cabinet......aduh...extra cost to me, that is!)

2) save $$$ from my handmade sales to get myself a serging machine.....and an electric sewing machine that can do buttonholes and have different stitch options! Both ain't cheap fyi ya...
(fyi, I already found its table...lol! Salvaged a metal table with caster wheels from Godma's unwanted-and-to-be-thrashed stuffs)...yeah, so now, I have the suitable table....but yet the machine itself...LOL! See the table? Pretty messed up huh? But worry not....I shall wave my magic wand (when I actually have ample free time, I don't know when....with my current schedule).....and turn this Raggedy Ann into Snow White! :D I have the colors and design in my head the moment I spotted this poor thang...yet the time....so be patient ya'll!


You might ask...."Why not just swipe those on my credit card or something?"

Well, yeah....credit card....I have come to learn from Oprah that....credit card is like the devil....'who' makes you spend money you don't already earn.....and people are S.T.U.C.K with this bad habit of destruction......how true is that? So, I have told myself to swipe my card in TWO circumstances only......

a) EMERGENCY of course...
b) When I have the cash to actually buy the thing but bringing cash is not convenient...., in short, it means, only buy with credit card when you actually have the money to pay for it almost quite instantly lah! lol!

Truth be told, I learnt a lot of things from Oprah...from her interior decorator Nate Berkus' tips on decorating, to the financial experts she had on her shows.....to the shrinks who talked and talked....I just wish I could watch her show every day...and learn a new lesson daily...but sorry lah.....haven't seen Oprah for quite some time......(gotta fix that!)

Did I mention that I recently helped my parents UN-clog their bedroom? Yeah, now you know....I learnt that from Oprah too! LOL! It's her "Clean Up Your Messy Home" campaign....no no no....don't get me wrong...my parents bedroom was NOT dirty what the heck.....but my dad aka the "HOARDER".....had kept toooo many unnecessary items till they 'clogged' the breathing space in their bedroom.......hah! No wonder he always complains he's unable to get a good sleep or rest at home!

So, as busy as I am.....I set on a task.....Mum couldn't be happier....coz she said: "He never listens to me, only you girls can talk him out on letting go of his hoarded junks" LOL!

So on one fine weekend, me and MY TEAM (= Z + K + M), headed on to mum's house (why we always call it MUM's PLACE, Mum's house and not DAD's place????). Thankfully, Dad was willing to let me touch, sort and throw then reorganize his stuffs......I think I threw out 50% of things......but of course, I didn't simply throw things okayyy.....hehe....

And just look at the junks that we should have discarded ages ago!!! Man!!! This is just 5% of the total items we got rid of that weekend you know..... :O

"Things you have not touched or used in the past 12 mths, THROW or DONATE"
-from The Oprah Show :D

So, items that are still usable but un-needed, we donated to the Salvation Army...some were taken by Dad's workers, this way, every good item did not go to total waste! Look at these cupboards here.....It's an ISSUE of organizational skill really....I opened his cupboards a-many.....and realized that Dad had a 'whimsical' organizational system......

He stored some stationeries in Cupboard A, some in cupboard C.....you get the flow....
So, I cleared and regrouped his stuffs according to TYPE, and placed em nicely in ONE place....thus, these 3 cupboards were made EMPTY!!! Yes, EMPTY!!! And that's how I managed to clear their bedroom off these 3 bulky unnecessary items!!! GOOD!!!


Using some leftover Murobond paints from our house, my teammate Z helped mum and dad paint their not-so-feature-able feature wall...which was half maroon, half white :P
***Sorry, again, I forgot to snap the "BEFORE" pix...as usual...too excited to get started to transform things....always always forgot to do that!!!

So this is the semi-final outcome......tadaaaa!!!! Gorgeous Aubergine shade.....
The week before, Mum , little sis and I went to buy her curtain fabrics....and see how the curtain matched the feature wall? (This is not yet the final outcome....I have to go there to snap the pix....haven't done that...will update here when I have it ya)....even their old-but-still-pristine bed set matched the new shade harmoniously...dont cha think???
So I told mum, the only thing she gotta 'fix' would be her FILI FALA flower power-ish bedsheet! LOL! Asked her to find one in matching shade, simple pattern to simplify the room even more....

As I am writing this, this bedroom already had the curtains hung up......there's more breathing space.....and definitely less crowded! Even though this is not some fancy 'makeover', I feel that we made the best of things with super minimum budget...and that's the real success...to me at least!

Have you spring-cleaned your space recently? It's fun.....HAHAHA!