Like it or not,Ikea is here to stay.

   So we’ve (Greg and I) have finally come to a conclusion on what,or rather how we would furnish our ’sun room’. It’s actually a balcony but the previous owner has glassed it up and it is now like a second family room. Why we call it a sun room is because it has lots of sunlight in the day time. When we bought the apartment it was because of this ’sun room’ that we fell in love with. Ironically, this is the only place in the house that we have not furnished (not one bit) except for the Christmas tree that inhabited it last year and is now again in it’s corner this year. Which reminds me that it’s has been a year since we moved in and made this our first home. It really doesn’t feel like it’s been a year at all. It was our ‘DOE’ (AW friends will know this) to spend Christmas in our new home. Do or die,preggars or not (I was heavily pregnant with Caitlyn then) we are spending Christmas here. Writing this blog brings back so many memories. It has been such a fulfilling year. Some of the memories which I’m not very fond of as well…

  If you are wondering why does this deserves an entry in my blog… read on. You have no idea how much trouble and D.R.A.M.A this room has brought onto the Tan residence. I think drama just follows me… (Hey! I didn’t ask for all this ok.) First it was the indecisiveness of what or how we want to use the room.( Ok-lar, except for this one) It came to a point where we (Greg and I) don’t talk about it anymore because we were not ready to stand on common ground. Then something happen to the laminated floorboards. First it was just the creaky sounds, then it was chipping here and there. The floor people (Lyscca) was suppose to come and sort it out but they have ran out of stock. Great which took another 3-4 months. When the floorboards finally arrived, after the contractors raisedthe floorboards to replace them, but to find that the old floorboards underneath has warped,which made their floorboards warped as well. So they claimed that it’s not their fault so it’s not under warranty. So…wait a minute! I remember asking them if it’s ok not to remove the old ones? I even asked their salesperson do we need to rebuilt the platform? Their answer was no,just lay it on top of the old ones. So,there to cut the long,long story short (this is just part of the drama). Don’t buy from Lyscca, make sure you’ve got all this issues covered before buying. Especially from the HomeDec Exibitions where they throw you all kinds of too good to be true 1 day offers.  

The floorboards thingy is actually the second drama.. the first one was the kitchen drama. Hence the title of this entry.. Like it or not,IKEA is here to stay. So, our kitchen is from IKEA, we thought we can stretch our dollar a little bit and went for IKEA solution which we were told would be cheaperas it is all ready made. You just have to custom pick what fits your needs and into your kitchen and won’t hurt the pocket too much. Plus I was kinda ’sold’ on the idea of those neat looking inserts and baskets to ‘organize’ your kitchen so that everything will have it’s place.(So anal…yup! That’s me.) So happily we saw their kitchen planner, got the plan that we wanted..with all the drawers and pull-out baskets thingys that I wanted. When their contractor came to fix up the cabinets they found out that the measurements were wrong! Their kitchen planner fucked up. If they were to fit in as per plan.. that will leave me a space of like 1 meter for my fridge. So their so-called ’solution’ was to saw off  a bit of the drawer unit. Which means… I cannot use the inserts to organize my stuff! I was so angry…I swear I was about to give birth! At the end I had to sacrifice my tall standing unit..yes..the one that suppose to have all my pull-out basket thingys. My whole kitchen isscrewed up. Nothing of it is what I wanted. I was so upset I thought I’ll fall straight into post-natal depression again. For my friends who are reading this..you know how I love things not going my way or turn up the way that I want it. And again.. this is just a part of the IKEA drama..I will be kind and not go on any further. But the thing with IKEA is… you’ll still go back no matter what. Greg and I curse and swear like hell but die-die also walk into their doors with magically renewed hope and enthusiasm  for our next home improvement projects. Since then Ihave not really bought any ‘big’ items from them untill now… this table which will be in our sunroom.

 We had so many ideas and plans for this room, we couldn’t come to a conclusion. I wanted it to be a reading room with a daybed and an opium table with some giant throw cushions to chill. Greg wanted it to be a study. Many of our friends and relatives suggested to just leave it empty like that. So that the kiddies could have a playroom. I did considerthat,but I soon noticed that because it’s empty no one actually sits there except if the dining area and sofas are fully occupied them people will have no choice but to sit on the floor there. Plus it’s really weird to have the empty space there with no lights or anything…Generally I think people like to sit at a table so that they can put their cup and it’s just more comfortable to have a table infront of you. I tried to look for the daybed but never seem to find the right one,plus I was really so undecided.. sigh! So finally now it’s done. I guess things just have a really weird way of handling itself.  

     It’s actually a balance of what Greg and I originally wanted.. It’s a chillout and study area.So now Greg will have his space to put his laptop (it’s more like my laptop now), I have a place to do my scrapbooking or whatever handicraft, Aiden can sit and do his workor drawing. And when we have guest,which is quite often, we can clear the table for our guest to have tea and tete-a-tete or simply use it as a dining table for the kiddies. So now my the next thing I want to get is a low cabinet to put against the wall and a book shelves maybe. Hmmm.. but in the mean time I’m all ready for my Christmas parties.. the extra table will be handy. Plus ‘The SS’ (Suffering Serpents- Greg’s friends aka the boys) and their ‘WOTSS’ (Wifes Of The Suffering Serpents) will be delighted as we now have another table for our Chinese New Year vices… Ha! Ha! Mrssss… Gopalan! Yes, I’m actually talking to you…and the very deceiving Mrs Soyza, I hear will be back from the land of the ‘kiasu‘.

  I’ve fixed the table today. Why did it take 2 days? Well… even bringing the table home was drama. The elevator was out of service for 2 days and we bloody live on the 17th floor! So DON’T ask me again why I named this blog Drama Mama Speaks!

As I’m tightening up the screws and putting together the tiny drawers… I’m thinking about all the fun and laughs that the Tans will be sharing with out beloved friends and family over our newest purchase from IKEA. Let’s hope it won’t fuck us up again… but even if it does.. We’ll be back in their stores again to buy another one in a few months time. Hah!