We finally moved in! We actually did it last weekend, but until Sunday the 15th we still haven’t had everything assembled. It took us nearly 7 afternoons to finish everything. But we are here!
And now we take you for a virtual housewarming party! I know, kinda lame party, but still a party.
I believe you can buy a house, but to make it your home you need to add some personal touch. This is why I buy bunch of ‘worthless crap’ according to Sing, however even he was surprised with the final effect. All the little details added together gave us a feeling of real home. And don’t forget the cat fur everywhere.
There’s no crazy cat family home without cat fur LITERALLY everywhere. 
Biscuit’s fur was on the bed before Biscuit was even moved here last weekend.
It’s been a loooong journey that started already in America. We didn’t want to give our money away, at least you can be paying off your own property instead of sponsoring someone else’s extra income.
Before I met Sing I thought once you get a flat you’re pretty much tied down to that particular spot – my parents’ house is still in the same place as it was nearly 25 years ago. Now with all the property management companies you can still move even to another country and still get income from renting the apartment.
Since the properties in Ireland are cheap comparing to Hong Kong, after a year of renting, we decided to get our own place. To be honest with you, if we spent last year’s rent on paying off the new home we would have 1/10 paid already. Not to mention we think about baby seriously, and we wouldn’t want to worry if the landlord would increase the rent or will he kick us out.
This is not only our own place, but also one more step in our relationship. We first met, dated, then we got married, move in together. We moved again. And again. Sometimes it feels so surrealistic to me. I look at Sing and think ‘now we are not only tied together by love and the cutest cat ever, but also by mortgage (some people say it can last longer than love itself). We now have a place made by us, for us. Place we set up for ourselves, with our rules
(although Momzilla complained that the mirror is not following the feng shui rules and demons will come and haunt Sing).
I cannot wait till the day we actually have a child and I can tell him or her ‘My house, my rules’. #stereotypewhiteparenting
Getting this flat was pain in the butt – all the bidding war against invisible buyers, then all the paperwork taking forever. Renovation process that was needed. But because of how much heart we put into getting this apartment and changing it, we can appreciate it and love it more.
This said, I want to share some before and after pics with you, so you can see how much effort was put in here!
BEFORE
AFTER
We changed nearly everything – bathroom tiles, shower, floors, painted the flat with 4 coats of white paint, changed the kitchen cabinets, got a splash back, new appliances. The difference is unbelievable, you wouldn’t say it’s the same place. I still look around shocked having in mind what we first saw entering this flat.
Let us know how you feel about your home, moving, decorating, touching up! I hope we all feel the same lovelly squeeze in the stomach! Share your thoughts and experience! 🙂
PS I got my Internet connection back so MyHongKongHusband blog is up and running again! Be prepared for more posts and videos!
I love it! So bright and uncluttered. Well done.
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I love the contrast but for the past few days I realized that cats with fur and dark floors are not the best idea
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I
m quite jealouse that you have your own place at quite young age that wasnt bought with your parents or in laws money, but good for you! Long way before me to get my own space, but I already collecting ideas on Pinterest for interior 😛 It`s nice to get everything done before moving.LikeLike
Momzilla and WahWah helped us a bit with some pocket money for the renovation but the credit is on our hands now – till mortgage do us apart haha 🙂 I hope you can get your own place soon! besides, to be honest, I planned the layout and furniture before we even found the right place haha 😀
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It looks sooooo good! :O and that bed is reaaally big! haha, Sing’s side in the bathroom is literally full of Nivea products and your side is about cute pink products 😀
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it’s nearly 2m weight and over 2m high… and he still rolls to my side haha 😀 Sing is huge nivea fan, I buy stuff because they look cute haha 😀
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Looks great! You have quite a flair for decorating.
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aww thank you! I planned the choice of furniture before we even had a flat chosen 😀
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Congrats my dear on your new house! Love, love the decor. White’s great at making spaces larger than they are and it’s kinda calming. I have the same over the toilet stand in the lighter colour. Perfect storage for tight bathrooms!
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I love that toilet stand, we don’t have much storage provided by the designer so we had to come up with some ideas and I have to say IKEA is the best space saving furniture company!
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It is, but not the trip there!
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Wow, your place look nice. I love your idea of the virtual house warming.
Anyway, I’m also jealous that you two can afford to buy a house such a young age. To us this is not possible given house price here in HK is so expensive! Even if we had saved for many years we still won’t be able to have a down-payment for the house.
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If that makes you any better – if it was HK we would probably not even rent out but live with Momzilla haha 😀 prices are ridiculous! I told Sing, if you’re not born in the ‘right family’ you basically have nearly zero chances to get out of your parents home! the best some of our friends can do is rent out, but that’s giving away money for the down payment… so sad… 😦
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I can’t believe I actually watched the entire video! At first I was going to say 13.35 is too long for a house tour video, but… I guess not!
What’s wrong with the mirror? It is bad feng shui if the mirror is facing directly the bed, like where the TV is. Actually it is just bad common sense, you wake up and get a heart attack staring at the morning you. But then the mirror is on the side, so it should be fine?
And your kitchen, yeah yeah very lovely and all. Just wait until Momzilla’s first visit to this new house is over, then I want to see the kitchen again. Actually when is she going? Maybe I should visit first, since your house is so lovely. I don’t mind sleeping in the baby room. Is there anything to do in Limerick? XD
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when you look like little prince you don’t get a heart attack seeing yourself, you get a bon… nevermind 😀 I’m actually surprised ANYONE would watch the whole video, thanks! I love you 😀 we always have a spare room for visitors so if you actually decide to visit Ireland (not many people do as the weather mostly sucks) then we can help you with the accommodation 😀 Limerick has a castle and it’s a lovely little city, then on the way to work we pass the oldest castle in Ireland, there are some nice cliffs and stuff.. and with 3-4h drive you can get on Game of Thrones tour 😀
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Congratulations! I remember how much work it is to get an apartment done as the current one took several months. Back in Finland I did most alone as my wife moved in some time later but after that it took years to get all furniture over time as we were poor students :p
Now we are saving to buy / build at some point in the near future a house 🙂
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Oh wow! Our coworker’s husband is still building their home after 15 years he said there’s always something to do so maybe buy it haha 😀
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Congratulations!!
It looks really lovely ❤
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Congratulations! Beautiful home!
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Thank you for sharing your new home! All the time you spent at IKEA really was worth it. The flat looks amazing.
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Love it! The plants are especially awesome. 😀
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It looks so lovely! Congrats 🙂
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I want to do a house tour in the future, you guys look so excited, 😊
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Congrats!!!
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