Daily Report: Final Touches

Today was a fine day of work. It sucks having a job where one day you make $40 per hour, the next day you make $10 per hour... with absolutely no difference in the amount of effort or zeal you put into your work. I remember doing a sales job after I graduated from college, and it was the same soul-sucking experience where effort had absolutely no correlation to reward.

The furniture arrived today... all of it. So hence, you get the photos you've been waiting for.

First off is the living room. The couch is custom made by the local furniture maker. As you can see, the arm rests are tables, and there is a table built over the cushion as well. If you look closely, you'll see that the surround sound speakers are built into the couch as well. The grey paint is a little bit more blue than I wanted. Most importantly though, is that the 6-feet by 6-feet measurement I made turned out to be too small. I'm going to have some benches built to stick on the ends of the couch to provide more seating. I also still need to buy a dining room table for this room.
Next is the kitchen, a work in progress. We're going to have the furniture guy build a back wall for the stove that turns into a bit of a counter. That's Kirko the houseboy hard at work fixing the clogged drain. The plumbing needs so much work.

Here is the bedroom. The bed is another custom piece, with the headboard all hand carved. The stain is a little too dark. I wanted more of a white maple color. Now I have to find something to hang over the bed to match it. I also have to buy Epril a table for her boudoir, and then all of the things on the little widow seat will be stored away.
Here are the wardrobes we had made in Epril's boudoir. The gray paint really picks up the blue of the curtains. I made a dumb mistake and forgot to buy an air conditioner with a remote control... Epril can't reach the switch up there, and I can only reach it by opening the door and standing on the ledge there. Also those boxes in front of the air conditioner are "functional". The cold air for some reason seems to blow primarily off to the left of the picture, which isn't where we want it blowing. The boxes direct the air.

Below is the TV room. There is still a coffee table coming and a TV stand. (The TV is off to the left.) The wall hanging and piece covering the window seat are silk tapestries I bought in a mountain village in Laos.

The view from my office this evening.
AJ playing. Epril, Mom, Ednil, and
Doreen enjoying the wireless internet.
That's Inday in her school uniform.The family was hanging out on the terrace this evening. Little AJ was brought round by his mother too. It was nice to sit here and work and listen to everybody enjoying the house.

For dinner, we had spaghetti, and I watched some History Channel. No dogs barking tonight, which is a great sign of the accommodating nature of my neighbors.

So anyway, here's a list of all the things I plan to get for the house before I consider it fully furnished: A dining room table with chairs; a knickknack table, a bar, and a café table with chairs for the sitting room off the living room (not photographed yet... it's still filled with boxes); a bench for the front porch; a makeup table and chair for Epril in the boudoir area of the master bedroom; a bit of carpet for the stairs and upstairs hallway; a wicker table and chairs and a bamboo bench for the terrace (plus more plants); and, some additional paintings and wall hangings. I also need some blinds for my office.

The nice thing is that all of these things are amazingly inexpensive here in The Philippines. The bed, the couch, and the wardrobes you see in these photographs combined cost about $800. The coffee table and TV table for the TV room that are on their way should cost about $30 together. All in all, when we're finished, Epril and I will have spent about $4,000 for all of the appliances, furniture, and decor for our home this year (plus about $8,000 last year... with the 60-inch TV). Until we buy a house of our own, that will be just about it for our domecilliary expenses.