TAKE*5 project #9 (part I)

Posted by: lemonbarleystrawberry on: June 6, 2011

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YES.

and the first step is to do a…

MAKEOVER FOR MY ROOM

i wanted to do this as my first project because i feel it’s an important step to take before moving forward in life.

out with the old and in with the new.

i had planned to repaint my room with a colour that i like (SUNNY YELLOW perhaps?) and put in new curtains, furniture and stuff but i faced restraints like limited time (was having my spanish exams) and resistant parents (“yellow is not a good colour for fengshui, nobody uses yellow for rooms.”).

so one thing led to another and i lost my momentum. i had mentally divided my room into sections which i planned to tackle individually but suddenly it all seemed rather overwhelming.

still, time is running out and i still have two projects to go. i have to do it anyway.

and deep in my heart, i know the significance of this particular project. my room means a lot to me because it’s like a safe haven where i spend most of my time in: reading, relaxing, facetiming with the boyfriend, dolling up, catching up on my beauty sleep, crying, singing and doing silly things when nobody is watching.

to me, it’s the heart of my home.

♥

ahh…so one day (yesterday to be precise), i decided to just go for it.

let’s get started.

like in all makeover shows, there must be a before and after picture. so here it is, the before picture of my room, taken a few nights ago.

in my opinion, not exactly bad, though i can probably do a lot better with more space.

so early in the morning, after i finished revising for my test (yes i still have to study for a test, that’s how busy i’ve been, damn it!), i decided to kick off my spring cleaning with what i would say was the first eyesore while i was surveying my room.

stacks and stacks of time magazine which i subscribed to during my sajc days. i hadnt appreciate them as much as i do now.

i didnt read most of them because i always felt very depressed reading about all those global problems (except for the 2004 tsunami special issue which i read in horror from cover to cover). so i stashed them in my cabinet every time they came, telling myself that i would take them out again in a while.

i never did until seven years later, which is now, and that is because i want to throw them away, hahahahaha!

on the other hand, i dont remember owning those sailormoon comics but yes, i LOVEEEEEEED sailormoon when i was young. shall sell them to some secondhand comics store or something.

cannot remember where i got these from but i’m keeping them because i like their photos and hey, free map of spain (and portugal)!!!

and now with the dated magazines and comic books gone, space for…

more books.

these, i hope to keep for long. need to weed further though, just saw buffy the vampire slayer, what is it doing there?!?!

so i took out several books that i dont really read anymore and am planning to bring them to the library tomorrow to give them away. knowledge and the fun of reading should be shared with others.

the first camera that i owned – lumix fx8, a fairly good camera if not for the bad memories that it brings; and the first camera that i bought myself – canon e1 in bimbotic pink.

lumix (and my old hot pink chocolate LG phone) shall go to a secondhand phone shop opened by a friend but bimbo canon stays with me because it’s still working ok, and i still like it very much. after all, it holds beautiful memories of my taiwan trip (and more).

i’m not a furry toy kind of person but this bunny can do funny tricks, so it’s been in my cabinet for quite some time and i still use it to scare nemo once in a while.

and the price for being able to stay in my cabinet?

it has to wear my fringe toupee. yes i bought that when my mom ruined my fringe some time ago.

i know, damn embarrassing, you can laugh because even i feel like laughing now, hahahaha.

it’s ok, we all have to do crazy things like that at least once in our life.

and it shows how devastated i was back then, that i had to resort to that.

i only wore it once though; just too troublesome and i couldnt be bothered.

very first editorial shoot when i was…18 if i’m not wrong. i looked so freaking young lah, damn it.

i’m such a sucker for organisers.

my first organiser, used when i was in…secondary school? i actually bothered customising it. you will see i always did that when i was a teenager – customising stuff.

identity crisis, big time.

another one with cute calender stickers.

apparently, my obsession with organisers is well known. i even get them for birthdays, haha.

oh actually the blue book is a beauty guide given to me by the bbs for my 21st birthday. beauty tips all handwritten, with pictures attached; and with handmade pockets stuffed with money for some pamper-me treats.

just goes to show that i have the sweetest friends in the world because they always give the MOST AWESOME presents in the world.

i have my own tabloid too, thanks to the elites, my poly friends.

with real content ok, and advertisements too. sigh…feel like crying every time i see this.

what have i done to deserve such good friends?

ah…another favourite part in the spring cleaning process is to look through my treasure box filled with gifts from the boyfriend.

oh and i got that stamp for our first anniversary, if i’m not wrong. it can be used as a real stamp, just for your information.

lovely.

i cannot remember what occasion it was though, hmmm…oh yes, valentine’s day this year.

to be honest, i’m never a jewelery kind of girl but i guess this is the kind of design i would like if i have to pick one.

simple and feminine.

i also found these…

my little accessories box – the hello kitty one, that is.

so many earrings (and little pearls that had dropped from one of my favourite tank tops the first time i wore it).

the funny thing is…i dont wear earrings. all the six ear holes that i had pierced during my antsy period had closed up because i am allergic to anything that is not pure gold or silver or diamond, hahahaha!

no, i’m serious.

and mirrors. another obsession. and you know what? i didnt buy any of them. they are all gifts. do i look like i am someone who look into the mirror often?

ok i admit i am.

at least used to be.

the combs are from my father who bought it from china, i believe. made from some rare bamboo or wood or something.

he always gave me damn valuable things when i was young and didnt appreciate such things. like the diamond earrings he bought me and which i couldnt find now.

oh and that metal card holder with the mysterious woman, bought from taiwan when i needed a wallet. i dont like using conventional wallets, until recently when i really have too many things to be contained in a coin purse / card holder / cigarette box.

more girly gifts. other than the dior lipstick set (why did i even buy that when i dont wear lipstick?!?!), all the rest are gestures of kindness and love from my friends and family.

one of my favourite birthday presents of all time, thanks to derek who specially bought it for me online! havent seen my stewie plush toy around though, gotta go search for him later.

i decorated this box when i was young. mashups seemed to be my favourite style.

i dont remember liking powerpuff girls so much. and this is my secondary four biology file!!! why have i kept this for so long, i have no idea.

biology ten year series.

really, why do i have so many biology stuff left from yesteryears? i have the textbook too. it was not even my best subject; in fact, it was my worst, the only B i got for o’s, damn it.

so…all those books…into the bin.

korean, i still can read. japanese…i’ve learnt NOTHING from that class, i tell you.

i should just stick to english-based language from now on, so much easier.

i’ve specially kept this delivery box from taiwan to remind me of those happy times i had spent at the post office sending stuff to my loved ones; and sending my shopping loot back before i came home, hee.

to my surprise, i’ve kept all these notebooks with me for years, hidden inside that box.

a math, e math, poly notes and oh…more organisers, hahaha.

yes, all those customised with mashups of celebrities’ photos and cartoons are from my secondary school days. quite free huh, last time, always did this kind of thing.

i enjoyed myself so much clearing out my stuff, wiping the cabinets clean of stains (why are there stains?!) and neatly organising everything that it was night time before i knew it.

and that was when i got to the next cabinet, stored with the more sentimental stuff.

my collection of postcards over the years.

now they have a new home to rest in – my taiwan delivery box.

another treasure box, kept during my childhood.

the stuff i kept in there meant a lot to the younger me, and fortunately, it works to put in extra effort to take care of them because they still look very flawless and new now.

ah, the pioneers of our bb club.

those were the days.

i cannot believe that i used to be so romantic, writing letters to the future self, hahahaha. sounded really optimistic and brave and…young.

and i wrote in CHINESE, take that!

like really, what has happened to my artistic and language talents over the years huh?!?!?!

these are unfortunately, the only two letters i wrote for myself.

i had diaries though. cringed when i read a few pages here and there and without much hesitation, i destroyed all three of them, hahahahaha.

some stuff, i’m keeping though they are of no use now.

like sticker albums of my favourite cartoon characters.

my chibi maruko cut-outs from a special edition cartoon magazine n years ago.

a cute pack of cards which my late grandma gave me.

well…you’ll never know when you will feel blue and need some inspiration on what to do!

eeyer, i’m not proud of this but hey, all part of the trend, man.

the latest one i took was in taiwan with my roomies, and judging from the quality of the photos, the technology has advanced by leaps and bounds over time.

also took out all the letters and cards i’ve received throughout the years from friends, family, teachers and boys whose names and faces i could no longer remember.

i threw away most of the stuff except for those that really, really mean something to me.

two things i’ve noticed: my friends loved writing letters to me, even those whom i met like everyday? i cannot remember if i had replied them.

cannot imagine myself being someone who likes to write letters, but i hope i was nice and had replied them, at least out of duty.

probably did, or how else could someone carry on the correspondence by herself / himself for so long?

and there is this mystery that truly intrigues me. i dont know why, but from the things written in the letter, the way i was addressed, it seems like i had gone missing from the surface of the earth for a period of time.

maybe it was just one of those times i was being particularly anti-social so nobody saw me for days, i dont know.

just kinda exciting to think that i might have lost my memory or disappeared for some time or something, hahahaha.

secondly, i noticed that dear vincent, my baby brother used to make many cards for me for my birthdays, and even wrote letters for me when i was away (to where, i have no idea, just the way it was written tells me that i was away).

it’s like the SWEEEEEEEEETEST thing ever, especially when you picture him as the scrawny, nerdy little boy he was when he was small, drawing with his precious marker pens on drawing block and folding it half to make a card.

aww…they grow up way too fast, dont they?

so yes, those i’m definitely keeping.

my beloved brothers, as much as they irritate me at times, are the best brothers anyone can ask for.

♥ ♥ ♥

so finally, after at least ten hours, i managed to clean up two sides of my cabinet. the last one contains mainly my father’s notes and documents so i’m leaving it to my mom.

i have to say it’s really a grueling process but it’s surprisingly cathartic and satisfying too.

i can be an emotional person sometimes but i’m not really sentimental, so i dont have problems throwing out stuff.

i think engaging in such an activity once in a while not only tidies up your room, but also your life too. somehow, i got to know more about myself, my loved ones and yeah, happy memories got relived and the bad ones, released.

so now, i have my cabinets filled with only useful / funny / meaningful / valuable stuff.

plenty of space. clean and neat. sweeeeeet.

and now…

you are next, ugly walls!

p.s. this is perhaps the LONGEST project in TAKE*5, so gotta have quite a few entries on it and it may stretch over a long period of time, beyond the initially planned.

p.p.s. i have planned two activities as my last project but i havent decided which is better.

in short, loads of exciting things coming up, so watch this space.