A Room With A View: Recipe for a happy home life

Sun, 05/11/2008 12:37 PM  |  Home & Family

(JP/Alvin D. Soedarjo)

Every room tells a story about the owner. The Jakarta Post's Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo talks to house owner Karin Djoharli about her inspiration and ideas.

Please briefly describe yourself to readers? My name is Karin Djoharli. My husband Ricky and I, and our son Ranjan, have been living in this house in Puri Bintaro for three years.

It was our dream to own our own house. We were living in Tebet for quite awhile, and searching for the right place to live. We had been searching for many years all over Jakarta before we built this house from the ground up.

Our son, Ranjan, is 5 years old. We had him after five years of marriage.

In the morning, my husband takes him to school and goes to work. After Ranjan comes back home, I play with him or watch TV with him. It's a process that I hold onto dearly, since he is our only child.

In this house, everywhere you go you will find children's toys. If you open the drawers, they are full of toys.

(JP/Alvin D. Soedarjo)

If I have freetime, I bake cakes. We love to eat, especially Ranjan, who is also fond of snacking.

Apartment vs. house?

I've been contemplating living in an apartment. Honestly, we spend so much time inside.

I'm a bit of a "cleaning freak" -- a characteristic that I inherited from my mother.

It's my habit to clean every nook and cranny of this place. So an apartment might suit me better as there is less cleaning to do.

Can you give a brief description of the house layout?

Basically we wanted the house to be as open and spacious as possible. The kitchen, which is not separated by a wall, is located next to the living room. So after I bake cakes, I can easily walk into the living room to serve people.

Our main bedroom is on the ground floor, which is next to the living room.

(JP/Alvin D. Soedarjo)

We tried to replicate the design of a hotel's bathroom, which we found very comfortable. However, we needed to condense the design as we have both a shower and a bathtub. There is no door to separate the bathroom from the bedroom.

The living room has large glass doors, which can also be opened wide for important occasions or parties. A few years ago we still opened them everyday, but now there is more dust coming in from outside, so we'd rather keep them closed.

There are two bedrooms upstairs, which are reserved for our child. Ranjan still sleeps with us at night, refusing to sleep alone upstairs.

Now it's really hard for us to make him sleep in his own room. There is only one bedroom on the ground floor instead of two.

We should have created the child's room on the same level as the main bedroom to make it easier for our son to move into his own room.

The maid's room is also upstairs, along with the laundry.

What changes did you make from the original layout, and why?

We made the storage room or gudang bigger than it was in the original layout. The storage room, which is not visible from the main living room, is located behind the "dirty" (secondary) kitchen.

We also added another space for a car park, which took away the space of the home garden. I don't care for gardening, so I didn't mind sacrificing the space.

Did you have a theme in mind for the house?

I think we combined some themes for this house. I like the "natural ethnic" style, incorporating natural elements. However, my husband is fond of minimalism. So we compromised. The two styles can still be bound together.

The architect is a friend of my husband, but we designed most of the layout.

We installed bamboo blinds on the windows rather than regular fabric blinds, as they are much easier to clean.

(JP/Alvin D. Soedarjo)

Are there any aspects of your design that you are particularly proud of? It's the kitchen. I'm passionate about baking cakes, rather than cooking regular food. It's a stress-release spot for me. It's actually everything that I had been dreaming of.

Renovating bathrooms can often pose particular problems. What were some of the issues for you?

There was a problem with the toilet. After three years we noticed cracks in the ceramic. It obviously hadn't been installed properly, so we replaced it.

We also need to be particularly diligent about the maintenance of the tiles.

Another difficult area is often the kitchen. What changes did you make here?

We tiled the walls in the "dirty' kitchen, which is located behind the open kitchen in the living room.

The fumes from cooking can make painted walls dirty. It's easier to clean tiles.

I'm learning how to cook Indonesian food, which can produce a lot of mess and grease as they use many ingredients.

Where did you get the inspiration for these changes? For the kitchen, I'm learning all these cooking methods from an old cook, who works for Ricky's family. She knows the recipes and can prepare some of my husband's favorite dishes. I need to learn how to cook like her so the knowledge is passed on before she passes away.

Could you describe some of the problems you encountered when physically undertaking the renovation?

We encountered no significant problems.

Would you do it again? Do you think you will make any more changes? No.

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