Syafiq and Yati’s 4-room flat is more than just a place for them to unwind after work. As he is a freelance photographer, and she runs an online floral business (@fleursbyspoleczny), their home also doubles up as their office.

The couple carved out specific spaces in their home to work – one room to house all of Syafiq’s photography equipment and where he spends time editing photos, and another for Yati to assemble beautiful floral bouquets for her clients.

The room that Syafiq uses as his work space

Yati keeps all her floral arrangement materials in a neat corner in one of the rooms

Since they spend a large part of their day at home, they wanted it to be a versatile space. Yati, in particular, views their home as a canvas to express her creativity and love for beautiful things. “This is a ‘rojak home’,” she said with a laugh.  “We just buy what we think is nice! And I love to move things around, so our home never looks the same.”. Rojak is a traditional fruit and vegetable dish commonly found in Southeast Asia. It also refers to an ‘eclectic mix’ in colloquial Malay.

Before they started renovating their flat, interior-related videos on YouTube were their inspiration as they aimed to create a full-white minimalist home. But as their renovation began, they started adding subtle textures, patterns and colours into their home interior.

An example was the herringbone-patterned brick wall in their living room, that was from Performance Coating International, a company that specialises in interior surface paint. The special finishing traps less dust, as compared to the actual brick material, hence making it easier to clean and maintain. The couple entrusted contractor and designer  (@jamesmorispteltd) with the task of renovating their flat and were very happy with the result. Meanwhile, they sourced other furniture items from IKEA, Castlery, and Ezybuy.

Subtle textures and patterns in their home

Subtle textures and patterns in their home

Plants also make a consistent appearance throughout the home; olive plants, monsterra leaves, and fiddle plants to name a few. She bought them from @bobmubarak, who is famous in the Insta-realm for selling beautiful artificial flowers and plants.

Artificial olive plant used to decorate their dining table

The couple chose to have a teal feature wall in their master bedroom, to create a calming atmosphere for relaxation. In the ensuite bathroom,  a ‘resort-style’ theme was adopted  to complement the chill vibes of the room.

The resort-style bathroom in their master bedroom

So even though their ‘office’ is just in the next room, their resort-style bedroom transports them to another place and provides respite from their work. Yati and Syafiq spend a lot of time in in their ‘Rojak Home’ but they can never get enough of it… and we totally get why!

The one thing that struck Kai Jie and Jiching when they first entered their 4-room flat at Telok Blangah was the view of the sea and lush greenery from the living room window. The delicate blues and calming greens of the landscape gave them the idea to go for an interior design concept that could ‘bring the outside in’ to their home.

Their love for design and art helped them actualise their dream of creating a nature-inspired home. They enjoyed the process immensely, as it was an outlet for them to express their creativity.

“We drafted several moodboards, but everything was fundamentally Scandinavian with a muted palette,” Jiching explained. Just like how the couple were inspired to bring the elements of the surrounding landscape into their flat, Scandinavian design is also about paying homage to nature by including natural materials like wood, and adopting subdued tones like grey and green.

The artworks created by Jiching are displayed in the living room

Wooden furniture, plants, and cosy textiles are interspersed throughout their home to create an atmosphere of being one with nature.

While they hired an interior designer to create the permanent fixtures in their home, like kitchen cabinets, wardrobe and bed frame, everything else was the couple’s own effort; from sourcing for décor items, to even painting the feature wall in their living room!

They picked the shade of forest green for the feature wall to complement the wooden TV console that they bought from Ethnicraft. Jiching also created a series of minimalist-themed artworks using only 4 materials – gold spray paint, marker, white paper and a photo frame. With just a few strokes and sprays, she created an art collection that now adorns their living room wall.

A mixture of simple wooden and eclectic Asian-influenced furniture

Jiching liked the embroidery on a traditional Burmese costume, so she turned it into a cushion cover

Kai Jie and Jiching also share an inclination for décor items that hold a cultural significance. Some of the notable pieces in their home include a batik-patterned chair, and a cushion that was repurposed from a traditional Burmese costume. While it is atypical for a Scandi-themed home to have such elaborate motifs, it is also what makes their home truly unique.

The couple commissioned the famous pottery artist Kim Whye Kee to create this teapot set that was used during their wedding tea ceremony

The dining room shares a similar muted palette that evokes a cosy atmosphere for the couple to gather with family and friends over dinner

These dome-shaped pendant lights are staples in Scandi-themed homes

Greenish-grey cabinet finishing in the kitchen fit in nicely with the overall minimalistic look of the home

Their bedroom, in particular, epitomises the concept of ‘less is more’. Despite the spaciousness of their bedroom, as they had hacked the wall separating it from the adjacent room, the décor is kept to a minimum. “Our interior designer advised us not to add too many things in the room,” Jiching shared.

The couple wanted a simple, yet functional bed that allows them to do work on their laptops at the side

Again, we see form following function in the design of their bedframe. There are no fancy headboards or fixtures, just a sleek table extension that allows them to do work on their laptops.

Their master bedroom toilet shares the same colour scheme as the rest of the home

Kai Jie and Jiching shared that the advantage of sourcing furniture on their own was that it gave them a tighter control over their budget. They offered a great tip, which is to attend the last few days of the annual International Furniture Fair (IFFS), because the vendors who exhibit furniture during the fair would start slashing prices to clear out their stock. In fact, most of the items in their home, like the gold-coloured coffee table, and paintings in the dining room, were bought on sale from the fair.

They also suggest measuring the furniture you are interested in before buying them, and ensuring that it can fit into the lift at your block. Especially since Kai Jie and Jiching live on a high floor, carrying large furniture items up the stairs is not really an option.

To the couple, designing their flat and transforming it into a cosy home was one of the most exciting things about being first-time home owners. “We wanted to create a home that is uniquely ours, and we are proud of how it turned out,” Kai Jie shared.

At first glance, it seemed like a chic flat with simple, minimalist aesthetics. Then, the phrase “Alexa, turn on the lights” was spoken aloud.

The lights in the living room brightened, and I felt like I walked into a real-life episode of The Jetsons. Except this all happened in an HDB flat. (Imagine the possibilities in our smart-enabled flats coming up in Punggol Northshore!)

Smart-enabled homes are getting increasingly accessible, with more solutions becoming available in the market to make our lives more convenient. The variety makes it easier to get started, and tailor the smart lifestyle to fit your home and budget—just like Yueyu and Jinru did.

The young homeowners made their home ‘smart’ – with most of the gadgetry and technical magic discreetly designed and positioned. But perhaps the most amazing thing is that they did most of it on their own. Strategically placed on their dining table are both voice assistants from Amazon and Google, which are both used to activate different lights and speakers around the flat.

It started off as a personal project to make the house more convenient to live in. “We wanted fewer keys, so we replaced the locksets with digital locks,” said Yueyu. “I trialled some of the products at my parent’s home before implementing them here.”

The couple’s DIY approach to installing smart home products brought much savings to their home project. They searched for their locks on online marketplaces, and even found a professional installer online. To complete the clean and modern look, each room is also fitted with touch-sensitive light switches that glow with a touch. Apart from the technological wizardry, what stood out in the home was its timeless look and ease of living. “I guess it is comfortable and easy to tidy up. No bulky furniture, and we can move things around easily when we have guests,” said Jinru.

Having storage space under the bed means that they can keep their room clutter-free

Cleaning is a breeze, with a robot cleaner doing much of the daily sweeping. “We specifically found furniture that would work with the robot. Our wardrobe is built in, and storage is below our bed,” Jinru explains. With less surfaces, there’ll be a lot less cleaning to do!

Step into Ching Kai’s 3-room flat in Hougang, and you almost feel like you are in an oasis. A creative director and artist, Ching Kai knew right from the start how he would design his own home. “As soon as I set eyes on the flat, I immediately saw its potential, and envisioned how I wanted it to look,” he said. “The flat also gave me a sense of familiarity, as it has the same layout as the one I grew up in.”

Drawing inspiration from Japanese minimalism, Ching Kai focused on transforming the resale flat with an open concept layout. He hired a renovation contractor and personally supervised the home makeover process. His budget? $40,000, including carpentry.

Referencing a book titled “Goodbye, Things” by Fumio Sasaki, Ching Kai shared that the philosophy of doing away with excess resonates with him. “I did my best to reduce my possessions to the items I really needed,” he said.

This meant furnishing his flat with only key pieces he loved, and opting for multifunctional furniture where possible. For instance, a large table in the middle of the living area serves as Ching Kai’s workspace, which can be converted into a dining table when he has guests over.

A large custom-made cupboard offers plenty of storage to keep the flat clutter-free. Ching Kai’s passion for his craft also saw him painting the wardrobe with varying shades of grey for a unique finish.

Ching Kai’s sleeping nook similarly reflects a minimalist aesthetic. He kept the furnishings simple, and opted not to use a bedframe. “As I had removed the bedroom walls, I used drapes to demarcate the bedroom space. It allows me privacy when I needed it, while adhering to the open plan,” he explained.

For the kitchen, Ching Kai chose to use cement flooring as he deems its raw look to be aesthetically pleasing. Plus, it was economical as well. “My principal concern was cost, and using cement helped me save some money on tiles,” he said.

A lack of overhead cabinets complements both the openness of the flat, as well as Ching Kai’s minimalist lifestyle. “It encourages me to keep less things around,” he joked.

Art directors Betty and Marcus purchased their 3-room resale flat after house-hunting for over a year. The couple wanted a location that offered a shorter commute to their workplaces, and were patient until they found the ideal flat that met their budget and needs.

Flexible Spaces

Betty was inspired by the design of retail spaces, where layout is often dynamic. “I wanted our home to have flexible space, which we can reconfigure as needed,” she shared.

The creative couple had many ideas for their home, and chose to engage an interior design studio to refine the concept for their home. “We wanted a neutral party who could mediate between us, if and when we had different design ideas!” Betty recalled with a laugh. Three-D Conceptwerke was their eventual choice, as they found the studio’s portfolio to be original and unconventional.

Having expected the interior designer to propose partitions and sliding doors, which will offer some degree of layout flexibility, Betty and Marcus were pleasantly surprised when he suggested customised mobile storage units instead.

These storage units took the place of all walls which were hacked. Made of lightweight steel, they are easily movable and enable the home owners to move and alter the layout at whim. “It’s effortless to switch them around when we feel like transforming our flat occasionally. It’s also convenient when we wish to make room for visiting friends who want to stay over for a couple of nights,” Betty said.

Customisation of the storage units, however, was an intricate process, involving detailed calculations to ensure that the units fit under the beams and even the block’s elevators when moving in.

Putting a Personal Touch

Another unique feature of Betty and Marcus’ flat is the extensive use of terrazzo tiles, which were sourced from Vietnam. They chose to use terrazzo for their flooring as it is a timeless material, while its subtle pattern of speckled colours add visual interest to the home.

“We spent around $80,000 on the renovation, but saved where we can, such as by buying our lighting fixtures online,” they shared.

The couple also took time to furnish their home with pieces they love, and were not afraid to mix and match different materials and colours. The marble-look dining table doubles up as a workspace, and is complemented by Made & Make rattan chairs and a metal dining bench from JotterGoods.

Leading into the kitchen is Betty’s prized possession, a Bulthaup cabinet crafted from wood. With doors that can fully open up to show all the contents in clear view, the well-designed piece offers maximum storage capacity while taking up minimal space. The rich colour of the wood also goes well with the white painted frames of the steel storage units.

Completing the personal touch are displays of Betty’s homeware collection, Marcus’ KAWS toys, and souvenirs from their travels.