The Rijals’ 5-room flat in Pasir Ris is a gallery of memories from their travels. “My wife and I were especially inspired by our holidays in Morocco and Spain, when we were renovating our home,” Mr Rijal shared.
Mediterranean design elements are evident throughout the flat, particularly in the details. The couple had engaged their interior designer from PinkK upon a friend’s recommendation, and spent around $80,000 to transform their home.
They chose to take their time with the renovation, in order to curate the right furniture and accessories to fit the concept they had in mind. “We think it’s pretty much complete now, but we are always looking for small items to spruce up the house,” Mr Rijal said with a laugh.
A patterned carpet adds to the warm and cosy vibe of the home
Guests are greeted by a mural wall featuring a photo of Alhambra shot by Mr Rijal
A collection of framed photos from the Rijals’ travels decorate their living space
An avid angler who has been rearing fish since young, Mr Rijal decided to set up an aquarium of his dreams as a centrepiece in the living room. “I believe our home should reflect our personalities, so that it is where we always want to return to,” he explained.
Mr Rijal with his collection of fishing rods
The custom-made aquarium is an ecosystem in itself, requiring minimal maintenance after the initial setup. Utility bills are kept low as the water is recycled, and the fish are fed only once a day.
A moving picture that provides a relaxing view
Another source of pride and joy is their predominantly white kitchen against a backdrop of distinctive tiles, which is complemented by white appliances and crockery for a consistent look. The space is filled with personal touches, including the travel mementos and cabinet door knobs chosen by Mrs Rijal.
The breakfast counter is the perfect spot for conversation over a pot of the Rijals’ favourite orange tea
The chairs were salvaged and repainted white
The couple chose the resale flat in Pasir Ris, due to its convenient location and proximity to family. Describing the town as peaceful with a kampung vibe, the Rijals are certainly content with their home.
Angelia’s 4-room flat in Whampoa is decidedly local and global at once. A bright and colourful space made up of an eclectic jumble of vintage furniture, plants, and knick-knacks from all over the world, every piece of item in her beautiful home comes with a story to tell.
Returning home to Singapore after spending 10 years working abroad, Angelia set out to fill her home with furniture that are 100% made in Singapore after inheriting a wooden cabinet from her late aunt.
This 55-year old wooden cabinet used to be a wardrobe of Angelia’s aunt
This modest wooden cabinet that sits right in front of the entrance to her bedroom was the first piece of furniture she had in her flat. In the era before fast fashion and furniture, it held all her aunt’s clothes when she was alive.
In fact, many of her furniture are vintage pieces made locally, and subsequently restored and given a new lease of life in her flat.
The centrepiece of her kitchen and dining area: a gorgeous table made in Singapore using Burmese teak, and no nails!
Restored wooden cabinets displaying crockery collected from all over the world
Angelia’s advice for home owners looking for vintage furniture is to start early. Identify the items and style that you are looking for, and ask around. She let vintage furniture sellers know the pieces that she was on the lookout for, and they contacted her once they had suitable pieces on hand.
She also suggests looking into dumpsters and sourcing from karang gunis (rag-and-bone men). Like they say, one man’s trash is another’s treasure.
Singapore-invented bathroom door system made for saving space
Besides vintage furniture, Angelia also proudly showed us the doors of her bathrooms — a Singapore invention too! The unique system takes up a significantly smaller swing area compared to conventional bathroom doors in the market, freeing up more space in the toilet.
Angelia’s living room is filled with colourful art pieces
In the living room, her colourful personality and zest for life shines through in the art pieces that were collected from her adventures all over the world.
She is especially pleased with the portrait of the girl looking defiantly into the space. It was bought for 1 yuan from the roadside in Beijing. That is 20 Singapore cents!
An enthusiast of plant-dyed textile arts, the colourful cloth that she proudly hangs in her living room is a hand-painted piece by the Sumba tribe in east Indonesia. Using only colours derived from 2 plants — Indigo and Moranda — the textile features motifs of horseshoe and crayfish, a nod to their headhunting heritage.
DIY macramé plant hanger made using recycled clothes
Wooden shelf featuring miniature white plastic chairs ubiquitous in Singapore
Plants can be found in every corner of her house
It is not hard to see why she describes her flat as an ‘urban jungle’. The plants breathe life into the space, making it more warm and inviting.
“I wanted to go for something scandi… but not too scandi!” Fizah said with a laugh, as she brought us around her family’s 5-room flat in Bukit Batok.
In principle, the flat’s neutral palette, which comprises a range of white, beige and grey, adheres to the ‘Scandinavian’ look. But it is the unique furniture and pops of colour interspersed throughout the flat that make it truly eclectic. Everything seemed to come together so effortlessly to exude a homely vibe, resulting in a bespoke home that the owners truly call their own.
Fizah and her husband Khairul’s renovation journey lasted all of 7 months. But they were really satisfied with the outcome. They found an interior designer on Instagram (@faceliftdesign) and were instantly convinced that the designer was the right match for them. “She understood perfectly what we wanted, and her sketches were so detailed. And because she was very involved in the home-styling, our home turned out exactly the way she sketched it!” Fizah shared.
The original sketch by their interior designer before the renovation began
The couple spent about $60,000 on renovations, and this includes the project management cost and home-styling services. The renovation was a collaborative effort, with Fizah and Khairul consulting their interior designer before they bought any piece of furniture. Some of their shopping haunts include ECO links, Commune, Taylor B, King’s Living, and Nook & Cranny.
To save cost, the couple sourced their lighting fixtures and fans from Johor Bahru (JB). “We wanted a specific kind of lighting, which is really expensive in Singapore. So we decided to go to JB, and found alternatives at a third of the price,” they shared. Hints of navy blue appear as accents throughout the home; it’s a colour Fizah says she will not get bored of.
A navy laminate for the kitchen island adds a pop of colour in the neutral-toned space
In their bedroom, a red patterned wall stands out as a stunning feature, adding colour and character to the room. “We originally wanted a brick feature wall, but that would have meant busting our budget,” shared Fizah. Working within their budget, their interior designer proposed using patterned wallpaper instead, and this turned out to be among the best decisions they made.
The couple opted for a red, patterned wallpaper for the feature wall in their bedroom
Meanwhile, things are kept simple, but no less striking, in their son’s bedroom. Black-and-white decals from IKEA adorn the walls, and a handy storage trolley keeps the area clutter-free.
A “Scandi” home with personal touches that make for a warm and cosy home they look forward to returning to every day.
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Yati and Syafiq bring us around their ‘Rojak Home’ that is filled with eclectic decor items!
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!
Check out how Kai Jie and Jiching brought the outside in to their flat at Telok Blangah!
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.
This simple flat is fitted with the coolest tech devices to make living more convenient for this couple!
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!
Take a tour around Ching Kai’s spacious 3-room resale flat in Hougang!
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.
Betty and Marcus used mobile storage units so that they can reconfigure their 3-room flat layout easily!
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.
Christopher knew that the 5-room resale flat in Pasir Ris was The One, the moment he saw it. “My mother and I had viewed 10 properties before falling in love with this unit,” he said.
Having grown up and lived in the east side of Singaporefor allhis life, Pasir Ris was an ideal town for Christopher with its laidback vibes and peaceful surroundings. On top of the lovely view, the flat offered him the chance to design his home the way he wanted.
Christopher worked closely with his interior designer, Dan,to develop the design ideas and carry out the renovation works. To complement a soothing palette of greys and blues,subtle patterns were incorporatedin the décor for visual interest. One example is thestunning feature wall of Peranakan tiles at the entryway, as a nod to Christopher’sheritage.
In planning the layout of the flat, Christopher considered how the space could meet his lifestyle needs. “As I had little use for a balcony, I chose to expand the living room instead,” he explained. The change made room for ample seating and dining space, which is especially useful when he has friends over.
While Christopher purchased most of his furniture from Castlery and IKEA, he also has unusual pieces in his home, such as a customised coffee table with a Peranakan tile pattern that complements the overall interior design concept.
Christopher and his mother do a lot of cooking at home, so he remodelled the kitchen into one with both wet and dry areas that are separated by glass doors to keep the cooking fumes out. The open concept kitchen features a dark blue island with a unique motif, which also doubles up as a casual breakfast bar.
An avid vinyl record collector, Christopher transformed one of the bedrooms into a music room. Besides full-height shelves to display his extensive, prized collection, the room is decked out in framed signed vinyls and other toy memorabilia. “It is a favourite spot for me to sit back and unwind while listening to music,” Christopher said.
Stepping inside the five-room flat, one can’t help but marvel at the amalgamation of colours and textures. “I didn’t have a specific theme when I was designing the house because I couldn’t choose between them,” Grace laughed. “But I do know that I love to be stimulated by visual elements, so my home is really colourful.”
From deciding on the colour palette to picking out the furniture to painting the walls, Grace had put the house together from scratch. “My husband is really easy-going, so he leaves the décor to me,” she grinned.
Located in Bukit Batok, the flat is a stone throw’s away from the MRT station and amenities such as hawker centres and polyclinics – one of the primary reasons why she fell in love with the neighbourhood. “We got pretty lucky when purchasing our flat,” Grace shared and continued, “We opted for the Sale of Balance flats in Bukit Batok and had only two units in our block to choose from – one unit was booked on the flat selection day but we’re still very pleased with our unit.”
In addition to using more than 10 colours on the walls of her home, a variety of textures are found throughout the flat. “When browsing for home decor ideas, my main goal was to have an aesthetic space. This resulted in a carefully curated party of colours and textures that include glass, coarse stones, leather, metal and more!”
With sewing machines, materials and bags hanging off nearby racks, one can easily guess Grace’s line of work. The founder of GSEWS, a venture that specialises in customised bags, Grace was an architecture student at the National University of Singapore (NUS) when she uncovered her passion for sewing and in particular, bag making. 2 ½ years into the course, she made the life-changing decision of dropping her degree to pursue her passion.
“Honestly, the further I was into the course, the more I thought I was not suited to be an architect,” Grace said. “I was making and selling bags while in school, and it dawned on me that I am more of a craft maker than building designer. That was when I decided to make the switch.”
Considering the importance of her home workstation, Grace was extra meticulous when designing the space. “Having the option to hack the partition walls was very helpful as it resulted in a wide rectangular area that gave us ample layout possibilities,” Grace smiles.
“The workspace also features the only white walls in the house as I use them as the backdrop for product photoshoots.”
Putting the Pinterest-worthy home together however, did come with its fair share of challenges. Every piece of furniture complemented the overall aesthetic, something Grace was particularly mindful of. “Our renovation budget was tight and my design ideas such as the fluted glass sliding toilet door and marble kitchen wall were not easy to execute.”
“I had to look for cost-friendly alternatives like marble-printed tiles for the kitchen countertop that was more affordable than the regular quartz material, but with the same durability,” Grace explains.
“But I have to say that this made the renovation process more fulfilling. Take the glass sliding door for example – we had to source for the different components of the door (hinges, sliding track, rollers, glass, door handle, door lock) before assembling it ourselves. The process was rewarding as it helped widen my knowledge of materials and construction methods tremendously.” From the customised high table in the living room to the doorknobs, Grace’s home is a careful curation of both overseas and local furniture.
So what are some renovation tips Grace has for homeowners? “I find visualisation aids very useful, especially for those not intending to engage their interior designers or consultants. Personally, I recommend Home Design, an interior design mobile app that allowed me to visualise the furniture layout, wall colours and more to see what works and what doesn’t”, quips the homeowner.
She also shared that how, even after one and a half years, she’s still making tweaks to her home workspace. “The main objective is to keep it simple, neat and efficient for work,” Grace says. “I’d put a lot of thought into the placement of the sewing machines, tables and tools but I’m still constantly making changes in order to improve the workflow. For instance, in order to save on space, I’ve replaced a stand-alone clothes rack with knobs to hang my bags on.”
For aspiring home business owners looking to design their workspace, Grace highlights the importance of workflow visualisation. “Think about the space utilisation (especially if you’re working with many tools or constantly need to move around) before planning permanent fixtures such as storage spaces and doors. It’s helpful to keep your layout flexible with mobile shelves and tables as you’ll tend to move them around as you make adjustments to your workspace.”
