Home Tour: A lady's self-designed 5-room resale HDB in Tiong Bahru inspired by Southeast Asian Art
There are no rules to design, says the media sales professional.
By Sng Ler Jun -
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The homeowner is a sales professional in her 30s working in the media industry. She lives with her dog, a 3.5-year-old Singapore Special, named ‘Ella’, in the Kim Tian HDB estate of Tiong Bahru.
Tired of renting for the past years, Singaporean Gayatri Singh was excited about getting a space where she could call a home. “My reality is that I had only ever lived in smaller apartments,” she says.
Gayatri adds: “Given the insane rental market and the fact that I was eligible to buy an HDB, which is much more reasonable and spacious, I opted to bite the bullet and go from renter to owner.”
Who: A Media Sales Professional in her 30s
Home: A 5-room Resale HDB flat in Tiong Bahru
Size: 1,356 sq ft (126 sqm)
Interior Design: Herself (with the help of a contractor from Elfe Building Service)
DIY Renovation
“I am not a professional,” confesses Gayatri, who did not hire an interior designer to spruce up her space. “But I do take pride in my ideas.”
Homeowner Gayatri had bought over this 5-room HDB resale unit from its previous owners, opting to retain and design around most of its existing features, such as the two kitchen islands, tiles, the sliding bar in the dining room, and cabinet fixtures in the rooms.
“I decided to take the carpentry that has been done and embellish them with my aesthetic,” Gayatri, who then engaged a contractor to help with repainting, retiling and other minor works, says. “This also means I don’t have to spend too much on renovation.”
Southeast Asian Art
Homeowner Gayatri’s love for the arts is immediately evident in the home’s entryway that segues into the living room: a painting depicting a serene jetty at sunset is perched above a teal-colored vintage Chinese cabinet by the door; while other art pieces, including a commissioned artwork of a scarlet horse by an Indian artist, are hung on the living room’s walls.
Gayatri opted to further enliven the living room with vibrant cushion cases on her sofa, which was from her previous apartment. A pre-loved, larger-than-normal, two-tiered glass coffee table, which she scored from a friend, sits atop a brand-new carpet. A deft interplay of textural comfort and vibrant art.
Kitchen Island
Pleased with what the previous homeowners had done, Gayatri kept the two kitchen islands in the kitchen but added a new splash of colour.
The pine green kitchen islands also boast marble kitchen countertops that match the kitchen backsplash. Since the kitchen is one of the first spaces you see when entering the house, she retiled the floor to better segregate the space.
Dining Room Design
The dining area features monochromatic accents and a touch of gold. “I knew other parts of the house would be colourful and I wanted this space to be more subdued,” Gayatri explains.
Home Bar
To prevent clutter, the previous homeowners had chosen to hide away the compact home bar with a pair of sliding doors. Homeowner Gayatri then hired a local muralist to add an abstract piece over the otherwise barren sliding doors.
The Entertainment Room
A pre-loved sofa from homeowner Gayatri’s parents finds new life in the entertainment room.
“It was first an indoor sofa at my parents’, but I converted it to an outdoor sofa in my previous apartment, and now, it’s converted back for indoor use again,” she says. Opposite the sofa, Gayatri installed some shelf fixtures and added random memorabilia.
Cerulean Blue Colour
The cerulean blue tones within this space (from the wall, cushion covers, industrial lamp, and carpet) contrast with the wooden vinyl flooring to evoke a soothing coastal charm. As with other rooms, an abstract portrait of a musician playing the sitar (painted in shades of blue, no less) is framed above the sofa.
“I love blue, and you can see different shades of them in the entertainment lounge, the guest study and the master bedroom,” says Gayatri, as she shares how using a similar colour palette for the spaces where people “rest and slumber” could keep things cohesive and not feel all too instrusive.
Master Bedroom Design
For Gayatri, coziness and comfort take precedence in the master bedroom. To achieve that, she kept things simple, using lighter shades of blue on some walls and white on the rest.
Vintage bedroom decor
Decorative elements like matching lamps by the bedside and mini vintage-esque photo frames, which adorn a hollow section of a wall, kept the look together
It has been less than six months since Gayatri moved into the home in September 2023, but she is far from done with the space. She is still contemplating adding more artwork to her home.
“I took time to get everything together, but I’d like to think I made it work with the art I like and have collected,” says Gayatri on whether having no prior experience intimidates her in designing the space. “More importantly, there are no rules to design.”