Home Tour: $300,000 Renovation for a female boss' semi-detached house in Yio Chu Kang
Interior designer Cheryl Gay has transformed her semi-detached property into a three-in-one home, office and show house for her boutique firm, Coterie Design
By Lynn Tan -
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Cheryl Gay may be an interior designer by profession, but she considers herself more of a display artist. Everything in her home has been conceived to achieve maximum visual impact, while also being completely functional.
The nitty-gritty practicalities are just as important to the 55-year-old, who confesses to being super organised, but not to the extent of being OCD about it. When it comes to designing a home, she does not believe in restricting herself with overly specific requirements. She says: “Go with the feel and go with the flow. When everything is in place, everything flows.”
Who Lives Here: A couple and their three daughters
Home: A semi-detached home in Yio Chu Kang
Size: 3,600 sqf (approximate land area); 7,200 sqf (approximate built-up area)
Living area in interior designer Cheryl Gay of Coterie Design's 3,600 sq ft semi-detached home in Yio Chu Kang.
Main entrance
There are two points of access to the home from the first storey. One is the usual main entrance facing the car porch. Here, you will notice a timber deck that Cheryl extended out into the car porch. Apart from defining an outdoor foyer space just outside the main entrance and the glass doors leading into the living room, it also addresses other practical concerns.
“I do not like the sensation of cold granite on my feet when leaving the house. This solution allows us to step out onto the timber deck, retrieve our shoes from the shoe rack and sit on one of two armchairs while putting our shoes on,” she explains.
Such is her attention to detail when it comes to designing with the flow of things in mind.
Outdoor staircase entrance leads to home office
To the left of the main entrance is an outdoor staircase that leads down to the basement, where Coterie Design’s office is located. This allows her team independent access to the office without having to walk through the house.
A swimming pool with swings and deck chairs in the home office wing of interior designer Cheryl Gay of Coterie Design's 3,600 sq ft semi-detached home in Yio Chu Kang.
Home office wing
It is designed with a clubhouse concept complete with a bar-pantry and swimming pool. Six to seven people can work comfortably within the space. A pool table with a glass overlay doubles up as a discussion table that comes in handy when laying out sample boards and drawings. Work desks and filing cabinets can be concealed behind sliding-folding doors after office hours, with space at the side to slot in sample boards.
In interior designer Cheryl Gay of Coterie Design's 3,600 sq ft semi-detached home in Yio Chu Kang, the home office's powder room is concealed behind a cue hanger door.
Home office bathroom
The home office's powder room is concealed behind a cue hanger door. There is even a gift wrapping station where Cheryl can tinker with her pretty ribbons when jazzing up gifts for clients and friends.
In the basement home office in interior designer Cheryl Gay (of Coterie Design)'s 3,600 sq ft semi-detached house in Yio Chu Kang, tucked behind a sign that says “My Stall”, is an office store room.
Home office store room
In one corner of the basement office, tucked behind a sign that says “My Stall”, is Cheryl’s pride and joy- her storeroom. But this is no ordinary storeroom. It comprises three small rooms organised into different sections for stationery, decorations for Christmas and Chinese New Year, serving ware and other household knick-knacks.
“It resembles stalls at a farmer’s market more than a storeroom, hence the nickname,” she points out.
Living room in interior designer Cheryl Gay of Coterie Design's 3,600 sq ft semi-detached home in Yio Chu Kang.
First floor living room
On the first storey, the living room is elegantly-furnished, complemented by a tiled wall backdrop and a simple television console. In one corner is a full-height cabinet where Cheryl stores vases and cushion covers- things that belong with the living room.
Located right beside the main door, the cabinet also has drawers containing items such as face masks and tissue packets, so that the family can grab these essentials before leaving home. On the other side of the main door is a headboard with reusable paper bags and a sock drawer, which reinforces Cheryl’s philosophy of planning around the sequence and flow of daily routines.
Stairwell seats and pantry bar in interior designer Cheryl Gay of Coterie Design's 3,600 sq ft semi-detached home in Yio Chu Kang.
Wet and dry kitchens
The dry and wet kitchens, together with the indoor and outdoor dining areas have a restaurant-like ambience with their open-concept design and varied seating arrangements.
Separated from the dry kitchen via a set of glass doors, the wet kitchen also has a serving counter directly facing the outdoor dining terrace, complete with café-like electric shutters, which Cheryl created by hacking the wall separating the kitchen and outdoor terrace.
The bedrooms in interior designer Cheryl Gay of Coterie Design's 3,600 sq ft semi-detached home in Yio Chu Kang have been showrooms to offer clients some ideas on soft furnishings.
Second floor bedrooms
Two of the bedrooms on the second storey have been staged as guestrooms-cum-showrooms to offer clients some ideas on soft furnishings. The master suite belonging to Cheryl and her 56-year-old husband who works in telecommunications occupies the other half of the second storey towards the rear of the house.
It consists of a study along with her husband’s massage chair, their sleeping area, as well as a cavernous walk-in wardrobe and master bathroom. Again, the layout and design of the spaces are based on how the couple utilise them.
The changing area of a bathroom with drawers housing towels, clothes and undergarments.
Bathroom
Right outside the bathroom is a changing area with drawers housing towels, house clothes and undergarments.
The walk-in wardrobe has a central island just like a luxury fashion boutique in interior designer Cheryl Gay of Coterie Design's 3,600 sq ft semi-detached home in Yio Chu Kang.
Walk in Wardrobe
Further along, apart from wall-to-wall wardrobes, the walk-in closet also has a central island just like a luxury boutique.
The third floor of interior designer Cheryl Gay of Coterie Design's 3,600 sq ft semi-detached home in Yio Chu Kang has three bedrooms for her three daughters aged 29, 26 and 24.
Third floor daughters' bedrooms
The top floor of the home originally housed the master bedroom, master bathroom, a study and an entertainment area. Cheryl had it reconfigured into three bedrooms for her three daughters aged 29, 26 and 24.
Their bedrooms reflect each of their personalities- simple and understated for the eldest daughter who is a principal, a cosy yet sophisticated look for her second banker daughter, and one with artsy and bohemian vibes for her youngest daughter who is an interior designer.
All of the three daughters' bathrooms in interior designer Cheryl Gay of Coterie Design's 3,600 sq ft semi-detached home in Yio Chu Kang follow a consistent black and white design theme.
Black and white bathroom
Although each room has a distinct look, certain elements, such as a consistent black-and-white theme for the naturally-ventilated bathrooms, but with slightly different tile designs, help tie them all together.
The existing balconies have also been transformed and put to good use. In the eldest daughter’s bedroom, it has been converted into an attached bathroom with a glass roof that gives it a resort quality.
The balcony in the youngest daughter’s bedroom is now a work-craft-study space with a greenhouse-like area overlooking the front of the house. It is a welcoming and light-filled space where she can lounge and enjoy the outdoor feel in air-conditioned comfort.
$300,000 Renovation
Cheryl and her family moved into their new home in September 2019 after a three-month renovation costing about $300,000.