Home Tour: $83,000 Minimalist renovation for a 50s couple’s 2-bedroom condo at Fernvale Close

One of the biggest challenges of rightsizing from a larger apartment is how to make the most of a smaller space. For 53-year-old financial controller, Cynthia Tan and her husband, a retired teacher who is 58 years old, they wanted the smaller apartment to still look spacious and have sufficient space for their collection of books and travel memorabilia. “The home should be functional with a relaxed setting and have a minimalist and timeless look,” says Cynthia.

They found Ovon Design on Qanvast and design manager, Simon Chin went about putting together a proposal that would meet the couple’s lifestyle needs and preferences. “One of the clients’ main concerns was that they wanted the house to be bright and roomy despite its compact footprint. Our challenge was to create more storage while preserving a sense of spaciousness,” he explains.

Who Lives Her: A couple in their 50s
Home: A 2-bedroom condominium at Fernvale Close
Size: 689 sq ft
Interior Design: Simon Chin, design manager at Ovon Design

Minimalist Interior Design

The homeowners expressed a preference for a light-coloured interior and this has been consistently applied throughout the home, from the vinyl floor overlay in a light wood and white walls, to the ivory-coloured kitchen cabinets and light grey bedframe. The use of a light colour palette helps to give the home a more spacious and airier feel.

Full-Height Carpentry

Full-height built-in carpentry line the wall to the left of the main entrance. These not only provide ample storage including a shoe cabinet, but also incorporate a settee. Further along the row, interior designer Simon managed to fit in a washing machine and a refrigerator. In lieu of a yard, there are dedicated shelves above the washing machine for the couple’s laundry needs.

Open Concept Kitchen

To the right, an open-concept kitchen helps to convey a sense of seamlessness within the home. The modular, enamel kitchen cabinet system was custom-built by Takara, a worthwhile investment as enamel is known for its durability and ease of maintenance. The L-shaped layout is simple and compact, but packs plenty of storage capacity in the combination of drawers, cabinets and shelves below and above the counter.

Minimalist Living Room

The living room is kept simple and uncluttered with a two-seater sofa and a wall-mounted television console that looks clean and sleek. Despite the apartment’s modest size, the balcony beside the living room is sizeable. Simon took advantage of this by turning it into an alfresco dining area. The addition of outdoor blinds ensures that this space remains usable regardless of the weather.

Study Room

One of the bedrooms has been converted into a study room. The original walls were hacked and replaced with slim profile, soft-close sliding glass doors on one side, and windows above a low wall on the other. This allows the flexibility of having the study area closed or opened according to the couple’s needs. Even when closed, the study room still feels connected to the living area thanks to the glass panels.

Master Bedroom

Staying true to the philosophy of keeping things simple, the master bedroom is a restful and quiet space. Sealing up one bathroom wall made it possible to create more space for a walk-in wardrobe along with a dressing table. The master bathroom was redone so that the floor and walls would match the new theme.

$83,000 Renovation

The renovation took about 12 weeks and the couple moved into their new home in 2023. The cost came up to about $83,000 excluding Takara kitchen cabinet, bed, sofa, dining set and electrical appliances.