Home Tour: $85,000 Renovation for a music and plant lover’s 4-room HDB resale at Balam Road
The angled walls in this home create some interesting spaces that also reflect the homeowner’s love for music, plants and hosting.
By Lynn Tan -
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Who Lives Here: A music and plant enthusiast who also loves hosting
Home: A 4-room HDB resale flat at Balam Road
Size: 925 sq ft
Interior Designer: Threehaus Works
Many homes have their balconies converted into part of the living space. In this case, the homeowner, who loves to host, wanted Thi Yi, the interior designer from Threehaus Works to create a new indoor balcony area where he can entertain his guests.
To achieve this, the existing wall between the living room and an adjacent bedroom was hacked. A new wall was erected that runs diagonally across the floor plan to form a trapezoidal balcony space.
A music and plant enthusiast lives in this 4-room HDB resale flat.
The entrance and main door immediately opens up to a dining room.
Entrance foyer design
A triangulated section of the entrance foyer floor, which echoes the diagonal line of the balcony wall, has been tiled with terracotta to convey a sense of crossing the threshold from the outside into the home.
Cement screed lines the living room's floors.
The main floor of the HDB flat is one step up, which further heightens this transition. The contrast between the terracotta floor tiles at the entrance foyer and the cement screed floor in the living and dining rooms also creates a spatial distinction between these areas without the need for walls.
Homeowner reaches for a vinyl record.
Living room
In the homeowner’s brief, he specifically requested for a concrete television console where he can place his turntable, speakers and vinyl collection. Interior designer Thi Yi incorporated this feature into the living room and it also doubles up as a bench for guests.
An angled TV console serves as centre piece for this living room.
The angled form of the concrete television console takes its cue from the rest of the diagonals in the home to achieve a cohesive language. Functionally, the angle also lends itself to a more seamless and safer circulation from the living room towards the kitchen.
The homeowner is a music aficionado.
The raw finishes and grungy aesthetic reflect the homeowner’s tastes. Above the television console, Thi Yi incorporated a “blank canvas” for the homeowner, who loves music and who travels often, to display the souvenirs and posters from his trips and concerts.
Collectible plants pepper the balcony space.
Balcony
As a plant lover, plants were central to the design of the balcony. Ample space was set aside to accommodate shelves for his plants. Even the ceiling was taken into consideration for hanging plants.
A sliding door separates the living room and balcony.
The balcony area is separated from the living room by a sliding door, which keeps the air-conditioning in. Glass blocks allow diffused light to filter into the living room from the balcony windows. Just like the entrance foyer, the use of terracotta floor tiles gives the balcony the illusion of being an outdoor space even though it is enclosed.
Mismatched dining chairs seated at the dining table.
Dining room
The most striking feature in the dining area is the custom window grille that is reminiscent of old HDB designs.
The homeowner and interior designer got this nostalgic, old-school window grille custom-made.
It was intended to be the backdrop for the homeowner’s collection of memorabilia, knick-knacks and board games. Deliberately mismatched dining chairs give the space an eclectic vibe.
Open shelves line the kitchen of a 4-room HDB resale flat in MacPherson.
Kitchen
The original kitchen had an interesting patterned tile that interior designer Thi Yi considered salvaging. However, it proved challenging to remove them intact, without them cracking or breaking.
Subway tiles for the kitchen backsplash injects character to the house.
In the end, the interior design team managed to salvage a few pieces, which the homeowner now use as coasters that serve as a memento of the original flat.
An existing bright orange pipe in the kitchen was retained.
One of the most eye catching elements in the kitchen is the bright orange pipe. Instead of trying to box up or conceal it, Thi Yi decided to play up its presence with a pop of colour. A similar gesture is repeated for the common bathroom pipe.
The homeowner and interior designer took an intentional minimalist approach to the maser bedroom.
Master bedroom
An intentionally minimalist design approach gives the master bedroom a calm, quiet and restful ambience. The homeowner preferred not to have any built-in carpentry for the master bedroom to complement an open wardrobe system, which further reinforce the minimalist style.
The master bathroom was enlarged by shifting walls.
Master bathroom
The wall between the master bedroom and attached master bathroom was shifted to enlarge the bathroom slightly in order to accommodate a vanity area. A half height parapet wall was also introduced. It separates the shower area from the rest of the bathroom and integrates a niche for placing toiletries.
A study corner fits snugly by the living room.
Home office nook
This nook was formed as a result of the diagonal wall that was erected for the balcony. It is the perfect area for a focused and dedicated space for a work desk and chair.
$85,000 Renovation cost
As the resale flat was fairly old, most of the existing finishes had to be replaced. Almost all the internal walls were hacked to reconfigure the layout to suit the homeowner’s needs. This added to the duration of the renovation, which took about four-and-a-half months to complete, due to the application time and approval process for demolishing the walls. The age of the flat also entailed extra groundwork in structural preparation, as well as assessing the existing provisions, such as electrical and plumbing.
The cost came up to about $85,000 and the homeowner moved into his new home in June 2024.