Home Tour: A 40s couple’s $64,000 renovation for their 4-room BTO in Tampines

Mr and Mrs Chua had been living in their 4-room HDB resale flat in Pasir Ris since 2011. They were happy where they were and never thought of moving, until a financial consultant friend suggested that they consider getting a BTO flat. There were two BTO launches at the time - one in Toa Payoh and another in Tampines. Even though Toa Payoh would be nearer to the couple’s respective workplaces, they decided to ballot for Tampines.

“We felt that our chances would be better in Tampines compared to Toa Payoh, which is a matured estate that is nearer the city,” says Mr Chua, an editor. “We are also used to living in the East anyway,” adds Mrs Chua, a communications manager.

Call it foresight or beginner’s luck, the couple, who are in their 40s, managed to successfully ballot for a flat in Tampines on their first attempt. They started planning for the renovation of their new home in November 2022, well in advance of their expected key collection in May 2023. They did a lot of homework researching, shortlisting and meeting with various interior designers.

“The ID may not live here, but we are going through this journey together,” Mrs Chua points out. They finally decided to engage interior designer Stellon Lai from Inizio Atelier. “He was very earnest from the get-go and did up the layouts and renderings based on our brief, so we knew that our visions were aligned,” she shares.

The couple expressed a preference for a bright interior with light wood and pops of colour. The brief focuses on functional aspects and was informed by lessons learnt from their former home. Mr Chua likens the designing of their new home to his editorial process at work: “Everything in the home has been considered and provisions made for. Nothing is incidental or happened by chance.” This applies not just to the major elements within the home, but also small details such as the power points and switches. Every individual switch was deliberated and considered, down to the sequence in which they would likely be operated.

Who Lives Here: A couple in their 40s
Home: A 4-room HDB BTO in Tampines
Size: 1,001 sq ft (93 sqm)
Interior Designer: Inizio Atelier Pte Ltd

‘Genkan’ Entrance Foyer

Mrs Chua has always wanted a genkan (a traditional Japanese entryway) and interior designer Stellon made it happen in their new home.

The use of floor tiles instead of vinyl flooring demarcates the shoe zone, a very thoughtful gesture that allows visitors to bring their shoes into the entrance foyer instead of leaving them outside the door. A row of built-in cabinets and an open niche not only provide storage for shoes, umbrellas, keys and other items, but also serves as a partition between the entrance foyer and the dining room.

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Living Room

The living room is sparsely furnished to avoid cluttering the space. As this also serves as Mrs Chua’s exercise area, they decided to do away with a bulky coffee table and chose one that is compact and lightweight so that it can be easily moved to one side when necessary.

A blue coloured band runs around the lower section of the living room wall and continues in the dining room, the walkway leading to the bedrooms, and into the two bedrooms that serve as Mr and Mrs Chua’s respective studies. This was for consistency, something that they learnt from their previous home, which had a different colour in each room.

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Dining Room

Interior designer Stellon had originally proposed a longer and wider dining table that abuts the end wall. However, as the couple seldom entertains, they decided to go with a smaller four-seater dining table with circulation all around. When two of the dining chairs are moved to either end of the dining table and replaced with a bench, it can accommodate six people comfortably.

Mr Chua has always fancied sintered tops, but had to settle for a quartz top in the kitchen due to budget constraints, so he was very pleased to find this dining table with a sintered top paired with four dining chairs from Castlery. The ring pendant light is another one of his favourite finds sourced locally, with indirect lighting that casts a soft illumination over the dining table.

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Kitchen

Every inch of counter space, cabinet, drawer and shelf in the kitchen was meticulously planned out by Mrs Chua, who knew exactly where she wanted everything. She favoured drawers over cabinets under the counters as it makes it easier to access items further in the back.

Bulky appliances such as the rice cooker and mixer are stored in a cabinet with a pull out compartment that can slide out when necessary, freeing up valuable counter space and minimising clutter. She even had interior designer Stellon incorporate a pull out tray below the oven so that they can place their plates or to trap any accidental crumbs when removing food from the oven.

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Master Bedroom

The master bedroom maximises spatial efficiency and every feature in the room has been designed with practicality in mind. The bedhead has an integrated light that creates a cosy uplighting effect. It also has built-in power points.

The dressing table has a plethora of storage ranging from open shelves for high usage items such as the hair dryer, to concealed sliding compartments on one side.

Bathrooms

Mr Chua fell in love with the blue tiles from Hafary and the realisation that they are actually meant for swimming pools just made them even more suitable for a wet area like the common bathroom. They limited this to one feature wall beside the shower compartment to create a focal point. To save costs, the rest of the bathroom is tiled only halfway.

For the master bathroom, the couple decided to splurge on Italian wall tiles that “look like a work of art”, according to Mr Chua. The blue tones with silvery and rust-coloured marbling, along with a glassy finish have the effect of sunlight reflecting off the shimmery surface of a shallow pool of water with glimpses of the coral below.

$64,000 Renovation

The renovation cost $64,000 and took about 10 weeks to complete. The couple moved into what they consider their “forever home” in September 2023. Their philosophy is to do everything properly from the beginning so that they do not have to worry about it anymore and just have to maintain it thereafter. Planning well ahead and looking into every detail made the actual renovation less stressful.

Having a good interior designer also helped. They are full of praise for their appointed interior designer Stellon: “I think we lucked out. Stellon was instrumental in ensuring that our vision was translated into reality. He shared daily updates from site and we did not have to lift a finger,” says Mrs Chua. He even made recommendations for various brands and suppliers, shared advice on product features and even helped the couple source for items directly from the wholesaler to manage costs.

“This may not be the most luxurious of homes, but it works for us,” Mr Chua comments. “We really look forward to coming home after being away,” shares Mrs Chua.

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