Home Tour: $170,000 Renovation for China expat & Singaporean couple’s 5-room HDB in Tanjong Pagar
By Shannon Osztonits -
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When an interior design brief lands on your table and the requirements are “all-white,” what’s one way to make it unique and stand above the rest? Playing around with textures, of course. And that’s precisely what the interior designer behind this 5-room HDB in Tanjong Pagar did.
“It’s more of how should I play with different materials to make it not so plain, because if everything is white, it can easily go to minimalism,” explains Ray from Ovon Design.
Not only was this interior designer inspired by textures and varying materials, but he also played around with many varying shades of white to create a perfect open-plan space.
Easy-going clients are always great to work with. Apart from the white-on-white specification, the only other things these homeowners were pretty dead set on were a large enough central gathering space and an area for them to display their extensive and precious POP MART collection.
It’s safe to say that the Ovon interior design team ticked all these boxes, and the home’s location suits the monochrome-esque palette perfectly. The property is near a port, providing oodles of natural sunlight. Although it’s not exactly “direct sea views,” it’s closer to Sentosa side. Streaks of light pour through the windows, enhancing its ethereal white feel. This also lends a natural warmth to spaces throughout the home.
Who Lives Here: A fashion designer and finance company director, and their dog
Home: A 5-room HDB
Size: 1,290 sq ft
Interior Designer: Kate and Ray from Ovon Design
The homeowners’ POP MART collection.
5-Room HDB in Tanjong Pagar
This 5-room HDB (including two bathrooms, a kitchen, and living space) has three bedrooms, one of which was converted into an office for homeowner, Ian.
As a complete renovation, Ray and his team from Ovon Design were in charge of all structural elements from demolition to completion. The husband and wife homeowners took charge of furniture sourcing.
The middle-aged couple lives here with their dog, a young miniature Pinscher. Ian is originally from China, and Lucy, a Singaporean local, went to China to study.
The L-shaped kitchen.
Kitchen Design
Sticking to the all-white guns, Ovon completely redid the kitchen, matching cupboards and other finishings in the new monochrome colour palette.
“All chosen materials have to be easy to maintain because white can very easily get dirty. Also, if you use cheap materials, they will turn yellow,” says interior designer Ray, “so there were all these considerations.”
The kitchen layout is at a slight L-shape, with appliances like the fridge and washing and drying machine tucked away neatly on the further end of the “L” section. Interior designers at Ovon constructed certain compartments, like a place for the robot vacuum cleaner. Handleless cupboards seamlessly slot into one another at various angles, adding dimension.
All the pipes were changed (a slight hiccup they encountered with this older property, but nothing they couldn’t fix).
The kitchen opens up to the dining kitchen island communal space — one of the most genius aspects of this home.
The open-style dining area and convertible island.
Convertible Dining Kitchen Island
The dining area was a space that both the homeowners and interior designer wanted to highlight.
An obtrusive structural column in the middle of the entrance hall (between the living room and kitchen) posed a unique problem. However, interior designer Ray came up with a genius plan.
“They like hosting. It’s this kind of little ritual that helped me and inspired me to think of this kind of solution,” tells Ray.
The island-meets-dining table is built around the structural pillar.
Not able to hack the structural column, carpenters created a movable dining island around it; one that could easily stack into the column. To put it away, you fold and flip it back up. He also designed a lighting feature into the column for warm yellow contrasting light against the white. Around the dining table are a bench and chairs, which can be hidden and stacked beneath the island counter, too.
The dining kitchen island top is made from KompacPlus K1.01 Pure White and matched with a Ker Finish. With a thickness of 6mm, there’s a black edge to the compact finishes, helping to define the white space.
The living room with loads of natural light.
Living Room Design
The free-flowing open-plan vibes continue from the dining area through to the living room. A long window across the wall allows that soft, gorgeous sun to constantly mask the space.
The light brown floor is covered by a large, thick cream-coloured rug. A low-standing coffee table decorates the carpet.
“When it came to flooring options, I proposed certain textures to contrast with what you see in the living room,” explains the interior designer. “We used a very warm tone of wooden tiles. They are quite big, so having that contrast brings cosiness and ensures it’s not a full white space per se.”
Balance is added by the dark brown leather sofa.
“I really love their sofa; the brown leather ties in the wooden tiles and white surfaces in the vertical spaces,” elaborates Ray.
This is all cleverly complemented by a large primary-colour block artwork on the back wall that feels Piet Mondrian-inspired. The homeowner painted this himself, and the painting features their beloved pooch.
The TV feature doubles as a minimal storage unit below, all of which interior designers at Ovon designed and built.
The study with retractable doors.
Study Room Design
For these homeowners, the office is their favorite space in the home. Not that this couple are workaholics or anything, but this section is where a dedicated niche space for their treasured POP MART collection is set up.
When asked what his favorite space was in the home, even interior designer Ray agreed: “The study.”
This particular room is a three-in-one, and doubles as a gym room with a treadmill. A retractable Murphy bed falls from the wall. This is perfect when they have extra guests over, or Ian wants to take a rest.
“It can transform into three different rituals: a study work room, then a place to exercise, and then for sleep and rest,” says Ray.
A collapsing glass sliding door separates the study from the hallway, which the design studio added. It’s ideal for working from home, and when this homeowner wants a little bit of peace and quiet. He simply closes the door and focuses.
The hallway.
Between the study room and another bedroom is the hallway with a full-height window for even more natural light to flow through.
“I also like how elongated the hallway is. For this area, they can have the dog running around also, so it’s a very good space.”
The Master Bedroom.
Master Bedroom Design
The master bedroom exudes the same warmth as the rest of the home, and the chosen palette is mirrored in here. A dark leather headboard ties in with the living room’s brown leather sofa.
The primary bathroom with built-in perfume display cabinet.
Master Bathroom Design
Regarding the master ensuite, quite a bit of work was allocated to this part of the home. All of the waterproofing was redone. The original bathroom wall was extended.
“Our intention and the orientation of the layout for the bathroom is slightly different in a sense where we separated the dry and wet area,” confirms interior designer Ray.
Perfume Collection Display
With close to 50 bottles of perfume, homeowner Lucy dreamed of a display unit for her fancy fragrance collection. A portion of the wall was allocated to this, and Ray and his team constructed a transparent cabinet for her perfumes and makeup.
Soft, clean spaces.
5 Months’ Renovation
Totaling five months to complete this project, the initial design phase was five weeks’ worth of planning. The renovation itself took roughly 3.5 months. Considering Ovon Design had to replace piping and waterproofing, and a lot of carpentry was involved, this timeline is pretty impressive.
This 5-room HDB shows off a different side of Singapore, one where natural light (thanks to location) plays a major role in thought, feeling, and overall ambiance of a home.
It’s also a testament to how an all-white colour palette works; you just need to have the right elements and textures to balance things out, as interior designer Ray strategically did.