Home Tour: $100,000 Minimalist renovation for a cyclist couple’s 5-room HDB BTO in Tampines
This homeowner decided to go all out with an all-white colour palette that reflects his neat and orderly personality.
By Lynn Tan -
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The colour white is commonly associated with purity, perfection and new beginnings. Used in a space, it gives an impression of minimalism, cleanliness and spaciousness. For someone who prides himself on being very “clean and tidy”, it comes as no surprise that homeowner Wyman’s preferred colour scheme for his family’s new home is white.
His brief to Ng Kah Fei, senior design consultant at Ovon Design was to have a clean and minimalist look with a white theme. “We also wanted a cosy feeling,” he adds. Since he likes everything organised and clutter-free, it was important that the home has ample storage. Being avid cyclists, Wyman and his wife also requested for a space within the home to store their bicycles.
Kah Fei pulled out all the stops to achieve an all-white theme according to the client’s wishes. “I basically used white tiles on the floor and a lot of white laminates on the built-in carpentry,” he says. Even the light fixtures and fans, dining table and chairs, bedroom doors and the refrigerator are all white.
Who Lives Here: A family of four
Home: A 5-room HDB BTO flat at Tampines Walk
Size: 1,216 sqf
Interior Designer: Ng Kah Fei, senior design consultant at Ovon Design
Entrance Foyer Design
At the entrance foyer, a shoe cabinet with some open shelving not only provides space for storage and display, but also serves as a spatial divider between the entrance and the dining room. The open shelves also allow a glimpse of the dining area from the entrance foyer.
On the other side of the main entrance is a space where the couple can hang their bicycles. Propped against a white, fluted panel backdrop and illuminated by a downlight, the bicycles take on an art installation-like quality, which is perhaps why homeowner Wyman picks this as his favourite element within the apartment. Having this bicycle storage near the main entrance makes practical sense as there is no need to carry or wheel the bicycles across the house.
Living Room Design
The television console begins below the bicycle wall and extends all the way across the other end of the living room. Right next to the bicycles is a suspended television feature wall that incorporates more storage cabinets and open shelves, all cladded in white. The storage does not just end there.
At the back of the living room, interior designer Kah Fei managed to fit in a row of half height drawers and cabinets. These not only provide extra storage, but the top of the drawers and cabinets can also be used for display or to place some personal items.
Leaving the upper part of the wall free from built-in carpentry allows the family to hang their family portraits. In black and white, of course.
Dining Room
The dining table abuts a peninsula island that helps to define the open concept pantry area. Interior designer Kah Fei fully utilised the space by maximising the cabinets, drawers, shelves, counter space and a niche for the refrigerator without making it feel overwhelming or cramped.
The couple’s two sons love to cook, so the wet kitchen is separated from the pantry by a glass sliding door that helps to keep the smoke and grease within the kitchen.
“I opted for full white top and bottom kitchen cabinets with white Silestone counter tops paired with white textured backsplash tiles,” interior designer Kah Fei points out.
Master Bedroom Design
Keeping consistently to an all-white palette, the master bedroom ceiling features a curved cove lighting that instils a sense of warmth and softness.
The two drawers at and beside the vanity table were deliberately given a wood laminate for contrast.
Master Bathroom Design
Interior designer Kah Fei introduced some black elements in the master bathroom such as the door handle, shower fixtures and the frame around the glass shower partition to complement the white colour scheme.
$100,000 Renovation Cost
The renovation took about four months to complete and the family moved into their new home in July 2024. The cost came up to about $100,000 excluding furniture, furnishings, lighting, fans and appliances.