Home Tour: A scuba diving couple’s $131,000 Bali resort renovation for 5-room HDB in Upper Serangoon
By Shannon Osztonits -
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When I sat down to chat with homeowners, Juat Teng (JT) and Tim, about their ultra Zen-like home, and asked them to describe themselves, I knew from their early answers that this was going to be an exciting home tour!
“I think the defining part for both of us is that we are avid scuba divers,” says JT. “Our favourite destination was diving with tiger sharks in the Maldives.”
Inspired by the soothing soulfulness and warmth of a quintessential Balinese resort, these homeowners sought to create a serene space that they could return to after a hectic day, or more importantly, one of (many) scuba diving trips.
Comfort, a little bit of leisure, and a real Zen vibe are what the couple and the interior design team from Inizio Atelier decided on. Working closely with their interior designer, Zelyn, she recreated a vision of Bali’s resorts, specifically with the light loft Birch wood and curved finishes, evident across the custom carpentry work. This is a reflection of the interior designer’s design style, who loves a more minimalist and Japandi aesthetic.
The woodwork is a massive feature of this home, yet nothing appears heavy or overly done. The custom carpentry is done seamlessly, and the colour choice makes it all work.
“Because we were going for the more Bali vibes, I played with a heavier wood, a darker oak herringbone, for the floor. When you look into the house, you see a lighter wood, which makes the house appear bigger,” explains interior designer Zelyn.
“Intuitive is another keyword of how we designed our house…How the kitchen layout flows from cabinet to cabinet…Everything is carefully thought out,” explains homeowner JT.
Who Lives Here: A 39-year-old software developer and a 37-year-old Project Manager husband and wife duo
Home: A 5-room HDB in Upper Serangoon (1-bedroom)
Size: 1,110 sq ft
Interior Designer: Zelyn from Inizio Atelier
This zone is the first area you walk into from the front door.
Initially, the home was a 5-room (3-bedroom) HDB. But with this complete gutting, the couple requested to knock down the walls between two of the rooms and combine these bedrooms into one for their WFH study. There are two bathrooms, including an en suite, a kitchen, and a massive living room.
Above looks, the interior designer favours practicality, which was perfect for the homeowners. Ultimately, they wanted a home where their “clutter” is hidden, or as JT puts it, “concealed chaos.” The clever storage design incorporated throughout the home is what helped create this effect. It’s a great illusion.
The living room walls and feature paneling are where the interior design team really threw their efforts into, creating a minimalist and effortlessly cool-looking design, but one that is practical. Through custom carpentry pieces, they crafted storage units to conceal the mess, which double as design pieces. For example, the extra-long TV console and the bar.
“We came up with the feature wall throughout the whole house, making it seamless,” says interior designer Zelyn. “For the living room, we wanted it to be clean, so we put all the heavy carpentry on the wall, so it doesn’t feel too clustered. They still get the same amount of storage space.”
A big portion of their budget went into the custom carpentry and storage features.
All appliances are operated via the smart home system, including curtains and lights.
Smart Home Design
“Another thing I really wanted in this place was to have a smart home,” says Tim, “I think every young person nowadays wants a smart home…”
Being in the tech industry himself, it was a no-brainer. Everything had to be automated, and another big portion of the budget was allocated to smartening up the home.
Unlike some smart homes out there, the entire home is operated using one app via their Apple Home system. This includes everything from the curtains to the AC to every single lightbulb. The homeowners can access all of their appliances, no matter what brand it is, through one integrated system.
“One more requirement for my smart home was that it should not make things more inconvenient,” explains Tim. “A lot of people who build smart homes say, ‘Oh, I have to use my phone to turn on the lights, and the switches can’t be touched.’ I don’t want that. So we still have smart switches and smart lights. We can use the switches or the app without disabling anything.”
The warm and inviting living room with lots of natural light.
Living Room Design
The living room is the first space you enter as you walk inside. It’s also where these homeowners spend most of their time when they’re at home. This zone is where the interior designer began planning out the entire home.
It clicks once you catch sight of their larger-than-life 3.5-meter sofa, completely made from feather-down inners. As plush as ever, the couple spent more on the sofa than their king-sized bed. In fact, in the early stages of house hunting, they stumbled upon the sofa at Courts and knew they had to have it. Many properties they checked out didn’t make the cut because the living room wasn’t large enough for the plush centerpiece.
The TV console is custom-built in the same light Birch wood as the storage/walls. The inspiration behind the floating full-height cabinet with backlit LEDs on the left-hand side of the TV console is for storage purposes. Thanks to a tiny gap in between, the cabinet doesn’t look static or heavy. It’s also the perfect spot for the couple’s tiny pots of preserved flowers that last forever.
“We now have this wooden sculpture of Hammerhead sharks resting on a log that fits in with this display piece perfectly,” recalls Tim.
The coffee table centerpiece
Travertine Coffee Table
The double coffee table made from travertine was an accidental find. But once the couple laid eyes upon it, they had to have it.
“We went rug shopping and we came across this coffee table. It was double our budget,” says JT. “I remember leaving the shop, we went back to the car, and just sat there. We looked at each other and we were just like…”
“Let’s do it!” Exclaims Tim, excitedly.
It lends a beautiful contrast of texture against the wood and their rug, adding more geometry to the space.
At the far end of the living room is a balcony, allowing loads of natural light to filter through. The home overlooks a river, boasting gorgeous natural scenery over typical HDB buildings or city vistas.
The dining area is set up within its own nook.
Dining Area Design
“I made sure we had sufficient space for both the dining and living area. The main focus was this area, and afterward, I saw what space was left for the study and master,” says Zelyn.
The interior designer cut into one of the original bedrooms and hacked down walls. The result? A private-feeling dining area behind the sofa. It feels sectioned off, yet is still open.
The home bar doubles as storage and covers the DB board behind it.
Home Bar Design
The home bar was one of the last add-ons, and it is constructed from the same light Birch wood as the rest of the living room carpentry.
Zelyn conceptualised this area as a way to conceal a DB board. But with practicality as the magic word for this interior designer, the home bar also doubles as a shoe storage space. One side is for their shoes, the opposite side is for their alcohol.
We just had to ask: Any advice for our readers at home who want to know how to incorporate a home bar while maintaining a calm, cosy space?
“Preferably, if one wants a bar counter, make sure it’s practical and doesn’t get in the way. This one is functional as well. It hosts two carpentries and storage,” says Zelyn.
The home office with matching gaming desks and chairs.
Study Room Design
The work-from-home study is perhaps another one of the couple’s most-utilised rooms. Walls between the original bedrooms two and three were hacked, and converted into one large office. Tim works from home, and the darker colour palette is super intentional.
“I spend a lot of time here because I 100% work from home,” says Tim, “so we wanted something different from out there. This means I can have a different feeling between working and relaxing.”
It makes total sense.
Apart from an office, the super spacious room was purposefully kept simple. The homeowners refer to the room as their hobbies area, including current ones, and for future endeavours, like 3D printing.
The IKEA cupboard houses JT’s yarn collection for her crocheting. “It’s a whole rainbow of chaos in there,” tells JT, laughing.
Come nightfall, gamers’ mode is activated! The office converts into a gaming room — the couple are avid players. They custom-built their double PCs for this reason, and the desks and chairs accommodate these.
All the furniture, including the king-sized bed in the master, was chosen by the homeowners.
Master Bedroom Design
For this scuba diving pair, having a dedicated wardrobe just for their scuba diving gear was a non-negotiable. Talk about one-of-a-kind!
Entering the master, their shared closet space for their normal, everyday clothing runs parallel along the master bedroom corridor. Opposite this is a glass door opening to the primary en suite.
Walking into the bedroom, the separate, custom-built scuba diving closet runs along the right-hand side of the wall, opposite the window. Next to this is a vanity. All of the carpentry in the master was built using Cosmopolitan Compact wood laminate from EDL.
Primary en suite..
Master Bathroom Design
Ever seen a magnetic toilet roll holder? This master en suite boasts one, which JT and Tim sourced from Australia. Although it came with a $125 price tag, they had to have it. They especially love it as it doesn’t get in the way. It’s just another quirky factor about these homeowners.
The aquamarine subway tiles from Hafary were proposed by the design team. They pair beautifully with the wooden basin cabinet and wood walls, which are the same material as in the bedroom.
A hefty portion of the budget was also spent on ventilation in the bathrooms, as they wanted it all concealed.
“This helps to give the bathroom a hotel feel,” says JT.
The kitchen cleverly conceals all appliances for a clean look.
Kitchen Design
Although the homeowners don’t often cook, when they are entertaining guests, they do a big cook. For this reason, they were set on installing an AC in the kitchen, which isn’t too common in homes in Singapore.
After being turned down by many air conditioning companies, they finally found someone to do the job.
“It makes it comfortable to be in with the Singaporean heat, especially when we have guests over,” explains the homeowners.
The kitchen continues with the overall minimalist vibes. Countertops are sintered stone. The bottom cabinets are a dark birch wood, contrasted against an olive green colour palette for the top cabinetry.
The custom carpentry leading into the master bedroom.
The design phase was approximately one month, and the renovation was complete in four months. Starting before the Chinese New Year, things paused during this break.
A massive portion of the budget for this home renovation was spent on hacking the walls and creating corners, woodwork, ventilation, and electricals.
“Everything that we could hack, we hacked,” laughs Tim.
Although this was their first home renovation, they would happily do it again.
After scouring at least 20 properties — spreadsheets with pros and cons and a scoring metric included — they knew that this property was the one, after drawing them back time and time again. Captivated by the view, they are on a relatively low floor, with views of trees, the sky, and the river never far from sight.