Home Tour: A couple’s matrimonial 5-room HDB flat in Yishun

Who Lives Here: A newly wed couple
Home: A five-room HDB flat at Yishun Street 11
Size: 1,326 sqft
Interior Designer: Homely Matters Pte Ltd

Terence Chua and Zoey Lee had an upsized big day. They tied the knot and moved into their matrimonial home all on the same day. The newlyweds even had wedding photographs taken in their new home. “It felt surreal. So much magic in a day- the wedding itself and then moving into a fully furnished home,” 28-year-old Zoey reflects.

This being their first home, the couple really wanted to start from a clean slate that would allow them to reimagine the spaces. An older flat that is in its original condition, but well-maintained, and with a functional layout would be ideal. They are also drawn to the “quiet charm” of older estates and flats, not to mention the fact that the unit sizes tend to be bigger than new flats.

Other important considerations include a location that is near an MRT, proximity to amenities, and of course, cost. “Terence’s parents live in Yishun, so we got a flat here to take advantage of the grant. Besides, he also likes the area,” Zoey shares.

Their search for an interior designer brought them to Homely Matters. Beyond the nice designs and positive reviews, what clinched the deal was interior designer, Dominic Leong’s personality. “We felt that we could trust him,” she says. They shared their ideas, mood boards and details of their needs and budget in a 28-page brief to Dominic.

Over the course of three months, the flat was completely transformed into an eclectic, mid-century modern-meets-maximalist home. Many of the existing walls were hacked to reconfigure the home according to the couple’s needs.

One of the existing bedrooms was opened up to become the new living room. The three remaining bedrooms and the old dining room have been reconfigured into four new rooms- a master bedroom, a guest room, a home office and an activity room, which will become a play area when the couple become parents. Terence, who is 31 years old, and Zoey have plans to homeschool their children, maybe even foster other kids, so the activity room can be converted into a classroom when the need arises in the future.

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Living room

The spacious living room is filled with personal touches. Instead of a built-in television console feature, the wall around the television set is a collage of photographs, drawings and postcards that the couple hold dear. You will find photographs of Japan, one of their favourite travel destinations, a postcard of Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo and Sosuke, which the couple feels that they share a physical likeness to, and a framed QR code from their wedding to scan for e-ang baos. 

One of the most meaningful has got to be a photograph from their wedding taken with friends dressed as prawns holding posters. As the story goes, the waiter at a restaurant got their orders mixed up during one of their first few dates- he served Terence’s steak to Zoey and Zoey’s prawn aglio olio to Terence. “Instead of swapping the plates immediately, Terence peeled the prawns before passing me the plate and I thought, ‘Wow, this is someone I might be able to marry’,” she recalls. 

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Dining room

The dining room reflects the philosophy behind the home’s interior design- to bring together mismatched items in a harmonious way. The couple loves wooden tables and knew they wanted one in their dining room. They are picky about the wood grains and are particular about not scratching the table.

However, Dominic pointed out to them that regardless how high quality the wood is, some scratches are inevitable with use over time. “We did not want to buy expensive wood and have to use ugly mats to protect the surface, so we decided to go with a solid, affordable, one-slab suar wood with a wood print that we love, and just use it and embrace the scratch marks,” she explains. 

As for the dining chairs, Zoey wanted each chair to be different, but Terence was concerned about visual clutter, so they found a way to compromise. She could have her mismatched chairs subject to his approval for the designs. He okayed all except one that was in a clear acrylic. Zoey changes the chairs around depending on her mood and they are always a conversation starter when friends visit.

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Dry and wet kitchens

The couple appreciate a myriad of interior design styles. Instead of restricting themselves to just one theme for the home, they went with an eclectic mix. The dry kitchen adopts a colour-drenched approach where a palette of analogous colours are applied to the floor, walls, ceiling and even the cabinets, furniture and fittings. This achieves a cohesive effect and makes the space feel warm and cosy. 

For the wet kitchen, they opted for a more Japanese style that is clean and easy on the eye, and calms down a typically cluttered and busy area.

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Master bedroom

Pops of blue, coral and green enliven the master bedroom. Zoey wanted to try out an electric blue somewhere in the home and settled on the master bedroom.

She recognised that to have it across the entire room would be too overwhelming, so she limited it to the wall behind the headboard.

For the vanity area, she went with coral cabinets against a green wall based on colour theory principles. 

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Bathrooms

As with the rest of the home, the two bathrooms are uniquely different. For the master bathroom, the original plan was to try out long Kit Kat wall tiles, but the idea was aborted due to cost. While walking around Hafary, they spotted a tile with an uneven texture that was on offer. It met their criteria for something bold yet wallet-friendly and rolled with that. 

The common bathroom got the full-on dramatic effect that they were going for. Access to this bathroom is from the Japanese style wet kitchen and Zoey wanted to give visitors a “shock” when they enter. In stark contrast to the wet kitchen, the common bathroom is decked out in bold green colours and terrazzo. 

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Turning constraints into creative solutions

Budget and a difference of opinion were just some of the constraints that the couple faced during their renovation journey. When faced with such limitations, Zoey heeded the advice that her university professor once shared with her,” Without limitations, there will be no creativity.” She believes that the home is possible because of them. “I loved the constraints because we creatively solved different things,” she says.  

Can’t get enough of this home? We spoke with the homeowner to understand more about their design thinking and favourite home pieces here:

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