Home Tour: $120,000 Renovation for an expat couple's HDB Maisonette at Bedok Reservoir
The truest mark of the success of any home project is when the clients and interior designer end up forging a great relationship.
By Lynn Tan -
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When Charmaine and Mike decided to move out of their executive apartment, they knew that they wanted a HDB maisonette in at Bedok Reservoir. Mike, who teaches English at an international school in Singapore, is from the United Kingdom and Charmaine lived there for eight years. “Our home in the UK had two storeys. We like the separation and having spaces on two floors. I grew up in the East, so I love the area and wanted to move back here,” says Charmaine, a regional manager in the cruise industry.
Who lives here: A couple in their 40s and their two children
Home: A HDB maisonette at Bedok Reservoir
Size: 1,614 sq ft
Interior design: Distinct Identity
Dining area near the first storey stairwell in this 1,614 sq ft HDB executive maisonette at Bedok Reservoir.
Low maintenance interior design
The couple zoomed in on interior design studios with experience working on maisonettes and decided to engage interior design firm Distinct Identity as they like their sense of aesthetics. Executive interior designer, Harshita Agarwal, was assigned the project. In their brief to Harshita, the couple conveyed that they wanted a bright and spacious home with plenty of storage. It had to be low maintenance and child-proof as they have two young children aged seven and four. “We cook almost daily, so the kitchen must look nice, but also be very functional,” Charmaine points out.
Main entrance redesign
With this brief, interior designer Harshita went about transforming the existing dark and cluttered interior of this Bedok Reservoir maisonette, which is about four decades old, into a new home that caters to the needs and lifestyle of its new owners.
The area within the immediate vicinity of the main entrance underwent major reconfiguration that totally changed the entrance experience from the get go. The existing main door has been moved outwards to where the grille gate was, so that the space between the two is reclaimed as part of the apartment.
Low maintenance kitchen design for this 1,614 sq ft Bedok Reservoir Maisonette.
Open concept kitchen
By hacking the existing kitchen walls, you no longer enter into a blank wall, but instead, are greeted by a welcoming view of the open-concept kitchen and the dining and living rooms beyond. The existing utility room right beside the main entrance has also been hacked and reconfigured into a pantry.
“The pantry is a must-have for the homeowners for storing groceries and other items and keeping clutter out of sight,” says interior designer Harshita.
Kitchen island in this 1,614 sq ft Bedok Reservoir Maisonette.
Kitchen island
A kitchen island was also on the couple’ wish list. While many islands have bar stool seating on one side, in this case, as the homeowners’ priority was storage, interior designer Harshita duly incorporated cabinets and drawers below the island. A kitchen counter top with cabinets and drawers below and overhead cabinets are lined up along the wall that runs the length of the kitchen, providing ample counter top space and built-in storage for all their appliances and other kitchen paraphernalia.
The dining area is located beside the kitchen and there is a seamless spatial flow between the two complementary spaces. Designed with flexibility in mind, the dining table set can be moved to one side when the kids need more space to play.
Living room in this 1,614 sq ft Bedok Reservoir Maisonette.
Living room
The living room is now a bright and airy space, a far cry from before. Interior designer Harshita replaced the solid roof panel over the balcony with glass roof to allow more natural light into the living room. The television console and built-in cabinets in the living room are clad with a warm, brown laminate that is consistently used throughout the first storey, including all the cabinets and doors.
“I like this particular shade of brown because it is not too stark or dark and it conveys a modern, sleek and peaceful look,” Harshita comments.
The kids bedroom is located on the second floor of this 1,614 sq ft Bedok Reservoir Maisonette.
Second floor
What was previously a dark stairwell with no natural light is now a bright and well-lit space thanks to new window openings on the two bedroom walls around the stairwell. The former master bedroom with an attached bathroom has been allocated to the kids.
The common bathroom and the corridor space directly in front of it have been reconfigured such that they are now part of the new master bedroom with its own attached bathroom. The third bedroom serves as a dual-purpose guest and study room.
Master bathroom in this 1,614 sq ft Bedok Reservoir Maisonette.
$120,000 Renovation budget
Renovations can be nerve-wracking and even the best-laid plans can go awry. In this case, the opposite could not have been truer. Charmaine says: “Our renovation was not stressful at all. Harshita made everything very easy for us. We have a really easy-going relationship with her, almost as if we can read each other’s mind.”
The HDB maisonette renovation cost about $120,000 and the family moved into their new home in November 2022 after an-eight week renovation. Everything went smoothly without a hitch, thanks to interior designer Harshita’s meticulous background work and co-ordination. This project reflects her design philosophy where “nothing is overdone”. She achieves this by controlling the lines and working with a limited palette of colours and materials to create a clean, simple, minimal and elegant design. “Functionality is important too, especially in areas such as the kitchen, but I also have to ensure that I address the aesthetics,” she emphasises.