Home Tour: A Teacher and Aviation Firefighter’s $90,000 Mid-Century Modern renovation for their Punggol BTO
By Shannon Osztonits -
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Green and wood.
Sometimes, among all the choices of the world, simplicity really is key.
Where the home of Melanie and Bruce is anything BUT simple…It was their unfussy colour palette-infused theme that really set the tone for this beautiful Mid-Century Modern style home.
Travellers by heart (although the recent introduction of their two fur babies, pugs, Brie and Chip, has paused frequent travel for them over the last two years), the couple always love picking inspirational AirBnBs around the world.
Their favourite country is New Zealand — a long-term immigration goal of theirs, too.
Once (the dreaded) Covid hit the scene and staycations became all the rage among Singaporeans, they swapped international waters for local ones, including AirBnBs and hotels. Through all this, they would find themselves utterly inspired. They infused elements of the places they stayed at into their original home renovation vision.
“I love the green and woody tones in my home as it reminds me of the forest — calm and tranquil,” Melania says. “Another part I like is the Peranakan style. So we have a little bit of a Peranakan feel around the house, for example, at the entryway we have Peranakan-style blocks.”
Who Lives Here: A Singaporean teacher and aviation firefighter couple in their early 30s, and their two pugs, Brie and Chip
Home: 5-room BTO
Size: 1,216 sq ft
Interior designer: Etherall
Mid-Century Modern
This Mid-Century Modern abode features three bedrooms, two bathrooms (including a primary en suite and common), a grand dining room, a modernised kitchen, and a rich green living room.
When they first began their househunting journey in 2014, they didn’t get a great queue number for HDB. Forgoing their first attempt, they later reapplied and managed to get a better queue number. Fast-forward time, and the exact unit on their desired floor was theirs, and at a really good price. This meant more to spend on their dream home renovation.
After chatting with 10 different interior designers, Levonne from Etherall was their 11th and final choice.
“It was her 3D drawing that really locked us in,” Bruce recalls. “We could tell she understood what we wanted.”
Living Room Design
Favouring the Mid-Century Modern’s love for deep shades, Nippon’s ‘Gorgeous Olive’ was the perfect paint choice for these green-obsessed homeowners.
Even with the amount of wooden furniture and darker-coloured walls, the living room feels spacious thanks to furniture placement and not cluttering the area. Key elements of Mid-Century Modern furniture include natural materials, like wood, bold colours, pieces that are functional, and nothing is overly stylised.
The deliciously dark brown leather sofa is from COMFY, and the walnut-coloured wooden side table is from HipVan. Blending in with the brown is the all-wood Castlery TV console. Even the Draft Alaska Ceiling Fan Singapore is a deep chocolate brown.
Their interior designer added a custom-built, laminate-finish low settee with storage beneath the lounge’s window. Vinyl flooring is the home’s original, which happens to match their theme so well.
Grand Dining Room Design
One requisite was a big dining space for the couple who enjoy entertaining. With its gorgeous arched frame and widened room space, the dining room feels ultra grand. This is coupled with a custom-made solid Malaysian sawwood eight-seater dining room table, complete with a bench on one side and four dining chairs. All was done by a local company, KST (@kst.singapore). Bringing in warmth is a carpet placed beneath the table.
Funnily enough, the chestnut brown skirting is also an original feature, yet one that works seamlessly with the home’s Mid-Century Modern outlook. The dry pantry space was also there prior, refurbished with glass and wooden shelves by Levonne.
A mirror on the far end enhances the illusion of space even further. The hanging pendant torch lights were chosen from another local retailer, GlowLights. Because of their central lighting placement, they decided to add a corner side ceiling fan from Acorn.
Kitchen Design
The kitchen was designed in a way that it feels open and overlooks the space around it, with no structural walls blocking it from the rest of the house or creating stagnant separation.
Their sintered stone island is a showstopper, with a grey finish. For the rest of the kitchen’s colour palette, the interior designer stuck to dark, earthier tones and ensured to feature wood and green in places like the decorative slats next to the island.
As homeowners who enjoy cooking, a Brandt induction stove was added to the island, with an oven added to the built-in storage cupboard section below the island. A floating EF hob extends down from the ceiling.
Peranakness was incorporated into some of the kitchen’s makeup, too. The sink area’s backsplash features Peranakan-style tiles (from x), and a textured stone-like block in the centre of the tiles. Retractable doors lead to the service yard at the back.
Master Bedroom Design
Wallpaper is making a comeback, yet it’s always been an important design element of Mid-Century Modern aesthetics. A floral-imprinted green wallpaper (Craft Axis, code MU307345) travels across the back master bedroom wall, where the couple’s king-sized MaxCoil Headboard Storage Bed is placed.
Dark curtains (Deluxe Home Furnishing) match the bedset. Side tables (a similar style to the TV console) are from Castlery. Pendant lights hang down above the bed, and these are another GlowLight purchase.
The entire wardrobe across the opposite wall was custom-built with a x laminate finish, and is entirely Melanie’s closet. Bruce, on the other hand, has a smaller closet constructed next to the bed, leading to the primary en suite. There is also a custom vanity.
Primary En Suite Design
Fluted glass doors with a modern black frame open up to the primary en suite. Continuing with the green aesthetics are green skinny subway shower tiles.
Large wall tiles are grey, patterned with a mermaid mosaic floor tile. The bathroom features a toilet, shower and vanity, which is topped with a basin from Uniqool.
Common Bathroom Design
“The common toilet was one of the challenging parts of the home, as we really wanted to separate the wet and dry areas,” explains the homeowners. “We managed to do that, but at the expense of a smaller walking space.”
A solid wooden door slides open to the common bathroom, which Melanie and Bruce wanted to have a “cabin-like” feel. It also has a shower, vanity and toilet. The vanity (constructed from Compact+) features a stunning SinkCo round bowl with a navy blue and white floral motif. It’s a standout feature. Next to the vanity is a unique 3D effect wall texture, adding depth to the room.
The interior designer cleverly brought in Mid-Century touches with Hafary tiles that have a wood-like appearance. These are used throughout the bathroom, including the walls, shower and floors.
For this couple, their Mid-Century Modern abode is a first-time renovation project. Bruce had some solid advice to share with other homeowners wanting to renovate:
“Expect the unexpected. Things don’t get done in a short period of time.”
Melanie also lent her two cents: “Embrace all the hiccups, and try to make a compromise of things.”
When this teacher and aviation firefighter first purchased their home, they were not yet dog parents. But things swiftly changed. They did note that for their home renovation journey, they didn’t take into consideration living with pets in their home. Fast-forward to now, and they’ve had to add in extras to make their house more pet-friendly. For example, a ramp from the living room floor leads up to the sofa, as their pugs’ legs are too short to jump up onto it.
To learn how to pet-proof your home, check out our Beyond the Tour story for tips and tricks on how to do so.