Home Tour: $90,000 Minimalist renovation for a 5-room DBSS in Taman Jurong

A 5-room resale HDB flat housing 6 adult family members, a dog and a cat, Zach’s family is very happy to call this new place at Taman Jurong their home. When asked why this three generational family decided to move out of their 5 room HDB at Telok Blangah, homeowner and interior designer Zach mentioned that their previous property did not have the best environment as it faced the main road and coffee shop. The bustle and noise from the matured estate motivated him to search for a newer and quieter area.

Who lives here: A couple in their late 40s with 2 young adult daughters, elderly parents, a dog and a cat.
Home: 5-room DBSS flat at Taman Jurong
Size: 1131 sq ft
Interior designer: Zach Lim, Lush Interior Design Pte Ltd

Jurong DBSS

The West is not unfamiliar to Zach as he spent his younger years growing up in Jurong. When he came across the point block DBSS, he knew that this was “the one”. DBSS, short for Design, Build and Sell Scheme, is essentially HDB owned flats that are designed and built by private developers. HDB flats tend to have standardised floor plans while DBSS could differ by the number of rooms, interior features and even common facilities such as gated lobbies and barbeque pits.

Living in a point block means less units sharing the space, and the gated entrance helped to give an additional sense of privacy and security, which ticked one of the boxes Zach was looking for.

Minimalist Interior Design

Other items on his checklist included a coffee machine area and a small music and work station for his home interior. As an interior designer himself, Zach wanted his new home to look minimalistic, spacious, elegant and clean, yet at the same time, easy to maintain.

“We decided to opt for a darker wood shade for most of the cabinets while keeping the rest of the house in a neutral tone. We were inspired partly by the large format porcelain floor tiles that we saw on Hafary, and decided to use the same tiles for the entire house to create a seamless look,” Zach shared.

The couple had intended to keep the original parquet flooring in all the bedrooms but fell so much in love with the porcelain tiles that they decided to go further than their initial budget to keep the floor aesthetics throughout the entire house.

Full-Length Feature Wall

In order to achieve a home that is beautiful yet practical for the household, Zach properly modified spaces to ensure the house is efficient. The space in the living room was originally wider and modifications were made to reduce its space, so as to make the common bedroom bigger.

Concealing works are also key in creating a seamless and clean look. When you step into the living room, you will be able to notice the curved and fluted ceiling which was purposefully used to conceal the beam that was running through the living room.

Another unique concealer of the home would be the full feature wall along the walkway to the bedrooms. The common bathroom entrance is cleverly and beautifully hidden behind this feature wall, creating an illusion of a longer walkway. One could say this full feature wall is the most unique feature of the home and costs around $7,800.

Seamless Kitchen Design

The kitchen was not spared from the overall minimalistic and spacious design, but was proven to be a challenging task for Zach due to its space constraints. The original entrance wall of the kitchen was removed to extend the kitchen and create a sense of openness.

“As we prefer a neat kitchen, we have to cater for plenty of storage space for appliances such as rice cooker, air fryer, mixer and all our baking stuff”, Zach explained. He also opted for an integrated refrigerator and concealed the washing machine to maintain the overall seamless look.

Luxurious hotel-like bedroom

When asked which is his favourite part of the house, Zach had no qualms that it is his master bedroom. The master bedroom is where Zach has his music and work corner. It is a place where he spends his time winding down, which gives no reason not to create a relaxing hotel-like mood for this room.

The full length bedhead and laminated wall cladding allowed the room to feel luxurious and grand, along with the cozy lightings installed to give off a five star staycation ambience. 

Recalling the first time he viewed his completed home, Zach remembers the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. His new home turned out the way he had envisioned it and his family members love their new rooms and spaces.

As an experienced interior designer and homeowner, Zach advises those who are looking forward to their home renovations to “plan early, write down a list of priorities, set a realistic budget, start with a clear vision and engage a reliable and experienced interior designer”.