My First Home Episode 4: A façade consultant's $350,000 renovation for his 1,603 sqft 5-room HDB Maisonette

My First Home

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Episode 4: Part 1

Episode 4: Part 2

Episode 4: David

David: Oh stamps, I have collected, like, 400 over pieces. Crystals, I have approximately about 300 over pieces. I put it in the living room and in my room.

Absolut Vodka Collection

And also the Absolut Vodkas. I don't drink alcohol, but I like collecting. So now I have, like, close to 300 over bottles. Whenever family members come, friends, relatives as well, when they come, we will also gather at the dining table and probably admire the collections. I have three major collections, first is amethyst crystals, second is the rare stone stamps, and also the Absolut Vodka bottles.

Amethyst Crystal Collection

I'm single, so since I don't have the other half, so I spend more of my time on my hobbies, on my collection. I'm not superstitious, basically, I like the crystals because they are nice in shape and come in different colours, especially when the lights shine on it, it sparkles, yeah.

So it gives the living room a life. Yeah, it beautifies the home as well. I'm more of a nature lover, that’s why I like some natural elements especially in my house and around me. That's why I started to collect rare stamps and amethyst crystals.

The vodka (collection) started because I noticed the bottles were quite unique, and I found out that every year they come up with different series, different designs, so I got stuck inside there.

Previously live in 4-room HDB in Tampines

Before I bought this house, I was staying with my parents all along, in Tampines. Then all my stuff were in my own room, it’s a 4-room flat, so I am occupying one of (the rooms). And after that, my parents started to complain,

“Hey, you have too much stuff, later on it’ll be very difficult to clean.” Then my sister, married with kids, she (moved) back to the house.

So I was thinking, to let out my room to them, so that it's not so squeezy, and also, it's time for me to have my own dream house. I was searching around for a location that is near my parents because I want to live near them. This house, I designed it myself and of course, I have a few collections, I have to cater for them. But the main reason is, I am looking at a retirement house and I also want my parents to stay with me.

Dad: We have told him before, while he’s young, we hope that he can find a house. It’ll be convenient for him and everyone.

Mum: I was a bit sad when he moved out. I would miss him, but nowadays there’s the internet and we can call each other whenever, so it’s not so bad.

Dad: I hope he can continue to expand his horizons while he’s in China for a few more years. He can learn more while he’s overseas, it’ll benefit him more when he comes back.

Façade consultant in charge of China market

David: I'm a façade consultant and I’m the associate director in charge of China’s market, so we will design the material. We will advise what type of material to use and all these aspects of it in order to make the building livable. Basically, it’s the dress to cover the building. So I only come back to Singapore for holidays. So I only designed the house for myself and my parents, yeah.

Balcony

Hello, hi. My favourite part of the house, will be the balcony. That's the most cozy corner. The design, I have a bit of nature elements over there. I have some artificial green, and I have timber floors and also the ceiling as well, it’s timber. And the walls, all these are dark toned. And I also have a custom-made resin table, that is a beach and sea design, so I will sit on the high stool, have a drink, overlooking the unblocked view of the town. That's the best place for me to calm down and relax.

Living Room

This is the living room where I keep most of the crystals. The reason why I got so many crystals, actually it started off from this very first piece. It is small, but I got it from my sister. She gave it to me as a present. When I first got hold of the floor plan, I noticed that the living room was a bit small.

I wanted a bigger living room for my family and also a large TV. The only way was to extend the living room space, push out the door – the existing door, right into the balcony area. So I actually did that, to enlarge the space for the living room.

Kitchen

This is my kitchen, where my mum actually designed and selected the material, and the theme itself. My mum has selected this green stone backwall, it kind of looks like a jade design, she likes it. And my mum likes to cook. She cooks almost every day for the family, and I love her cooking. So this belongs to her area. Then we have the dry kitchen, where there’s a fridge and a bar counter, although I don't drink, it’s more for decoration purpose.

This is the dining area, where I have two collections over here. This will be my Absolut Vodka, I designed the cabinets to have multiple compartments to cater for the 300 over bottles.

Here is another collection, which is the rare stone stamp. I got my first piece, it’s this one. So it’s actually a dragon and a phoenix. Yeah, so I like the colour.

I designed the dining area as an activity area, not just for dining itself. It is also a games room, where this table is convertible to a pool table or table tennis table. My nephews and nieces like to play more. Yeah, they always like to play ball games.

The other feature that I like most about this dining area, is actually the unblocked view. So once I open it, it's actually very wide. You can actually see the whole town view.

Sometimes there are aeroplanes flying across. So the kids will love to see the aeroplanes flying across.

Second Storey

This will be the staircase up to the second floor.

I wanted (the walls) to be carpentry as well, but because of the budget, it burst. To like, $350k now. So I have to omit this part of the wall, and replace it with momento wall paint. And it requires some skills to do it, and in fact, this wall was painted at least three to four times, the first few times, actually I rejected it because of the workmanship and the colour tone.

We are walking up to the second story landing. Initially the original floor plan is, we have three doors, entering to three different rooms.

Bedroom

This is my bedroom. This bed comes with a platform bed, where there is actually more storage underneath the bed. This bed and a lot of the cushions, are actually meant for, not just for myself, it's also for my nephew and nieces. When they come to my house, when the adults want to watch the TV, they can actually come up here and watch a movie, because I have a projector screen installed. The design of the house, I also take into consideration the kids. They love to come to my house. And as you can see, I still have a lot of crystals in the room.

Study Room

This room, another feature is that I combined two rooms into one, so I have my bedroom area here and actually there’s a hidden door over here, to go into my study and a walk-in wardrobe area. So as you enter, it's a long passageway where you can see I have some childhood collections, Iron Man.

My so-called ‘fourth’ collection. You can see my study area over here and this table is designed to have a glass top, to so-call, showcase some of my jewelries. And also, my next collection, actually is my specs.

Toilet with Bath Tub

Before, this was the common toilet. Now I have changed it to my own toilet. I have the bath tub inside here. You can see, even in my bathroom, I have also installed this hand bar, to facilitate my parents in case they want to use the toilet, easy for them to get up.

Parents' Room

So this room, because it's my parents’ room so I did seek my parents suggestion, what kind of theme they would like, so they chose beige coloured walls. The furnitures and the cabinets it still matches the luxury theme, where we have the gold and the bronze.

It’s everybody's responsibility to take care of the parents. My sister and my brother, both have kids, so they have their own family nucleus. For me, I'm single, I don't have any kids, so I would love to have them to stay with me, and continue that kind of lifestyle. Yeah, taking care of each other.

Dad: Now that we’re both old, we hope that we can stay together, it’ll be better. If there are any problems, we can help each other.

Mum: I also wish to stay here, because the environment here is really good, it’s a high-rise flat and it’s also located in the corner, and it’s really quiet, not that noisy. Then there’s an unblocked view, and I can see the aeroplanes flying here and there. That’s about it.

$350,000 Renovation

David: The amount spent is worth it, at least I only do it once, and family members, they can also move in any time they like. So, it's time for me to take care of my parents, yeah. Since they have already taken care of me for the past few decades. Owning this home, this is for my retirement. Going to come back eventually, and this is where I will feel warmth and happy with my family members. Able to see them, able to meet them every day, and this is what I'm looking forward to.

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Credits

Supervising Director: Raymond Goh/ SPH Media

Producer: Young Lim/ Home & Decor

Research Consultant: Nonie Chen/ Home & Decor

Research & Storyboard: Justin Foo/ FTTG Media

Video Editing: Wong Zhi Qi/ FTTG Media

Videographer: Lionel Yu/ FTTG Media

Website Editing: Tan Guan Lin/ Home & Decor

Coordinator: Carmen Wong/ SPH Media

Web Optimisation: Prashanti Mohanan & John Tan/ SPH Media