Dark and Dull 40-Year-Old KL Home Gets Bright, Minimalist Makeover

Talk about an EXTREME makeover!

With its bright red steel arch door, this home stands out among the cookie-cutter units in its neighborhood. Although the owners went with a minimalist aesthetic for the rest of the house, they decided to make a bold choice by painting their front door red.

We spoke with the owner, Suliza, about her design choices and her experience renovating this terrace, which took them nearly 9 months to complete.

Qanvast (Q): Hi, tell us about yourself and your family

Suliza (S): Hi, my name is Suliza, I work as an entrepreneur while my husband works as an architect. We have a 12-year-old son, two daughters, ages 9 and 6, and a British longhair cat.

During our 12 years of marriage, we lived in a 1200 sqft condominium in Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur. As our children outgrew our previous home, we began looking for a larger home in 2020 and came across this 40-year-old, two-storey terrace house near our old condo.

We've always wanted to buy a sub-sale unit because these houses are typically much larger than newly built properties. Older homes have a lot of character as well. We love the building materials used (terrazzo floors and white tiles), as well as the fact that the old houses have different floor elevations (to create visual separation between different zones) and a large backyard, so we didn't have to do any structural work to renovate the house.

The house has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, as well as a balcony on the upper level that we converted into a laundry room and a cat's room. There's also a backyard, which we enclosed with a brick wall for privacy.

Q: What is your home’s design style?

S: Our home is based on minimalist design. I love a simple, pared-back aesthetic, and I practise a minimalist lifestyle, which entails decluttering my home once a week and purchasing items that only serve a purpose.

Having a minimalist house means I don't have any unnecessary decor or fragile things lying around the house. Instead of decorative items, I prefer to fill my home with indoor plants. If you noticed, I don’t have a lot of things, just basic furniture, and I don't have carpets because they require a lot of upkeep. My colour and texture choices are also kept to a minimum.

I have 3 school-age children, so my daily routine can be quite hectic, so I wanted a home that did not necessitate a lot of maintenance and minimalist design is perfect for this way of life.

Q: Who was more involved in the home's design process?

S: I would say that both my husband and I were equally involved in the design process of this home. Since my husband is an architect, he produced the 3D renders for this home. I also relied on his decisions regarding the home's structure and material selection because he is more knowledgeable in this area. I was more involved in the functionality and flow of the house because I spend most of my time at home.

Despite having many contractor friends, we chose to work with someone we didn’t know in order to have a better and smoother working relationship. We’re pleased that the contractor did an excellent job on our home and that there were no major hiccups during the renovation process, aside from a timeline delay due to pandemic restrictions.

Q: What was the renovation process like to achieve the minimalist look?

S: The house was in poor shape when we bought it. The interior appeared gloomy and dull, with little natural light pouring into the home.

I told my husband that I wanted this house to be light and airy, so we decided to put vent blocks on the front facade. It provides a degree of privacy/security while also allowing natural light and breezes to enter the house.

We installed a shop front glass door and naco windows in the entrance entryway, where we kept most of our sports equipment, for ventilation and to create the illusion of a larger space. During the day, I will open these naco windows to allow fresh air into the house.

Front foyer dedicated for the kids

The foyer in our previous home was always a mess, especially whenever the kids came home from school and started throwing their bags and shoes on the floor.

For this home, we decided to include an arch-style cabinet in the front foyer so that the kids can keep/store all of their belongings, such as books, bags, and shoes, as soon as they get home from school. This significantly contributes to our home’s neat and organised appearance. It also helps to instill responsibility because each child has their own shelf and is responsible for keeping their own space tidy.

The guest bedroom and bathroom

As the home comes with a spare room next to the main entrance, we decided to convert the space into a guest bedroom.

The room is designed with naco windows that look out onto our pocket garden. Previously, the front porch lacked a brick wall, so we added one to improve the guest room's privacy, and guests can now enjoy a nice view outside thanks to the windows. Finally, for ease of maintenance, we replaced the original parquet flooring with cement render.

The guest bathroom is located next to the guest bathroom. It used to have white square tiles, but when we bought the house, the original tiles were in bad shape, so we had them replaced with the same type of tile and installed polished concrete on the floors. We also replaced all of the bathroom fixtures for a more modern appearance. Finally, we installed an exhaust fan to improve ventilation in this bathroom.

The light-filled kitchen and living room

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen because I cook every day. It is actually small and narrow, but it looks spacious because we installed a skylight to flood the space with natural light.

To make the space feel more airy and light, we used light colours for the kitchen cabinet laminates and solid surface countertops. You may have noticed that the kitchen cabinets, (as well of the cabinets found throughout the house) lack handles. This was done on purpose to achieve the minimalist look.

Because there aren't many things in the house, we needed something that would stand out. So we decided to make an arch-shaped opening in the wall that separates the kitchen and the living room. The idea behind having the opening is that while I'm cooking, I can still watch TV or talk to my kids and husband in the living room.

As you may have noticed, we do not have a plaster ceiling to conceal all of the electrical wiring; instead, we use cable trays to hide them. We chose this option because adding a plaster ceiling lowers the ceiling height, making the home feel and look smaller.

A large glass door adjacent to the living room leads to the backyard. This is where my kids spend the majority of their time playing outside, and occasionally we would have a BBQ.

The dining room

The kitchen leads towards the dining room. Initially, this was a kitchen extension, but we turned the space into a dining area by replacing the existing walls with large glass and naco windows (for air to circulate out), which lend a spacious and bright feel. The ambience of this dining area changes as the natural light it receives shifts subtly throughout the day, thanks to daylight from the kitchen skylight and the dining room’s glass windows.

The upper floor

The upper floor is where our family rests and the kids play in their respective bedrooms. There are three bedrooms in total: a master bedroom with an en suite bathroom, as well as a room for my son and a shared room for my daughters.

Other than repainting all rooms (including the staircase steps white to match the walls and ceiling) and replacing the original parquet flooring with cement render (because it was infested with termites), we didn't do much renovation work on the upper floor. Similar to the guest bathroom, we completely redo the entire bathroom by replacing the old fittings with new ones, redoing the plumbing system, and replacing the old tiles with new ones.

One of the most significant changes we made on the upper level was removing the roof from my son's bedroom and converting it into a loft mezzanine. My son sleeps in this area at night. We also installed a turbine to circulate the air during the day. Because the turbine absorbs all of the heat from the house, this area can become quite hot during the day. However, thanks to the turbine, we rarely need to turn on the air conditioning.

Q: What was the most challenging/costly part of this home renovation?

S: Because this is an older home, there were major issues with the plumbing and electrical, so we had to replace them throughout the house. This took up the majority of our renovation budget.

The floor for the dining room and living room extension also took up a significant amount of our renovation budget. It's a polished concrete floor made of granite, sand, and cement. This type of flooring is very expensive because the manufacturing process is very complicated. However, we are pleased with the overall result of this floor because it blends in seamlessly with the original terrazzo floor in the living room.

Q: Are you satisfied with the outcome of this home renovation, and how has it improved your lifestyle?

S: I’m very satisfied with the outcome of this home renovation, as it turned out exactly like the 3D drawings.

Living in a landed home also completely changed our way of life. Since we have a closed backyard, I am able to allow my kids to play safely without needing my constant supervision.

We also have a higher quality of life living in a landed home because we receive natural lighting almost every day. Whenever I feel stressed, angry, or in a bad mood, I will look at the greenery and open the windows, which will instantly make me feel more calm and at peace.

Love this home? Get professional help to renovate your dream space.

Send us your request for a free quote and we will connect you with up to four interior design firms to assist you with your home renovation based on your budget and needs.

Aside from that, homeowners who enquire with an interior firm via our platform are automatically part of the Qanvast Trust Programme, including the Qanvast Guarantee that safeguards your renovation deposit up to RM50,000.

Meet interior designers. Get quotes. Based on your requirements, we will recommend you up to 5 firms with the Qanvast Guarantee. Get Free Quotes