It’s a mix of chill vibes and striking pops of colour in this home.
Getting inspiration for your home renovation can come from many places – like places you’ve visited and social media trends. For Jianhong, it was all three.
“The overall design was inspired by a combination of cafes, hotels, and pictures we found on social media,” explains Jianhong about his 5-room BTO flat in Northshore Drive. “We were particularly drawn to the way curves and pops of colour make these spaces stand out, so we eventually decided to have a similar concept for our home.”
But incorporating curves and colour was just the tip of the iceberg of this home renovation. With major layout changes, unique features, and imported materials also on the cards, it’s perhaps no surprise that this renovation took almost 8 months to complete, despite this being a brand new unit.
To find out more, we sat down and had a chat with Jianhong!
About the homeowners and their home’s layout
The floorplan of Jianhong’s home, pre-renovation
Jianhong (JH): We secured this BTO unit sometime in 2018, which was completed only around mid-2022.
In the original layout, we had two bedrooms on one side of the house, and one on the other. As it’s just the two of us staying here, we didn’t need to have so many bedrooms, so we decided to use the two adjacent bedrooms as the master bedroom suite, with a walk-in wardrobe.
The floorplan of Jianhong’s home, post-renovation
And since we were combining the two bedrooms, we felt that the corridor would become redundant; that’s why we subsumed it into the bedroom suite to create more space.
WATCH: Homeowner Jianhong talks about renovating his Northshore BTO flat
About finding an interior designer
Jianhong’s 3D renders of his home
JH: We actually created our own 3D renders using a free online software to help us visualise what we wanted, but we thought that it was too uncoordinated. So, we began looking for an interior designer to help us fine tune what we already had and come up with better ideas.
Overall, I believe we met up with 3 or 4 interior designers. One of the IDs we approached basically said he could recreate what we had in our renders – this wasn’t what we wanted, since we were looking for someone who could enhance it.
But then we met Brandon, our interior designer from Authors Interior & Styling. He gave his own ideas to improve on our original design, and was also very transparent about things that could or could not be done, which we really appreciated.
It was all these qualities that convinced us to choose him as our interior designer.
About the living room with a dining nook
JH: Overall, we wanted our living room to have a cafe concept, as we find that they are an interesting mix of cosy and trendy.
Two features we really wanted were the curved niche and shelves, as well as a bar counter by the window. The primary reason for the curved niche was its aesthetic appeal and to showcase ornaments which is currently a popular trend. The arched design adds a soft look that brings us joy when we look at it.
We wanted the bar counter because we thought it'd be nice to have an alternative chill area other than the sofa, where we can sit and enjoy our cup of coffee in the morning. My wife also occupies that space to work on her laptop when she is working from home – so in a way, it acts as a multipurpose area.
For the dining area, we initially wanted a rectangular table with a pull-out section to accommodate big groups of people – but as the space is quite narrow, it’ll obstruct the walking area.
Brandon proposed an alternative idea of a curved wall where we can incorporate a round table with a curved settee. We have the option to place chairs around the table whenever we have visitors. I’m glad we went with this idea, as it really suits the cafe concept we were going for.
Also, for most of the walls and ceilings, we opted for a textured finish instead of regular paint. We saw a lot of cafes using a similar sort of finish – visually, it creates a nice soothing effect, something which is harder to achieve with regular paint.
About the kitchen and common bathroom
JH: We went with an open-concept kitchen; we thought that opening up the space creates a natural flow that makes both the living room and kitchen feel bigger. Also, we seldom do heavy cooking, so there weren’t any concerns of cooking fumes escaping into the communal area.
One thing we wanted here was a curved kitchen peninsula. We saw similar features in a few cafes we visited, and as my wife and I have just started learning coffee making, we thought that this feature would be a nice place to house all our equipment.
The tiles we used to design the peninsula are the “Biscuit” series from 41zero42, and we had imported them from Italy. We happened to see them on social media, and found ourselves liking it so much that we told Brandon that we really wanted these exact same tiles in our home – so he helped us liaise with a tile distributor here and bring them to Singapore.
To my knowledge, they’re not available in Hafary or in any other widely-known tile shops in Singapore, which makes them unique.
The backdrop for our kitchen sink is also covered with the same series of tiles, just in a different colour and texture. The curved design was inspired by a Pinterest post, and we thought it was an eye-catching feature to include.
From what I understand, it was quite tricky to recreate it as the curvature had to be just right to fit the sink in, but I think Brandon and his team did a fantastic job with it.
About the gym
JH: I enjoy doing kickboxing as a sport, so we decided to set aside a dedicated area for working out.
As we don’t regularly use big weights or gym equipment, we didn’t need a huge space. The main thing we wanted was a heavy bag, and sufficient space for us to move around it.
Jianhong’s initial 3D render for the gym, located at the study area suggested in the original floorplan
We initially envisioned our gym to have a peach theme, but at Brandon’s suggestion, we toned it down using a darker shade of green. I thought it was a fantastic decision, as it matched the overall earthy theme of the home.
And personally, this colour scheme, combined with the lighting, really helps put us in the mood to work out here.
About the master bedroom suite (with an enlarged walk-in wardrobe and ensuite)
JH: The bedroom suite consists of the bedroom, study, walk-in wardrobe, and ensuite. Each space is larger than usual because we subsumed the corridor into the space.
The overall look is inspired by RYSE Autograph, a boutique hotel in Korea. The room we stayed in had navy accents, which we felt would create a restful and comfortable environment.
The main highlight is the walk-in wardrobe – more specifically, the circular glass divider with iridescent film pasted over it. As the overall structure was too big to fit into the lift, Brandon’s team had to combine two separate pieces of glass, and then paste the cellophane film over it.
It's a feature that captivated us when we visited the studio where we purchased our engagement ring. I'm delighted that Brandon successfully identified the right material to replicate that appearance.
Our rest area is pretty simple, the main thing we wanted was to be able to fit in a king-sized bed as well as these rotatable dividers – they’re for feng shui reasons, since the bed is positioned directly in front of the door.
About the master ensuite and guest bathroom
JH: The entrance to the ensuite was inspired by our visit to another hotel : the Warehouse Hotel in Singapore. The room we stayed in had black-framed doors with wired glass panels, so we emulated that for our own home – the only change we made was to swap out the wired glass for fluted glass to maintain some privacy.
”Our ID proposed this curved storage area that we use to house bath essentials like towels and toiletries,” says Jianhong.
One thing we were keen on fitting into the ensuite was a his-and-hers sink. My wife and I often get ready for the day at the same time, so this feature allows us to get ready simultaneously, without having to wait for each other.
The tiles we used here are from the “Spectre” series of 41zero42. This collection consists of tiles that come in holographic, matte, and glossy finishes.
Since the ensuite has a black-and-white theme, we thought that this would be an interesting way to inject some colour into the space – and when reflected by light, there will be an iridescent visual effect.
Our guest bathroom also uses the same collection of tiles, just in different colours. We went with the pale green variation here, to match the color scheme of the kitchen.
Instead of a regular glass panel to separate the wet and dry area, we decided to experiment with a curved wall, which makes the space one-of-a-kind.
To sum up
JH: As we did a major overhaul of the entire house, there was a lot of work involved. Aside from the layout changes, we had to hack all the tiles in both bathrooms and redo the waterproofing.
In addition, the tiles took a while to come to Singapore as we ordered them from abroad close to the end of the pandemic. So, even though this is a brand new unit, the whole renovation took about 8 months – which was longer than we expected, but it was understandable since the works are rather complex.
This was another reason why I’m grateful for Brandon’s help – other than helping us enhance the design, he was also quick to solve any problems that came up along the way.
Overall, we’re impressed with the final outcome of the house. The relaxing atmosphere in the house makes returning home a delightful experience. Our friends and family who’ve visited us were all amazed with the look – so thank you once again to Brandon who helped bring our dream house to life!
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