Refined yet gritty.
When brainstorming possible designs for their home, many homeowners usually think about a particular look they like before sourcing for materials or furniture pieces that fit. For Bryson and his wife, however, the process was reversed.
“You know how you’d say ‘oh, I want that in my house’ when you see certain furniture pieces? It started from there,” says Bryson about his 4-room resale flat in Serangoon. “For me, I realised that the furniture pieces I liked are the kind you’d find in a Japanese house, while my wife was drawn towards industrial features like exposed light bulbs and cement screed.”
“So, we went with a combination of the two: a Japanese-industrial design. Coincidentally, our interior designer – who’s from The Local INN.terior and also a close friend of mine – tends to design houses in a similar manner, so it was a natural choice to pursue this design.”
To see how this house turned out, we got Bryson to tell us more!
About the homeowners and the home
The pre-renovation floor plan of Bryson’s home
Bryson (B): One of the conditions we had when looking for a home was to find a place that was close to both our parents.
I think we were pretty lucky to get this house. Firstly, we began searching for a home around January or February 2022, which was when the housing market was hot.
Secondly, units in this area are quite hard to come by – there are a lot of nearby amenities, and they tend to be quite popular among the older generation, who aren’t ready to sell their houses yet.
The changes made to Bryson’s home, post-renovation
It’s a pretty old flat – if I remember correctly, it was built in 1991. I know some people don’t like to live in an older flat because the rubbish chute is inside the home, but we were okay with that.
Maybe I’m biased because my parents’ place was an old flat also, but I’m already used to it. I think it’s more convenient than having to go out to throw out our rubbish.
About the living and dining room
The living room, pre-renovation
The living room, post-renovation
B: The foyer was inspired by a post from a Japanese designer I follow on Instagram. Rather than building a cabinet to store her shoes, she used open shelves and demarcated the area with cement screed flooring.
In fact, you’ll realise that open shelving is the main storage type in our home; we like how they add character to the space by displaying things that mean a lot to us. And also, judging from posts we see on social media, they’re pretty common in industrial homes.
Initially, we were supposed to do carpentry for the dining room, but we just so happened to come across this tiered open shelving in Nitori that was exactly like what we wanted. It was perfectly sized for the dining room wall, so we got this instead.
This helped us save on carpentry costs, which was a good thing as we spent quite a lot to rewire the whole house.
We played around with different layouts for the communal area, but eventually, we settled on this one as it made the most sense to us. The dining area is right in front of the kitchen, so it’s easy to immediately serve any food we prepare – be it for ourselves, or for our guests.
About renovating the kitchen
The store room and kitchen, pre-renovation
B: There was initially a store room here, but we hacked it away to make the kitchen bigger.
Overall, it has the same concept as the living room. One feature that a lot of people point out is the backsplash – the tiles are actually part of a set, and it took a bit of experimenting to come up with this jigsaw-like pattern. I like it; it doesn’t just add colour, but also gives the space a retro feel.
The main highlight of this space, I think, is the materials we used – instead of the usual quartz or natural stone, our ID suggested using marine plywood to create a natural look. We also used cement screed for the wall and floors, as it’s something my wife was really interested in.
Because of these choices, one of the most common questions we get is how durable they are. And truthfully, there are a few small cracks here and there, but we honestly don’t mind it. To us, the imperfections are part of the aesthetic – if a house looks perfect all throughout, it doesn’t feel right.
About the master bedroom and study
B: Our master bedroom consists of the original master and junior bedrooms merged together. The main goal was to create a more spacious area that allows us to walk around freely.
As we didn’t need a lot of wardrobe space, we simply had it built against the far wall instead of dedicating an entire room to create a walk-in wardrobe. I particularly like the doors used – instead of the usual swing or sliding doors, our ID installed these bi-fold doors, which I thought was pretty unique.
Before we moved here, my wife and I worked in our own bedrooms during the WFH period, which wasn’t very conducive or comfortable. And after moving here, we realised there wasn’t a dedicated space to do our work, so we decided to carve out one in the bedroom.
Again, the layout and design was inspired by a post I saw on Instagram, where the study was carved out of the bedroom, with open shelving and a 3-pane window looking into the communal area. But even then, the study was still pretty dark, so we included additional windows to bring in additional light from the sleeping area.
To sum up
B: We’ve been living here for about 4 months now. During this time, we’ve had a lot of questions about our choices, like the open shelving and how we keep things clean. But honestly, we haven’t faced much of an issue with that.
Personally, while it’s good to listen to other people’s opinions and advice, you shouldn’t let them influence you. After all, it’s your home, and you’ll have your own personal preferences, or things that will make you happy. If we had let those opinions influence us, I wouldn’t have what I have now.
And also, I think every homeowner will find their own solutions or methods of living in the space. To me, having a home isn’t just about renovating the space to create your perfect home – it’s about living in it and making the space yours. So, don’t be too worried about getting things right from the start!
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