Every Inch of This Colonial-Style 30-Year-Old Condo Was Reworked

Designed around the homeowners' antique furniture, this home looks better than new!

While there are several advantages of getting a resale home over a new one, the main downside is the wear and tear – especially if your new home is 30 years old.

For Ching and Chris, this was precisely what they thought after purchasing their ‘90s condo in Yio Chu Kang. With no plans to move in the foreseeable future – and with a desire to give their young daughter a lasting home to grow up in – they decided on a gut renovation that saw them redoing things like the flooring, plumbing, and more.

“Because the house is old, a lot of things weren’t in good condition,” says Ching. “We purchased this house when it was 29 years old, and if we’re going to stay here for the next 30 years or so, things like the plumbing and wiring will be a big problem then. That’s why we’d rather redo everything now.”

Age aside, another challenge the couple faced was the structural issues. Without an existing floor plan, Vic – their ID from Forefront Interior – not only had to create the floor plan by hand, but also had no way of telling where the structural walls and beams are, which resulted in several design changes along the way.

For a more detailed breakdown of this home’s gut renovation, keep scrolling!

About the homeowners and the home

Ching (CA): Previously, we were staying with Chris’s parents in their landed home. But as that home was pretty old, we started facing problems like leaky pipes, and it didn’t make financial sense for us to renovate it because the house was very big.

So, eventually, they decided to sell their home, and Chris and I rented a home for two years before we bought this one.

Chris (C) : This particular estate caught our eye for a variety of reasons – it’s bigger than newer condos, it’s in the central part of Singapore, and it’s also just five minutes away from the condo we were renting.

But the thing that really sealed the deal for us was that it was a 999-year leasehold estate. Compared to a regular 99-year leasehold estate, we felt that this house had more value in the long run – when we hand over this home to our daughter in the future, a 999-year home will still fetch a good price if she decides to sell it.

CA: It’s a unique criteria, I know (laughs). But personally, the numbers have to make sense to us. At the end of the day, I don’t want to give my daughter something that will give her problems – like a property with low value – in the long run.

About searching for an interior designer

C: In total, we met up with only two interior designers. One of them was Vic, who was recommended to us by a friend who had completed his own renovation. The other was an designer we found online, who had a portfolio that we really liked.

CA: When we met up with them, I made it clear that we wanted a home that wasn’t just nice-looking, but also functional, easy to clean, and had lots of storage.

However, the proposal from the other designer only focused on the aesthetics – honestly, it looked more like a show flat rather than a home. Plus, he blew our budget by almost 50%, which was a huge no-no.

Vic, on the other hand, was able to keep to our budget while giving us what we wanted. I think it was only natural that we chose him to design our home.

About the living and dining room

CA: Previously, our dining area was actually the balcony – it had open windows and lower flooring for drainage. But since we didn’t really need it, we decided to enclose it and merge it with the living area, which involved levelling the floor to make it even.

Also, the TV console nook didn’t actually exist before we moved in. We intentionally used some of the adjacent bedroom space to create a recessed area so that the TV console doesn’t ‘eat’ into the living room space, and it creates that seamless look.

C: Most of the loose furniture previously belonged to my father, who had collected a number of antique-looking pieces over the years. You could say that they were the basis of the home’s colonial look, because they inspired Vic to install rattan panels on the TV console – which in turn prompted us to get rattan furniture to match.

I know a lot of homes these days have a modern concept, but we weren’t too keen on it because it’ll make our furniture look out of place. And besides, we saw a few pictures online and thought that the black-and-white colonial look was a nice concept to try out.

About the kitchen

CA: The original kitchen was very tiny. Considering that we needed a fair bit of space to accommodate what we wanted, it just wasn’t feasible – so we combined it with the original dining area to make it bigger.

One of those things [we wanted] was a kitchen island. We felt that it was a useful, multi-purpose area – we can sit here to eat our meals, do food prep, or just gather here to have a chat.

C: Another thing was to have a bar and a wine fridge. My father collected a lot of alcohol that he doesn’t drink anymore, so he gave it to us. Vic then created some space where we could display them, and since there was some extra space, we used the space to store our appliances as well. It’s essentially our kitchen’s dry area.

We actually wanted to extend the storage areas all the way to the TV console area and include another wine fridge. But halfway through, we found out that there was a structural wall that prevented us from doing this; we then had to sacrifice the extra storage and make do with what we have.

About the walk-in wardrobe

CA: The main change in the master bedroom was the walk-in wardrobe. I believe this was originally meant to be a study, which we initially wanted to convert into Chris’s personal study area. But after some discussion, we realised that it was better to use it as a walk-in wardrobe, since we have a lot of clothes.

C: We made it clear to Vic that we didn’t want an open wardrobe. We had one when we were staying at my parents’ place, and while it looked nice, our clothes became dusty very quickly.

At the same time, I did want the space to look nice, so I suggested using glass doors. Ching initially wasn’t too keen on the idea because we had to make sure everything inside was neat, so we compromised – one side was sealed off with solid doors, while the side facing the entrance uses glass doors instead.

Personally, I really like how it looks, because it makes the room feel very luxurious.

About the common bathroom and ensuite

CA: Our bathrooms have very different looks. The common one follows the black-and-white theme in the communal room – at Vic’s suggestion, we did half-tiled walls for the visual effect.

He also helped us choose the tiles. [The choice] was initially up to us, but after touring places like Hafary and Soon Bee Huat, we realised that there were just too many tiles to choose from – it was very overwhelming.

So, we asked Vic to help us choose, and he picked out 2 or 3 different tiles that matched the look before asking us to make the final decision.

C: The ensuite, on the other hand, is different. I figured that since our entire master bedroom is like our sanctuary – the place we go to relax – we wanted this bathroom to feel more soothing. That’s why we decided to use tiles that have a warmer, more neutral look to them.

To sum up

CA: The renovation had its challenges, for sure. It took place during the pandemic, so we not only had to deal with restricted renovation hours, but also the number of workers on-site.

It made things difficult, because at that point in time, Chris and I had to have the home completed before our renting lease was up. But Vic made it happen – honestly, because of him, the whole renovation experience was very smooth-sailing. He really handled everything for us – he and his project manager were like the liaison between us and the subcontractors.

He may have a different opinion, though (laughs). I don’t know the details, but I believe there was some back-and-forth between himself and the estate’s management about the logistics. But I think the fact that we’re not sure about what happened shows just how much he helped us.

C: I know there are a few renovation horror stories out there where the interior designer became uncontactable midway through [the renovation], or ran away with the payment, but I’m glad Vic wasn’t like that. In fact, we recommended him to Ching’s mum – he’s actually managing her kitchen renovation as we speak!

Overall, we’ve been living here for almost a year now, and it’s been great. The neighbours are nice, the neighbourhood is quiet, and we’ve got a home that we’ve always wanted!

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