Layout Ideas for Tampines GreenGlade, GreenSpring, GreenGem BTO Flats

They’ll make your guests go green with envy.

The tail end of 2023 and the early months of 2024 will be an eventful time in Tampines. That’s especially so for the folks who’ve scored one of the 2000+ BTO flats in Tampines GreenGlade, GreenSpring, or GreenGem, because you’ll soon be able to call this area home!

If you still don’t know what to do with your new home, it’s time to confirm your renovation plans – stat. But you won’t have to go out of your way to look for ideas, because we’ve compiled the best renovation ideas based on your BTO flat’s layout here.

The general trend for BTO layouts in Tampines

While most walls in your BTO unit can be hacked/reconfigured, the one thing you absolutely can’t touch is the household shelter – which means that you’ll have to design around it during your renovation.

And because of that, the position of your household shelter will determine what you can or cannot do in your home (e.g. having an open kitchen). That’s why we’ve grouped the different layouts according to the location of the household shelters – be it along the corridor, the kitchen, or the entrance – and provided ideas based on that.

Now that you’ve understood why the household shelter is the key to knowing what you can do with your home, keep reading!

Household shelter along the corridor

Found in: Tampines GreenGlade (4- and 5-room), Tampines GreenSpring (3-, 4-, and 5-room)

Characteristics of this particular layout:

• A limited ability to create an open kitchen, or an open concept communal area

With your household shelter situated right smack in the middle of the home, you would – quite literally – have to design around it. It also means that you’ll have to get creative with your renovation, since you don’t have the luxury of having a fully-open-concept space.

Here’s what you can do with your layout:

Wrap your kitchen cabinets around your household shelter for a quasi-open-concept kitchen…

Even though it’s harder for you to create an open kitchen, there are still ways for you to achieve that – somewhat. For instance, consider extending your kitchen cabinets by wrapping it around your household shelter – which not only gives you a bigger kitchen, but also allows it to flow seamlessly into your communal area.

If space permits, you can also include a kitchen island for additional seating/countertop space!

…or extend your kitchen all the way until the entrance

Alternatively, you can do what this homeowner did, and use some of the communal space to extend their kitchen past its intended confines.

Doing so allows them to accommodate longer kitchen counters, while the glass dividers prevent the home from looking cramped by encouraging visual continuity.

Clad walls with mirrors to create the illusion of an open space

If you’re not too keen on significant layout changes or carpentry works, there’s a simple way to make your house feel bigger: mirrors. By reflecting the space in front of them, they trick our eyes into perceiving these reflections as increased volume, making the room feel bigger than it really is.

You can see this happening in this particular 4-room BTO, where the mirror creates the perception of a bigger living area, simply by reflecting the dining area in front of it.

Household shelter by the entrance

Found in: Tampines GreenSpring (2- and 4-room), Tampines GreenGem (all types)

Characteristics of this particular layout:

• Extended living room and ‘foyer’
• Ability to create a fully-open kitchen (except for 2-room flats)

Lucky you, folks. Unlike your neighbours in the previous section, your household shelter’s situated by the door instead of in the middle of your house. While this means you have the ability to create a fully-open kitchen if you wish, this layout also comes with an elongated living room.

In short, a layout like this grants you more flexibilty to play around with your spaces, as you’ll see below:

Create a foyer by the entrance

With a household shelter by the entrance, you have a pseudo-entryway leading into your home. So, why not make full use of this by segmenting this entire area off and turning it into a foyer?

This home shows you how it's done, with a striking all-black foyer that nicely contrasts the lighter-coloured communal area. It not only functions as a dedicated shoe-changing area, but also creates a cool first impression for guests entering the home.

Plus, it imbues a sense of privacy, since it limits your nosy neighbour’s line of sight into your home.

Create a bigger dining area with cafe-style seating

Those of you living in a 3, 4, or 5-room flat with this layout have the opportunity to create a proper open kitchen – which some homeowners have made full use of by building a sizeable kitchen island.

But if you’re game to try something different, or if you tend to entertain many guests at one time, here’s an idea. Instead of a kitchen island, consider opting for a bigger dining area, with bench-style seating to accommodate more people.

Case in point: this particular home, with an L-shaped dining area that looks like it came straight out of a cafe!

Reconfigure your junior bedrooms and living/dining area for a larger communal space

Communal areas are the heart of the home, and if you’re keen on reflecting this sentiment, you can deviate from the intended layout by a) swapping the placement of the two junior bedrooms and living room, and b) extending the new junior bedroom with a slanted wall.

While, yes, you can still do this even if your household shelter is along the corridor, the result won’t be as open or spacious-looking – like this home!

Household shelter accessible only from the kitchen

Found in: Tampines GreenGem (4- and 5-room)

Characteristics of this particular layout:

• Offers the most options for an open-concept kitchen
• However, it comes with a structural pillar that you’ll have to work around

If you’re a fan of open kitchens, scoring a home with this layout is like hitting the jackpot. You get an elongated kitchen that flows seamlessly into the communal space, which grants you some flexibility to experiment with the layout -- you'll just need to be mindful of the structural pillar in the middle.

Here are some things you can do:

Create a galley-style kitchen…

With a huge, largely-uninterrupted space to work with, feel free to emulate the charming galley-style kitchens you see in Western homes… or in this case, this maisonette in Hougang.

Here, a large kitchen island acts as a multifunctional area for dining and food prep, while also pulling double duty as a room divider separating the kitchen from the communal area.

…or an L-shaped kitchen!

While it’s tough to create an L-shaped kitchen in a regular BTO due to structural constraints, this particular layout allows you to create one with much more ease.

And with the space available to you, you’re also free to turn each ‘leg’ of the L-shaped configuration into your respective wet and dry kitchens, according to your needs.

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