January 11, 2023
Ready for your new home in Singapore’s first town fully immersed in nature and eco-innovation?
If we got to stay in a near-futuristic ‘forest town’ like Tengah, we’d be holding on to the edge of our metaphorical seats with excitement too!
We daresay ‘West side, best side’ at this newest residential estate (said to be about the size of Bishan) which is undergoing development for a host of amenities and eco-friendly facilities.
Artist’s impression of Plantation District and Tengah Pond (aerial view)
Source: HDB
For those of you who are soon-to-be residents of Plantation Acres, here’s a refresher of some things you can expect in the years to come:
While the Plantation Acres project is only slated for completion in the second half of the year, it’s not too early to start thinking about your brand new home’s makeover: you wouldn’t want to scurry about trying to put together your moodboard and trying to shortlist interior designers at the last minute!
To get you inspired, we’ve got four professional interior firms to share 3D mock-ups for 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-room flats at this development.
Original floorplan for a 2-room flexi BTO flat (Type I) at Plantation Acres
Approximate floor area: 40sqm
When you have a 2-room flat all to yourself (or just you and your significant other), you’ve got the freedom to style and design your home however you like, just like this contemporary interior by The Local INN.terior.
Layered monochromatic shades of white and grey ‘open’ up the space visually, a handy trick of the eye in a small home. Meanwhile, black accents are interspersed throughout in various forms – from the lighting to the furniture and furnishings – for an interesting contrast.
Switching up the typical arrangement of the living room, the dining table/counter is right at the windows, which makes for a bright and light-hearted affair for meals with natural light coming through.
And if you don’t want your bomb shelter to stick out like a sore thumb, concealing it with carpentry is an option to keep your interior looking seamless.
Here’s another space trick: replacing the typical TV console with a projector screen for more living room space – both literally and visually.
For ample storage, you can outfit your kitchen with cabinets from floor to ceiling, and stack the washer and dryer for more walking room.
Opting for an all-white palette helps the space look brighter and more open, but it could end up dull or monotonous – enter the kitkat subway tile backsplash and the black accents of the stove and built-in oven, to counter that.
Removing the door that separates the bedroom and the living room is a great idea if you’re set on an open-concept space, but not so much if you’re planning on hosting friends and family often. For privacy (and a fancy flair), you could have a sliding fluted glass door that ensures a flexible separation between the bedroom and the living room.
Thanks to the use of a low-rise platform instead of a traditional bed, there’s a sense of vertical spaciousness; it also helps that besides the full-height wardrobes, the decor and furniture are kept to a minimum.
A concept often associated with Scandinavian design is ‘hygge’ (pronounced ‘hoo-gah’), a Danish term used to describe the warmth and comfort a space exudes. And for this interior by D5 Studio Image, you’ll find plenty of hygge incorporated in it.
Muted colours fill the spaces, from the white-and-grey furnishings to the warm sepia and wood tones of the floor and the bookshelf, creating a comfy atmosphere. Plus, with this colour scheme, your home will fit right in the (eventually) flourishing greenery of the estate.
Original floorplan for a 3-room BTO flat at Plantation Acres (left) and proposed floorplan (right)
Approximate floor area: 69sqm
If you and your spouse have no plans for children in the distant future, you’re at liberty to reconfigure the rooms as you like, and this layout proposes a truly interesting idea.
Converting a junior bedroom into a study sounds standard enough, but this layout takes it a step further: by making the study room smaller in favour of enlarging the master bedroom and erecting a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf that replaces the widened entrance space.
The only entrance to the bedroom then is through the study room, with the desks strategically built in at the windows, for a bright and cheery space to work at. Depending on how your unit is positioned, this is also a prime spot for taking a break from work to enjoy the view – which could include the pond, if you snagged a unit overlooking it!
Fluted wooden panels create visual interest while the curving false ceiling and sliding door edge contrast the rest of the formal lines for a dynamic and softer look.
If you want a seamless and spacious kitchen, one option is to hack the service yard wall for a galley-style kitchen from one end to the other, like so.
Explore: Design Ideas for Every HDB BTO Layout, from 2/3/4/5-room to 3Gen Flats
Original floorplan for a 4-room flat at Plantation Acres
Approximate floor area: 94sqm
Want a hotel-inspired home, with the right balance of sophistication? The first step is to get bold with your choice of materials – it’s supposed to be grand, after all!
Salt Studio achieves this effect with natural materials all around the home, like marble for the floors and custom carpentry for wooden cabinets and feature walls.
Along the walkway leading to the living room, you’ll find various elements that contribute to the luxurious look of the space. Instead of settling for the usual cove light, this design makes use of a water ripple effect to capture visitors’ attention the moment they step into the home.
A thin strip of gold ‘separates’ the entranceway from the next space it leads to: the living room.
Marble once again dominates the living room, from wall to floor, with gold and other metallic accents in the mix to create the luxe look.
If it’s just you and your spouse or you have a small family, you might not need both junior bedrooms in your 4-room flat. Consider hacking one of them to merge with the living room and enjoy a bigger communal space for family time and for hosting.
If you’ve got the space (and funds) to spare, you could even set up a unique feature wall to display more paintings, tucked away in arched niches reminiscent of a hotel suite.
The kitchen is a flow of dark to light, with wooden wall cabinets and veiny stone/granite countertops, while the lower cabinets are a warm off-white. The floors are tiled with glossy white marble that’s used in the living room for an easy visual flow.
In the bedroom, features like the veined marble accessory island and wooden carpentry echo design elements in other parts of the house, but it has a visibly darker look for a cosier ambience.
Floor-to-wall marble tiles render the master bathroom as luxurious as the rest of the home, but don’t forget to opt for non-slip tiles for everyone’s safety.
If you’re blessed with space, you could indulge in a his-and-hers sink (and double the mirrors) for yourself and your spouse. As a cherry on top (or bottom), throw in a pebble ditch for the complete at-home spa experience.
Original floorplan for a 5-room flat at Plantation Acres
Approximate floor area: 113sqm
With nearly three times the floor area as a Type I 2-room flexi flat, a 5-room flat has enough space for a big family – and even bigger ideas!
Capture the nostalgia of times past with a retro-style home: iconic elements of the style include heavily-patterned walls and/or flooring, playful colours and old-school textures.
This interior by Zenith Arc features all that and more, with some uniquely Singaporean touches!
In the living room, a wall partition inspired by ventilation blocks defines the entranceway, doubling as a separator for the dry kitchen next to it. Geometric tiles make up the dry kitchen’s backsplash in true retro fashion while dramatic pendant lights steal the show at the dining table.
While the retro style is all about eclectic mixes, you wouldn’t want it to end up kitschy, so keeping to a few colours can help to balance the overall look. We also love that the look fits right in the nature-filled spaces of the Plantation district.
The wet kitchen gets funky with geometric patterns running along the floor and the walls, with the cabinetry breaking up the shapes so the effect doesn’t overwhelm you when you step in.
The dark brown shades repeat as part of the home’s overall palette, seen in the wooden photo frames and the bedframe. The built-in wardrobe by the door resembles a Scandinavian-style one, but the deeper colours of the frames and meshed doors give it a distinctly retro vibe.
Design elements are pared back for a simpler affair in the bathroom, but the black-and-white floor tiles inject a healthy dose of retro in the space.
If your apartment’s bathroom is smaller than you’d like it, you can use a framed glass partition between the shower and the rest of the space for a look (and feel) that isn’t so cramped.
After scratching the surface of the many possibilities for your home’s look, we hope you’re excited to dive into the planning!
Once you have an idea of what you want, it’s time to connect with an ID who can not only help you to refine your vision, but also bring it to life! Procrastination gets to the best of us (we totally get it), but you’ll thank yourself for starting sooner than later.
Your life at Plantation Acres awaits!