September 24, 2025
Like walking into an art gallery.
For Catherine, this 40-year-old Hougang 4-room flat wasn’t just going to be a place to live — it was the home she envisioned growing old in. She wanted it to be bright, airy, and easy to maintain, a space where every corner had a purpose and nothing felt cluttered.
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“I consider myself a lazy minimalist,” Catherine, who works as an executive assistant, shares as we sat down for a chat. “I didn’t want too many things lying around or to keep things I wouldn’t use. Everything had to be functional and easy to clean.”
That philosophy became the foundation of her renovation brief that she gave to Johnson from Happe Design Atelier, who helped her turn the flat into a light-filled, clutter-free home that flows effortlessly from one space to the next.
Catherine’s home, pre-renovation
Before any work began, Johnson and Catherine sat down to rethink how the flat could serve her needs. The original layout was closed off, with uneven flooring between spaces and a common bedroom that ate into the communal area.
Catherine’s home, post-renovation
“Johnson showed me how we could really open up the layout,” Catherine says. Together, they made these key changes to the flat:
| Works done | Purpose |
| Hacking down non-structural walls | Merge living room, bedroom 2, and kitchen into a large open-concept space |
| Levelling the floors throughout the flat | Seamless flow, and reduces trip hazards |
| Changing entrances to master bedroom and bedroom 3 | More efficient layout |
| Extending ensuite bathroom outwards | Creates a larger space for shower + vanity |
| Shrinking common bathroom and pushing it outwards | Removes unnecessary shower and creates a dedicated laundry nook on the other side |
A window facing the main door pre-renovation (left), covered up post-renovation (right)
One of the flat’s unique features is a recessed corridor — a bonus space purchased by the previous owner and merged into the unit. Catherine and Johnson decided to keep it open, letting it act as a gentle introduction to the home.
But there was one thing Catherine couldn’t live with — a window that faced the main door, which she wanted covered for feng shui reasons. Johnson’s solution? Build a feature wall that not only hid the window and DB box but also incorporated a subtle cut-out with ambient lighting. “I wanted the first impression to feel calm and welcoming,” Johnson shares. “The light at the base softens the space — it’s the first thing Catherine sees when she comes home, so it had to feel right.”
“That’s the first thing I switch on when I get home,” Catherine adds. “It doubles as my night light and gives my home a warm feeling right away.”
Catherine’s 3.5m curved sofa adds cosiness by softening the otherwise linear layout
From there, the home opens into a bright, spacious living area. Catherine and Johnson both admitted that they were initially worried about lighting. “When we were discussing the lighting plans, I was worried it wouldn’t be bright enough,” Johnson recalls. But the flat turned out to be naturally well-lit, allowing him to focus on layering soft ambient lighting instead of task lights.
“The flat actually gets so much natural light, I hardly use the main ceiling lights,” Catherine adds. “Even at night, the light from the corridors of the opposite block is quite bright. Most of the time, I just turn on my ambient lights and that’s enough.”
The gallery-like backdrop allows Catherine to switch up the look and feel of her home with different art pieces
Another feature of the living room is this generous blank wall that Johnson said he kept bare deliberately to give Catherine a blank canvas. “She has beautiful art pieces from her travels that she wanted to display. I initially explored using gallery track lighting, but that felt like it would be overwhelming,” Johnson explains.
In the end, he went with LED strips installed along the top and bottom to create that gallery-like glow. “It’s the first thing my guests see when they walk in, and they are usually quite impressed,” Catherine says proudly.
And because most of the original walls in the communal area were hacked away to open up the layout, there wasn’t a suitable wall left to build a traditional TV feature wall. The solution was a movable TV stand, giving Catherine the flexibility to shift the viewing angle and reconfigure the space when needed.
“I can watch from the kitchen, or the dining table when having lunch,” Catherine shares. “So it’s more versatile and I can move around.”
One of Catherine’s top priorities was having a central worktop where she could do just about everything — from food prep to dropping her bags after grocery runs.
“The structural beam was tricky,” Johnson says with a laugh. “But instead of fighting it, we built the kitchen island around it and added open shelves to turn it into a feature. Now it’s not just functional, it’s a conversation point.”
The open area around the kitchen island forms the Chinese character ‘回’, meaning ‘to return home’, adding a poetic touch to the space
“I didn’t want the island to be just for show,” Catherine explains. “It had to be practical because I spend a lot of time here.” That’s why they chose a sintered stone countertop: durable, heat-resistant, and easy to clean. For Catherine, it became the heart of the home, a spot that gives her an entire view of the communal area.
Catherine had her heart set on a metallic-look kitchen from the start, drawn to its sleek, modern feel. “I’ve always liked the look of metal finishes,” she shares. “But I didn’t want it to feel cold or be too difficult to clean and maintain.”
Matte metallic laminates give Catherine’s kitchen a sleek, aluminium look
“Catherine loved the industrial, metallic look,” Johnson explains. “So I suggested using laminates with a soft matte finish — a bit of sheen but no harsh reflections, and easier to clean since you won’t leave fingerprints on it.”
The bedroom configuration, pre-renovation (left) and post-renovation (right)
They also knocked down one of the original common bedrooms to make space for a proper dining area. “Once we opened up the space, we added a linear pendant light to make the dining zone feel more intentional without being too heavy,” Johnson says.
The result of that is an intimate dining setup for Catherine, especially when she has guests over. “It feels really cosy at night,” Catherine says.
A dedicated laundry nook tucked behind the common bathroom
Right next to the dining area is the common bathroom — another clever reconfiguration of the layout by Johnson. “I didn’t need a shower here, since it was going to be a guest toilet,” Catherine says. Because of that, Johnson suggested shrinking the bathroom and pushing it outwards, which created enough room on the other side for a dedicated laundry nook.
At first, Catherine thought about using glass blocks as a partition between the bathroom and laundry nook, but Johnson proposed porthole windows instead. “It turned out better than I imagined,” Catherine says. “They allow light and air to flow through when open, so the bathroom doesn’t feel too dark or stuffy.”
Rather than rebuild the original storeroom, Catherine and Johnson turned one of the common bedrooms into a flexible hobby-and-storage room. Its entrance was repositioned to flow better with the new open layout, and the back wall was lined with full-height cabinetry to keep clutter hidden.
One cabinet was customised to fit Catherine’s automatic mahjong table, complete with a cut-out at the bottom so the cable could run out while the doors stay closed. “The mahjong table was one of my non-negotiables,” Catherine shares with a laugh. “It was in my renovation brief from day one.”
“We measured down to the last millimetre to fit that table,” Johnson adds. “Even the cut-out for the wire was custom designed so she could keep the cabinet doors shut to have more space in the room.”
“I host mahjong games every week,” Catherine explains. “This makes it so easy to just open it up and play.”
Privacy was top of mind for Catherine, so Johnson installed a concealed flush door for the master bedroom entrance, blending it into the wall for a sleek, uninterrupted look.
Inside, the space was reconfigured into a galley-style walkthrough wardrobe leading directly to the expanded ensuite . “The flow is perfect,” Catherine says. “I can walk in, pick out my clothes, head straight into the shower, and then wind down for the night.”
Catherine pointed out how the bed lines up perfectly with the length of the wardrobe, giving the room a pleasing symmetry. “It feels very intentional — like everything was designed to fit just right,” she says.
To keep the space bright yet private, Johnson added a fluted glass partition at the end of the wardrobe. “It’s a small detail,” he explains, “but it brings in soft light and a sense of openness, making the room feel more airy while maintaining privacy.”
The master bathroom, pre-renovation (left) and post-renovation (right)
Lastly, to make the ensuite feel more spacious, they decided to extend the master bathroom outwards, allowing for a larger vanity and shower area.
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Looking back on the renovation, Catherine shared that the home feels exactly as she hoped. “I love how everything just flows naturally,” she said. “I don’t have to think about where things are or how to move around. It all just works with the way I live.”
Johnson calls it a project defined by trust. “Catherine was clear about what she wanted from the start and left the design decisions to me,” he reflected. “That gave me the freedom to design a home that not only met her needs but feels cohesive and timeless.”
Together, their collaboration turned a dated 4-room HDB flat into a timeless home — one that feels effortless, yet thoughtfully designed to suit Catherine’s lifestyle for years to come.
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