How Influencer Nicole Chen Transformed Her Condo with RM150,000

She opens the doors to her breathtaking condominium in Selangor.

With a combined following of over 228,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram, Nicole Chen has established herself as a prominent social media influencer known for her makeup tutorials. But after purchasing her first home in early 2023, she started documenting her house renovation journey, through which she gained a wider audience.

What you probably didn’t know about Nicole is that her family owns, Fella Design, a renowned furniture company, and she was exposed to the industry from a young age. Plus, having studied graphic design and now working as a creative director for Fella Urban (a sister company of Fella Design), Nicole is well-versed in the latest interior design trends. We had the opportunity to spend a few hours touring her new home and talking about how she skillfully designed her own home, reflecting her personality and lifestyle.

About Nicole Chen

I come from a close-knit family, but a few years ago, I felt the need to be more independent and move away from my parents. I discovered an ideal condominium unit just a short 10-minute drive from their house and made the decision to buy it in January 2023.

Spanning 1538 sqft, this condominium is a sub- sale unit with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. It comes with a yard and balcony adjacent to the living room. Although the unit is 16 years old, the previous homeowner kept it in good condition. However, the flow of the space required some structural work and layout changes to better suit my lifestyle (more on this below!).

About her design choice

Instead of hiring an interior designer, I decided to take on the task myself to bring my vision to life. I wanted the house to have a lot of texture, colours and a perfect balance of masculine and feminine elements. I choose mid-century modern design because this design style can harmoniously combine old and new, plus it goes well with a pop of colour.

I get most of my inspiration from Pinterest, from which I create a mood board and then replicate the design in my home.

About the house renovation

This house was entirely refurbished from the ground up. Some of the walls were hacked to reconfigure the layout that I wanted. I also had all of the previously built-ins and fittings, including toilet bowls, counters and sinks, completely removed. New lighting has been added and the air conditioning system has been repositioned. Furthermore, both the kitchen and bathroom plumbing have been entirely replaced and repositioned.

Entryway

The entryway is the first thing you see as you enter the house. It has a built-in cabinet with curved accents at the end that add a nice touch, plus organic lines are very popular in the interior design world right now.

When designing this entryway cabinet, I thought about how I’d leave the home and return each day. For instance, I added a mirror and bench allowing me to sit before putting on my shoes. The middle part of the cabinet includes open shelves where I can store my handbag and keys when I return home. I also added strip lights to the shelves so I could have some visibility at night.

I requested the contractor leave the lower part of the cabinet exposed so that I don’t have to open the cabinet doors every time I need to put on shoes I wear often.

Dining area

The home is divided into right and left wings. The left wing has the bedrooms, while the right wing is dedicated to the common area. The common area features an open-plan layout that seamlessly combines the dining space, living room, and kitchen into one open space.

In the dining area, there are sleek pendant lights that serve as the focal point of the house. To complement the adjacent laminate kitchen cabinet, I have furnished the space with a stylish black laminate wood dining table and dining chairs from Fella Urban (yes, I do have to purchase these pieces using my own money despite it being the family’s business). The only drawback of having this type of dining table is that it is easily dented and leaves print marks that are impossible to get rid of.

Living room

In the living room, I had the carpenter install a black wood panel to add texture and dimension to the wall. I furnished this space with a low-profile vintage forest green leather sofa, a glass coffee table, and a marble side table set that I purchased from Fella Urban as well.

Since my ceiling is quite low, opting for a low-profile sofa helps create the perception of a high ceiling. To further enhance this effect, I complemented the couch with two large artwork pieces from Ruma. As a result, my ceilings appear taller, adding a sense of spaciousness to the living room.

Balcony

Next to the living room, there’s a balcony that offers a breathtaking view of a golf course next door. I replaced the balcony floors and glass doors and furnished the space with a variety of potted plants and an outdoor sofa to make the space cosier and more inviting.

Kitchen

The kitchen is by far my favourite part of the house. I put the most amount of renovation work (and budget) into this area because I enjoy cooking and hosting guests. Initially, the kitchen felt cramped, and there was a small toilet and maid’s room next to the kitchen. Since I do not need a maid’s room, I decided to demolish its walls and turn it into a mini store room while retaining the small toilet. This has allowed me to expand and create a more spacious kitchen.

Initially, the cooking area was located in the yard adjacent to the kitchen. I prefer an indoor cooking area, so I had the cooking space relocated inside the kitchen itself. The yard has been repurposed as laundry, and I removed the existing windows to allow more sunlight to enter the kitchen.

The bar area

Originally, the condo included a bar area in the kitchen that allowed you to see directly from the living room. I kept this feature, but repainted the walls to match the rest of the kitchen. I didn't want to put any built-ins here because I plan to add some bar stools to this area soon.

Guest bathroom

I love nature and colours that are similar to mother nature, such as brown, green, and warm tones. So I picked a combination of different colours for my house. For instance, the guest bathroom features beautiful green subway tiles from Jubin Cantik. It complements well with the green sink, which, in my opinion, is really eye-catching!

Master bedroom

The master bedroom is decorated with plenty of wood elements. I really like wood because it is a timeless material and it gives a very homey feeling. I had installed a floor-to-ceiling dark tone wardrobe with sliding doors and fluted glass panels. This complements the custom wood panel at the back of the bed frame and the wooden partition adjacent to the bed.

I got Vasari Malaysia to micro cement all of the walls, including the ceiling which gives the bedroom a bit of texture.

The best part about my bedroom is that I have a little corner with large glass windows and for now I decided to put a little bench and table to make it look like a charming seating area.

Master bathroom

Originally, the master bathroom came with a full length mirror that ran down the entire dual sink. I liked the original home’s concept, so I decided to recreate it with updated fixtures and built-ins. I also fitted lights around the mirror to illuminate the area.

I choose white quartz counter and black cabinets with open shelves to display toiletries and incense among other things. Since the shower area in this bathroom is fairly small (compared to the guest bathroom), I opted for basic square tiles in a neutral tone to brighten up the space and to match the bathroom built-ins and fixtures. As a result, the bathroom is now functional and stylish at the same time.

Challenges faced during the renovation

The biggest challenge when renovating this home was probably the installation of the archway. I decided to install an arch into two areas in my house, one in the kitchen and the other one at the home entrance. I had a certain style of arch in mind, which is a semi circle shape.

The contractor had no prior experience of constructing an arch before, but he was confident that he was able to accomplish the task. However, upon seeing the initial installation of the arch, I was dissatisfied with its shape. The contractor suggested to manually saw the arch to make it appear more rounded, but the result was even worse than the original design.

Since I was not present during either of the previous attempts, I decided to guide him on creating an ideal arch using a simple math solution. As a result, the third iteration of the arch turned out much better than the previous two attempts!

To sum up

Aside from that arch nightmare, I’m very pleased with how the renovation turned out. The entire project, including carpentry, tiling, and even demolition work cost me a total of RM150,000. Additionally, I allocated RM50,000 for furnishing the home.

I managed to significantly reduce the renovation costs by planning and overseeing the process, although it required a substantial amount of time and effort. In full disclosure, I get sponsorships from various brands, so that definitely helped to reduce the total cost.

Follow @thenictionary on TikTok or Instagram if you would like to learn more about her home renovation journey.

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