This terrace is not only stunning, but kid-friendly too.
For Hana Mansor, a love for home decor started when she was just a little girl. “My mum was really into home decor, and growing up, our house was always filled with interior design magazines like Architectural Digest and House & Home, way before Pinterest existed! I’d spend hours flipping through them, soaking in all the beautiful spaces,” says Hana.
Driven by that passion for decorating, she transformed her family’s terrace in Cyberjaya into a charming, French-inspired abode full of vintage finds, items collected from her travels and even her mum’s artwork. We recently caught up with Hana to learn more about how she brought this personal vision to life with the help of Reka Space.
About Hana and her family
Hana Mansor (HM): We’re a family of four, plus a seven-year-old British Longhair cat, Jelly, who basically runs the house. I’m originally from Kuala Lumpur, while my husband, Razi, is from Besut, Terengganu.
About their home
We’re currently living in a double-storey terrace house right in the heart of Cyberjaya, with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. One of the main reasons we chose to move here was to better support our youngest son, who has a speech delay.
Before this, we were staying in a condominium unit on the 6th floor. When our son first started talking, one of the first words he said was, “Let’s jump!” That honestly scared us. It was a wake-up call, and we knew we’d feel much safer living in a landed home.
When we were house hunting, we stumbled upon this development and immediately fell in love with it. It’s actually a subsale unit, but the previous owner never moved in, so the house was still in great condition, only about two years old at the time. They had to relocate and were ready to let it go under market value.
So we thought, okay, let’s just go for it. We really love the neighbourhood. The landscaping is beautiful, there’s a swimming pool nearby, and plenty of space for the kids to run around. In the evenings, they can head to the playground and play with the neighbours.
The security here is also very tight. If the guards ever notice our kids wandering around on their own, they’ll inform us right away, which gives us peace of mind. On top of that, the school nearby is good, and our office is only five minutes from home. Overall, it just feels like the perfect place for us to raise our kids.
About the home’s design
I decided to go with a French-inspired design because it feels effortless, elegant, and romantic. French design also is not a very common choice in Malaysia. Most people tend to go for farmhouse, modern, or English styles, but I was drawn to the vintage charm that naturally comes with French decor, which suits my love for collecting old, meaningful pieces.
Plus, my husband and I honeymooned in Paris, so designing the house with French design feels extra special to me.
If you’ve noticed, my home is filled with homewares like plates, cups, glasses, teacups on display. I’m a maximalist at heart and have been collecting items for the past 10 years, especially vintage pieces or little treasures I pick up while traveling.
I like to display my collections rather than hide them in cupboards, even items I don’t use get a spot on the wall.
Even though I have two boys at home, I’ve taught them from a young age to respect these items. They’re allowed to touch, but never throw or break anything. I figured it’s a good habit for them to learn early, so they’ll be mindful when visiting other people’s homes.
In terms of colour scheme, I like to start with a neutral base, and layer personality through soft furnishings by adding colour, texture, and patterns like stripes or checks. I’ve always been drawn to blue-and-white chinoiserie motifs and classic black-and-white tones, especially for the flooring. To make sure the home doesn’t feel dull, I added pops of colour like pink, along with gold, blue, white, and nude accents to bring in that French-inspired vibe.
About working with an interior designer
Hiring Reka Space to renovate our home was honestly the best decision we made because they’re so understanding and accommodating.
They’re based in Cyberjaya, and we’ve actually known the interior designer for a while since they did our office renovation two years ago. We love the quality of their work and how our office renovation turned out, so it was an easy choice to work with them again for our terrace renovation.
About the renovation works
We set a renovation budget of RM180,000 for the house. I wanted to focus mostly on the lower part of the home first, and if there was enough budget left, we could tackle the bedrooms upstairs. But after going through material choices and the design plan, it turned out the budget was only enough to renovate the lower part of the house.
Most of our renovation budget went into materials, as we wanted them to be good quality. For instance, we replaced the entire home’s flooring with SPC in a herringbone pattern. I’m very happy with the outcome; the warm, wooden feel makes our home feel cosy and way more expensive than it actually is, even if it did feel like a bit of a splurge.
Instead of going for lots of built-ins, I decided to furnish the home with loose furniture. Most of it is custom-made by an Indonesian company called KM Home Furnishing, while some pieces come from online platforms like Shopee, FB marketplace, second-hand shops, vintage shops and TikTok Live shops.
In our previous home, we installed a built-in bookshelf for the TV cabinet. I realised that after a few years, I got bored of the look and it’s difficult to have it replaced.
So I told my interior designer that I didn’t want any fixed cabinets for this house except for the kitchen. I wanted to furnish the house with pieces that I could move around, sell, or swap out whenever I felt like it.
Of course, when buying furniture, I always discussed it with my interior designer first to make sure it fits the design theme we’re aiming for.
The entryway
Since the property is strata-titled, we weren’t allowed to make any changes to the exterior, like extensions or structural modifications.
The neighbourhood was without fences, walls or gates between our house and the neighbours (within a gated and guarded environment). However, that was a bit of a concern for us because we worried our youngest son might run out of the house when we weren’t watching.
For an extra layer of security, we decided to install an arched French door to separate the open-plan living room from the entrance. It created a small entryway, which we tiled with checkered flooring to set the tone for the home.
To balance the bold floor, we added mural wallpaper and topped it off with a chandelier, making the space feel both soft and thoughtfully curated.
The living room, dining and dry kitchen
Our home features an open-concept layout that combines the living, dining, and dry kitchen into one open space. When I found out my home loan was approved, the first thing I purchased was a black-and-white checkered console table that I had custom-ordered from Indonesia.
When I told my interior designer about it, they designed the nyatoh wall moulding on the living room wall to perfectly fit the table. In a way, the entire design of the house was built around that one piece.
I furnished the rest of the living room with a custom sofa, an antique coffee table, and a corner cabinet. Then, we tied it all together with a big white rug.
For the dining area, we went with an extendable IKEA table and paired it with custom-made striped chairs and a gold framed bench.
My most favourite part of the house is my arch cabinet found in the dry kitchen area. I love how I can style the cabinet with all my favourite cups, plates, glasses and coffee machines. It’s the place where I go first thing in the morning.
Since we don’t actually use the dry kitchen for cooking, I suggested doing something different with the walls, like adding a wallpaper. The designer recommended a blue-and-white patterned wallpaper, and we used sintered stone for the countertop to match the rest of the kitchen, keeping everything cohesive.
The kitchen island is a loose piece of furniture that I had custom-made to fit the space. It’s made of mahogany wood, so it’s really heavy. If I ever get bored of it in a few years, I plan to pass it down to my siblings and swap it out for something new.
The kitchen and laundry area
The kitchen is quite narrow, so I couldn’t install cabinets on both sides of the walls. Instead, I added a teak bench where I can temporarily place pots and pans while they air dry.
For the cabinets, we use blackboards in a nude brown tone to match the nude checkered flooring.
We went with sintered stone for the kitchen countertop and backsplash because in our previous home, we had marble counters that stained so easily especially from turmeric, so that was definitely a lesson learned.
This time around we wanted something more practical without compromising on looks. Choosing sintered stone has been one of the best decisions we’ve made. It doesn’t stain, it’s easy to maintain, and it’s durable and less likely to crack. I went with a glossy finish because it makes cleaning even easier and keeps the kitchen looking polished all the time.
In the future, I plan to add a door to separate the kitchen from the open-plan living area, since the smoke from cooking tends to drift through other parts of the house. I’d also love to add custom accessories and storage inside the kitchen cabinets to keep everything inside neat and organised.
The master bedroom
The master bedroom is furnished with a custom-made bed, paired with a loose cabinet I had made from the same shop. If we had a bigger renovation budget, I’d love to add built-in wardrobes in the bedroom as well.
The staircase
On our staircase, I turned the walls (and other walls around the house) into my mom’s personal art gallery. She’s a retired art teacher. Even in retirement, she spends her days painting for fun. Sometimes we’ll give her a picture to recreate, and she happily does it for us.
She doesn’t sell any of her work, she just passes it down to her children, and all of our siblings have her pieces displayed in their house.
Besides her paintings, another special piece on the staircase is this chair (pictured below), which my mom bought in 1995. It was originally pink and blue, but I reupholstered it in red for a fresh new look.
This chair holds a lot of memories. It reminds me of the time when our family moved to Perlis for 10 years because of my dad’s work. I was just a child back then, so it’s a little piece of my childhood that’s stayed with me ever since. And even after three decades, it’s still surprisingly sturdy.
To sum up…
The renovation took slightly longer than expected, around four months, because we had to redo the kitchen cabinets. Our interior designer wasn’t happy with the carpenter’s workmanship, so they redid the entire set at no extra cost, which we really appreciated.
Even though the house is still a work in progress, I’m genuinely happy with how everything turned out. It feels brighter, happier, and a little glamorous, which honestly suits my personality perfectly.
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