5-Room BTO Flat Renovations in Singapore: From $36K to $190K

A closer look at 5-room HDB flat renovations in Singapore – from most affordable to most pricey!

It might not be as fun as letting your imagination run wild with design ideas but budgeting for a renovation is just as important as having a firm vision of what your future home will look like. Maybe even more important, actually.

If you’re renovating a 5-room HDB flat, you could be spending as much as $190,000. Yes, you read that right: that’s how high the cost of making over a 5-room flat can be.

But as with renovations for a 3-room BTO flat or a 4-room BTO flat, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have to fork out more than the expected cost of renovating a new 5-room HDB flat, which is $62,000 to $70,000.

Here, we share 9 examples of 5-room BTO flats with different renovation costs and ideas so that you can find the best look at the right price!

1. 5-Room BTO flat at Fernvale Vines (Renovation Cost: $36,000)

Costing $36,000 to renovate, this minimalist 5-room BTO flat in Fernvale now boasts a simple but cosy interior that the whole family can enjoy.

To keep costs down, built-ins are limited to the ‘necessary’ ones like the TV console, kitchen cabinets, and wardrobes – all of which provide ample storage space while ensuring the space remains airy.

Completing the overall look is the abundant usage of warm ambient lighting – an often-overlooked feature that makes the off-white interior look more inviting.

Contact Yang's Inspiration Design

2. 5-Room BTO Flat at Plantation Crescent (Renovation cost: $45,000)

As this 5-room BTO flat in Tengah with a renovation price tag of $55,000 shows, sometimes the best way to create a cosy haven is to simply fill it with wood tones.

While this renovation is kept simple by sticking to loose furniture in the living room and leaving the junior bedrooms untouched for future-proofing purposes, some additional work was done to create a more cohesive look.

In particular, building a false ceiling to ensure even lighting, and overlaying the master ensuite’s tiles with wood-look ones that match the overall interior theme.

Contact Flo Design

3. 5-Room BTO Flat in Fernvale Lane (Renovation Cost: $55,000)

Cream, beige, and light wood tones meet in this soothing 5-room BTO flat in Sengkang.

If you love limewash and microcement but don’t fancy the higher price, take a leaf out of this home and opt for similar-looking laminates or wallpaper instead. They provide the same organic feeling and visual depth that the real ones do for a fraction of the price, and any casual onlookers will be none the wiser!

Contact Taccuino Interior Studio

4. 5-Room BTO Flat at Northshore Drive (Renovation cost: $65,000)

Spanning 9 weeks, this home’s renovation cost $65,000 and features space-saving and multi-functional furnishings in open-concept spaces.

There aren’t any walls dividing the kitchen from the living area, and the junior bedroom wall was replaced with see-through glass doors. The result is an abundance of natural light flowing through, making each of these areas look more spacious.

Interestingly, the owners decided to go with a Murphy bed in the junior bedroom, affording them the flexibility to use it as an exercise room or a guest bedroom as needed.

Not to forget carpentry that makes the most out of the open concept either, like the peninsula that doubles as both a kitchen countertop and a bar table for dining.

Contact Mr Designer Studio

5. 5-Room BTO Flat at Bidadari Park Drive (Renovation cost: $70,000)

Clean lines, clutter-free spaces and subtle sophistication: this home has all three, which are hallmarks of a modern-contemporary interior.

The mixture of dark wood and stone surfaces, microcement walls, and detailed fluted doors are some of the various elements adding to the refined look. The latter two may cost more than your regular paint and basic carpentry – but hey, if your heart’s set on the look (and if you can afford it), it’s well worth the investment!

Contact Ascend Design

6. 5-Room BTO Flat at Tampines GreenGlen (Renovation cost: $85,000)

A simple, neutral palette in your home might sound boring – but not if it’s got complementary textures to take things up a notch. The $85,000 spent on this flat’s renovation was well-spent on carpentry and tiling (among other things) to add depth and visual interest in subtle yet pleasing ways.

To give you an idea, the varying wood surfaces throughout the home, coupled with stone-look tiles in the bathroom and kitchen, add texture to the overall look.

Contact Fifth Avenue Interior

7. 5-Room BTO flat in Clementi Peaks (Renovation cost: $100,000)

Wanting a blank slate for their renovation, the couple living in this particular 5-room BTO flat decided to opt out of the Optional Component Scheme (OCS). They’ve since created a cosy Scandinavian-minimalist home that boasts ample space for their things – which you may not be able to tell considering how well they’re hidden.

To do this, an extensive amount of built-ins was erected all over the home, from camouflaged storage units spanning one end of the living room to display cabinets in their study/dressing room with backlighting to draw attention to the collection of luxury bags.

Contact Starry Homestead

8. 5-room BTO flat in Tampines GreenSpring (Renovation cost: $120,000)

Curves are back in, and this home has them in spades, in the form of organically shaped bay window seats, arched doorways, and subtly-rounded built-ins.

However, note that these features cost more than your average straight-edged ones, due to the need for additional plastering and craftsmanship. This, coupled with the use of limewash surfaces and large-format floor tiles (both of which require more labour) throughout the space, is probably how the renovation cost was racked up to $120,000.

Contact Third Paragraph

9. 5-Room BTO Flat at Northshore Edge (Renovation cost: $190,000)

For this couple who transformed their 5-room BTO flat into a corridor-less cafe-inspired home, their generous budget of $190,000 afforded them extensive layout changes, custom curved features, and tiles imported all the way from Italy!

With just the two of them staying in the home, they decided to merge two bedrooms together and use the corridor to extend the bedrooms, kitchen, and XL master ensuite, creating more spacious rooms you typically wouldn’t get in a regular HDB layout.

You can see the full extent of this renovation here:

Contact Authors • Interior & Styling

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