From one trendy colour to another.
It’s no secret that the white-and-wood aesthetic is a classically timeless look, and neither does it come as a surprise that it’s the go-to style for many Singapore homeowners (for real-life examples, see here and here). But how about picking something a lot darker, daring, and different, like the all-green interior of this 5-room resale HDB flat at Redhill?
“To be specific, the shade is Hunter Green from Benjamin Moore, which is a U.S. paint company,” shares Chen Yi of ChengYi Interior Design, who aided the homeowners, a young family of three, in giving their new abode the dramatic makeover that they requested for. “It’s definitely a bold choice to make.”
Keep scrolling to see the rest of the spaces in this (very) handsome home, and how much they have changed since the start!
About the house and the design process
The living room (left) and kitchen entrance (right) before the renovation.
View this project by ChengYi Interior Design
Chen Yi (CY): I don’t know if this particular shade of green has any personal meaning to the homeowners, but they definitely like it a lot. I guess that’s one of the reasons why they chose it. Also, their previous home was done up in a Scandinavian style, so they wanted to try a more daring look this time round.
It took us quite some time to find [this green paint], we looked everywhere for nearly a month and browsed through catalogues from all the big brands like Nippon, Gush, and Dulux before we finally found a local Benjamin Moore supplier who had Hunter Green in stock.
The flat’s floor plan, pre-renovation.
The house itself is quite old, about 25 years old if I’m correct, and I think the previous owner had rented it out as well, so not everything was in good condition. But the living room and bedrooms were quite well-maintained, which was what convinced the [current] owner to buy the flat.
Personally, what I noticed when I saw the house for the first time was the amount of space it had, and also how nicely squarish the rooms are, which meant we didn’t have to deal with any columns or [awkward] features like that.
The flat’s floor plan, post-renovation.
The main changes [to the flat] are the new open-concept layout for the kitchen as well as the new entryway for the master bedroom, which was created after it was merged with the room next door to create a connected walk-in wardrobe/sleeping space.
On changes made to the entryway and dining area
CY: The entryway settee is a feature that the homeowners requested for because they wanted an area where they can sit down comfortably and take off their shoes when they enter.
At the same time, they wanted it to be able to store their luggage bags, so we added a full-height, L-shaped cabinet as well – this [built-in] was a necessity because the previous owner had gotten rid of the storage room that came with the flat originally.
Although it’s close to the entryway cabinets, this was the best location to place the dining table because it’s right next to a window with plenty of natural light, and it’s also the right distance from the kitchen, so it’s easy for the owners to serve food during mealtime.
On the kitchen’s new look and layout
The kitchen before the renovation.
CY: When I first visited the house with the owners, they didn’t have any ideas in mind for the [kitchen’s] layout, so I proposed hacking away the partition between the cooking zone and the service yard to achieve a more open look. I estimate the entire stretch to be about 5 to 5.5 meters long, and with the long rows of cabinets at the sides, it really draws your eye all the way to the end of the space.
The homeowners were really particular about the positioning of their hobs; there’s an induction cooker installed in the island plus an open-flame stove and hood combo from Bertazzoni because they enjoy preparing meals together. With this layout they don’t have to squeeze or wait for the other person to finish to start cooking.
Because the owners enjoy baking as well and have plenty of ingredients, we built a large concealed pantry beside the ovens and fridge where every compartment is measured to fit the item(s) it is meant to hold.
Laminates were used to cover the inside of the cabinet instead of the usual PVC, and the countertop is made of Dekton, which is a high-end surface material that we also used to create the backsplash, island, and countertops.
The Dekton slab the homeowners chose is from a higher-end collection, and it costs about $300 per foot run, but they were willing to fork out for such a luxury because they had a really good experience with the Dekton counter in their previous home, and also because they consider their kitchen to be a recreational spot where they can enjoy the finer things in life.
About the common bathroom’s renovation
The common bathroom before the renovation.
CY: The homeowners had the option of going with a dark and moody look for the common bathroom that’s similar to what the other spaces have, but due to practical concerns and the size of the bathroom, they chose to give it a brighter look. Nonetheless, the goal was still to create a stylish space, so there’s plenty of clean lines which can be found in the design of the mirror cabinet, fixtures and even the choice of tiles.
About revamping the living room
CY: You can’t see them from the photos, but there are actually new child-proof locks installed in the living room windows and that limits their opening radius to about 30 degrees. It’s a balanced solution between safety and aesthetics, because there aren’t any metal grilles that’ll weigh down the look [of the living room].
The [living room’s] furniture choices were made jointly with the homeowners, and they’re all in a brighter colour so they’d stand out against the dark backdrop created by the green walls and oak-look vinyl flooring from Evorich.
In short, the goal was to find contrasting, but complementary pieces that won’t add to the visual weight. Even the TV is an extra-sleek model from Samsung, and there are no built-ins or décor that’ll cause the living room to feel claustrophobic.
The doorways leading to the bedrooms were also revamped; the one beside the TV console leads to the master bedroom and the other goes to the kids bedroom.
We had to install double-leaf doors with knurled handles because the new master bedroom/walk-in wardrobe’s entrance is too wide for a single-leaf door; the gap is about 1.3 meters wide, whereas a regular door is about 0.8 to 0.9 meters in length.
There was the option to install a single-leaf door for the kids bedroom’s entrance, but since everyone agreed matching entrances would look better, the decision was made to install double doors.
About making over the master bedroom
The master bedroom before the renovation.
CY: Although the green paint used for the master bedroom is also from Benjamin Moore, it’s a lighter shade that’s closer to army green.
The reason why this particular colour was chosen was more so for variation rather than to give the master bedroom a lighter look, but it does bring a more calming vibe to the space. In a way, it functions as a visual marker as well and ‘tells’ people that they’re in a different part of the house.
The headboard is a custom piece and the panelled portion is actually fabric, not wood. There’s also a very fine herringbone pattern on the surface that you can’t see unless you’re looking at it up-close. Like the Hunter Green paint, it took us some time to find the [headboard] fabric, but it was worth the effort.
About creating the walk-in wardrobe and en suite
CY: The layout of the walk-in wardrobe is quite simple; there’s a L-shaped closet that takes up the front and left sides of the room, and to allow the homeowners to use the room as a home office, we built them a two-seater computer table. There’s also just regular shelves and fixtures inside the closets, nothing fancy like the kitchen’s baking goods/pantry cabinet.
But at the same time, there’s something special as well, which is the hidden entrance to the master en suite. It’s concealed by a tic-tac door that looks almost like the closet door panels, so you don’t notice it immediately when you step into the space.
Celin floor tiles from Hafary were installed throughout the en suite to create continuity between both halves of the space.
The walk-in wardrobe isn’t the original master bedroom, so it didn’t have a doorway leading directly into the en suite even though they’re located side-by-side each other. So, after sealing up the previous entrance, which was facing the WC, we had to create a new one.
We also expanded the confines of the en suite by building a corridor where the vanity is now installed; on one hand, this creates more room for easier movement, and on the other, it puts more distance between the wet and dry areas of the bathroom.
The master en suite, before (left) and after (right) the renovation.
To sum up
CY: To be entirely honest, I was kind of stressed before starting this project (laughs). There were plenty of requirements as well as budgetary concerns. Plus, the house itself was full of challenges, for example, after hacking away the original parquet flooring in the communal areas we found a layer of tiles hidden underneath, and they were very, very hard to remove.
But looking back, the entire experience was also a fulfilling one, and I’m very happy that the house turned out even better than what everyone envisioned it to be – this is an HDB flat that I can confidently say is different from the rest!
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