Couple's ‘Black-Pink’ 4-Room BTO is Not Your Average HDB Flat

Bold, stylish, and functional.

When planning a new home, many homeowners find themselves torn between what they want and what they actually need. And often, they only realise it after living in a space that doesn’t work for them.

For Glen and Anabelle, that realisation came early. Having spent extended periods working overseas and living in small serviced apartments, they quickly discovered what truly mattered in a home.

“The constraints of those spaces really pushed us to figure out what we needed as individuals and as a couple,” Glen shares during our virtual call.

“For example, we realised it wasn’t ideal for us to work in the same room, since our jobs require frequent calls. When we were overseas and working from home, we had no choice but to work side by side due to space constraints.”

With those lessons in mind, the couple approached their renovation with a sharper sense of purpose: to create a home that was not only stylish, but thoughtfully planned to suit their day-to-day life.

The result? An elegant 4-room BTO that’s as practical as it is visually striking.

About the home and finding an interior designer

Drawing from their experience overseas, they decided on three key structural modifications:

1. Converting the junior bedrooms into smaller work areas, which freed up extra space that was given back to the communal area
2. Creating a “walk-through” wardrobe with some of the space freed up from the second bedroom
3. Extending the master bathroom to accommodate a double vanity, and sealing up the original entrance to the master bedroom.

However, due to their busy schedules as lawyers, the couple had difficulty finding the time to plan their renovations. With just three weeks left until their key collection date, they decided to sign up for the Qanvast Hangout: a renovation event designed to help homeowners meet multiple interior designers in one sitting.

There, they spoke to four interior designers, and eventually went with Butler Interior.

“All of the IDs we had differing reactions to our proposals,” Glen says. “We decided to go with Alvin and Butler Interior because we felt that he grasped the fundamentals of our ideas more quickly, and suggested things that opened our eyes to other things we could do with the space.”

“His clear vision gave us the confidence that he could pull off what we wanted to do.”

WATCH: Homeowners Glen and Anabelle take us on a virtual tour of their home

About the entryway and living room

“Between the two of us, Anabelle has stronger aesthetic sensibilities,” Glen says. “While we didn’t know what kind of style we wanted at the start, she was against the white-and-beige, wabi-sabi, and wood heavy themes that are currently trending.”

“After some discussions with Alvin, she decided on the black-and-white colour theme reminiscent of old colonial bungalows – which is not only timeless, but also a distinct counterpoint to the dominant beige look.”

Upon entering the home, you’re immediately greeted by the striking black-and-white floor tiles that stretch out from the entryway and across the entire communal area. Labelling it as the feature that, quite literally, grounds the design language, Glen says that it helped to narrow down the colour choices for their carpentry and materials.

As neither of them have the habit of watching TV, they chose to forego one for their living room. Instead, they filled up the space with a large sofa; now, it functions as the hangout spot, where they read a book, wind down in the evenings, or have guests relax during gatherings.

In addition to the usual carpentry, they also asked for built-in niches adjacent to the concealed entrance to the household shelter. This not only adds visual interest by breaking up the flat stretch of carpentry, but also allows the couple to display small, visually interesting trinkets.

An additional feature they included: a pair of glass display drawers, which houses things that they’ve collected over the years. This includes Anabelle’s rock crystal collection, as well as unique, rare porcelain tiles and other keepsakes that they’ve picked up locally and on their travels.

About the kitchen and dining room

After opening up the communal area, Glen and Anabelle now have sufficient room to incorporate a sizeable dining table, which can accommodate up to 10 people when extended.

“Neither of our families have the habit of hosting, so we thought it’d be a good idea to change that,” Glen says. “We want to invite a larger group over, be social, and have a great time together in the same space.”

Additionally, when they were living overseas, Glen and Anabelle’s kitchens were too small to accommodate appliances they had always wanted, like a coffee machine and wine fridge.

Now, with ample space, they’ve built a pantry with more than enough room for all their gadgets – and even has enclosed and open shelves for display purposes. Glen calls it his favourite spot, where he makes their coffee and tea in the morning.

Inside, the kitchen maintains the black-and-white look, with dark cabinets paired with a book-matched sintered stone countertop and backsplash. For visual depth, the couple opted for gold cabinet handles and knobs – a small yet significant feature that further elevates an already-elegant look.

About Glen and Anabelle’s work rooms

As Glen and Anabelle were focused on ensuring that they each had their own workspaces, they turned the junior bedrooms – made smaller to give additional space to the communal area – into their respective work rooms.

At Alvin’s suggestion, they opted for glass panels and sliding glass doors that demarcate the two spaces while still allowing light to pass through seamlessly.

“We opted against built-in desks,” Glen says. “We have different reasons – for Anabelle, it’s because she wanted to maximise the space with an L-shaped table, which also allows her workspace to double up as a powder room.”

“For myself, I opted for an adjustable height standing desk on castors, and future-proofed the room by installing a Murphy bed into the carpentry. This gave us the flexibility to reconfigure the layout if necessary, by rolling out the table and converting this room into a guest bedroom.”

About the display area and common toilet

“To incorporate the walk-through wardrobe into our design, we had to seal up the original entrance to the bedroom,” Glen says. “Based on the floorplan, we knew that there was going to be some dead space in this corner.”

“This was something we brought up to the IDs during the Qanvast Hangout, and it was only Alvin who raised a good suggestion to work with it. He proposed turning it into a feature wall/art display corner and bring an additional decorative element to the space.”

“We really like it, since it’s both functional and aesthetically pleasing. The cabinet here also doubles as a storage area that conceals our robot vacuum cleaner docking station.”

Adjacent to the feature wall, the common toilet was also made to align with the communal area’s black-and-white look.

Decked out with black and white vertical subway tiles and gold fittings, this space is every bit as polished as the exterior. But one interesting feature that Glen points out is the black toilet bowl – something that he says receives strong feedback from their guests.

“People from the older generation – like our parents – had many things to say about it,” Glen says amusedly. “But we thought it was the best option to ensure that it blends seamlessly with the black tiles behind it.”

About the walk-through wardrobe, master bedroom, and ensuite

While most homeowners usually convert a spare bedroom into a walk-in wardrobe, Glen and Anabelle didn’t have the luxury to do so, as their junior bedrooms were meant to function as their work areas.

So, after playing around with the layout, they eventually came up with the idea of a walk-through wardrobe – i.e. a tunnel-like layout with the wardrobe and a full-length mirror flanking the way into their bedroom.

“This was by far the most difficult structural element to include in our plan, as we had to ensure that the passageway and wardrobe width was sufficient, and doesn’t eat too much into the work area on one side, or the display corner on the other,” Glen says.

“But thankfully, Alvin was spot-on with his measurements and took care of everything with ease, which gave us some reassurance.”

“By setting it up this way, it evokes the feel of a secret passageway, like you’re walking into Narnia. The full-length mirror also helps to give the illusion of additional space.”

“Anabelle’s favourite colour, pink, also comes to the fore here. The soft, pastel shades of pink make the master bedroom dramatically different from the communal area outside – which is intentional, as the different looks create a mental separation to indicate that it’s an area for rest.”

“The master bathroom also has a similar theme. We chose variegated pink tiles in a herringbone pattern for the top half and large format pink tiles for the bottom to create some textural contrast.”

As the original floor plate would not have been able to fit a double vanity, the couple extended the master bathroom to accommodate this.

“We only see these in nice hotels when we travel,” Glen says. “In a way, this is us bringing a small creature comfort home with us, to make our daily routines more enjoyable.”

To sum up

“Nailing the structural and carpentry requirements were pretty challenging,” Glen admits. “I think there were numerous changes to the general layout before we finalised it.”

“Thankfully, Alvin was very accommodating. Despite some hiccups during the renovation, he was always responsive and helpful. He kept us up to date, and when issues came up, he was upfront about them and kept us focused on potential solutions.”

“We appreciated his honesty and regular updates, especially since our intense work schedules didn’t allow us to be on site often to monitor progress. His focus was always on the work quality, and it showed in the little details and the workmanship of his product.”

The result of all this effort and planning? A rough idea which has finally been brought to life, and a comfortable space that the couple can happily call home!

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