Old, Leaky Bedok HDB is Now a Lively Fusion of Chinese-Indian Heritage

This couple’s home is a unique blend of tradition and modernity.

Right from the first step into the tiled foyer of this 4-room resale flat in Bedok, we could already see the makings of a transitional home.

An intricately carved Chinese-style cabinet stood opposite the entrance, and as George and Mei – the owners – led us to the dining table, traditional Indian wall brackets marked the spot where the foyer gave way to the communal space.

George hails from India while Mei, originally from Malaysia, is Chinese.

“We have very similar tastes,” George shared. “We both wanted something semi-traditional, with nostalgic vibes and a mix of traditional features you find in homes in India and Malaysia.”

After speaking with different IDs, the couple settled on Authors Interior & Styling.

Here’s how they reworked the original layout and brought their vision to life – while also creating workarounds for their flat’s water leakage issues.

About the homeowners and their home

“I bought this resale flat about 10 years ago, before I met George,” Mei shared. “It was built in 1985 but the previous owner had just finished their renovation so it was relatively new when I moved in. I rented it out to tenants over the years.”

After the pair got together, they rented a separate condo unit in Loyang for a couple of years before deciding to move back into the flat.

“After staying in the rental, we knew the living room was where we spent most of our time, so we focused on expanding that.” George said.

Adding on, Mei shared when she was studying overseas, she had to stay in the room most of the time. “I don’t like that, so I really wanted to have an open space.”

Besides considering the space planning, the couple had to make provisions for the water leakage problems the flat faced, which Mei found out about a year after she had bought the flat – a top floor corner unit.

“According to the Town Council, it’s always been a problem,” she said. “So we knew we couldn’t do box-ups or false ceilings, since we need to keep an eye out for leaks.”

The search for an ID

The couple started their search for an ID at the Qanvast Hangout.

“It was good because we could meet multiple IDs and it gave us a very quick understanding of what to expect. We shortlisted a few from there, but realised we had not budgeted nearly enough after looking at the initial quotes.

That’s why we focused on saving up for the next few months and decluttering items we had from our rental first,” said George.

“We initially wanted something more glamorous with full-on traditional Indian and Chinese styles. A couple of IDs we found later on got freaked out by our concept,” George said. “They felt it would be too difficult.”

When they met Julie, their ID from Authors, Mei was certain the firm was the right fit. George was on the fence until he saw the renders they proposed.

“We didn’t have to explain very much to Julie. She nailed it just from looking at our mood boards – the original render looks almost exactly like how the house turned out.”

On the expanded communal space

The couple hacked the third bedroom and storeroom and converted the area into a bigger communal space, complete with a foyer and a simple dining area.

George shared that knocking down the walls helped to brighten the previously dark living room too.

At the dining area, you can spot a marble-top dining table that Mei sourced on Carousell from a seller who refinishes antique pieces. Needless to say, we loved the intricate carvings that extended all the way down to the table legs.

Like the couple, a fair number of us are bookworms at heart – though, as George confessed – we might not read so much anymore.

“I can’t concentrate on reading a book for more than a few minutes,” he joked. “But having the books here is very comforting.”

The pair were set on housing their treasured and decades-old collections, so one of the first things on their list was a bookshelf.

They went with a flushed bookshelf design that eats into the master bedroom space, fitting it snugly in the space between two structural columns that couldn’t be hacked away.

We didn’t notice it at first, but George pointed out the gold laminate lining the inside of the bookshelf, which adds to the old-school feel.

While they had considered getting solid wood flooring for the communal area, they stuck with wood-look tiles instead.

They explained that the flat can get very warm inside since the unit is at the top floor, so the heat could warp and damage the natural wood over time. They also had concerns about water damage from leaks.

One thing that struck us was how clean the space looked, with barely any trunking.

George, a tech enthusiast, wanted smart home features with minimal wiring and was set on voice-controlled lights.

“In the brief we gave to Julie, I said I don’t want cladding and therefore everything must be a smart home. I think I met my soulmate in the electrical contractor. The two of us geeked out a little bit,” George shared with a laugh. “I was very involved in this part.”

Since they couldn’t do false ceilings to hide the wiring and such, they went without any switches on the walls (though they have physical switches stashed away in a cabinet).

The couple broke into their good-natured banter, with Mei quipping that she’s “old school”, so she’s still not used to it.

When we asked about the ceiling beams, Mei shared that they had a “very big debate”.

Though she liked the look of it, she worried that it would visually cramp up the space, or look messy if the beams were not spaced right.

“But he really likes it, and the idea was to also use it to hide trunking if necessary, since they’re hollow. In the end, it turned out well.”

When they’re not occupied with work, the couple love to stretch out on the sofas and watch TV together.

The seating plan for the living area was centered around George’s need for a surround sound system.

“We spent a lot of time looking at where to put the speakers because I have two huge tower speakers from the rental apartment,” shared George. “It’s too tight, so for now, we’re using smaller ones.”

About the open kitchen

The kitchen, which cuts into some of the original bedroom space, features dark cabinets done up with anti-fingerprint laminates.

It’s a practical choice, given that Mei enjoys cooking, and the couple occasionally host friends and family.

“I insisted on a dishwasher,” said George, which Mei said is convenient since they don’t have to spend time hand washing the dishes.

For the pair, one of the toughest parts was sourcing tiles.

Elaborating, George said: “It was surprisingly difficult. We were looking for certain patterned tiles, but there was only a small set that appealed to us at some of the bigger tile suppliers.”

While they found selections they loved at boutique tile stores, the lead time needed was about six months.

“Had we known about it, we would’ve secured them earlier,” Mei said. “In the end, we went with Hafary for some of the tile choices since we can get them quickly.”

As we spoke, it became evident that the couple is big on living in the space and adapting it as they go along.

For one, they’re thinking of installing a pocket door to close off the kitchen to keep the cooking smells in.

On reconfiguring the master bedroom layout

The master bedroom is the combination of the original master bedroom and the adjacent junior bedroom, which gave George and Mei the space for a cosy king-sized bed they wanted.

Unlike the green half-tone outside, the pair chose a deep orange for the lower half of the walls here.

“It’s definitely not the usual colour for bedrooms,” George said. “We were inspired by the two-tone houses in India, like the plantation houses, that have that reddish-orange paint outside.”

And if you were wondering, the ‘paintings’ behind the bed are actually framed wallpaper!

“We were supposed to use this wallpaper for this whole wall but he chickened out,” Mei said.

“I should’ve listened to her,” George said. “The shop we went to had a great selection of wallpaper with traditional Indian motifs. Based on the samples we saw, I thought the pattern would be much smaller and repeat too much, but that wasn’t the case.

And turns out that when you paste the wallpaper on, the colours look more vibrant, which is something we didn’t know.”

Interestingly, we noticed that the wardrobe had legs – a feature George had requested to give it a stand-alone look.

“It also created a nice gap for the robot vacuum,” he added.

The other noticeable features were the gaps between the wardrobe and the ceiling, and the adjacent wall.

“He was very particular about leaving these gaps because we’ve had leaks in that corner, and it would damage the wood,” Mei said. “We want to be able to monitor the situation.”

As for the bathrooms, the couple left them untouched since the unit had undergone HIP and they didn’t want to void the warranty period of three years.

To sum up

The couple faced a number of challenges during the renovation, including the slanting roof that resulted in a slanting structural ceiling beam in the living room.

“We used a trick of the eye by curving off the edge of the beam to make it look even.”

The trick certainly worked, since we didn’t notice the slant until George pointed it out.

“Besides that, there was the constant fear of water leaking. We did some treatment on the inside and used waterproof paint.

This worked quite well, though we’re prepared to get it redone in another two to three years,” shared George.

“Julie and her team have been very patient and willing to try different things. At the same time, it was good that they dialled back some of our wilder ideas. They have a very good eye for design.” said George.

“There have been hiccups with some of the workmanship, but they’re working through it with us.”

“This is our home, and we love it.” Mei said. “It makes me happy when our friends tell us the house feels like us.”

In George’s words, “One thing I told the IDs we spoke to is that I want us to die here in the house. And when the police come in, we’re lying around somewhere, but they’d look around and say ‘Wow, the reno looks great. Who’s the ID?’

Authors has done that – we’re super pleased.”

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