This Couple’s $40K Tengah BTO Renovation Takes Cosy to the Next Level

Good reference for Tengah homeowners!

Warm lighting, earthy colours, and soft furnishings are just some ways to make a home look cosy. However, creating a space that invites guests to stay awhile takes more thought.

For Amy and Haikal, home has always been somewhere to gather with the people closest to them. And judging by how often their friends mention how cosy and welcoming their flat feels, the couple seem to have gotten the ambience just right.

Two years after moving in, we caught up with Amy and Haikal to find out how it all came together, and to hear about their renovation journey with Jolene from Thom Signature Design.

About the homeowners and their home

Haikal (H): Amy works in education, while I work shifts in the IT sector. We’ve been living in our 4-room flat in Tengah for about two years now, but our journey to becoming homeowners actually started pretty early in our relationship.

We applied for this flat after knowing each other for only three months. Somehow, we got a good ballot number on our first attempt! Since Amy grew up in the West and her parents still live in the area, we naturally focused on homes in this part of Singapore.

Amy (A): We liked how conveniently located this project is. Plantation Plaza and the shops are nearby, and we’ll eventually have the upcoming Tengah Park MRT station too.

H: We’d also heard about how Tengah was envisioned as an eco-friendly town, which was something we were interested in experiencing for ourselves.

H: Tengah’s Centralised Cooling System (CCS) was a new feature that caught our attention. We attended a roadshow where the CCS providers, SP Group, explained how the system worked and we thought it was quite interesting.

We also learnt that CCS is 30 per cent more energy-efficient than conventional split-unit air-conditioners in households, which was another plus for us given Tengah’s focus on sustainability.

On the practical side, the units would already be installed for us. That meant we wouldn’t have to source our own air-conditioning system and coordinate another installation while renovating.

For us, it was hassle-free, so we decided to give it a try.

About their renovation requirements

A: One of our biggest priorities was making the home feel cosy. We wanted to come back to a space that feels comfortable and not too visually cluttered, which is why we didn’t want to have too many colours throughout the home. We wanted everything to feel cohesive, with earthy tones and shades of green tying the different spaces together.

H: We also wanted the communal areas to feel open and welcoming. At one point, we considered hacking a wall to make the living room bigger but eventually decided to keep the original layout as it would give us more flexibility in the future.

H: We prioritised the things we felt were necessary for everyday living, such as the kitchen and wardrobes, while cutting back on some of the more aesthetic changes.

A: For example, we thought about replacing the original HDB flooring with something closer to the industrial look Haikal likes. But Jolene, our ID, pointed out that the existing tiles already worked well with the earthy look we were going for, so we decided to keep them.

Another thing we had to consider was the CCS trunking. Our original idea for the TV area was inspired by Japanese homes, with doors that could slide shut to conceal the TV when we weren’t using it.

When Jolene visited the site, she helped us refine the design to better suit the space, taking into account the positioning of the CCS trunking. We explored a few options and eventually landed on a design that worked well for everyone and we’re happy with the result.

About the home

H: Since we host quite a lot, the living and dining area was designed around making it easy for everyone to gather. That’s why we have the dining table right in the middle of the space, rather than tucked away in a corner.

We also have a movable island that we bring out whenever friends come over. If Amy is cooking, she can put the food and snacks there, and everyone can just help themselves. It works especially well for the way we like to host.

A: That’s also the reason we decided to have an open-concept kitchen — to keep the communal areas more spacious and connected.

In the kitchen, we have a tall unit that doubles up as our pantry. There are pull-out drawers where we keep snacks and some cooking supplies, so we can easily reach for what we need.

We incorporated pull-out shelves as well for our microwave and air fryer. This lets us pull the appliances out when they’re in use, so the heat they generate doesn’t get trapped and damage the carpentry.

H: We kept things much simpler in the bedrooms and bathrooms. Since we didn’t want to make unnecessary changes just for the sake of it, we largely worked with what was already there.

Fuss-free servicing and support

H: After living here for about two years, we’ve generally had a good experience with the CCS. There was only one occasion when one of the units had a leak.

We contacted customer support through the MyTengah app and they got back to us quite quickly with an appointment slot that was convenient for us.

On the day itself, the contractors managed to resolve the issue within a few hours. So overall, the support and rectification process was quite smooth for us.

A: We’ve also come to appreciate the importance of regular servicing. Even if everything seems to be working fine, it’s reassuring to know that the system is being checked and maintained regularly.

And if anything unusual does happen, knowing that there’s a support team we can reach out to give us added peace of mind.

Keep your CCS running smoothly with MyTengah Care+

Regular servicing can help keep your home’s cooling system running smoothly over time. For Tengah CCS subscribers, SP Group’s MyTengah Care+ programme provides additional support after moving in.

Subscribers receive three years of complimentary workmanship warranty on the CCS’s piping, trunking and insulation, three years of FCU servicing sessions (twice a year, totalling six sessions), and CCS Health Checks, offering added peace of mind when it comes to maintaining their CCS.

Click the button below to find out more about how CCS supports sustainable living in Tengah.