Now that you've paid for your new home, it is time to put in the wow factor. In this annual design special, TAY SUAN CHIANG gets home owners and interior designers to reveal their secrets to turning living spaces into beautiful homes with varying budgets
Cement flooring, white walls and black accents - that's a pure and simple yet winning concept
THE FIGURES
Size: 828 sq ft
Renovation budget:
Under $20,000
DIY MAGIC: Mr Chan, left with his wife Winnie Ong and their Corgi, Doughnut, dressed up the glass divider by sticking on it a poem written by their interior designer. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
THEY were floored by the look.
Mr Jonathan Chan and his wife Winnie Ong were at a friend's home and were taken in by the cement flooring.
'We initially wanted laminate flooring to get a retro look for our home,' says Mr Chan, 28, a sales executive.
He and Ms Ong, a 24-year-old manager, had thought about using cement for their first home - a three-room HDB resale flat in Toa Payoh for which they paid $170,000 - but were afraid that they might not like it.
'Almost immediately, we decided it would be cement after all as we liked the feel of it,' he says of their last-minute change of mind.
But that was not the only change. The couple, who were married in May last year and had moved into the bright and breezy flat five months ago, also opted to replace the retro theme with a modern one.
POSTER PERFECT: A Rolling Stones poster, which Mr Chan bought from www.allposter.com because it has a splash of red, adorns the wall in this space which is furnished with a custom-made bench-cum-shoe cabinet.
They worked with freelance interior designer and friend John Ma to makeover the 828 sq ft flat, spending $17,000 on a month-long renovation that included changing the apartment's original terrazzo flooring, redoing the kitchen to fit in cabinets and a stove, and custom-making furnishings like a built-in TV console and bench-cum-shoe cabinet.
The original divider between the kitchen and dining room was replaced with a glass panel and door that helped to brighten the flat by letting more light in.
To jazz up the panel, Mr Chan printed the words of a love poem on removable black adhesive film and pasted it on. He already has plans to stick on a red 'xi' (Chinese for happiness) for the upcoming Chinese New Year.
For the flat's colour theme, the couple decided to keep it simple - black, white and grey.
'Too many colours would make the home look too chaotic,' explains Mr Chan, adding that the white walls make the flat look brighter and complement the grey concrete flooring.
'Black also goes well with these two colours,' he says. But a gift the couple received made them receptive to the idea of introducing colour into the flat, albeit in small doses.
Mr Ma gave them a red vintage telephone, so the couple are now on a quest to add splashes of red around the home which they share with Mr Chan's brother and their Corgi, Doughnut.
CRIMSON CRAZE: From this red, still-functional vintage telephone (above), the owners added other red items to their home, including a standing ashtray (below) bought from a Yahoo! auction. -- ST PHOTOS: LIM WUI LIANG
These include cushions, an ashtray from an online auction and an Aids campaign poster with red lettering.'We now go hunting for red items. Thankfully, they're fairly easy to find,' says Mr Chan.
Tips from the home owners
1 From junk to funk
We're not telling you to steal from the office but, sometimes, unwanted things there can be used at home.
The Aids campaign poster featuring actress Charlize Theron was for a shoe store that Ms Ong manages, but when it was no longer used, she took it home and used it to jazz up her dining area, hence saving money on artworks.
2 Online finds
Check out deals online, such as on eBay or Yahoo! auctions.
The couple bought shopping vouchers that others were selling cheap. 'Once, we bought a $100 Takashimaya voucher for $80,' says Mr Chan. 'Any amount of savings will add up.'
3 Do it yourself, really
Dabble in some DIY decoration. Mr Chan got crafty and stuck words on the glass panel in the dining room to jazz it up.
Printing the words on adhesive film at printing shops costs about $120. 'It's easy to use and you save money by doing it yourself,' he says.
Alternatively, if you love photography, pick your favourite pictures and have them framed to put on the wall.
4 Scout around for lookalikes
Shop for 'designer' furniture.
The couple found their dining chairs from furniture store Gnee Hong in Bencoolen Street for $68 each. The seats are designed in a style similar to Israel-born architect-designer Ron Arad's Tom Vac chairs.
That is a great designed home, lovely corgi too :)
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