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A Soho in the East
Last Post 07 May 2013 01:31 AM by turnerdhr. 320 Replies.
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 29 Nov 2011 01:17 PM |
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Hi Shroomies!
I've decided to start this topic to chronicle the soon-to-be transformation of my recently purchased HDB flat.
It's a nicely situated 13-year-old 5-room flat at the fringe of the city, a short walk from Dakota MRT station, and the good food at Old Airport Market & Hawker Centre. The price was reasonable but the renovations will have to be extensive as the previous owners did not (sadly) take particularly good care of their home and much of it is in a fairly dilapidated state.
Also, my husband and I both work from home (hence the title of this topic) - albeit in different fields - and so we need a flat that is not only comfortable enough to function as a home, but capable of functioning as an office as well (as we frequently have to host project meetings with other freelancers working on the same project at our home).
To top it all off, we have 2 young daughters (both under the age of four) and my sister-in-law will be coming to stay with us as well (she works in town and would enjoy the greater convenience of living near an MRT station).
So, our situation is somewhat challenging... to say the least.
Anyway, I'll be posting some pics soon and collecting my keys on 1 Dec, and I'd welcome any advice from the good folks at MHT.
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 29 Nov 2011 01:32 PM |
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My floorplan:
Not a remarkable layout by any means, but one that suits us well. We like it for three reasons:
(1) The kitchen and balcony walls can be removed (for the most part) to create a large, open-plan working/playing/eating area.
(2) The common bathroom faces the common bedrooms (an important consideration for families with young children who don't really want their children to wander through the kitchen on the way to the toilet).
(3) The service balcony is large (also an important consideration for families who generate as much laundry as we do).
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 29 Nov 2011 02:14 PM |
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This is what we intend to do with the flat:
Nothing remarkable really. The only points of interest are:
(1) We'll be opening up the kitchen and leveling the floor to improve the flow and circulation of human movement in the flat.
(2) Likewise, we intend to create a door between the master bedroom and service balcony to give us an alternative means of getting to the kitchen from the master bedroom (improving the overall flow of human movement).
(3) We'll be removing the balcony doors, leveling the balcony floor and turning that area into our dining room. As we frequently work at our dining table (rather than our 'study', which tends to be where we store our files and papers, rather than do any actual work), it makes sense for us to locate our dining table in the brightest and windiest part of our home.
(4) The living room will feature very long floor-to-ceiling bookshelves (with a book ladder too!) to house our many, many books. Buried amongst them will be our tiny TV (I'm sure you can see where our priorities lie).
(5) Our study meanwhile will become a repository for files, assorted reference materials and our printer/fax, shared drive, and other assorted computer hardware.
Feel free to comment... 
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 29 Nov 2011 05:03 PM |
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Our ceiling will be equally fuss-free:
As you can see, we have a fondness for ceiling fans, as we prefer our fans to be off the floor and out of the way of naughty little fingers. As a result though, we've had to resort to cove lighting throughout the flat, as the presence of ceiling fans make pendant lamps impossible (and, no, we do not like the appearance of 2-in-1 ceiling fans that come with lights).
The technical drawings come courtesy of our contractor. A very nice and patient chap, who has well-honed technical skills and a good dose of common sense - qualities which we have found most valuable. He was able to patiently tell me which of my more outlandish interior design ideas would be too costly and which would be simply impractical. 
Although my contractor is sadly not able to produce the glossy 3D diagrams which grace many other people's blogs, my husband and I somehow find his humble but detailed technical drawings far more reassuring... |
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SEAfan
I'm a teenage Shroomy!
Posts:632
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| 29 Nov 2011 05:45 PM |
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Welcome to MHT, wordsworth! Thank you for this fine introduction of your reno project. It sounds to me like you're on the right track. I'll keep an eye on your project and wish you well in completing it successfully. |
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 29 Nov 2011 06:43 PM |
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Posted By SEAfan on 29 Nov 2011 05:45 PM
Welcome to MHT, wordsworth! Thank you for this fine introduction of your reno project. It sounds to me like you're on the right track. I'll keep an eye on your project and wish you well in completing it successfully.
Thanks, SEAfan! Hopefully all will go well. 
But our home is unlikely to be 'trendy' or particularly exciting. No fancy designer furniture or fashionable mid-century modern stuff for us, I'm afraid. Just plain solid furniture, mostly in raw teak with deep, comfortable dark grey cushions. Plain dark wood flooring (well actually it's vinyl that looks like rough wood planks) and modest off-white walls.
But the reason for all this plainess is our books... our many, many books. They will be the primary design feature of our home. Other people have fancy lamps from Established & Sons, or Poltrona Frau armchairs. We have books.
So many, in fact, that in our previous home, most of our furniture was partially hidden behind ever-growing mountains of books, so buying fancy furniture didn't seem to make much sense. It was rather like living in an indie bookstore.... so much so, that when some IDs we spoke to asked us what sort of look we were going for, we were tempted to say "BooksActually"!  |
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 29 Nov 2011 07:00 PM |
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Of some interest might be our kitchen:
Although we do cook a lot, we deliberately chose to open up the kitchen for three reasons:
(1) The food we cook isn't so noxious (or oily) that we feel the need to keep it permanently enclosed. In fact, we find it rather nice to be woken up in the morning by the smell of fresh coffee brewing, bread baking in the oven and eggs sizzling in a skillet.
(2) At present, the kitchen only has one very small window (in the far right-hand corner), so if it wasn't opened up, whoever is cooking in the kitchen really might be overcome by cooking fumes. Opening up the kitchen (and providing it with a ceiling fan) will finally give it proper ventilation.
(3) Opening the top and sides of the kitchen also improves the overall flow of human movement in the flat (giving people alternative ways of getting to the study or bedrooms, bypassing the living and dining areas, if they should so wish).
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 30 Nov 2011 10:16 AM |
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Also unusual is our bookwall:
We deliberately instructed our contractor to build this to make full use of the wall space in our living room (and also because we've always wanted a sliding book ladder... yes, we do have our frivolous moments too!). And, because the shelves will be supported both from behind (the wall) and below, they will be able to hold even our heaviest books - an important consideration when you've got as many hardcover art books as we do.
Although such extensive built-in cabinetry is certainly more expensive, it's also more cost-effective and practical in the long run. In our last flat (where we lived for a decade before deciding to move east), we had custom-built shelving in the passageway to the bedrooms, that not only still looked flawless after 10 years of use (prospective home buyers who came to view our flat, kept asking, "Did you just renovate your place? This shelf looks new!") but was study enough to survive 10 years of supporting heavy books and numerous objets d'art without even a crack showing.
Conversely, the cheaper IKEA bookshelves that spanned the width of our previous living room, began to buckle after 2 years of use and the surface laminate began to peel and 'bubble' after just 3 years. So, although cheap, we understood that you really do get what you pay for... That said though, I am a great fan of IKEA's children's furniture. It's so cheap and cheerful that when my daughters decide to decorate their beds with their Crayola glitter sticks or cover their table with stickers, I don't feel any pain at all, as I know that I can easily replace the lot when it gets really worn out... and I'll probably have to do so anyway when they start getting too big for their current set!
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lieblingsg
I'm an expert adult Shroomy!
Posts:10307
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| 30 Nov 2011 12:52 PM |
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Wordsworth: I am most delighted by your thread and I shall follow it closely! I m old school myself and prefer technical drawings and a good old sketch. I don't rely on any of the 3D drawings usually as I'm a technophobe. Anyway, you hv very clear design direction and that is a very important start! You are obviously on the right track. Yr place layout is very unique and I love the galley kitchen. Make no mistake though. Book shelves can be very trendy or sexy on the eye if done properly. Please let us know the design of the shelves in more detail ie. material and colours. |
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lieblingsg
I'm an expert adult Shroomy!
Posts:10307
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| 30 Nov 2011 01:09 PM |
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If you hack the wall on the balcony, does that mean you are now installing window on the balcony? What kind of sofa do you hv in mind? |
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 30 Nov 2011 01:57 PM |
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Posted By lieblingsg on 30 Nov 2011 12:52 PM
Wordsworth: I am most delighted by your thread and I shall follow it closely! I m old school myself and prefer technical drawings and a good old sketch. I don't rely on any of the 3D drawings usually as I'm a technophobe. Anyway, you hv very clear design direction and that is a very important start! You are obviously on the right track. Yr place layout is very unique and I love the galley kitchen. Make no mistake though. Book shelves can be very trendy or sexy on the eye if done properly. Please let us know the design of the shelves in more detail ie. material and colours.
Hi lieblingsg!
Glad you could drop by!
Colour-wise we have a pretty good idea of what we want: black, white, and tan. In various textures. My husband calls them Beagle colours. I call them Siamese colours.
The neutrality of the flat's colour scheme is important because not only are we bibliophiles, but we are also collectors of vintage music posters from the 1980s - Joy Division, Oasis, Manic Street Preachers, etc. (many of which are already very nicely restored and framed). So, to prevent the flat from turning into an overwhelming riot of colour and 'noise', we're keeping our home as neutral as possible to form the ideal backdrop to our possessions.
Our shelves will be of simple matte white wood, rather like this:
But of course, we'll have fewer vases and decanters lying around...
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 30 Nov 2011 02:26 PM |
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Posted By lieblingsg on 30 Nov 2011 01:09 PM
If you hack the wall on the balcony, does that mean you are now installing window on the balcony? What kind of sofa do you hv in mind?
Yes. That's right.
In any case, this old flat doesn't have full-height windows in the balcony - only half-height ones that look exactly the same as the rest of the windows in the flat. We'll be changing all the windows (and installing them where the balcony currently is, of course) to simple white-framed casement ones with clear glass.
The bench by the balcony window will be of this construction:
It will be built a little lower than usual to accommodate a 4-inch cushion on top.
The following 2 images are the closest approximations I can find to the look I'm hoping to get:
Where the bookshelf meets the bench (although we won't continue to have shelving above the bench as my husband finds the thought of having heavy books and objet d'art above his head vaguely alarming!)...
Where the bench is against the former balcony windows (although our windows - sadly - will never look as nice as these)...
Our bench-top cushion will be dark grey in colour, to contrast against the white wood (and hopefully not to look too stained as the years go by!).
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Sygnur
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:229
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| 01 Dec 2011 12:25 AM |
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Wordsworth.... I must say that im mightily impressed with the clear mind u have in deciding the way your place would look like. From the looks of those awesome drawings, u'll have a great place to call a home.
Fancy having bookwall with sliding book ladder... Wow... Does that mean u have high ceiling? The bookwall idea is simply wonderful.i adore books of any kind... It sure is great to share a home with someone who is as affectionate about books as u are.lucky u...
I now know what u mean by the dishrack design... It does make sense to have it at lower level and uncovered.save the hassle of having to lift up the 'door' with watet dripping along your arms.. Hehe....
You do have a nice contractor who is very detailed( u are detailed too, in terms of wirings, lightings, sockets layout and such). Where do u find him, wordsworth?
1st Dec u'll get the keys... Good for u.... I'll be following your thread as closely as possible... It's kinda exciting...and looks extremely promising... |
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 01 Dec 2011 09:10 PM |
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A silent slideshow on the current state of the interior...
The living room (as seen from the front door):
The study (as seen from the kitchen):
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 01 Dec 2011 09:14 PM |
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The kitchen (as seen from the kitchen entrance):
The service balcony (as seen from the kitchen side door):
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 01 Dec 2011 09:17 PM |
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The passageway to the bedrooms (as seen from the living room):
The master bedroom (as seen from the bedroom entrance):
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 01 Dec 2011 09:19 PM |
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The master bathroom:
The common bathroom:
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 01 Dec 2011 09:23 PM |
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Bedroom 2:
Bedroom 3:
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 05 Dec 2011 03:25 PM |
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Posted By Sygnur on 01 Dec 2011 12:25 AM
Wordsworth.... I must say that im mightily impressed with the clear mind u have in deciding the way your place would look like. From the looks of those awesome drawings, u'll have a great place to call a home.
Well, my mind isn't that clear actually! 
What you are seeing here is the end result after many, many months of careful planning and consideration... We designed many possible layouts for each room in our home, as well as for the whole flat in totality, many, many times!
In fact, just for our master bedroom alone, we had three possible layouts (and we asked our contractor to kindly help us plot each one using AutoCAD, so that we could have a more accurate understanding of the space planning needs of each option) and we created a table that listed carefully all the pros and cons of each option (so that we could carefully weigh the possibilities):
Option 1
Pros
- would give us an interesting 'floating' bed in the centre of the room
- would provide the room with good flow of human movement (giving people various options in moving around the room)
- would situate the television neatly against the wall (making cabling for the television easier)
Cons
- our clothing storage would be limited to one wardrobe and one sideboard, which (although we are not compulsive clothes-hoarders) might be a bit too little for our needs (as we do travel frequently for work and possess quite a lot of autumn jackets and long winter coats)
- the spaces by the side of the bed would be quite narrow (about 60cm wide) making human movement somewhat constrained
- the bedhead would be near the bathroom door (on the left) and the windows (on the right), which (depending on how you look at it) might make sleeping there rather unpleasant
Option 2
Pros
- the bedhead would be against the wall (far from the potential unpleasantness of the bathroom and the glare of light coming in through the windows)
- would provide the room with good flow of human movement (giving people various options in moving around the room)
Cons
- our clothing storage would be limited to one wardrobe and one sideboard, which (although we are not compulsive clothes-hoarders) might be a bit too little for our needs (as we do travel frequently for work and possess quite a lot of autumn jackets and long winter coats)
- the spaces by the side of the bed would still be quite narrow (about 60cm wide) making human movement somewhat constrained
- the television would now be in the centre of the room (making cabling somewhat challenging, and potentially adding to the overall cost)
But, as you can see from our final layout, we selected Option 3 after much consideration:
As this option would give us the most amount of wardrobe space and the most amount of space to move about the room freely. Also, in this layout, the television is neatly situated against the opposite wall (making cabling relatively easy).
However, it's far from being a perfect layout: the intended location of our open pole-system wardrobe is, rather awkwardly, right in front of our room's windows (why HDB decided to put windows at the side of the room, instead of at the end is a great mystery to me...). Our television shelf will also have to be custom-made by our contractor to fit the awkward corner allocated to it. And the left side of our bed is still annoyingly close to the windows, meaning that whoever sleeps there (probably me) will be hit in the eye by bright sunlight every morning (anyway, I have two young children so I seldom get to sleep late anyway...).
But nothing's perfect...
Fancy having bookwall with sliding book ladder... Wow... Does that mean u have high ceiling?
Not really. It's the usual HDB flat height... But with the bookwall (and without the heavy cornices installed by the previous owner), it will actually look higher than it really is. It's just a visual illusion.
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wordsworth
I'm a toddler Shroomy!
Posts:232
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| 06 Dec 2011 12:52 PM |
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Planning for the kitchen also required a lot of careful consideration (basically the accumulated wisdom of having lived in a poorly designed flat for 10 long years).
For example, because I'm right-handed, I know that when I cook, I usually stir the food with my right hand and reach for whatever herbs/sauces/spices/oils I need with my left hand. This used to be a really tricky process in my previous flat because my contractor had put the condiment rack above the cooking hob (don't ask me why; I have no idea why; and I knew too little about cooking when I first bought the flat to question why anyone would do something like that; I just took his word for it that it was the right thing to do). So, I'd have to reach up (over whatever I was cooking) for whatever condiments I wanted (and pray that I didn't accidentally drop anything into the pot below). Eventually, I stopped using the silly condiment rack altogether and I simply put all of my most commonly used oils, herbs and spices on the kitchen counter to the left of my cooking hob.
So, I decided that the condiment rack in my new home needs to be on the left of the cooking hob, like this:
Another lesson we learnt from our old home is where not to put our dish rack.
In our old home, our contractor put the dish rack above the kitchen sink (where is exactly where most people would put it, right?), but I can tell you right now that unless you really enjoy the feeling of water running down your arms and making your shirt wet, it's not a good idea. Because that's exactly what's going to happen every time you wash your dishes, if your dish rack is overhead.
Also, we decided not to bother having a covered dish rack, because in our last home, it got just so bothersome to open and close the dish rack every time we wanted to put in a just-washed plate or take out a new mug, that we ended up leaving the dish rack cover up permanently. It stayed up for pretty much the next 9 years...
So, I decided that the dish rack in my new home needs to be an open one at just below shoulder level, to the right of the sink (because I'm right-handed) like this:
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