Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: A 5-Room HDB Flat Becomes a Rustic Country Retreat
With 'country cottage' as the design brief, embellished with touches of industrial style, this home is truly an escape from the city
Living in urban Singapore, the newlywed couple who own this HDB flat wanted a home that would remind them of nature – being in the woods, specifically, says boutique design firm Versaform‘s Vincent Neo. The designer was commissioned to renovate the 5-room flat in a “country cottage crossed with industrial style” concept. The result is a woody haven for the couple.
The skyline design also allows the homeowners to display little objects on top of the ‘planks’. Vinyl tiles in a similar wood pattern were used for the flooring.
“My carpenters, THT Furniture & Enterprise, did a very good job – good workmanship, [delivery] on time, and helped us with additional work for the homeowners,” Neo says.
For the industrial touch, smaller walls – such as this one in the foyer – are clad in CraftStone panels with a raw brick finish.
“My carpenters, THT Furniture & Enterprise, did a very good job – good workmanship, [delivery] on time, and helped us with additional work for the homeowners,” Neo says.
For the industrial touch, smaller walls – such as this one in the foyer – are clad in CraftStone panels with a raw brick finish.
Another industrial touch is cement screed, used on the wall opposite the feature wall and the kitchen’s backsplash.
Neo says that “the subtle cement screeding was approached with much restraint” to keep the overall effect balanced.
Neo says that “the subtle cement screeding was approached with much restraint” to keep the overall effect balanced.
The designer reconfigured the layout of this part of the apartment to create an open-plan living, dining and kitchen space. The kitchen was moved out from what is now the service yard, as the homeowners enjoy cooking and wanted a more spacious cookspace. This also gives the living area a roomier feel, as it stretches from the kitchen-dining space to the balcony.
The renovation kept three bedrooms in the flat, although it’s just the newlyweds living here at the moment. One spare room is used as their study/home office, while the other room is a conjugal hobby space, where Cheah can play his musical instruments (he has an electric piano and bongo drums) and Zhang can practice her dancing (the room has full-length mirrors on the wall).
Neo designed the master bedroom with finishes that match the living-dining space: a concrete screed wall and a closet with wood-plank-clad doors. A soft blue-grey paint was used on the rest of the walls to give the room a soothing, restful ambience.
The homeowners enjoyed sourcing for their own furniture, going for pieces that had salvaged wood and welded metal, as well as solid timber cuts that showcase their fondness for the natural material.
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Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Matthew Cheah and Yolanda Zhang, a newlywed couple
Location: 5-Room HDB flat in Tampines
Size: 114 square metres (1,227 square feet)
A resale DBSS (Design, Build and Sell Scheme) flat by HDB, the previous owners had done their own renovation. “It wasn’t bad, but definitely not what my clients wanted,” Neo says. “We took out everything, and did a complete refurbishment.”
To create the visual effect of tree trunks or wooden planks, Neo designed a feature wall with cabinets – and a hidden door to the bomb shelter! – along the main wall. Clad in woodgrain laminate, each ‘plank’ culminates at a different height from its neighbour, creating a dynamic, ‘sleek city skyline’ effect near the ceiling. This took the country concept into a “country in the city” design, says Neo.