Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: This Tiny Low-Ceilinged Flat Gets A Major Style Update
Turning the layout on its head and distracting the eyes refreshed this home in a major way
Design flaws did not deter Managing Director Alicia Koh from I.Poise Design in seeing potential in the resale flat. As if the low 2.4-metre ceiling isn’t bad enough, this home in the East, like many old flats, is riddled with several unsightly structural elements. Columns and beams stick out like sore thumbs and the inefficient floor plan, where the original bedrooms were small, did not look appealing at all.
Koh says: “There are always ways to turn a tight situation around and while the floor plan proved to be challenging, we made it work by reshuffling the layout.” After lots of demolition and wet works, she created a welcoming home with an open-concept kitchen.
Koh says: “There are always ways to turn a tight situation around and while the floor plan proved to be challenging, we made it work by reshuffling the layout.” After lots of demolition and wet works, she created a welcoming home with an open-concept kitchen.
As the heart of the home and now out of the shadows, the new open-concept kitchen is naturally all dressed to impress. Koh gave the fuss-free one-wall kitchen a classic monochromatic colour palette. To carve out a larger walkway to the service yard and allow sufficient room for a dining set, the counters are neatly streamlined to one side of the space. Light-enhancing surfaces like the Volakas marble countertops, frosted glass panels for the cabinetry and glossy white subway tiles also take away the attention of the low ceiling beams.
While the foyer is often overlooked, Koh went all out to create a strong industrial-style statement for the front entrance of this home. She explains: “We wanted to establish a smooth style transition from industrial to modern Scandinavian.” She then clad the walls with dark terracotta tiles from Hafary and cement screed for the flooring. “A darker flooring is also more practical to conceal dirt,” she adds. With that, this is now a semi-outdoor landing area where the homeowners can remove their shoes inside the flat. A row of full-height white cabinet doors hides storage on the other side, which is clean-lined and modern Scandinavian in style. This compensates for the lack of a storeroom in the flat..
Like the one-wall kitchen, the living area is aligned with the wall. Save for a slight recess, this seamless setup showcases upholstered panels to conceal the structural beams. Simply touch the PVC panels to find hidden storage. The two columns flanking the upholstered feature wall also hide storage: one serving as a shoe cabinet and the other as general storage.
To fit in with the homeowners’ lifestyles and habits, the common bedroom has been turned into a multi-purpose space. As this room faces the living area and front door, frosted decals were put up to provide privacy.
This secret door which leads to the master bedroom was finished in blackboard paint. Koh embellished the swing-out door with wood for a gorgeous suar wood look.
Stepping into the master bedroom, a three-metre-long walkway greets the homeowners first before they can get to the sleeping area. This was achieved by reconfiguring the entrances of the two bedrooms. The walkway is maximised by a row of black wardrobe units sporting ornate knobs.
This recessed wall proves to be a handy nook for hanging up wardrobe staples. Koh cleverly established visual connection to the black wardrobes by adding a dark plywood frame over the recess.
Seeing how the utility room is at the back of the flat where there is a greater level of privacy, Koh turned the space into the main sleeping area. Though the space is incredibly tight, custom built-ins like the raised platform and a hanging console at the foot of the bed ensure everything fits in the space.
The ensuite bathroom has been slightly enlarged and now hosts two entrances – one leading to the master bedroom and the other to the communal zone. The new and improved layout features wet and dry areas.
Koh decided against a conventional vanity counter and designed an open unit. Boxing it up would make this tight space look even more cramped. Even the cabinetry was suspended to give more visible floor space.
For this wet area, louvred windows are key to keeping the overall aesthetics sleek and streamlined. This is beneficial in a small space.
Koh’s polished and seamless design concept of concealing necessary structural elements demonstrates how less is truly more.
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What is your favourite feature in this home? Share in the Comments below.
Koh’s polished and seamless design concept of concealing necessary structural elements demonstrates how less is truly more.
TELL US
What is your favourite feature in this home? Share in the Comments below.
Who lives here: A married couple in their 20s
Location: 3-room improved HDB flat in Marine Drive
Size: 65 square metres (700 square feet)
“Fortunately, the homeowners are not big cooks,” reveals Koh. Without heavy cooking smells to factor in, she made the executive decision to take down the boundary walls between the kitchen and other communal areas to create an plan plan cookspace. Sans walls, the now integrated communal zones share an open and most importantly, a fluid flow of space that contributes to the spacious appearance of the flat.