When 2 Becomes 1… Bedroom

105

Couple Living
4 br
HDB (Maisonette)
≥1,500 sqft
Eclectic

We have always liked a spacious master bedroom so that it doesn’t feel so claustrophobic. Even in our old BTO master bedroom, we only had a king-size bed and a sofa, and nothing else. We converted our current master bedroom from a common bedroom and it is more squarish in layout - so we could only fit the king-size bed. Still, it is plenty of comfort. We originally wanted to build a platform but given that we didn’t want to incorporate storage, it would have been a waste of money. Besides, a proper bed frame would allow us to get on and off the bed more easily, especially as we age.
Having windows opposite each other is not typical for a room in the Singapore flat context. Notwithstanding the fact that one set of windows is internal, it still technically makes a cross breeze possible, especially in a N-S configuration. The Wife did not want our bedroom to be cluttered unnecessarily so we went with simple IKEA nightstands that fit our monochrome walls.
The total length of the two rooms combined is about 7.2 metres. After accounting for the width of the wardrobe, the total length is about 6.6 metres, which we would consider more than ample in creating a comfortable sleeping experience.
From this angle, you can see our so-called “walk-in wardrobe”. We don’t know if it meets the technical definition, but it is essentially a room dedicated to storing our clothes. We chose to have doors for our wardrobe for 2 reasons: 1. The threat of dust is real and we do not want to shut the windows 24/7. 2. Very few open wardrobes look nice in real life unless your clothes are all carefully curated and colour-matched.
Okay, there is a story here. The opening between the two bedrooms was supposed to be somewhat centralised. 550mm left wall • 1950mm opening • 1000mm right wall But the structural wall on the left turned out to be wider (1100mm) vs what is on the blueprint (550mm). And somehow we only found out much later in the process. This would have resulted in the following: 1100mm left wall • 1400mm opening • 1000mm right wall. We did not find a 1400mm opening wide enough for what we wanted to achieve. Not fuiyoh at all. In the end, we got creative and changed the room door to French doors that open outwards. That allowed us to hack the 1000mm right wall to get this: 1100mm left wall • 2400mm opening And we decided that we don’t need foldable glass doors between the two rooms. The additional aircon bill (for life) might be cheaper than that of the foldable glass doors.