A Minimalist Kitchen Hidden in Our Maximalist Home

602

Maximalist
HDB (Resale)
~1,300 sqft
3 br
Couple Living with Kids

This post showcases our kitchen transformation, revealing a surprisingly minimalist design compared to the more vibrant areas of our home. With a variety of appliances to accommodate, we chose a cleaner aesthetic to create balance in the space.
We didn’t manage to take proper "before" photos of the house, so these will have to do! The two major changes we made to the kitchen were removing the entire entrance wall and repositioning the common bathroom door. This photo shows the original kitchen entrance - a small opening that led to the kitchen, common bathroom, and service yard. The narrow entry made the space feel dark and stuffy due to poor airflow.
We removed the wall, added an island, a glass sliding door and a half-folding door above the island. This allowed more light in and dramatically improved the airflow, making the space brighter and cooler. We can also close these doors when doing heavy cooking to contain the smell. Although it may look simple, it took us some time to communicate our vision to our interior designer/contractor and to source for the right products, especially since we didn't want a rail track at the bottom for either the sliding or folding doors. I especially love the island because it serves a dual purpose: it offers ample storage and cleverly hides our chest freezer! Scroll further for a glimpse of our freezer.
These photos show the common bathroom door in the kitchen, right next to the window (see top photo). We decided to move the door to the other wall facing the entrance (see bottom photo where the light switch is) to create a U-shaped kitchen and improve the overall layout. This also provides more privacy for bathroom users, especially when someone else is in the kitchen.
The new kitchen with U-shaped layout and repositioned doors.
The bottom photo shows the other end of the kitchen, closest to the entrance wall. It highlights the area marked by the black rectangle in the top photo. This spot used to be the cooking area, as evident from the sink and food stains that covered the walls and floor though thankfully, they’re not visible in this picture. See below for the transformed space.
Now, this area features a full-length cabinet that provides ample storage, allowing us to neatly hide our washing machine, dryer, and storage for food, condiments, and even the iron. You can also see the newly repositioned common bathroom door on the left!
Here’s another angle of the kitchen entrance
👁️ 👁️ the chest freezer and more storage space!