Airy and Inviting: A $26K Bohemian Mediterranean 4-RM BTO
589
Virtual House Tour
- Coastal Living
- HDB (BTO)
- ~1,000 sqft
- 4 br
- Couple Living with Kids
Welcome to our cozy Boho-Mediterranean home! We wanted to create a warm and inviting space without breaking the bank. With a renovation budget of just 30K below, we were able to achieve our dream home by being mindful of our spending and keeping the original layout in mind, our final cost was $26k in total! We opted for direct contractors to save on costs and decided to design the floorplan/ home ourselves as we picked a standard 4-RM BTO without internal fittings. The result is a spacious living room that's perfect for entertaining and a cozy reading nook for relaxing. The bedrooms are generously sized, ensuring a restful night's sleep, and the kitchen is well-equipped for easy cooking and eyeballing our sons if they are up to their mischiefs! hehe While the rest of our home has a Boho-Mediterranean feel, our bathrooms are modern and stylish with a Scandi-Nordic aesthetic, sticking to HDB's original greyish-sandy tiles, we sticked to neutrals as it is soothing to the eyes and relaxing. 
I love how our entryway turned out! The pastel pink rattan basket purchased from Lims Legacy bring about such a welcoming, warm atmosphere. I especially adore the rattan vases and pampas dried plants from Objet, JB. To add a personal touch, we decorated the wall with family photos from our travels, including some precious shots of our sons as newborns. It's the perfect way to showcase our favorite memories and make our home feel truly ours. 
We created a cozy dining area by combining two velvet ottoman benches with gold legs to form a breakfast nook. We've always love the idea of a breakfast nook as it reminded us living life in the country side. The loose furniture allows us to create a flexible seating arrangement (within our budget), and the benches even have built-in storage for our precious dinnerware! We added some colorful Mexican-embroidered cushions for a touch of personality and hung a rattan pendant lamp above the table. This space is so warm and comfortable, it's one of our favourite spots to enjoy meals and even get some work done! We transformed our living room corridor into a bohemian-inspired space by hanging a macrame wall decor, displaying rattan placemats, and adding a touch of whimsy with miniature camels. The Persian carpet runner completes the look, creating a warm, a tad vintage but vibrant atmosphere. 
We chose colours that are commonly found in bohemian and Mediterranean design, like deep green, rusty brown, and subtle shades of blue. These colours complement our amber oak floors and natural materials like jute, which perfectly match our terracotta walls, cabinets, and rattan aesthetics. We picked natural jute carpet for our dining space, amber oak flooring for a countryside feel, and Spanish laminate tiles in the kitchen wherein it accentuates the mediterranean theme. 
The natural light streaming through the windows illuminates the warm bohemian vibe, creating a countryside-inspired atmosphere in our living room. The earthy tones, colourful, textured fabrics, and eclectic mix of decor elements come together to make it a truly warm space to entertain guests and to get comfy! From this angle, you can see our cozy Moroccan pouf and the eclectic colours of our living room. We repurposed a study table meant for the boys' room into a feature, adding a touch of rustic charm. We also thought that dried plants scattered around add a natural earthy-feel to the space and plus, pampas plants are commonly low-maintenance! This view from the living room corridor gives you a different perspective of our space. Notice the key holder on the wall – it's super convenient for keeping track of our important letters, keys, and bags. We repurposed a terrazzo cup into a unique vase for dried pampas and wheat, adding a touch of natural charm. The rattan mirror is a focal point, and we love how this corner of the room feels so calming with all the natural elements. As mentioned previously, one of our favourite features is the cozy dining nook. It's the perfect spot for casual meals or simply relaxing with a cup of coffee. Located right next to our mini coffee bar! Our dining room has a bohemian Mediterranean vibe, with three A4 sized-Moroccan watercolor paintings as the focal point on the wall. The ethnic cushions on the dining benches and rattan pendant lamp above brings about a cozy atmosphere. As a lover of all things rustic and clutter-free, I opted for an open-kitchen design to maintain a sense of spaciousness. To keep the area tidy, I drilled rails on the wall and the contractors installed an overhead dish rack with a tinted glass shelf: It's the perfect way to store dishes without sacrificing countertop space. Our kitchen corner is the perfect spot to grab a cup of coffee. The rattan bar stools match the rustic aesthetic, and the framed photos above our coffee machines are a hilarious reminder of our family's favourite beverages: me with my espresso, my husband: brewing coffee, and the kids enjoying their babycinos and bottled milk. It's a charming and functional space that brings us joy every morning/ or every time when we have guests over the nook ! Welcome to our cozy reading nook! It is a haven for bibliophiles like us. The warm sunlight streaming through the window creates a peaceful atmosphere that invites readers to curl up with a good book and get lost in its pages. The shelves are brimming with literary treasures, ranging from classic novels, anthropology, psychology, contemporary religions to modern bestsellers. The comfortable seating and soft lighting make this space perfect for hours of uninterrupted reading. Oh! and subtle rattan aesthetic there! The rattan basket is used to store our prayer mats! My study table is a treasure trove of knowledge and memories. It's where I've spent countless hours pouring over textbooks, researching for my thesis, and crafting essays. The shelves are lined with academic tomes that have guided me through my years as an undergraduate and masters' student. It's a testament for the dedicated sleepless, quite nights, I endured hehe My husband's study table is his personal sanctuary, where he delves into his books and several academia research. The books on the desk are stacked with scholarly texts, for easy reference. The window offers a breathtaking view of the highway and Mandai Forest, a perfect view for deep thought and creative exploration. It's a space where ideas take flight and knowledge is cultivated. We simply love how we structured his work-desk in this manner! :) Our boys' room is a cozy and functional space, perfect for two growing toddlers. We've used a pull-out bed to save space, transforming the room into a play area during the day and a sleeping haven at night. The large windows bring in plenty of natural light, making it a bright and cheerful environment for our little ones to grow up in! 
We wanted our kids to have a place where they could let their imaginations run wild and be their own little architects. So, we decided to turn their room into a LEGO wonderland! We built a LEGO wall made out of LEGO base plates. We hope they see this room as more than just a space but a playground for the mind! Our master bedroom is a cozy, boho/scandi themes where the colours are soft, natural and soothing, one where we can truly unwind and relax. We kept things simple but stylish, with a focus on warm, amber oak tones that complement the HDB original fittings like the bathroom doors and toilet tiles which we opted NOT to change as we do not want to splurge further and keep it wallet-friendly. We just want something that spells out "effortlessly chic"! 
Our L-shaped wardrobe, an idea recommended by our contractor, is a space-saving concept that holds all our clothes and accessories - and even hides a full-length mirror! Our integrated vanity is another functional and practical win, keeping our room clutter-free. It's a space where we can move around with ease at our own comfort and pace. We added a touch of boho chic with a rattan mirror from IKEA, which makes the room feel larger. And our bamboo ladder is the perfect tool to hang our daily essentials, keeping everything organized and easy to grab. Two materials that we played with here : rattans and bamboo- what a winning combo! Here, we went full-on scandi as we kept the original HDB tiles and added a touch of creativity with some matching accents to the initial colour palette. It's a simple yet stylish space with more in-built storage hidden in the mirror for us to keep our stocks! We envision our master bathroom like a spa-like retreat where we can truly unwind. We love the separate wet and dry areas, which make it feel more luxurious yet minimalist. The clear glass shower adds a touch of openness and the bamboo storage shelf is a stylish and practical way to keep our essentials organized. It's the perfect place to start and end our day with a warm shower! Our master bathroom storage is all about keeping things effortlessly chic but minimalist. The bamboo fixtures add a touch of natural warmth, while the space-saving corners are the perfect spot to stash our daily essentials; mainly, one of our favourite scent from Hooga , 'Black Pomegranate,' which fills the space with a delightful gourmand aroma. On a budget, we managed to snag an amazing rainshowers from Shopee that's both stylish, functional and affordable! It's the perfect finishing touch to our chic, scandi-minimalist space. Our common bathroom may not be as fancy as the master, but it's still a cozy and functional space. A funny encounter- we scored a fantastic deal on the toilet doors from a neighbour, who just happened to live two blocks away! Farouq had to put in a bit of elbow grease to get them installed, but we're so glad we did. The original fittings add a touch of character, and the clean, simple Scandi look creates a calming atmosphere. While we considered a glass partition, we decided to keep the space open for our boys as recommended by our contractor. As for our common bathroom's vanity, the ashy oak wood is the perfect finishing touch, adding a touch of warmth to the ambience. We wanted our common bathroom to be a rejuvenating space. So, we carefully curated every detail to create a calming and natural atmosphere. The oak colour palette, the terrazzo diffuser from Hooga with the delightful gourmand-fruity notes called 'Tropical Cruise', and the bamboo soap dispenser all work together to transport and screams, 'unwind'. Thank you for reading our post! xxx
- 18 October
Report Post