He wants it minimal, she wants it cute

706

Virtual House Tour

Japandi
HDB (Resale)
~1,000 sqft
3 br
Couple Living

At the start of our renovation process, we agreed on three non-negotiables for us to work within — to keep the space bright, airy — and have minimal dust. Here's featuring a few layout decisions we made to facilitate that.
I was very fond of this particular type of house layout - a 4-room corridor HDB - because of its rectangular layout for both the living and kitchen area. This means no wasted space! So, even though it is a corridor unit (which we used as a bargaining chip), we viewed more than 5 houses with this specific layout which gave us plenty of references too.
The first thing we did was to find a way to expand our small kitchen.
- #kitchen
Almost all the houses that we viewed chose to make the basin the typical L shape to segregate the laundry and cooking area, but this makes the space look even tighter than it already is. After all, it isn't a big kitchen.
Our ID then suggested to straighten everything and add a slimmer island on the other side for appliances. AND IT WORKED! Not just in opening up the space but visually lengthening the kitchen.
- #kitchenlayout
We also chose to put our sofa against the window instead of horizontally across the middle of the living room (like most houses we viewed) so that we won't "cut" the living area into half. This was probably the best choice we made because it made the living room feel like one of a 5-room one!
No regrets opening up the whole space because it allows bigger groups of people to gather around the sofa or dining table.
Peep into the entryway for our rooms 〰
Because the husband is strongly against decorative items that collects dust, I was pleasantly surprised when he took a liking to Warmgrey Tail's products. Me? I am just looking for opportunities to get more of their artwork in future. Huge fan here!
- #decor
- #housedecor
This walnut shelf is definitely not 'oakside-ly' but it is a free shelf that came along with the sofa. It'll do for now as a place for our beginner's collection of plants. More to come!
- #beginnerplant