Inside a practical Modern Mediterranean 4RM BTO
477
Virtual House Tour
- Mid-Century Modern
- HDB (BTO)
- ~1,000 sqft
- 3 br
- Couple Living
Hi everyone! We are a DINK couple from a Clementi BTO! Here are some snapshots of our 4-room abode. I would describe our style as Modern Mediterranean. We initially fell in love with Greek design, but decided it was too expensive to execute. We then discovered the Modern Mediterranean style and were enamoured with the warm woody tones, interesting tiles, and the use of terracotta. However, practicality matters to us too. We agreed we would not strive for aesthetics at all costs. We engaged an ID and have successfully kept to our budget of less than $50,000 in renovation costs (excl aircon and electrical works)! 
Welcome to our living room. I love the colour palette and textures here: the pastel yellow walls enhanced by our warm spotlight, together with the pop of burnt orange in our feature arch. Further down we have our dark wood TV console (matching our Samsung Frame bezel) on our stony grey floor. ! BUDGET RENO TIP: Built in carpentry costs a pretty penny; a loose TV console can be cheaper. However the common downside is that it often cannot be flush against the wall because of power sockets. To avoid this, we asked our carpenters to saw some holes at the back of the console so that the power sockets could fit through, and viola, our $249 TV console is flush against the wall! Goodbye to dusty bunches of cables! 
Here's our humble seating area! We've styled our faux leather sofa with a reindeer pelt we picked from our holiday in Norway. It just goes so well together don't you think? Also, shout-out to the MUJI cloud pillow, it makes for the perfect neck support when we are watching TV! Create space for hobbies too! Here's the other wall where we've put our digital piano. I like that it does not look too bulky. To be honest, its sound cannot rival that of a real piano, but that's all reflected in the price tag. We only paid 3 digits for this and it comes with many functions including the ability to plug in ear phones (so my neighbours cannot hear my mistakes). 
Here's our very simple bomb shelter facade. The doors are fitted with tic-tac mechanism so that we achieve the seamless look. We wanted to break up the "stony-ness" of our home so we opted for a grey wood-grain laminate here. TADAH! Our hidden shoe cabinet behind our bomb shelter facade! We decided to keep it slimmer, so our shoes are unable to fit in "headfirst". RENO TIP: be mindful of the bomb shelter door handle, and also that this carpentry may sag over time due to the weight of the shoes. Our ID mitigated this by installing wheels below so the cabinet is always supported. Something to check with your ID / contractor! Onwards to one of my favourite spots in the house: our dining / kitchen area :) Loving the arched hallway, and floor tiles, that give our home a softer look. By the way, real terracotta takes a lot of maintenance, so we opted for porcelain tiles that have a terracotta look. One practical thing we did is to opt for CEILING FAN instead of feature lights. We do not use air-con often and love the circulation that a ceiling fan provides. Naturally, our home does not look as "aesthetic", but I firmly believe a home must fit you, not you having to fit your home. 
A closer look at our floor curve! RENO TIP: During the defect check, make sure to check if the workmanship is up to your expectations! This was only achieved after a few rectifications (they ended up cutting the tile in front of us so that we could give live feedback). Zooming in to our pièce de résistance - our fish tank! When designing our home, we knew we wanted to set up a fish tank and we ultimately decided to have it near the dining table as entertainment for our guests. This was thoughtfully customised by ourselves (with input from our ID as to whether it is workable). RENO TIP: Really think about what you would like in your home! I know it would have been far more difficult for us to house a fish tank "aesthetically" if we did not plan our renovation around it. For example, we planned to have a "flap" to hide the distracting power sockets and to create as much of a seamless look as possible. In keeping with our Modern Mediterranean theme, we opted for a stony laminate, terracotta-looking tiles, and a patterned tile backsplash. RENO TIP: When designing our kitchen, bear in mind the colours of your appliances, so that it does not get too messy. For us, we went with stainless steel and black. Also, consider having a corner fan as it can get quite hot when cooking! But sometimes I forget its on and my pepper / powdered herbs fly all over the place. We've hidden our power sockets and switches for our dishwasher, hob, and hood as they can be quite unsightly. There is some sacrifice in storage space but we think it looks so much better! We have 4 power points along our kitchen countertop, but do think of how many you need. Welcome to our guest bathroom! Can you tell by now how obsessed we are with terracotta? We opted for a wet toilet here as HDB toilets are tiny as is, and we felt that shower doors make the toilet even smaller. Also, we considered it would be more convenient for maintenance of our fish tank and bathing of children (if any!). We also made sure to buy a WATERPROOF toilet vanity, so that we would not have to worry about accidentally damaging the vanity with water. After a long and hard search, we were very happy with the ones we got from BANOLUZ :) Lastly, we also installed a mosquito net for the toilet window, so that we can keep it ventilated without insects coming in :) 
Our sanctuary at night. This room has a more modern vibe than the rest of the house. Also, we opted for a darker blue so that it can facilitate falling asleep. To ensure some continuity, we used the same laminate for our carpentry here as the one in the dining / kitchen area! Last but not least, the master bathroom! We absolutely fell in love with these tiles while shopping and had to have them! It matched our blue bedroom, and the grey tiles we have in the bathroom too! This also ended up being a wet bathroom because we had issues with the shower door running into the toilet door. However, the shower screen does a great job in keeping most of our bathroom dry, and I enjoy the ease in getting in and out of the shower! 
We hope you enjoyed our house tour and that our post gave you some food for thought! Here's our floor plan to tie it all up together, and happy renovating!
- 18 July
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