Tips & Tricks for Renovation Rendering

183

Scandinavian
HDB (Resale)
~1,100 sqft
3 br
Couple Living

Embarking on the journey to renovate our 4-room HDB flat was both thrilling and daunting. With a budget of $60,000, we knew we had to be intentional and strategic in our design process. Here’s a look at our renovation journey, filled with insights and tips to help you create your dream home.
🔴 Conceptualization Every great renovation starts with a vision. For our home, we drew inspiration from a blend of modern minimalist design and cozy, rustic elements. Our goal was to create a space that felt open and airy yet warm and inviting.
💡 Tip 1: Prepare a Mood Board Plan and design by creating a mood board. We love Pinterest! Having a mood board keeps you inspired and helps to consolidate these ideas in one place. It will also allow you to narrow down choices, see which colors, and textures work well together. It's also an excellent way to communicate your vision with your ID. Here are some of what we communicated with our ID!
🔴 Rendered Expectations With our vision in mind, we worked with our ID, Serene (intr.studio) over several sessions to create initial renders of our space. We squealed when we first saw the renderings!
💡 Tip 2: Balance Functionality, Aesthetic, and Cost It’s crucial to strike a balance between practicality, aesthetics and budget.
For example: (1) Opting for loose furniture at the entryway instead of a built-in cosy nook (in the rendering) as it is too expensive (Prioritise cost > aesthetics)
(2) Investing in high-quality fittings due to the superior durability (Prioritise practicality > cost) 🔴 Real-Life Transformations This is the most exciting part of the renovation journey, seeing the house transforming from digital renders into a tangible reality.
Check out our renders vs reality! >> Living Room
>> Living Room
>> Living Room
>> Kitchen (Rendering)
>> Kitchen (Reality)
>> Master Bedroom (Rendering)
>> Master Bedroom (Reality)
>> Master Bathroom (Rendering)
>> Master Bedroom (Reality)
>> Common Bedroom (Rendering)
>> Common Bedroom (Reality)
💡 Tip 3: Embrace Unexpected Changes While the final space closely resembled the initial renders, there were some changes along the way. Embracing these changes can lead to better outcomes and a more refined final design. For instance, instead of using tiles on the kitchen walls, which turned out too dark and made the space feel dim, we opted for grease-resistant paint that is light-coloured, durable and easy to clean.
Here are more photos of the progress!
The renovation works was done in 2022. It took about 2.5 months and we spent a total of $72k. Even though it exceeded our budget, every dollar spent has been worth it for the quality and comfort we've achieved! Here are some of our lessons learnt: ✏️ Find trusted and reliable IDs: start by researching and reviewing portfolios of IDs to match their style with your preferences. Meet multiple firms to discuss on the project scope, budget, and timeline. Use this opportunity to assess their communication skills, professionalism, and enthusiasm for your project. We absolutely love working with our interior designer! They're responsive to our ideas and don't hesitate to let us know if something might not work. To make our lives easier, they even narrow down choices to a few great options that match our preferences, sparing us from decision overload. ✏️ Communication is Key: Have a clear and open communication with your IDs to ensure everyone is aligned on expectations, minimizing misunderstandings and delays. ✏️Prioritizing Quality: Investing in high-quality materials will pay off in the long run. ✏️Enjoying the Process: Despite the challenges, it’s important to embrace the renovation journey. We love looking back at photos and videos of the progress. Such a joy seeing the process of transformation into our cozy home that we love.