Japandi HDB Reno – All Done

Japandi HDB Reno – All Done

It’s been 2 weeks since the apartment was handed over to me. A few minor rectifications to be made, but that hasn’t stopped me from moving in. Moving house is back breaking work, especially for a soloist!! One tip: Get a steam mop – it gets rid of all the fine dust in no time, allowing one to focus on unpacking and moving in!

Anyhow, here’s a look at the current state of my Japandi-styled home!

But before that, let’s take a look at the configuration of the apartment pre-renovation!

The protruding store room restricted what would otherwise have been a spacious entryway.

A view of the kitchen and service yard from the living/dining area.

Viewing out from the kitchen. Yes the size of the kitchen is small.

The hallway to the various rooms and common bathroom.

Post-renovation photos!

If you have read this far, you would have seen the journey of structural changes this apartment has gone through over the course of the last few months. This is what is looks like now, 2 weeks after renovation!

I work long hours, so when I reach home I need to relax and be greeted by the sights and sounds of nature.The water feature (from Fukai) and the lights here turn themselves on as soon as I step through the door.

Water feature all lit up!

Storage cabinets that have taken the place of the store room.

A view of the living room area! The “cubby” below the soundbar looked messy ?no thanks to all the devices placed there, so I covered them up with a few (inverted) baskets from Ikea!

My open concept kitchen, the peninsula and dining area.

A closer look at the dining area and peninsula. I am glad that I went with laminated countertop for the peninsula as it is more sturdy (scratch resistant, stain resistant and easier maintenance all around) compared to my cultured marble dining tabletop or my kitchen’s solid surface countertop!

A lot of people like to lament how kitchens in older (pre-2000) HDB apartments had very large kitchens compared to the HDB apartments of today. If that is true, then my apartment must have a truly “exceptional” layout with its relatively diminutive kitchen!

Managed to squeeze a slim pull slide out cabinet baskets for condiments etc from Excel Hardware between the induction cooker hob and the fridge. No gas because I watched the Towering Inferno as a child and it left a deep impression on me.

2 more pull out cabinet baskets from Excel Hardware, this time for plates, utensils and cutlery. On the countertop are what I consider absolute essentials for soloists – a Zojirushi rice cooker and a compact multifunctional steam oven i.e.. Panasonic Cubie.

Not going to show my service yard/laundry room since I have not done much work on it yet, but just wanted to say that I really love how my Varlux ceiling mounted automatic laundry rack gets my laundry out of the way! Particularly useful when I was drying my bedsheets and mattress protector! Can’t imagine having to hoist those on bamboo poles or pulling them up via a pulley system!

What I now have a great appreciation for – a dehumidifier for laundry! Sucks all the moisture from laundry, and ensures no smells or mildew! Really essential if you have no choice but to dry all your laundry indoors because there is nobody at home to hoist them out into the sun (and take them back in when it starts to rain!) I use a combo washer-dryer machine, but I intend to use it only for washing to save on electricity bills and minimise wear and tear on my clothes!

A number of relatives walked into the glass door of my study room when they came visiting!? I think I need to paste a suitable decal on it for safety. Makes me glad that I went with a 1m concrete wall for the glass wall next to it – any lower and there might have been more accidents!

Managed to get my hands on a Gerton tabletop from Ikea for the computer table! Learnt how to apply polyurethane coats on it so that it looks better and is more stain resistant.

These are Ikea’s versatile Ekets with their optional wooden legs. I customised a woodtop order and applied polyurethane to complete the look!

Cosy/reading corner in the study. A frameless and comfortable sofa bed next to my display shelf from Castlery..pardon my mish mash of anime and non-anime figurines

A view of the hallway to the master bedroom. It’s also a great place for me to put up some art pieces!

Opted to place art works on picture ledges from Ikea to minimise nailing of picture frames to the wall. This way, I can also easily swap out art pieces over time.

The common bathroom. Those are Ikea Ostana lights above the mirror cabinet. Going with shower curtains instead of a glass wall for the shower area means that I can swap out different shower curtains over time to refresh the look of the bathroom! Not going to show the master bathroom because it is similar in layout and just has a different art piece and shower curtain design.

And finally..the master bedroom.

Not many changes since my last photos since I intend to keep the look of the entire room as basic and clutter free as possible so that I can fall asleep sooner!

And that concludes a tour of my post-renovation apartment! Hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing about the process!