Perhaps you’re making plans for your BTO reno, or are simply bored with the recommendations that Pinterest has been sending your way. If you’re looking for novel and creative built-in features in your new home, you’re in luck━here are 17 HDB renovation ideas for you to seek inspo from.
Contents
1. Cork walls & a vending machine bomb shelter door
Image credit: Fifth Avenue Interior
Bold, wild and full of character, this speakeasy-inspired HDB flat wholeheartedly embodies the eclectic design style. There is a dizzying array of textures on display in the living room alone, with everything from a cork facade to a white popcorn wall, and even a blue corrugated steel pillar that basks in the glow of a magenta neon sign.
A really cool detail here is the bomb shelter door, which has been cleverly disguised as a yellow vending machine.
Image credit: Fifth Avenue Interior
The speakeasy influence in this home renovation comes across in full force when we get to the kitchen, with retro details like black-and-white checkerboard floor tiles and traditional shophouse breeze blocks alongside bright orange tile countertops and a wire frame shelf.
The photo wall opposite, as well as the signs, lanterns and other trinkets serve as flourishes that complete the look.
2. Container gym & Pac-Man toilet
Image credit: Vincent
Done up in an energetic blue and orange palette, this fun industrial home with a video game-inspired theme is a veritable bachelor pad for those who have always wanted to set their inner child free. The sleek shipping container sheet metal walls serve as a great backdrop to the power rack they’ve installed, giving it an air of fashionable grunginess.
Image credit: Vincent
Although a simple addition, the painted Pac-Man in the bathroom is a good way to add that nostalgic 8-bit personality to the space.
3. A mini Legoland with a Lego train that runs through the walls
Image credit: Flo Design
Hardcore collectors are familiar with the heartache of never having enough space to display all their favourite hobby items without making the home look overly cluttered. For this Lego megafan, the solution was simple: to transform his entire 3-room HDB flat into a mini Legoland.
Image credit: Flo Design
The most jaw-dropping feature here would arguably be the 100% functional LEGO train, chugging along the tracks that stretch across the entire home. There are even specially-made tunnels in the walls to facilitate its visits to the various Lego dioramas here.
Image credit: Flo Design
4. Galaxy-inspired floor & ceiling
Image credit: Weiken
Truly flamboyant, this home looks like the VVIP room in a club set in some cyberpunk show. Best of all, you would never have thought that this is all in a 4-room Tampines HDB flat.
Image credit: Weiken
The epoxy resin treatment covering most of the flooring is unapologetically bold. The glossy popcorn ceiling that reflects the colours of the floor doubles down on the futuristic look, evoking the prismatic colours and clouds of a galaxy. With a $13,000 pool table dominating this space, this room is certainly meant to impress.
5. Raw and debonair Brutalist dining area and bathroom
Image credit: Three-D Conceptwerke
Rough, raw and debonair, the rough-hewn walls and built-ins within this home create the self-assured atmosphere of a bachelor pad. With the heavy textures of both the concrete shelves and a red brick feature wall with deep graining, there is an almost commanding nature to the harshness on display here.
Image credit: Three-D Conceptwerke
The bathroom is where we see the most extensive use of Brutalism in this home, with almost everything done in raw concrete. The plumbing is completely exposed, some of which is left unpainted, and the vintage lamps add a touch of an industrial steampunk quality to the place.
6. Industrial shipping container interiors
Image credit: Fuse Concept
Bold—and definitely a conversation starter—this homeowner actually made versatile use of corrugated shipping container sheets in a $60K home reno. One example would be the feature wall in the living room, with a richly textured patina that helps it stand out against the plain white background.
Image credit: Fuse Concept
The feature wall in the kitchen takes it a step further. Made up of 2 large pieces of dark crimson corrugated metal stretching up one wall and across the ceiling, it adds a dramatic splash of colour to a home characterised by neutral shades.
The neon-lit Chinese character for “home” in the kitchen creates a dramatic bar-like aesthetic for those nights in with their mates.
7. Ryokan-inspired, wood-enclosed living area
Image credit: Goy Architects
There are plenty of Japanese-style homes, but this ryokan-inspired HDB has got to be one of the more comprehensive attempts at the aesthetic. Features such as the traditional Japanese coffee table and plenty of Muji style wood furniture lend authenticity to this crazy cool design.
What ties this renovation together would have to be the shoji screens covering the windows, concealing the surrounding scenery of high-rise buildings to create the illusion of actually being in a Japanese ryokan.
Image credit: Goy Architects
8. Chashitsu space & zen garden
Image credit: Intheory Design
Another stellar example of Japandi design, this $90K 5-room HDB resale renovation is cosiness redefined. The home itself is painted in a comfortable palette of creams, bathed in soft sunlight that filters through the honeycomb blinds.
Image credit: Intheory Design
What really takes the cake would have to be the window seat feature on the bay window. The small table and zaisu chairs make this a great intimate space, perfect for soulful heart-to-hearts and companionable silences.
Image credit: Intheory Design
Another unique design element in this home happens to also be found on the bay window, in the form of a miniature zen garden, cleverly adding that soft pastoral touch to this HDB flat.
9. Versatile tatami platform living room & zen pebble garden
Image credit: Finbarr Fallon
Created from a desire for Japanese minimalism, with a zen haven for both rest and play, this $150K HDB renovation is a gem of a flat that’s part home and part living philosophy. The tatami platform itself is a versatile feature, serving usually as a living space for the homeowner to spend his personal time in, as well as for entertaining.
At night, there is a rolled-up futon that helps it double up as a place for rest.
Image adapted from: Finbarr Fallon
Its most crazy cool design feature, though, would be the Japanese dry garden known as karesansui that they’ve constructed within the flat. With the backdrop of shoji doors hiding a series of bookshelves, this is a serene and highly unique sanctuary that few would expect to see in an HDB flat.
Image credit: Finbarr Fallon
Another noteworthy feature in this home is the moss wall from Mosscape. Besides providing a splash of colour, it also distracts the eye from the rubbish chute on the wall.
10. Tropical island-inspired home with a rattan ceiling
A love of their Filipino heritage resulted in the homeowners of this walk-up apartment dreaming up a tropical island-inspired home that might remind you of your last beach vacay. There are plenty of nifty features here that give off that beachy resort vibe, not least the $16K rattan ceiling in this house.
The result of plenty of planning, coupled with the use of natural rattan and wooden support beams, come together to create just the right atmosphere for this warm, tropical home.
11. Ubud-inspired flat with a kitchen island bar
Image credit: Patrick Lau
Moving from one resort-inspired home to another, this Balinese-style reno is perfect for that permanent vacation vibe. Admittedly more minimalist than some of the resort-style homes out there, the combination of wood furniture, tropical foliage and a cream palette come together to create a home with a comfortable laid-back quality to it.
Image credit: Patrick Lau
It’s at the kitchen island in this home where the magic happens. What’s a regular, admittedly stylish counter is actually a storage solution concealing shelves of booze, so the island doubles up as a bar counter as well.
Image credit: Patrick Lau
It cleverly opens up to reveal a mini bar that’s fully maximised with glass racks, and specially designed shelves for various spirits.
12. Minimalist and clinical ‘Black Mirror’ vibes with a false skylight ceiling
Image credit: Three Haus Works
Clinical and futuristic, with a surreal calm, this home fortunately has all of the Black Mirror aesthetic and none of the vaunted British television series’ dystopian techno-horror. There is a dedication to the all-white palette, right down to the choice of furniture. But what ties it all together is the faux skylight and the stairwell.
Image credit: Three Haus Works
Looking at it, you’d not expect that this home is a HDB maisonette—but the skylight is actually a light fixture, tuned specifically at the client’s request to mimic natural sunlight. It even has a warm lighting mode that emulates the evening sunset.
When it’s turned on with a pure white light, it does a great job of highlighting the extremely clean and sterile look of the home.
Image credit: Three Haus Works
13. Wabi sabi 4-room HDB with a glass-enclosed tree
Image credit: Hoft Interior
Calming and with a gentle palette, this wabi sabi home is given a surreal quality by a curious sight: a tree in the middle of the common space.
Image credit: Hoft Interior
Appearing in stark contrast to the muted tones of the rest of the home, the bright green of this faux tree, lit by an artificial light fixture, serves as a neat way to bring the outdoors inside.
14. $2K faux fireplace complete with its own “chimney”
Image credit: Jesigns Interior Design
Santa might be able to get into an HDB flat for once, at least at this country-themed HDB flat with its own fireplace and chimney. For those who have always wanted to have a home with a hearth, this faux fireplace and chimney—complete with artificial candles to simulate flames—might be just the thing. Best of all, it was done for just $2K.
15. Built-in slide beside the staircase of an HDB maisonette
Image credit: Jesigns Interior Design
This one will spark joy in many an inner child: an HDB maisonette with a slide alongside the staircase.
Image credit: Jesigns Interior Design
Granted, it doesn’t stretch all the way up the L-shaped staircase as it would’ve taken up too much space. Done up entirely in wood, with a Scandinavian aesthetic to match the home, it is a feature that would fulfil many a childhood dream of sliding down bannisters, albeit probably safer.
16. A whole bird enclosure inside of an HDB
Image credit: Weiken.com
Leveraging on the unique layout of HDB flats from the 90’s, the homeowner of this flat dedicated a relatively awkward section of the flat to a whole enclosure for his pet birds. Made glass and mesh, this standalone enclosure is home to 2 pet parrots, with perches that were installed by the homeowner himself.
Its layout and central position within the home harkens to the displays at Bird Paradise, and is definitely a feature that makes this home stand out from others.
17. A whimsical maisonette’s service yard with a 3M-tall rock wall
Rounding off the list of crazy cool HDB flats is a home with a 3m-tall rock wall. While the rest of the home has a Nordic Korean aesthetic that might transport you to a cafe in Korea, they’ve transformed the service yard into a kid’s play area with a 2-storey rock wall. Created for the homeowner’s kids, this rock wall has plenty of peg holes to switch things up and keep play fresh for the children.
The wall also allows the homeowners to stick flashcards to the wall for their kids to retrieve, as an example of ways they “learn through play”.
HDB flats in Singapore with crazy cool design features
From the affordable to the exorbitant, these crazy cool design features in HDB flats are all unique features that have been implemented in a home reno, allowing you to take inspiration for your home as well.
For more landed home inspiration:
- Inside an architect’s self-designed home that’s made for the tropics
- This Brutalist HDB flat n Geylang Bahru is a masterclass in concrete
- An $80K modern Regency-style BTO renovation
Cover image adapted from: Weiken, Fifth Avenue Interior, Vincent
Drop us your email so you won't miss the latest news.
