Renovating your home doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Designing the flat on your own, for one, is a way to whittle down the costs of giving your home a makeover. As homeowner @alliechains proves, you can shave off even more costs by hunting down preloved furniture, rolling up your sleeves, and making them look good again. Find out how she turned her 5-room resale HDB flat into an 1800s Bohemian hideout.
@uchify.sg $12K HDB reno?! This homeowner used DIY magic, second-hand items, bed slats turned into furniture, and lots of discarded wood to create her home! Follow us on Telegram via the link in bio for more content like this! #sghome #hometour #DIYhome #homerenovationideas
Building a kitchen with hidden storage from wood scraps
The kitchen is the heart of every home, and in this 5-room DIY resale HDB flat, this takes on a boho Oriental vibe in the form of teal cupboards and hanging lantern lamps in assorted vibrant hues.
Mismatched lanterns add an eclectic touch to the kitchen.
After an accident left the kitchen damaged and covered in ash, Allie hacked it all away and fitted it out with an old IKEA bedroom cupboard and drawer set, which she put together and painted over.
Under a slatted wooden tabletop in the kitchen sits the washing machine━one part of the tabletop lifts up with the ingenious use of a single hair tie.
A drawer she found was rotated and mounted above the washing machine as storage for washing detergents and the like.
In another case of scavenged treasures made new, what used to be the slatted base of an IKEA bedframe, made of solid pine planks, was transformed into a folding half-height gate. When not in use, it folds up to form the doors to shelves that she put up and framed; opened up, the kitchen can be closed off as a partition.
Breathing new life into discarded furniture
Step out into the living room, and you’ll find what Allie considers one of her best finds: a cherry wood table from Carousell. With some elbow grease, a whole lot of sandpapering and a fresh coat of paint, she turned it into a fresh piece for her home.
There’s no shame in dumpster diving, Allie proves, and this comes in the shape of a TV console that was literally picked up from the junkyard. This, she painted over to match the sofa’s brilliant Prussian blue.
Other pieces which she picked up and revived include this 19th century Chinese sideboard, and coffee table. Some pieces were heavily damaged, or simply abandoned. It may have taken some TLC, but they now stand proudly fixed and are fixtures in her home.
She also put up and framed an old IKEA shelf to hide the hole where an aircon unit used to be mounted on the wall━it now serves as a storage solution for the bedroom.
An eclectic mix of Taobao finds & bold colours
If you needed further proof that Taobao can be a treasure trove, this wardrobe in one of her bedrooms was a bookshelf which she purchased on the Chinese site. She then removed the glass panes and replaced them with light-coloured wooden planks that provide a touch of contrast, and hide the contents.
Next to it sits an IKEA bathroom table, now a bedside table, which she again painted over to match the bold colours of the home.
Then, there’s the bubblegum-pink feature wall that sits behind her bright blue sofa. This was another Taobao purchase, alongside the medallion ceiling feature━both of which she put up herself.
Adding a point of interest to jazz up her ceiling, and match the cornices of the apartment, is this ceiling medallion which only set her back $100.
A settee in bold red velvet adds a touch of plush luxe to the home.
Vinyl tiles to solve the issue of peeling paint in the balcony
Another of Allie’s DIY projects was the enclosed balcony, where she faced the problem of paint which persistently peeled and flaked off. Her solution: vinyl stickers in large chequers of black and white which she put up on the walls.
Other preloved furniture pieces add character to the balcony.
DIY brick wall with a window into the kitchen & bar counter
Of course, she couldn’t have done it all on her own, such as the case of a brick wall which stands between her kitchen and living area. Here, she enlisted the help of her architect uncle to create a rustic brick feature wall with a window and wooden counter.
Rather than simply building it with a window to allow the passage of light, the wooden counter also becomes an extra workspace and cosy breakfast nook.
$12k 5-room DIY HDB resale flat reno
Admittedly, there are sections of this DIY resale HDB that required professional contractors to step in, such as the wooden countertop in the kitchen and the bathrooms. These were the main expenditures of the $12k that, as Allie shares, were unavoidable costs. Perhaps you won’t take the DIY-ing as far as she did, but this might be the inspiration you needed to consider a DIY home as well.
For more HDB reno reads:
- Wabi-sabi & Scandi HDB maisonette with micro concrete stairwell
- Japanese industrial 3-room resale HDB
- $70k post-apocalyptic industrial HDB
Photos taken by Jaslyn Tan.
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