Attention all 80s kids, this retro BTO in Punggol might just be your childhood dream home come true. Singaporeans these days typically go for a minimalist Scandi home with a neutral colour palette, but the homeowners of this retro games-inspired 5-room BTO bucked the trend by creating a home that’s colourful and fun, yet neat and streamlined.
Vincent, the talented interior designer behind this trendy retro home, had to consider his clients’ personal interests before embarking on a complete overhaul of the default BTO design. The homeowners wanted an industrial-themed base but also granted Vincent creative freedom to infuse their shared passion for gaming into the design.
With a keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of his client’s lifestyles and hobbies, Vincent crafted an 80s retro-style home interwoven with industrial elements, resulting in a unique and exciting living space.
Shipping container home gym
Anytime Fitness may be super convenient as it’s open 24/7, but you know what’s even better? Having your own gym at home. The homeowners of this Punggol BTO clearly think the same way as they worked with Vincent to turn their living room into a place for working out.
Instead of a typical set-up comprising a TV and sofa, Vincent filled the living room with a power rack and billiard table. The home gym area is visually demarcated by the use of zinc metal panels, meticulously spray-painted in blue and orange, on the ceiling and wall.
Image credit: Vincent
The same blue-and-orange combo can be seen on another wall, this time in the gaming room, which creates a cohesive look and ties it all together.
Image credit: Vincent
This clever interplay of materials introduces a playful ambience and adds depth to the space, creating a visually exciting environment. We also love the cheeky touches such as an ice cream cone-shaped doorstop and shark slippers, which hint at the homeowners’ fun personalities.
Vending machine bomb shelter
Image credit: Vincent
HDB bomb shelter doors aren’t the most attractive. After all, they’re there to serve a practical and lifesaving function, not to look pretty. Still, with the right inspiration and interior designer, you can make it look so good that it becomes a statement piece in your home.
Case in point: Vincent disguised the bomb shelter door and made it look like a vending machine painted in orange, seamlessly integrating with the overall aesthetic. This was done without compromising the integrity of the bomb shelter door and interior, in line with HDB regulations.
Video game console-inspired wall partition
Image credit: Vincent
There’s plenty of space set aside for other types of fun – by that, we meant games and music. To do this, Vincent combined two rooms into one to create an open, airy space where the homeowners could indulge in their hobbies. The gaming side of the room is separated from the music area with a wall partition bearing three cut-outs.
Image credit: Vincent
Red and blue inlaid tiles on the floor in front of the TV and gaming console spell out “GAME?”. To that, the answer is always a resounding yes.
Meanwhile, the music side of the room is adorned with a spray-painted graffiti wall, proudly created by Vincent.
Pixel kitchen
Image credit: Vincent
The 8-bit aesthetic of the gaming room carries through to the kitchen, where colourful square tiles are used to represent the lorge pixels you’d see on old-school game screens. The kitchen backsplash comprises tiles in green, blue, red and yellow, forming four large blocks.
Multicoloured tiles laid out on the floor, arranged randomly this time, create a clear separation between the wet and dry areas of the kitchen.
Image credit: Vincent
Textures and finishes can drastically change up a one-dimensional space, and one key thing we can learn from Vincent is his use of contrasting finishes. Normally, bright colours and black can look overwhelmingly vibrant when used together. But in this case, as the kitchen furniture bears matte finishes, the harsh black tones are dulled down to allow the bright, pixel tiles to shine.
Retro Pac-Man bathroom
Sometimes, a simple icon can breathe life into a concept. Here, Vincent chose the timeless Pac-Man logo, which was the perfect element to zhuzh up the common toilet.
Image credit: Vincent
As the common toilet isn’t the most spacious, Vincent had to find a space-saving way to infuse the gaming and 8-bit aesthetic without creating clutter. He decided to use wall tiles to create Pac-Man – as a gamer himself, Vincent knew the iconic mascot of our childhood would be a fitting addition to the toilet.
Image credit: Vincent
Monotone master bedroom
Image credit: Vincent
The bedroom, in contrast to the rest of the colourful house, is distinctly monochromatic. This is to provide some balance and help ground the overall design so that the interior design doesn’t look overwhelming. The same principle explains why the entire apartment has cement screed flooring.
The walls of the master bedroom builds on the look of the cement screed flooring, creating a seamless integration of lines by mimicking the same concrete texture.
Image credit: Vincent
Most challenging aspect of the renovation
Image credit: Vincent
They say that the devil is in the details, which is especially true for this project. Vincent shared that the toughest challenge he faced was the countless details and specifications in each corner of the house, which obviously isn’t your run-of-the-mill Japandi style. This meant that time management and communication of ideas were crucial in order to manifest the envisioned concept.
“I’ve gotta give credit to my contractor, who was able to accept my wild ideas and craft them. Designs such as the Pac-Man tile art are extremely time-consuming as each individual tile needs to be cut and ground down,” Vincent says.
Retro game-inspired Punggol BTO
There’s no need to leave fun and games behind in your childhood and grow up to become boring adults. Vincent has proven that it is possible to stylishly feature game elements into your home without coming across as childish or garish. If you want to recreate something similar, all you need is $100,000 on hand and about six or seven months to spare – no sweat.
For more featured local homes:
- Disney & Peanuts-inspired BTO
- Japanese hipster cafe-style HDB
- Futuristic HDB that looks like Apple Stores circa 2050
Cover image adapted from: Vincent
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