Piecing Together A Dream Home

When we received our keys last October, we were excited about the endless possibilities to transform the house into our customized home. In this modern day and age, there are so many ideas on design magazines, online blogs such as RenoNation and even from individual contributors on sharing platforms such as Pinterest. We also tapped on the vast portfolios of various interior designers, but eventually found out that we could create a much more customized look and feel if we did it on our own, from scratch. First off, we had to decide on the theme! We were torn between Industrial and the Scandinavian look - but figured that the latter had a longer longevity. With a 3-month-old daughter (who would soon be growing up quite quickly), we also figured the Industrial theme could prove slightly edgy and dangerous for a child roaming around. As such, we settled for Scandinavian - and had to constantly remind ourselves that less is more. Next, we wanted certain key elements of the house to reflect our personalities. We'll start off by sharing our Children's Playroom - where we wanted to inspire an environment of playfulness. We had the room lit by balloon-shaped lights we got from Screed.com.sg, so our children can look into the sky and let their dreams fly high. A crooked door was also hung on the wall to defy the norm, hoping to inspire creativity down the road.

Next, we also wanted a dose of design in our living room. Cream bricks provided a touch of rustic feel, but a whole wall would have been too much. We drew the contours of the bricks while splurging a little on a sofa that matched the living space.

Then it dawned on us that the piano would look quite out of place in a white/cream setting. Pianos come in black after all, and we had to carve out a space in the designated dining area for a black-and-white theme. Fortunately, we found a beautiful clock that comprised of eight butterflies - six of which we displayed on the wall above the piano, and two that fluttered out onto another wall.

Speaking of fluttering out, we do often find ourselves gravitating to our balcony and sipping a cup of tea under the starry lights, quite literally! Leveraging on the idea of using unique lights to give an edgy feel to our home, we purchased a set of 10-bulb molecular lights from Screed and installed it in our balcony, so we can see stars in the sky even on a cloudy night.

And how could we forget our travel memoirs! This metal board was customized to fit the print of a vintage world map sticker. This came in super handy because it turned out we bought a fridge with tempered glass door, which prevented us from putting our magnets where they usually belong.

Finally, we wanted an artsy feel to the master bedroom. We purchased a gorgeous set of designer lights from Screed which spanned across the entire room ceiling, serving as the center of attraction, and the choice of warm-coloured lighting also gave our room a cosy feel. Our custom-designed shelves also allow us to display artifacts of our 10-year dating journey. The bedsheets are characteristic of our cheekiness, but truth be told - I actually take up way more space than the wife :)

In a nutshell, the renovation journey was a long tedious one, especially since it was planned from scratch and even more so that we had designed it on our own. However, the reward of seeing it come together was awesome! A big shout out to my friends who had helped me out along the way - Richard from Golden Fan Contractors who helped with anything to do with a drill, a paintbrush or wires; and Jerry from Screed Lightings who helped me source for the designer light fittings. And of course, to renovation blogs like RenoNation for the inspiration as well!