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Entryway: Blending Retro Glass Bricks with Modern Contemporary Design
HomeCosying Up to a 39Yr-Old HDB for 45K
gangsagem
Cream Minimalist, Zen Haven
Cosying Up to a 39Yr-Old HDB for 45K
104
- Minimalist
- HDB (Resale)
- ~700 sqft
- 2 br
- Couple Living
Hi there! We’re V&KC, and we’re the happy owners of @gangsagem - our precious gem we’re proud to call home in the Northwest of Singapore. Our main vision for our home would be a relaxing space that feels cosy, clean and bright with neutral and grey undertones (for less cleaning). (There’s no online tag for our sofa which we bought at Harvey Norman Factory Outlet so I’m tagging something similar.) 
Our 39-year-old resale home is a 3-room model “A” which we think has the best layout (in terms of maximised space). We’re DINKs, and plan to be DINKs for the rest of our lives so budget and space wise, a 3-room-resale fit our plans. Both of us agreed that we would minimise hacking and built-ins unless absolutely necessary. We were so lucky that the previous owner kept the house in really good condition so we kept the living room tiles and simply polished them (since they fit the cream tone). We also chose a uniform off-white paint for all our walls and ceiling to give our living room the cosy vibes it needed. There is no built-in furniture in the living room, not even a TV, so that we can have the freedom to recalibrate in future. To keep costs down, we chose to keep the previous owner’s false ceiling. The husband replaced all the false ceiling lights on his own and is in charge of the cleaning (since he is tall). To make cleaning easy for our robot vacuum, we chose to go with a ceiling fan instead of a standing fan and most furniture pieces have legs. The previous owners also left us this table and while we weren’t keen on the wooden legs, we do love the cream-coloured surface (plus it is quartz and in really good condition). Our dining room seating comprises of two Ikea TEODORES chairs and a bay window cabinet which doubles as seating and storage. 
Our second bedroom is Mrs gangsagem’s nerd and study room because she’s a FunkoPop! collector. It’s the most out of character compared to the rest of the house since it has so much colour and is definitely not minimalistic. But hey, behind closed doors right? This customised built-in carpentry was one of the most expensive things in our renovation cost. Understandably so since the dimensions were customised to fit FunkoPop boxes. The tempered glass doors were also rather pricey. Though Mrs gangsagem really regrets getting tinted glass, she heard that it can possibly help preserve the colours on the collectibles. The pull-down doors at the bottom act as storage for books and documents. All of Mrs gangsagem’s Marvel paraphenelia are displayed here (so that we still maintain our minimalist cream in the common areas) and this room also doubles as her work space. It’s where you’ll find her most of the time. This room is adjacent to the corridor so there is some natural light that comes in during the day, but it doesn’t get too glaring or hot. The master bedroom is right next door and we keep up with the cream and neutral tones here, from our bed frame to our built-in wardrobe. We decided to get darker beige curtains to help with blocking out light. Since 3-room flats lack storage space, we decided to get a storage bed to help us keep the mess out of sight and maintain our minimalist look. The master bathroom is where we shift from white and cream to a grey tone. Our contractor used cement grouting so tiles which were grey would blend well to give our bathroom a more seamless look. We also chose white bathroom fixtures for continuity. 
The light shop we went to insisted that they only sold toilet-suitable bathroom lights with cool white lighting so our bathrooms are where you get a cool grey vibe and are extremely well-lit (though this is not ideal at night). Shower glass panels are a chore to clean but the separation of wet and dry is something we appreciate greatly. The next room with cool lighting is our kitchen. We chose track lights so that the kitchen is brighter. Everything you see on the right was actually an existing feature of the previous owner’s home (apart from the countertop and sink cabinet which had to be replaced). Mr gangsagem is a professional cook and Mrs gangsagem loves cooking so we wanted more prep space in the kitchen. The built-in on the left was added on to house our microwave, airfryer and act as more counter space and storage. We have nothing but love for our huge, grey kitchen. This is our mini laundry area. We kept costs down by sticking to bamboo-pole-drying indoors. To give the appearance of a larger kitchen, we also removed the window grilles. Mr gangsagem made these insect nets on his own so that we can keep the windows open from time to time without worrying about birds coming in. The only other room apart from the kitchen which gets natural light is our common bathroom. The morning sun’s rays in here are always so beautiful, and Mrs gangsagem has an unhealthy amount of sun-lit bathroom photos in her phone. This bathroom has no glass panel since it is already rather narrow and small. Since no one showers here, it’s not necessary. It’s a great second bathroom for when nature calls both of us at the same time. 🤭 Which is your favourite part of the house?
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