- Imran Ismail and Fazeela Fazli bought a 30-year-old public housing apartment in Singapore.
- The couple spent S$720,000, or $535,000, on the 1,290 square foot apartment.
- They transformed the space into a cozy industrial style home.
In the year since Imran Ismail and Fazeela Fazli moved into their five-room apartment, they have transformed the space into a home with an artsy, industrial feel.
In Singapore, 80% of the resident population lives in public housing built by the Housing Development Board. These apartments are known as HDB flats.
Most young Singaporeans looking to settle down will apply for a Build-to-Order (BTO) flat.
BTO apartments are new apartments sold by the Housing Development Board. 99 year lease. however, Median waiting period It will take approximately three and a half years to complete the house.
So the couple decided to look for an apartment on the open market instead.
“I didn't want to wait that long,” Imran, a 32-year-old architectural designer, told BI.
In search of my own space
Finding your dream home on the open market was easier than you expected. It only took five sightings before they found their forever home.
The couple's HDB apartment is located in the Bedok area of eastern Singapore.
In terms of location, I wanted to live close to my parents' house.
“Our parents live nearby. In fact, we are in the middle of the family,” Fazila, 33, a social media manager, told BI.
The 1,290-square-foot apartment was already 30 years old when the couple bought it, but they saw potential in the space.
“It wasn't bad at all,” Imran said. “There were a lot of things in the house that we wanted to remove, including false ceilings and built-in cabinets.”
The apartment's spacious layout with plenty of natural light also appealed to the couple.
Renovating a 30-year-old house
The couple paid S$720,000 (approximately $535,000) for the apartment at the end of 2022.
The renovations took about four months, and the couple moved in in early 2023.
Rather than designing their homes around a specific theme, their homes are created from items and materials that they both love.
“I think others might have a theme in mind, using words like 'Scandinavia' to describe their place, but we've never done anything like that. There is no such thing,” Fazila said. “We built and designed this house around things we saw and brought back during our travels.”
Most important, she added, was that their home felt like home.
“We wanted to preserve the house in its purest form,” Imran said. “Like some of the exposed walls, this wasn't even in the plans. We just decided on the spot to leave it in place during the renovation.”
Cozy, ever-changing interior
The interior of the house evolved over several months. “Little by little, we are adding more things to the house,” Imran said, adding that there is a cabinet in the study that was just built earlier this year.
This includes all the art in the dining area that Imran has painted.
“Every time he does a new painting, we change things to accommodate the new work, so the walls will look different,” Fazila said.
Instead of hanging all the artwork on the walls, the couple decided to leave some pieces on the ground.
“I wanted it to be more organic,” Imran said. “When I go to the gallery, and sometimes when I go to the back room, all the pieces are placed like this. They just sit on the floor.”
Despite the exposed walls and concrete floors, the couple's home feels cozy.
Carefully selected wooden furniture stands out against the cold concrete, and small memorabilia displayed throughout the home provide a glimpse into the couple's personalities.
“Rather than over-planning, we wanted the house to be what we wanted it to be,” Imran said.
Conveying the vision of the “construction site”
One of Imran's biggest challenges was getting Fazeela to understand his design vision.
“That's when I asked her if she had ever imagined that her house looked like a construction site,” Imran said.
He wanted to use materials such as stainless steel in the kitchen, but wasn't sure what the final finish would look like.
“What I'm afraid of is using materials like stainless steel, right? I'm like, 'Oh, it's going to look like a slaughterhouse?'” or, “That looks cold.” Or so,” she said. “He had to assure me that everything would be okay at the end of the day.”
Thankfully, things worked out as Imran promised.
“Nowadays, I can't imagine life without a stainless steel kitchen. It's very easy to clean,” Fazila said.
let their personality shine
While Imran's favorite place in the house is the office, Fazeela loves the dining area.
“I was able to invite friends over and host them to play Dungeons and Dragons,” Fazila said. “So I always liked this part, and I think every painting enhances the effect and makes it feel more mysterious.”
There's very little they want to change about their homes – except maybe the couch.
“This is the first one I bought for my house. It looks cute, but it's not comfortable,” Fazila said.
The couple advise those looking to renovate their homes not to be afraid to let their personality shine.
“In some cases, it makes more sense to buy a piece separately than to buy something built-in,” says Imran. You have the freedom to switch things up and move things around whenever inspiration strikes.
“Personally, we like to create things that don't look too perfect, so there are a lot of exposed items,” Imran said. “It's just to inject a little bit of our character into the house. Otherwise it looks too sterile and like any other house.”
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