After waiting for about two months, finally we get our key to our new but old flat. This flat was built in 1948, the so called "post war flat" built by SIT.

We really like its retro look, with curve staircase, circle window, and ours still have its terrazzo floor, louvre window and some mosaic floor.

Here are some pictures of it.

We told the previous owner, a very kind old lady, that she can left anything that she doesn't want any more, because we love retro stuffs.

When we check the flat after we got the key, we found out many beautiful old things. She also left a set of rattan sofas, a bed frame, and a TV console, and a painted solid wood table.

Some of the beautiful retro stuff she left:

After considering a lot of IDs and contractors, we selected a contractor that is recommended by our neighbour. This contractor was also recommended by an ID (this ID is not attached with any contractor).

We decided to do the design ourselves, since I have a design background, and my brother in law can help me to do some 3d rendering.

We decide not to alter much of its original layout since we want to preserve most of the heritage elements of this flat.

We do some adjustment in the space planning to make it more functional. Such as adding room for maid, storage, and making the most of its small toilet and shower area.

So here is the original layout

Here is the new layout:

I decide to take out the sharp "pizza shape corner" of bedroom 3 and merge this into additional area for bedroom 1, as this will be children bedroom.

So the pizza shape corner will be a small cozy corner for the kids, and the area in bedroom 1 will have a wall bed. This will allow flexibility in function, in daytime it can be study area or playing area, and night time we can pull down the wall bed.

The back balcony I divided into 3 section, a small home office, a laundry room and kitchen.

I take out a small portion of bedroom 2 area to make a small storage that also can function as maid room.

The small shower is divided into 2, one can be accessed from the living area and the other from the laundry room.

Since HDB doesn't allow the wet area to be widen, then we have to make the most of this small area.

Each shower room will only be as small as a shower cubicle (around 800mm x 800 mm). We must have two showers, otherwise there will be a lot of queuing in the morning (we have 3 kids, and sometimes our parents visiting).

So I play around with the design a little bit and came out with so many versions of it. Designing own house is not as easy as doing a project for other people. I got too many inspiration, I like too many styles and sometime can't decide which one to put in this flat.

Here are some of the renderings:

This is version 2:

After discussion with our contractor, we found out that the black mirror is too expensive.

So these are the latest rendering, but I have doubt with the marble laminate for the cabinet in living room area. Maybe will change this to wood in light colour.

I guess it is best to keep the permanent things in the flat more neutral colour, such as the built ins and the tiles. So we can put colour on the wall paint, furnitures, and paintings. Neutrals will be more flexible.

A SIT flat transformation! Nice! Will stay tuned to watch your progress

Wow ... really nice place. looking forward to your design

I agree with everyone else - your place is awesome! Really looking forward to watching the transformation taking place

Wow! It is truly unique. The triangle shapes bedroom makes it a real design challenge. Gd luck and looking fwd to update pics!

Interesting! I'm looking forward to more pics too!

Thank you for all the encouraging words.

Today the contractor has finished hacking all the openings. Kitchen and Living room now look brighter, and bigger.

And I'm very happy when I find this on the back balcony wall (I asked the contractor to remove the plastering, just a narrow wall on the corner)

So now I have a small exposed brick wall that is around 65 years old, with "Alexandra" word on it. Very happy

Here are some items that we chose:

Tiles for toilet and shower wall - we chose this because it reminds us of Gaudi's mosaic, looks unique and a little bit earthy.

I chose the white version, and a darker blue one as accent

For the tap we chose a little bit vintage looking. But I am still not really sure - are they too "pretty"?

For ceiling fan, we ordered this bladeless fan from kickstarter

Thank you for all the encouraging words.

Today the contractor has finished hacking all the openings. Kitchen and Living room now look brighter, and bigger.

And I'm very happy when I find this on the back balcony wall (I asked the contractor to remove the plastering, just a narrow wall on the corner)

So now I have a small exposed brick wall that is around 65 years old, with "Alexandra" word on it. Very happy

That is a REAL brick wall!! Lucky you ! Envious !

How cool is that fan! Wanna see more pics of that

Cool fan and really awesome taps! If only they come in copper, that would be best!