The Walnut House

A young family moving into an older resale unit. Storage came first: a place for everything, so the flat stays calm with a child at home. Beyond that, they wanted it to feel finished and warm.

Like most resale flats, it needed stripping back before any of that could happen. We hacked out the old finishes, rewired and replumbed throughout, replaced the windows, and rebuilt every room from the floor up.

The island is the centre of the flat. It is wrapped in sintered stone with a waterfall edge, so it reads as one solid piece and holds up to daily cooking and homework. The dining table sits right against it.

The cooking area is behind a full-width sliding glass partition. Open, it joins the kitchen to the dining room. Closed, it keeps smoke and smell in. Walnut tall units and drawers match the island, and the stone continues up the backsplash behind the hob.

Storage starts at the front door. A full-height shoe cabinet runs beside the entrance, and a curved bench with drawers gives the family somewhere to sit and take shoes off.

In the bedrooms, wardrobes go floor to ceiling, with no gap left on top to gather dust. Their ends are rounded, which is softer to look at and safer for a child running past. The master bedroom has wardrobes on two walls.

The master bedroom has a low headboard wall with a strip of cove lighting along the top and lit niches for the sockets on each side. In the living room, the TV wall is clad in stone-look panels with a walnut niche, sitting on a floating walnut ledge.

In the bathroom, the basin is cut into the stone counter itself. Wood-look tiles, a round mirror and black fittings tie it back to the rest of the flat.

Planning a resale renovation? See the resale flat renovation guide or the HDB renovation cost guide.