Nothing beats the comforts of a personalised living space.
Think about your home's design as something that aids your lifestyle—the walls, decorations, and furniture pieces you get up and go home to daily. For a fresh and picture-perfect flat, we've rounded up some easy and doable decorating ideas that are perfect for your budget. Whether sprucing up your living room, revamping your kitchen, or beautifying your bedroom, this quick guide will inspire you to journey to a levelled-up home.
If you live in an HDB or BTO flat in Singapore, you might have encountered limitations in renovating and decorating your space. Major renovations and wall hackings, on the other hand, are not required to freshen up your home. With just a few design tweaks and lots of creativity, you can start your new journey with your new design.
Spice Up Your Walls with Colours
Colour makes a lot of difference in designing a space. It sets the mood of your area as it communicates with the eye.
One effective way to bring colour to your walls is by painting them. Choose a colour that suits your preference and the ambience that you want to achieve. Add some personal touches by painting details using a stencil. If you have a tighter budget, a more budget-friendly way is to use self-adhesive wallpaper.
This is efficient, automatically creating depth and variety in your space. It is also easy to remove if you need a non-permanent design for your flat. You can also adorn your walls with wall decals of your choice. There are lots of colours and designs to choose from.
Showcase Your Collections
Whether in your bedroom, living room, or kitchen, you can set up a corner to display the items you love. Your ceramics, antiques, and mementos can have a special spot in a transparent glass hutch. You can also include them in the stacks of books on your bookshelf or make them part of your kitchen design. Start small with a few items and slowly expand your collection with original pieces, replicas, or DIY projects you are fond of.
Hang Some Artwork on Your Walls
Incorporating some framed artwork into your design is an effective way to personalise your space. You can do this anywhere in your home.
Make your walls meaningful with pieces you adore, from minimalist framed art to retro and abstract. You may also invest in original commissioned works from artists. Set them up in threes or create a gallery wall with multiple pieces in different designs and sizes.
Use small to medium-sized artworks to anchor low furniture like your sofa and low-configuration bookshelf by hanging them on top. Adding your favourite art pieces will surely give your home a warm feel.
Revamp Your Windows
Instantly upgrade your interiors with drapes (or three) on every window. For small spaces, a light wall treatment can make rooms look more spacious. To add depth to your area, choose some patterned curtains.
Tip: If you want to make your ceiling look higher, opt for longer curtains, then install them more elevated than where you usually hang them. If possible, go as high as your ceiling, but make sure your curtains are still longer than the bottom part of your window. This will give you the illusion of a bigger space since your eyes will be drawn directly to where you hang your drapes.
Work on Your Lighting
Proper lighting makes a huge difference in interior design. A small change in your lighting can drastically alter the look of your space.
Your general overhead lighting might not be enough to brighten up all areas of your room. It may also fail to draw attention to your wall paintings and focal designs.
Although general lighting brightens up most of your area, smaller solutions like accent lighting can make your room look warmer and more inviting. Dimmers and lamps make your bedroom cosier and more conducive for sleeping. Task lighting illuminates important parts of your room that are shaded by your furniture.
Think about installing some task lighting at the bottom of your upper kitchen cabinets to give you a better view of your countertop.
Decorate with Mirrors
Mirrors significantly enhance spaces and invite light into your area. When properly positioned, your mirrors can reflect focal points in your room and make a small space look less occupied.
Mirrors can be incorporated into your design in various ways. You could add some decorative mirrors to your wall gallery. They can also go in a trio when creating your accent wall. Hanging a mirror in your small foyer makes it look more spacious and prominent, thus enhancing the welcoming ambience of your home. A round and minimalist mirror can spruce up your bedroom when hung on top of or beside your chest of drawers.
Build a Display Corner
Utilise a bookshelf, a display unit, or a glass-door cabinet and create a display corner filled with the things you love. Start with the items you already have, like your books, vases, accessories, ornaments, or framed photos. The rule of three is a simple and effective trick to scale your design. Arrange three items or a group of items on each square shelf. This rule creates the sense of having a centre or focal point.
For a picture-perfect display corner, maintain the balance by mixing decorations of various shapes and sizes instead of placing similar items in one place. Do not overwhelm your design with tons of ornaments.
Play with Your Home Furniture
The design possibilities furniture brings to your home are arguably limitless. You just need the proper furniture piece and creativity. If you're not confident enough to experiment, continue reading this section.
Whether designing your BTO from scratch or remodelling your HDB, how you approach furniture selection is critical. When working with furniture, always check what you already have and envision what you want your space to be. Do you want it to look bigger? Do you prefer compact living? Are cool tones more appealing to you? Would you like to go modern? All these factors should be considered while planning your design. Of course, you should never compromise your needs and lifestyle.
To make small spaces look bigger, opt for low-profile furniture with exposed legs. This provides an illusion of space for both your floor and ceiling. An elegant coffee table with a prominent leg design makes an unexpected focal point for your living room. For open-concept living rooms, using a sectional sofa will help provide a sense of intimacy by visually dividing your space.
Modernise your dining room with a combination of upholstered or coloured dining chairs. Get rid of the cookie-cutter dining setup by incorporating asymmetry into your design. Use the dining chair and dining bench or armchair and dining chair combinations to make your area more varied and fun.
Surround Your Home with Things that Make You YOU
The most important thing that the best interior designers in Singapore encourage is that you choose furniture and decorations that you love. Express your personality; be a little quirky or laid-back. It is all up to your taste and lifestyle. Always remember to make yourself happy while sprucing up your home.