Makeover Magic – This bright and clutter-free home is exactly what this three-generational family needed!

In this series of blogposts, we feature six real-life spaces which underwent an extreme makeover as part of Mediacorp Channel 8’s new home makeover show House Everything. TAK, the parent company of Lamitak, proudly sponsored the laminates featured in these stunning transformations.

Emily from Starry Homestead designed lots of storage spaces and used a pastel colour palette to give this once cluttered home a clean and calm look.

Home to five adults, a young child and a baby, this four-room HDB flat was in dire need of help. Besides the household clutter that has been accumulating over the years, now kiddy clutter, such as a playpen and toys, have added to the mess. The flat’s owners live with their son, daughter and son-in-law, and two grandchildren.

The family’s youngest daughter Linda responded to Mediacorp’s call for entries to take part in House Everything. “I nominated my family home as it was slowly becoming difficult to move about the house with the existing clutter and increasing number of occupants,” she says. Her parents had moved into the flat in 1988, and haven’t renovated it since. She hoped that the renovation will provide “a relaxed and cosy environment for the family, space for their young children to play, and a dining area for the whole family to have meals together”.

Before the renovation (Photos courtesy of Starry Homestead)

A light colour scheme, and white and baby blue laminates from Lamitak on the shoe cabinet above help make the home look more spacious.

Starry Homestead, the interior design firm managing all the makeovers in this series, tasked Emily Voon, branch manager of their Paya Lebar showroom to design this space. Emily explains she first had to get to know the family’s lifestyle to create a space that would fit their needs.

“I understand the family is very thrifty and had kept many things over the years. The grandparents take care of their grandkids in the living room, which explains why it was occupied by a big playpen, lots of kids stuff and even a small pantry to warm milk for the baby,” says Emily. To prepare for the makeover, the family first sorted out their items with a professional organiser and eventually discarded a lot of stuff.

Keeping the play area confined to one corner of the room frees up the living space for easier movement around the space. The pull-out desk on the right is a great space-saving idea.

Emily designated a play zone for the children and placed the sofa next to this area so that the adults, who are watching TV, can keep a close tab on the kids. She also installed a hook on the ceiling so the family can use a hanging cradle for the baby. This helps to save space and replaces the need for a playpen which was previously in the middle of the room. “When the grandchildren no longer need the play area, the family can use this space for a comfy armchair,” says Emily.

In the play zone, a narrow kids-height ledge lets the little ones display their books and small toys. Next to the playmat, a low bench cleverly stores a pull-out table top in an enclosure which can also be used to keep the children’s stationery supplies. The rest of the cabinets are meant for shoe storage, by clad in Lamitak’s Designer White (SCA 5101D) and Ethan Blue (SCA 5115D) laminates to create a breezy space-enhancing look which is easy to maintain as well.

The cheerful solid colour laminate Lemon Chiffon (SCA 1120D) was used on the outline of the ‘house’ and the timber strips lining half of the wall in Freya Laurentian Maple (WY 5292D) gives the space a warm and cosy farmhouse vibe.

To visually link the various areas, Emily added a waist-high ledge which starts from the corridor to the bedrooms and continues through to the play area. Illuminated from within, this ledge acts as a handy night light as well as lighting feature, one of many Emily designed for the family to complement their lifestyle.

Cool white general lighting and warm white concealed lighting brightened up the previously dark interiors. In a thoughtful gesture, Emily isolated the operation of the light illuminating the play zone so that when the baby needs to sleep while the rest of the family are in the living area, they can just switch off that one lamp.

Emily chose this extendable table with marble top, and velvet-like upholstered dining chairs for a touch of grown-up luxury.

The illuminated outline of a house creates a focal point in the living room, and draws the eye to the dining area. Of the blank space within the outline, Emily explains, “I wanted to provide a space for them to hang up their family photos, as I noticed they had quite a lot of photos.”

The bottom drawers of the cabinet can be easily accessed by the grandchildren to keep their toys away.

To provide more storage for the family, Emily designed a floor to ceiling cabinet along one wall which uses a clever combination of colours to give it a look of lightness. The lower drawers and upper cabinets are clad in Lamitak’s Designer White (SCA 5101D) laminate which recede in the background, with the middle ‘stripe’ in wood-look Freya Laurentian Maple (WY 5292D) and Ethan Blue (SCA 5115D). “I’m a loyal fan of Lamitak; I love the woodgrains as they look really natural,” says Emily.

The family loves the new look as it resulted in more opportunities for them to bond, over dinner or just being close to each other while engaged in their own activities. It has even motivated them to continue decluttering and maintaining the space, keeping Linda’s elderly parents busy and active.

House Everything (家简尘除) airs on Mediacorp Channel 8 every Thursday at 8pm. Watch the episode here!

Read the other articles in the House Everything blogpost series here.

Follow Starry Homestead’s Facebook and Instagram to get regular updates about House Everything.

See the Lamitak laminates featured in this post at the Lamitak Studio at 114 Lavender Street, CT Hub 2 #01-61, Singapore 338729. For more information, contact the studio at 6592-5200 and studio@lamitak.com; or drop by during the opening hours below:


Monday to Thursday: 10.30am–6.30pm
Friday: 11.30am–6.30pm
Saturday: 10.30am – 4.30pm
Sunday and Public Holidays: 12.30pm – 4.30pm
Click here for directions!

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