Self-Designed Modern Functional Home

[pantoufle 0]

We couldn't afford an Interior Designer (Fresh Graduates) and hence we decided to go with a contractor for our renovations. This also means that we will have to self-design our own home and hence any tips from the experienced RenoTalk forum members are greatly appreciated!

We bought a 150sqm (1600 sqft) 5A flat in Bukit Batok. Here's the original floorplan:

The Access Balcony is now part of our flat and we have moved the door to the end of the Access Balcony. So here's our proposed layout:

What we are confused about is:

1. How do we have adequate lighting and yet have a ceiling fan in every space?

2. How do we ventilate the maid's room with a smart modern design?

Thanks so much for your help and suggestions! :D Very excited!

[razzberrie 3]

Congrats on your new home! The layout looks very interesting in shape. Your 2nd question is totally the question I've been pondering over for the last couple of days. I can think of a few options: cove lighting, L-box down lights, or track lights around the perimeter of the rooms, coupled with task lighting. Or if you want to go the HDB look route, you can install fans with built-in lights. I personally dislike those 'cos they just don't look nice to me but you may think otherwise.

[MsChocobanana 1]

Congrats on your new home! The layout looks very interesting in shape. Your 2nd question is totally the question I've been pondering over for the last couple of days. I can think of a few options: cove lighting, L-box down lights, or track lights around the perimeter of the rooms, coupled with task lighting. Or if you want to go the HDB look route, you can install fans with built-in lights. I personally dislike those 'cos they just don't look nice to me but you may think otherwise.

your layout looks interesting! and very big! From the floorplan, the store walls are denoted by blacked lines, I think it means structural wall and cannot be hacked. I think you can check this out, if its so, your maid's room have to revise a bit.

For lighting, what razzberries said made sense. I think for your maid's room, how about considering a standing fan instead of the ceiling fan. its a cheaper alternative and more flexible in terms of moving it ard.

[pantoufle 0]

Congrats on your new home! The layout looks very interesting in shape. Your 2nd question is totally the question I've been pondering over for the last couple of days. I can think of a few options: cove lighting, L-box down lights, or track lights around the perimeter of the rooms, coupled with task lighting. Or if you want to go the HDB look route, you can install fans with built-in lights. I personally dislike those 'cos they just don't look nice to me but you may think otherwise.

The lighting ideas sounds good. Will any of those hide the wires from the wall to the ceiling fan? I suppose we can build a false ceiling and then attach the fan to the real ceiling? Is that against any rules? Yeah I dislike the ceiling fans with lights too, some of my friends say the ceiling fans with lgihts are less powerful than the normal ones and as you can tell, I'm really scared of the heat and hence the ceiling fan + AC in every room!

your layout looks interesting! and very big! From the floorplan, the store walls are denoted by blacked lines, I think it means structural wall and cannot be hacked. I think you can check this out, if its so, your maid's room have to revise a bit.

For lighting, what razzberries said made sense. I think for your maid's room, how about considering a standing fan instead of the ceiling fan. its a cheaper alternative and more flexible in terms of moving it ard.

Yeah a lot of Pentagonal Space haha! Gotto do the best with what we have then

Actually the store walls are already broken down by the previous owner O.o! haha so one less problem for us to solve.

Yeah, we are thinking of scraping the idea of a ceiling fan for the maid's room. Probably like what you suggest, will do with standing fan (take up space) or wall fan (not as modern looking) XD

Thanks so much for your suggestions!

[spikedoll 2]

Your flat is huge!!! Congrats!! Will camp here to see the transformation

[summersann 6]

The lighting ideas sounds good. Will any of those hide the wires from the wall to the ceiling fan? I suppose we can build a false ceiling and then attach the fan to the real ceiling? Is that against any rules? Yeah I dislike the ceiling fans with lights too, some of my friends say the ceiling fans with lgihts are less powerful than the normal ones and as you can tell, I'm really scared of the heat and hence the ceiling fan + AC in every room!

You may want to check the height of your current ceiling (without false ceiling) to see if it's tall enough. Yours is resale, so the ceiling height should be taller than the newer flats. Ceiling fans need a certain height so it's safe (you don't want the fan to be too low!). Certain brands of fans have a "petite" model for people with low ceilings (but even the "petite" ranges need a certain height). From what I know, false ceilings may not be strong enough to support a fan? I could be wrong though.

The other thing you'd want to note is that, with all the fans in your plan, your cove lights have to be a certain distance from the fans, otherwise you'll feel a "blur" of lights when the fan spins past the light's path (I hope I'm making sense ). If you choose pendant lighting, then you'll have to make sure the fan's spin clears the lights so your lights don't start swaying each time the fan is on.

Lots of cleaning to do with so many fans!

Good luck with the renovation, may everything go smoothly for you!

Oh, and I super like the long walkway you have upon entering your home! So many things you could do there

Edited March 14, 2013 by summersann