The chic at home: Rare pre-HDB terrace house is Ceramist's creative sanctuary

Singapore – Ceramist Maureen Cheng, who used to work in graphic design and published, initially moved for shorter commuting.

She chose a terrace house that was built in the 1970s by the Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor of the Housing Board. Such units are not only very rare – less than 300 were built – but also more affordable than private terrace houses.

Cheng, which is in the fifties and runs Studio Maison Mceramics, is the proud owner of this 1,600 m² corner unit in Jalan Bahagia.

After lived in it for about a decade, she decided to revise it. With her background in the creative industry, she decided to redesign the place itself and to hire ST Design & Contract to carry out the renovation work.

Her vision was to create a home with a studio. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, how the rooms worked for her and what areas most sun, breeze and noise got.

She took over an open concept to maximize natural ventilation and a view of the garden. The living area and two bedrooms are located outside the border wall, which is located next to the main street.

She went with a modern, timeless look with a black, white and gray palette and low -maintenance materials.

“I love gray because it is neither black nor white and it can be feminine or male, depending on what you combine it,” she says.

It kept the original nostalgic terrazzo floor – an allusion to the history of the house – in the living area.

Instead of a sofa, from which Cheng would take too much space, she decided on herself and her mother for a few lounge chairs.

A vintage -teak -Excibla table of a Danish designer is proud of the square in the dining room. In its most compact configuration, it is a cozy table for two placed on the wall. If it is fully extended into an elliptical form, it can set up to eight people.

The kitchen is the heart of the house. Cheng did not want to appeal to an island because the idea of ​​turning to a wall when cooking or baking.

With the oversized island, she and her mother can bake and cook as she enjoys the view of the side garden. The island also serves as a work area if necessary.

Cheng's studio is another important space within the house. She had the place selected from the start. It takes the back corner of the property and opens with a lot of natural light to the garden in the garden. It also has access to a water point and space for an oven.

Despite its compact footprint, each part of the studio was carefully planned, from a pottery wheel to knock on a worktop to knead. It also has a large table for hand wall or plate work; And racks for the storage of sound and drying of works of art.

Cheng and her mother's bedrooms are divided next to the party wall, which with the neighbors, far from the street.

Her mother's room opens to the rear terrace. Although Cheng's room has no windows, she added an clockwork by inserting a section of the roof tiles through translucent, natural light.

The renovation costs cost between $ 150,000 and $ 200,000 and lasted about a year because the delays caused by Covid 19 pandemy were caused. Cheng finally retired to her house in 2022.

• This article was first published in Home & Decor Singapore. You can find more beautiful houses, space -saving ideas and inner inspiration at homeanddecor.com.sg.

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