The first thing that strikes you on entering Ozy and Irene’s home is the gorgeous green wall to the left of the entrance hall. On closer inspection, it comes as a pleasant surprise to discover that every glossy green leaf is real. From the green wall to the open concept kitchen and earthy colour scheme, Dyel did a stellar job of meshing this couple’s great ideas into a quietly stunning sanctuary of a home.
Project Snapshot
Name(s) of Homeowner(s): Ozy Ong and Irene Leong
House Type: 5-room Resale BTO Flat
Size of Home: 110 sq m
Cost of Renovation: $65,000
Duration of Renovation: 3 months
Interior Design Firm: Dyel Pte Ltd
Name(s) of Designer(s): Xavier Wong and Vincent Chua
The living room is distinguished by an eye-catching feature wall with organic patterns of brickwork
Happy homeowners Ozy and Irene
The soothing entry and dining space is dominated by the vibrant pop of green from the vertical garden
HomeRenoGuru: How did you come to engage Dyel for your home renovation?
Irene: We met a total of six ID firms and one contractor, and out of all of them we felt that Dyel was most comfortable with our requirements. Some of the designers we met didn’t seem to really understand what we wanted. Some of them even tried to steer us away from our ideas. Then when we met Xavier and Vincent, both of them were pretty open to what we told them, and because of that we felt that we could trust them with our renovations.
The self-maintaining vertical garden is maintained by an automatic timed watering system
HomeRenoGuru: What were some of the requirements you relayed to your designer?
Ozy: We knew we wanted to hack our kitchen wall, to make the whole living area and kitchen look seamless and bigger. We also wanted to install a kitchen top, so that we can do our work there and grab a quick bite.
The kitchen counter is a favourite casual workspace and dining area
The functional U-shaped kitchen flows seamlessly into the service yard
Irene: When I came across the vertical garden and told Xavier about it, he was pretty open to the idea. In fact, he even suggested our carpet to be green to match the vertical garden. That brought a little more colour into the house because otherwise it would be mainly earthy tones – wood, brown and Ozy’s favourite colour, blue.
A natural palette of soft, mossy green and eggshell blue connect the open concept living and dining spaces
HomeRenoGuru: What are some of the highlights of your renovated home?
An open space at the end of the wardrobe is a ‘holding bay’ for the day’s pre-planned outfits
Irene: In our master bedroom, we have this fairly big wardrobe. There is one section where, because there is a window, the wardrobe ends and we have a bit of an open space. It’s pretty useful, because we can hang the clothes that we’re planning to wear there.
The master bedroom has a cement screed wall and mirrored cabinets for ample storage space
Ozy: The master bathroom has lots of cabinets in which we can store all our items. And for the common bathroom, we decided to do a cement screed wall to make it look slightly different.
The simple and serene spare bedroom is graced by a thick handmade rug, gifted by a friend
HomeRenoGuru: How did you find the actual renovation?
Ozy: When it came to the actual renovation process, it was relatively smooth, though there were some hiccups along the way. But they were very willing to rectify all the hiccups and ensure that the final output was what we want. We were very happy with the end result.
The book-loving couple have their own ‘personal library’ built into the study
HomeRenoGuru: Do you have any advice to share with homeowners embarking on a renovation?
Irene: Do your own research, don’t just rely entirely on advice from friends and relatives – what works for them may not work for you. It’s a good idea to curate your own reference materials and ideas.
HomeRenoGuru: Would you confidently recommend Dyel to other homeowners?
Ozy: We found Dyel Design to be very trustworthy and reliable, and they are very sincere with the way they do their work. We would definitely recommend them as an ID firm.
Irene: We look forward to filling this house with love, laughter and learning.
