Decorate Your 4-Room HDB with these 6 Stunning yet Unique Interior Designs

March 3, 2023

Whether you’re a new homeowner or someone looking to renovate your home, there are always endless possibilities of how your home can look and different interior designs to choose from. While there are popular themes such as minimalist, modern and Scandinavian, to name a few, let us go beyond the common designs and explore even more exciting designs.

Not only do these designs scream uniqueness, but you’ll get to also go all out and create a home based on your personality, and style, and even invoke a sense of adventurousness into your home. As a place for rest, you won’t have to worry about boring designs, but rather, feel thrilled to return home every day. Without further ado, here are 6 stunning yet unique interior design styles of existing 4-room HDB flats to help inspire you toward your own home‘s design. You can also find condo interior designs as well as 3-room and 5-room HDB interior design styles in our articles.

1. Light Scandinavian

Arguably the most popular and sought-after design style here in Singapore, the Scandinavian design style prides itself on being light, clean, and uncluttered. Apart from just being aesthetically pleasing, it also helps in promoting a sense of calmness and freedom in the home, given its simpleness and how it facilitates ample free space around the couple, often coupled with colour tones associated with nature.

This is the base from which we start our list – a light Scandinavian-themed 4-room HDB located at Khatib Evergreen.

One of the key hallmarks of the design is being light; to achieve this look, you’d want to start at the base colour of the home, which will usually be either white or off-white, with accents of light grey, light brown, or beige. This will likely be the palette for the largest areas of your 4-room flat, such as the walls, ceiling, and flooring as well.

In terms of lighting options, the idea is to keep things as uncluttered as possible. As such, you’d ideally want to look for hidden light fittings that would be embedded inside a false ceiling or the like, rather than having a frame or wire hanging down. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to apply this for all of the light fittings in your home, but the majority of them, especially those that illuminate large pockets of space rather than concentrated on a particular spot, should be hidden.

As for furniture and other furnishings, you’d have to balance out aesthetics as well as functionality here. Keep things to only a minimum and the fundamentals (e.g. coffee table, sofa), and have plenty of hidden storage spaces to keep all your barang in them. To complement the base palette of your home, look for furniture that gently contrasts the whiteness of the space, with colours such as grey and brown.

In the case of our 4-room Khatib Evergreen flat here, designed by local design firm Ciseern, you can see that the overall look of the home is a very uncomplicated and simple affair, accentuated by the little pops of darker colour amidst a sea of white and light brown.

Moving to the kitchen and dining area, you’ll find that the style deviates a little to be more vibrant and lively, which is a play on how the space is meant to be in the home. What stands out the most here in this space is undeniably the dining table – a strong, bolder and deeper shade of wood that acts as the centrepiece of this space. This helps to draw attention to it, and promote the sense that life and energy would be concentrated here, just like how people come together for a meal to have fun and create vibrancy.

On the whole, the Scandinavian design style is as no-frills as they come. If you’re on a tight budget or prefer not to be too swamped with the hassles of designing your home or choosing furnishings, then we’d highly recommend going for this design theme. There is beauty in simplicity, and the Scandinavian style certainly is as simple as it gets.

2. Modern Brown Scandinavian

If you do want a Scandinavian theme for your home but prefer to have a bit more body and weight as compared to a light and airy look, then there are variations that you can adopt to make your home look more full-bodied, but still retain the major elements of the Scandinavian look.

Designed by local design firm AC Vision, this Clementi unit is still fundamentally a minimalist Scandinavian-inspired home at heart, however, the homeowners decided to shake things up a little by going for a darker, bolder colour as a stronger contrast to a white palette.

As you can see, the space is still largely uncluttered, with lots of ample space to move around. The living room space is also just equipped with the bare essentials of a sofa, TV, and TV console, and the inclusion of a look-through glass window for the study next to the living room helps to create the illusion of a more free-flowing space.

You will notice that while the overall colour palette is still a white and brown pairing, the latter is of a darker shade than the usual Scandinavian style; this provides a stronger contrast and changes the mood of the space to be more of a homely and welcoming feel. Having that contrast is also important, as it helps to break up the monotony of having an all-plain or all-white backdrop.

In other spaces like the bathrooms, you might be inclined to have even more variation, just to be playful and shake things up to have a bit of fun. And you can certainly do so! Some ideas that you can pursue would be fun stuff like having tessellated flooring, having a circular mirror rather than a square/rectangular one, or even varying the colours and surfaces around the bathroom.

3. Modern Minimalist

If having a majority-white home is too intimidating – or if you have young un’s running around and maintaining a white home is practically impossible – then you can always switch it up for slightly darker shades, like light grey. Plus, you need not have a fully consistent and similar theme running throughout your home – having a mix of styles is also very much possible.

For this 4-room HDB BTO in Tampines, designers Swiss Interior worked with the homeowners to incorporate a variety of themes, which range from Boho (Bohemian) interior design to industrial to modern. These different styles have one main element that underpins them: the promotion of cohesion and continuity within the home.

The living room interior design style adopts a hybrid of a minimalist and modern look, with a majority grey and white palette paired with pockets of earthy tones like brown in its furnishings. It is a relatively fuss-free and simple space that takes the attention away from any eccentricity and focuses more on promoting the function of the room – to bring people together and usher them in with a welcoming facade.

Moving to the dining area, you’ll find that the overall concept of simplicity is further echoed here, with just the bare basics accessorising the room.

In order not to make the space look too bleak or intimidating, the homeowners decided to use warm lighting options to illuminate the room, rather than cool white lights. Having this warm yellowish light certainly helps to accentuate the welcomeness of the room, and also the warmth that makes it a conducive environment for people to be at ease and to enjoy each others’ company.

Remember how we talked about the mix of styles that designers Swiss Interior decided to incorporate? Well, moving away from the living and dining rooms and into the kitchen, you’ll find that the style shifts somewhat, to be more of a modern, slightly bohemian-ish look to the space. This is encapsulated in the partially hidden tessellation motif wall, which is a hint of playfulness but also adds character to the otherwise very placid mood.

4. Black is the New White

Arguably, we have seen most homes decorated with shades of white and neutral colours. However, we can always go in the opposite direction for something more dramatic and bold – that is, to embrace black.

As a strong and robust shade, decorating your home in black is a wonderful way to make a lasting impression on guests and make a bold statement for your home. From your sofas to tables and even walls, an all-black design is perfect to create an intimate and luxurious-looking space in your living room.

To create a little bit of contrast, consider adding downlights in shades of white. Not only do they complement the bold look, but they can also easily light up your space during darker hours. Alternatively, if you intend to go for a more subtle approach, you can leave your walls white while introducing black as an accent colour through your doors, accessories and chairs to highlight architectural features.

For your bedroom, black helps to add drama and showcase soundness in a space. A black ceiling is a perfect backdrop against the white sheets of your bed, while the black walls give off a contemporary look and edginess altogether. As a place for a good night’s sleep, you can also choose to add warm colours to your bedroom while maintaining a majority-black space.

For instance, decorating your floors in a rich brown hue can help to complement the dark shades of the overall room. You can even add a sculptural side table that matches the floor and acts as an antidote to the plain wall colours. In terms of lighting, opt for warm lighting to create a sense of intimacy and cosiness. Warm lighting also gives the wooden accent in your bedroom a touch of elegance.

Beyond the living room and bedrooms, your kitchen is also the ideal place to create a sense of luxury and sophistication with black. As a smaller space, black works surprisingly well in your kitchen to give off grandeur. Fit your cabinetry and drawers in black, along with your stoves and utensils to create a stylish and elegant look.

If you’re more daring, you can even choose to keep your walls in all black and have a seamless overall theme. But if you’d like a little splash of colours, add muted shades of brown onto your walls to break the monotony of all-black. House plants such as potted plants are also a great addition to create colour on your countertops.

With black as an easy colour, dare to get bold and mix and match furniture, accessories and decorations together to create a seamless and stunning all-black look.

5. Japanese Zen Garden

As a place of rest, it is crucial that our homes are relaxing and inviting, especially after a busy day at work. To encapsulate this concept, why not introduce Zen – a Japanese word that means meditation and an idea for relaxation, balance and calmness, as an interior design to create a sanctuary right in your home.

Associated with all things calm, the philosophy of a Zen home revolves around minimalism and simplicity. From sleek wooden doors and dividers to neat carpentry and neutral colours, these simple architecture and furniture help to depict balance and clean lines in your living room.

For your floors, you’ll want to use wood to convey a sense of nature and retreat – away from the hustle and bustle of life. To create accents, you can choose a lighter shade of wood for the floor while matching it with darker shades on your doors and furniture. Then, add floor cushions and a low table in your living room to create an oriental space – you’re sure to feel right in the middle of a traditional Japanese home.

In your bathroom, the lines should be kept consistently straight and simple. Opt for a bamboo divider to separate the bedroom and bathroom, and use the same tone of wood to complement your sink and cabinets. But, keep your furniture such as your mirrors and sinks in curved edges as opposed to sharp and pointed features to soften the overall look.

For your shower area, an all-white design is ideal to create contrast against shades of brown. You’ll want to also keep your ornaments and shelves to a minimum. To light up the bathroom, select transparent glass doors to invite more natural light in.

As you move to the laundry area, keep your overall theme in line with the simplicity of a Zen home. Deck your cabinets in the same wood material, while ensuring sufficient storage space. Creating a clean and clutter-free look is a must – use blanket boxes, wooden crates and multi-purpose shelves to store your essentials and keep unnecessary items out of sight.

Like your bathroom, it will be essential to invite as much light as possible. To do so, place a large emphasis on large windows to allow light to flood in and remove any blockage such as using blinds or curtains.

A Zen home should always be kept aligned with simplicity and calmness throughout every corner. In doing so, you’ll be able to let the energy flow positively around your home.

6. Travel the World from Your Home

If you’re an avid traveller, bring all your travel experiences into your home – from culture, souvenirs and even famous landmarks, travel the world again from the comfort of your home and bask in the ambience of another country right at your fingertips.

Start off in London by placing the iconic red phone booth. Loud in bright red, you can complement this colour in other areas of your living room with bold shades too. For instance, throw in tiffany green onto your sofas; add in electric blues for a pop of colour onto your walls; and even add a vine wall for extra lush and greenery.

For your mingling sessions, you can also install an island table right in the heart of your living room for opportunities for drinks and conversations. Behind the island table, display more photographs on the walls to mark your travels and give yourself bragging rights when you invite guests over.

Then travel to France in your bedroom by hanging a Parisian flag with the famous Eiffel Tower embroidered in the middle. Keep your walls, closet and bed in shades of white, while adding the thematic colours of the Parisian flag such as red onto your doorknobs and closet handles. In contrast, you can choose to have your shelves in darker tones such as grey or off-white.

To complement the Parisian flag and create the perfect backdrop behind your bed, showcase an array of souvenirs and world landmarks proudly on your shelves. Not only do these decorations add colours to your space, but they also help to balance out the all-white theme and furnish your bedroom adequately without being too messy.

At the last stop, make your way to Santorini, Greece or the getaway of your choice by transforming your balcony into a Mediterranean stopover. Decorate your walls in the beautiful scenery of your favourite beach and deck the floor with cobbled path texture. Then, complete the look with a wooden bench and house plants for the perfect relaxing environment.

On an indented shelf nearby, don’t be afraid to further display more travel photos and your collection of seashells or souvenirs. Lastly, invite natural light in by keeping your balcony open with window shutters or opting for retractable curtains.

There is more than just one way to decorate your home in the vacation destination of your choice. Get creative to throw in different elements, but be sure to display the essentials while maintaining the space fully functional.

Conclusion

We’ve got you covered with some of the most unique ideas for your HDB flats. However, if you’re still keen to explore more interior designs, we’re not stopping you either.

Take a look at more interior design tips:

Check out stories of other homeowners and their home renovation challenges:

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