Colour-loving millennials’ retro HDB flat in Bedok Reservoir Road

SINGAPORE – Content creator Samantha Loh and her husband’s initial mid-century modern dream evolved into retro eclecticism as she began collecting colourful art and decor. 

Having recently pivoted to content creation after working in design and marketing for 12 years, she is passionate about all things local, be it in the form of buying works by home-grown women artists or just meeting like-minded creators for coffee and chats.

“Mostly, the things I collect are home-grown,” she says. Her husband, who studied music in Britain and works in corporate communications, loves colours too.

Their four-room HDB flat in Bedok Reservoir, where they have been living since August 2025, originally had three bedrooms. 

The couple – who enlisted Singapore design firm Space Atelier for the $100,000 renovation, which took two to three months – dedicated one room to their three cats and combined the other two rooms into an L-shaped master suite. The unobscured vistas are a bonus, thanks to the 1,087 sq ft unit’s corner positioning. 

The open-concept living and dining area hints at the original mid-century modern vibe with its warm palette and funky decor.

Atop the concrete-look vinyl floor tiles and checkered Ikea carpet are an L-shaped leather sofa from Castlery and a chrome pendant light from Taobao. 

Other quirky pieces include a green checkered vase, a silvery abstract coffee table and a modern-vintage TV console. Behind the TV in the corner is a shelf for treasured photos and trinkets.

The round Castlery dining table is surrounded by deliberately mismatched Ikea chairs, illuminated by a silver chrome mushroom lamp from Shopee. In front of the dining table is a metal bookshelf, lined with a selection of tomes collected on Loh’s travels. 

The kitchen has herringbone-patterned ceramic flooring. As the couple had limited kitchen space but still wanted wet and dry zones, they chose a 1.8m-high movable storage unit to serve as a modular pantry. 

The common bathroom is accessible via the kitchen. “Friends say it feels like shophouses in Singapore,” Loh says with a laugh, “where you have to go through the back to get to the toilet.”

The master bedroom and home office are built in an L-shaped configuration. In the home office is a glass-block feature wall and a custom-built door with a cat flap, so the cats can come and go as they please.

Although the home office was intended for Loh, she prefers the dining area as it gets more natural light. However, her husband occasionally uses the dedicated workspace when he has to work late. 

Two of Loh’s favourite works of art in her home are an illustration of sardines, which she got from Shopee, and a depiction of rice fields, which in her family symbolises abundance. 

The rice-field work is in memory of Loh’s late father, who gave her the piece as a wedding present. “He loved art and walked the streets in China to find the perfect frame.”