• Food
  • Family
  • Beauty & Health
  • Style
  • Great Women
  • Events/Win
  • Domestic Diva Awards 2022
  • Food
    • Eating Out
    • Cooking Tips
    • Festive Food
    • Asian Recipes
    • Food
    • Celebrity Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Quick & Easy Recipes
    • Western Recipes
  • Family
    • Family
    • Save Money
    • Parenting
    • Sex & Marriage
    • Travel
  • Beauty & Health
    • Beauty & Health
    • Skincare
    • Makeup
    • Hair
    • Awards
    • Diet & Nutrition
    • Fitness
    • Wellness
  • Style
  • Great Women
    • Career
    • Great Women of Our Time
    • Real Life
  • Entertainment
  • EVENTS/WIN
  • #SchoolForLife
  • Hair Awards
  • Great Escape
  • Explore Singapore
  • Also available at:
Privacy Menu
SPH Media

Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. All rights reserved.

  • Food
  • Family
  • Beauty & Health
  • Style
  • Great Women
  • Events/Win

Home Ideas

Quirky Retirement HDB Flat Features A Massive Toy Collection

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Home Ideas

Quirky Retirement HDB Flat Features A Massive Toy Collection

This 35-year-old HDB flat is anything but basic, with the owner-designer featuring a museum-worthy toy collection

March 25, 2021
HDB toy collection

Credit: Veronica Tay

He moved homes 10 times in 15 years, but homeowner Calvin Ho, a businessman and creative multi-hyphenate, wanted a “back-to-basic” retirement home. Set on a theme that was ‘quirky‘, ‘unusual’, and ‘out-of-box’, he decided to renovate the home himself. He says: “If someone walks into the space that I designed and doesn’t ask about or comment on it, I consider that a failure.”

READ NEXT

This Eclectic Five-Room HDB In Jurong West Tells Stories With Vintage Souvenirs

A Kampung-Inspired Detached Home With Modern Oriental Themes

How This 70-Year-Old Terrace House Underwent A Modern Revamp

Calvin’s first home, which he designed himself, was an HDB flat fashioned in Antonio Gaudi’s style featured in Home & Decor more than a decade ago. “Everything was either angled, curved or decorated in that home. There was nothing that did not catch the eye,” he shares.

AT A GLANCE

Type of home: A two-bedroom (formerly three) HDB flat
Size of home: 1,196 sq ft
Who lives here: A couple in their 50s and a dog named Snoopy 
ID: Calvin Ho

It couldn’t be more different than his current home. Completed in February 2020, the two-bedroom HDB flat in Tampines features open spaces, linear lines, and mostly a crowd-pleasing modern contemporary look. It took only four months from Calvin’s first viewing to completing the renovation and moving in. He had no plan to move in from his last home at the nearby Waterview Condo, but then he just reached his retirement age of 55 and has a convenient window to use his CPF for a retirement home.

“My first home was an HDB flat, and I have lived in all types of homes in Singapore since. So, I thought to myself, why don’t we go back to HDB? Pay and settle everything and retire,” he says. The 35-year-old HDB unit originally had three bedrooms and generous natural light. It is also located on the top floor and has only one direct neighbour.

Calvin immediately knew what he wanted to do with the space. “I wanted to go back to the basics,” he admits, “Why? Because age catches up with you and no matter how stylish or fancy the design of your home is, if you can’t keep it tidy then it’s useless.”

The finished home, though, is anything but basic, thanks to a slew of thoughtful design details. A serial entrepreneur who had at one time owned an art gallery and superhero-themed cafes, Calvin is no stranger to making the most of tight renovation budgets, such that his DIY renovation skill attracted friends and family to commission him to design the interior of their homes.

https://www.womensweekly.com.sg/gallery/style/home-ideas/quirky-retirement-hdb-flat-features-a-massive-toy-collection/
Quirky Retirement HDB Flat Features A Massive Toy Collection
image

Calvin spent a total of $70,000 renovating the entire home, including getting all new architectural finishes and customising his furniture pieces. “Eighty per cent of what you see in this home are from a Chinese online platform,” he reveals, sharing that the secret to getting exactly what you want is not by merely clicking what you see, but to engage the sellers in a conversation and taking your time to compare products on the platform.

“I have been buying and dealing a lot on it for a long time that I know which sellers to buy from and talk to.” The label ‘made in China’ has evolved, he says. No longer does it means cheap and low-quality items, it has now become synonymous with sheer options, customisations, and value for money.

Veronica Tay
image

The custom sliding door that separates the kitchen from the living area, for example, could cost up to $2,000 to source and install in Singapore. Calvin sourced the mechanism online for $70 and had it installed for $300.

Veronica Tay
image

Knocking down one bedroom created a bright and open living and dining area populated by only a few key furniture pieces. A plush leather sofa from Grado takes centre stage on the living room while a flatscreen Xiaomi TV in rose gold finish presides the wall.

At the far end of the room is Calvin’s ‘museum’ – a wall of custom cabinets displaying his superhero figurines collection.

Veronica Tay
image

Calvin takes pleasure in mixing and matching his figurine collection, like this 1/2- and 1/6-scale figurines of Captain America, which are seamlessly featured on the same base.

Veronica Tay
image

The dining table and chairs in front of it were sourced from Taobao. Calvin reupholstered the chairs with leather and added brass caps onto the legs. He also added rose gold caps onto the table legs. These metallic accents unify the whole house.

Veronica Tay
image

The kitchen cabinets, walls and ceiling are white – an anomaly for Calvin. “I usually prefer dark colours, but I like how the white brightens up the room,” he says.

The decal on the sliding door and the graffiti artworks by The London Police printed on canvas lend a graphic touch.

Veronica Tay
image

All the appliances, tablewares and accessories have rose gold or brass finish, which Calvin painstakingly sourced online from all over the world. What couldn’t be shipped over, like the rose gold knife set, he asked his friends to hand-carry home from their travels.

Veronica Tay
image

Even the wall fan got a bespoke treatment via its new spiral cable.

Veronica Tay
image

The material palette was curated to be low maintenance, visually arresting and feels great to the touch. Barring the bathroom and the yard, the flooring is uniform: engineered wood planks set in a herringbone pattern, providing a visual continuity between rooms.

Veronica Tay
image

The dark engineered wood wall finish, the ornate frame of this Daredevil and Black Widow artwork, and the dark light switch create a sumptuous material palette.

Veronica Tay
image

Cables and wirings are hidden behind plywood and finished with graphic wallpaper, leaving the walls flush with the column while fortifying the room’s acoustics.

Calvin enjoys customising artworks. This Marilyn Monroe portrait was handcrafted with colourful tiny plastic toys, creating a playful, one-of-a-kind gestalt artwork.

Veronica Tay
image

The ceiling lights in the living and dining area are track lights, which work in tandem with the wall lights – two horizontal bars that Calvin rotated and installed vertically – to create museum-quality illumination.

The cement board with metallic grouting and clean cut white cabinet make the Hulkbuster Iron Man figurine pops.

Veronica Tay
image

The bedroom sports a dark material palette, comprising leather, timber and dusky  pink accent while the master bathroom features all-white tiles in various modular shapes.

Veronica Tay
image

The light grey, scalloped tiles of the shower provide a subtle contrast with white triangle tiles of the bathroom.

Veronica Tay
image

The smart mirror displays temperature and calendar.

Veronica Tay
image

While planning for his retirement, Calvin downsized his figurine collection to a manageable size and kept only a few items of sentimental value. These are displayed in the study, which features overhead cabinets, a katana collection, and a 12-year old leather chesterfield sofa that the family dog, Snoopy, loves so much.

“It’s just the right amount of stuff that we can manage as we grow old, with details that still start conversations,” describes Calvin of the house. So far, Calvin has no plans to move to another home in the future. “But never say never,” he quips.

Photography: Veronica Tay

Art Direction: Nonie Chen

Text: Asih Jenie/Home and Decor

Read Next

Check Out This Modern And Eclectic 4-Room HDB Flat That Is One Of A Kind

Bold And Eclectic Singapore Homes That'll Inspire You To Redecorate

A Child-Friendly Minimalist HDB Flat In Kallang

Veronica Tay
  • TAGS:
  • hdb home decor
  • hdb homes
  • Home Decor
  • home design
  • home design ideas
  • home ideas
  • home tour
  • toys
SHARE THIS ON

What’s Hot

Home Ideas

25 Lucky Plants And Flowers To Buy For C...

Home Ideas

14 Kid-Friendly DIY Decorations To Make ...

Home Ideas

Ah-Beng Actor Mark Lee's Home Is A Treas...

Home Ideas

An Inside Look At New Mum Annette Lee's ...

Home Ideas

3 HDB Owners Share Why They Chose An Old...

Home Ideas

Get Home Inspo From These Singapore Mumf...

Home Ideas

This Margaret Drive BTO Has Amazing JB A...

Home Ideas

The Best Dehumidifiers For Your Home Dur...

Home Ideas

A $130K Renovated HDB Resale Flat Makes ...

Home Ideas

10 Tips To Design A Child's Bedroom That...

Home Ideas

8 Practical Tips To Get Rid Of Lizards I...

Home Ideas

Gorgeous 5 Room Flats You Can Buy Withou...

Editor’s Picks
  • Home Ideas 25 Lucky Plants And Flowers To Buy For Chinese New Year
  • Home Ideas 14 Kid-Friendly DIY Decorations To Make For CNY
  • Style Welcome Into The Homes Of Four Mediacorp Artistes
  • Home Ideas Ah-Beng Actor Mark Lee's Home Is A Treasure Trove Of Art
  • Home Ideas An Inside Look At New Mum Annette Lee's $100K Industrial-Look HDB Flat
  • Home Ideas 3 HDB Owners Share Why They Chose An Old Flat
Don't Miss Out Ever Again!
Tips & tricks to stay sane + win invites to our events!

By signing up, you indicate that you have read and agreed with our Privacy Statement
Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Conditions of Access
  • PDPA
  • Privacy Policy
?>">
SPH Magazine

Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. All rights reserved.