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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

The smart mirror displays temperature and calendar.

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

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