The secret to the clutter-free, small-space life? Plenty of sleek storage solutions.

Renovating a home calls for a plan - and for homeowner Wei Hao, his was all about "getting enough storage space" out of his cosy 85 sqm Yishun executive condo (EC) apartment, which he shares with his wife and their pet cat.

"As our apartment was one without a bomb shelter, we didn't have storage space for our ironing boards, ladder and spare stools; we really needed to find ways to hide all of that bulky stuff," he explains.

Eventually, after a five week long renovation involving interior design firm Fuse Concept's help, Wei Hao and his wife succeeded in achieving their goal. Here's what was done to make it happen.

ON THE OVERALL AESTHETIC

Wei Hao (WH): When we started the renovation, we already had a vision of what we wanted. The most important thing was to have sufficient storage fixtures. We also wanted them to look sleek.

I wouldn't say a particular style inspired us. We went for a simple, timeless look.

ON CHANGES MADE

WH: We hung a macrame on the back of the entrance door. The new shoe cabinet is right beside it; we chose a dark wood laminate to give it a subtle appearance and we used the same one for the DB box cabinet at the end of the hallway too.

As for the kitchen entrance, we picked a light oak laminate to highlight and frame the entryway.

The L-shaped feature wall in the living room was built both as a substitute for a storeroom and as a display area for our collectibles. The internal cabinets are all sized according to what we wanted to store in them, such as the ironing boards, stools and all the other bulky items that I mentioned.

There's also a niche in the middle for the coffee machine as well as a small row of drawers; we accented them with marble- and wood-look laminates.

We picked a muted grey laminate from EDL's NTM Fenix line so the entire structure wouldn't be too visually distracting when we are watching the TV.

My wife is a gardening enthusiast, so we turned the balcony into a mini garden - we made our own vertical garden using a retro window grille which we spray painted ourselves. Also, for the safety of our cat and future child, we requested for invisible grilles to be installed.

I have always dreamt of having a man cave of my own with a full-height display for my Star Wars collection, so I am really happy about the study! We also put in a customised desk as well as additional storage cabinets to store our cameras, collectible boxes and other belongings that we don't use on a daily basis.

Lastly, for the bedroom, we wanted it to be a tidy space, just like the rest of the home. For that reason, we chose to have a bed with storage drawers underneath, and we got Fuse Concept to customise a flip-up dressing table for my wife. Having a fold down mirror also saves us some space because we won't need an extra piece of furniture in the bedroom.

ABOUT RENOVATION CHALLENGES

WH: We didn't experience any significant obstacles. However, as we wanted S-fold curtains over regular pleated ones for all the rooms, an aspect of the renovation that we constantly had to be aware of was the need for deeper pelmets as they will eat slightly into the interior spaces.

TO SUM UP

WH: One piece of advice that I have for new homeowners would be to hire a designer - especially if they don't have any past experience renovating a home because he or she will be able to highlight the little details that you might miss.

If you have space constraints, it also helps to be precise about the details. In our case, we had to be careful with what goes where because there was no extra room to play with, it's not like we can make our home bigger! (laughs)

This article was first published in Qanvast.