Eclectic decor with hotel-style bathroom: Stella Ng reveals stunning home after $160k renovation
Stella Ng, and a photo of her living room and balcony in her new home.
PHOTO: Instagram/Stella Ng
PUBLISHED ONSeptember 12, 2023 9:45 AMBySyarifah NadhirahAfter a long six months of renovation, homegrown former singer Stella Ng has finally revealed her new home.
The 42-year-old returned to Singapore with her son Ashton in 2020 after being away for about 19 years in Taiwan and Canada. Back then, she spoke to AsiaOne about her plans to stay for at least two years due to Covid-19.
It has now been three years since, and AsiaOne reached out to Stella to find out more about the move and her new home.
"My main motivation for coming back is really to take care of my parents. They're in their 70s now and my dad is a cancer survivor… so I made the conscious decision to come back to take care of the family," she explained.
"Now that I've settled and bought a place, I think it's for sure that I will be staying here for at least the next five to 10 years. I see myself in Singapore for that amount of time."
Currently, Stella is sharing the home with her boyfriend Jon and working as the head of partnerships and activations at Vantage Pointe.
Ashton, 11, is living with his father, Stella's ex-husband, in Japan, and will return to stay with her in the future.
When asked if they had any disagreements during the renovation process, Stella joked: "No, because Jon's philosophy is happy wife, happy life!"
She added that he gave her a lot of "space and autonomy" to unleash her creativity and they also share similar tastes when it comes to the look of the home.
Stella chose the five-room HDB resale flat in the Holland Road area to be close to her parents. According to her, the apartment is roughly around 123 square metres.
"The layout is quite squarish… I like that it's also not super dense in terms of the units living here. So one level would have four units," she added.
The kitchen
Stepping into the home, there is a short walkway with a built-in glass panel that looks into the fancy kitchen.
The grey counter houses a workstation sink complete with accessories like a walnut cutting board, stainless steel colander and roll-up drying mat.
On the opposite side is the coffee counter and other appliances such as the fridge and oven.
The living room
The living room, which she also refers to as the family room, has a homey feel with earthy natural tones used consistently throughout the space.
The wood-like flooring matches the colour scheme and brown furniture.
"We used tiles that look like wood so it's easier to clean and maintain," explained Stella.
The wall-mounted television is accompanied with a soundbar and a built-in console.
Unlike the usual balconies, the one in Stella's home initially had no partition, a feature she chose to maintain.
"We initially put a glass door but we had it removed because we found that it wasn't practical," she recalled.
Alternatively, black-and-white retro tiles and dark green walls are used to separate the balcony from the living area.
Lined up against the floor-to-ceiling windows is a row of various plants.
"I think it's very calming and relaxing to come back to a lot of greenery," said Stella, adding that she loves gardening.
Above the plants is an automatic laundry system that uses solar energy and wind to dry clothes.
On the other side of the living room is the dining area, which was initially a bedroom: "The wall was knocked down and we opened up the entire space to make it into a dining-cum-living area."
Around the wooden dining table is an L-shaped bench which doubles up as a storage space. Behind the bench is a ledge that has landscaping with more plants.
"I have no proper definition for the style of my home. I would say it's natural, modern and a bit eclectic," she remarked.
The bathroom
Right next to the dining area is the guest bathroom, which is Stella's favourite space in the home. Wanting the bathroom to be "luxurious" for guests to enjoy, she designed the space to have a "cafe or hotel feel".
Such can be seen with the black-and-white mosaic tiles, hanging mirror and vintage decorations. A pebble wash lines the shower floor, which Stella chose as she didn't want to risk anyone slipping.
Jon's artwork are framed up on one of the tiled walls, along with books and small plants on the opposite one.
Though the space looks expensive, Stella mentioned in an Instagram post that the mirror and overmount sink was purchased from Taobao.
"When I had my own dessert store, the design was just black-and-white minimalist, and I think that kind of stuck with me," she shared.
She added that she has always been a big fan of colonial themes and decided to incorporate it into the guest bathroom.
"I have my own master bathroom but when I walk inside this bathroom, I feel like I could almost wake up here," she said with a laugh.
When asked why the colonial theme was not used throughout the house, she expressed that it wasn't as "appealing" as the current natural and modern look of the home.
The sunroom
If you think it can't get any fancier, there's even a sunroom in the flat.
Unlike the living room where bold colours stand out, the sunroom is filled with muted colours.
Stella shared that the minimalist design was an intentional choice to accommodate guests.
The room also has a raised platform that contains compartments underneath where she stores mattresses.
What stands out though, is the beige hammock in the centre of the room.
The reason behind the choice?
"I love hammocks. It reminds me of the times when I lived in Vancouver… Back then we would hang hammocks on trees but in Singapore you can't do that," she explained.
The master bedroom
The minimalist design is kept up to the master bedroom with plain white walls and a brown distressed leather bed frame.
Opposite the bed is a glass block wall "to give the space more light."
Contrary to the bold black-and-white guest bathroom, the ensuite bathroom is subtle with pale blue-and-white Peranakan tiles.
The shower has the same pebble flooring as the guest bathroom.
The walk-in wardrobe is mainly used by Jon. If you're wondering where Stella's clothes are, they're temporarily in Ashton's room.
"Don't tell him yet. Since he's not living here for now I figured I'd just use it for my own clothes," she said cheekily.
Ashton's room
Upon entering the room, there is a shelf displaying Ashton's collection of anime figurines and Lego bricks.
Next to it is a bunk bed with a piano placed underneath.
"He doesn't like the piano though, he's at the age where he doesn't want to play it yet," said Stella.
The built-in floor-to-ceiling cabinet is where Stella stores her clothes.
She added that she hopes to fully decorate it once Ashton returns.
She continued: "He's so cute. He was really excited when I showed him the new home. He said, 'I can't wait to come back and see the new place. It looks beautiful.'"
His input in the design of the home however, was minimal: "I asked him what he likes and he said, 'No, I love my room. It's great already.' I think he's hit the stage where he's very agreeable to everything."
Jon's twin daughters from a previous marriage shared the same sentiments as Ashton.
"The girls love it… They love the sunroom. That's where they hang out and sleep. They're enjoying the place as much as Jon and I so both of us are super happy with how the home turned out," shared Stella.
Challenges faced
The most challenging part of the whole renovation to her was figuring out what was most important to the family and where to spend the most money on.
"We figured that bedrooms weren't as important because we use it to sleep and most of the time, we'll be out of the bedrooms and spending time in the living and dining area where everyone gets together," said Stella.
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In the end, the couple chose to put the "least amount of budget" into the bedrooms and spend most of it on the rest of the home.
Additionally, she shared that fitting the homes to everyone's wants and needs was not an easy task, hence she resorted to making every space multi-functional, citing the sunroom as an example.
"I love to read novels so I thought the sunroom was really important to me, but yet I made it multi-functional so that when I'm not using it, everything is collapsible and it can be turned into a bedroom," she said.
The renovations totalled up to $160,000, excluding fittings, furniture, appliances, decor and the sponsorships she had with a few brands.
While there were delays and "things that didn't work out", Stella expressed that she's "super happy" with the outcome: "It was definitely worth it."
syarifahsn@asiaone.com
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