As Singapore is a small country with a population of about 5 million people. One thing that all Singaporeans and expats who are residing would all agree on would be space. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we all had that extra space we always wanted to make our kitchen not feel that confined?” or how nice would it be if we are able to free up some extra space to allow more room for our living room and a better ventilation overall?
Depending on the type of housing estate you are occupying, you can either look up an interior designer to help you better manage your space. An average BTO 5-room HDB flat or Condo that are being sold these days typically should not exceed 1,200 square feet, as compared to the older units that were built in the 1990s where homeowners who purchased 5-room flats were given approximately 1,300 square feet to play around with in terms of space.
Home, is one of the closest thing that anyone would ever possess. No matter how long you have been out, or far you have travelled, one will still return home no matter what. Homeowners will place special priority when it comes to their homes. But with the limitation of how big your HDB apartment or Condo is, besides moving furnitures around, another alternative that can be done is the demolition of walls, which is most commonly known as wall hacking.
Homeowners and residents hack their walls for several reasons. Though end of the day, the amount of space is still the same, but with the proper placement of furnitures, freeing up unused space and the hacking of walls strategically, one is able to manipulate the perceived look of their home and make it look bigger than usual. Most Singaporeans typically termed this as an “Open Concept Theme” if they were to approach any of their interior designers or contractors.
Advantages
- A better view/perspective to know what is going on in the house if you have kids
- Better Ventilation and Sunlight throughout the whole house
- Flexibility of layouts can be changed from time to time
- Getting one whole bigger space vs many compartmentalised space
Disadvantages
- Lesser personal space and privacy
- Lesser wall space for those who have many portraits or paintings
- No place to hide any mess at all
- Maintenance will seem much tedious as the space is bigger, eg. Mopping & Vacuuming
Some may also want that divider or separator in between but not the wall, so instead, they replaced it with a glass partition, it gives off that perceived spacious vibe that we all want, not feeling constrained at all.
If you are keen to hack your walls or even half hack any walls in your home, we cannot emphasise enough that it is important for you to
- Study the floor plan of your home
- Make sure the specific wall that you are hacking does not compromise the overall structure of the building
- Call HDB up, or your condo management to seek approvals
- locate a licensed contractor to conduct the demolition work for you
If time is not on your side, why go through the hassle? Get in touch with our friendly interior designers who will sort everything including the above out for you.
