A spacious and welcoming resale flat for a cheerful young couple and their beloved cats.

Buying a house while in a long-distance relationship is not for the faint of heart, but it was certainly the right call for Tiffany and Bryan (@jingwensathome), who took the plunge after five years of dating. Given the circumstances, the house-hunting process was quite a unique experience for the couple.

“As we were in a long-distance relationship, Bryan actually viewed the flat via video call,” shares Tiffany. “We made an offer that evening!”

While others may have struggled to take such a big step over the phone, having a clear understanding of their needs and wants made things much easier for the two homeowners. “We fell in love with the accessibility and food in the area so we knew we wanted a home in this neighbourhood. We were also set on finding a flat with more than 80 years of lease left.”

Once the house was chosen, the next step was arranging for the renovation. Planning to live in this home for 15 to 20 years, Tiffany and Bryan wanted to make the space as comfortable and homely as possible—and they figured this was best left to the pros.

“A home renovation is a huge project, both in terms of finances and timespan. Despite all the research and planning that we did, we still felt uncertain about leading it on our own, especially since this was our first time renovating. So we decided to hire an interior designer.” Cherrie from Lemonfridge Studio ended up being a perfect choice.

Once again, the couple had their priorities straight—concealing the household shelter and setting up an open kitchen with an island. As for the style of the home, they were open-minded and flexible, incorporating a mix of curved elements, textured finishes, green accents, wood and terrazzo.

We checked in with the soon-to-be-married couple to find out more about their renovation process and their journey to a spacious, cosy home.

You had such a good experience with your ID—any tips for finding the right one?

Dining table from Crate & Barrel and island bar stools from Second Charm.

Evaluate mainly the person, not the firm they come from. The firm is important in terms of resources, relationships with contractors, etc., but your main person of contact is your ID, so make sure you get along with them.

How did you settle on a look for your home? What was the process like?

Coffee table from Originals.

It was a laborious process, involving many hours on Instagram and Pinterest. We couldn’t decide on a specific theme or style, so we went with things we love—especially wooden tones and green accents.

You did a bit of DIY for your place. Why did you choose to go down that route?

Kalklitir limewash paint from Aratamete—applied by the homeowners themselves!

We did our own limewash paint for a few of the walls and self-installed our cat climbers in the cat room too! We wanted to be a part of the home-making process in that sense.

Do you have a favourite room now that you’re settled in?

Cooker hood from Franke, cabinet fronts from Lam Chuan and island top from Silestone.

The kitchen, for sure. It went through so many iterations and mock-ups because we were concerned about whether all the different surfaces would match and flow.

What was the toughest part of the renovation?

Cooker hood from Franke.

Choosing the tiles. We were quite unlucky as many of the tiles we wanted were sold out. This caused us to make a costly error on the kitchen backsplash and resulted in a totally new en-suite bathroom look that we did not initially envision.

Thankfully, we managed to rectify the kitchen mistake and we’re satisfied with how the bathroom turned out.

Choosing how much storage space to incorporate can be tough—any tips?

More of the homeowners’ DIY work.

Map it out! For the kitchen, I used my iPad to visualise how many things we would have and how to store them, and from there I determined the number of drawers and cabinets we would need.

Let’s talk budget. How can homeowners save during their reno?

Wait for the sales! We got our keys in September and realised that the second half of the year brings so many online sales. The deals just kept coming and we saved so much this way.

Looking back now, is there anything you’d do differently?

More limewash walls! But we’ll just DIY more of those one day. Another thing is the transition from the kitchen tiles to the living room vinyl flooring; curved edges would make it less abrupt.

And finally, what advice would you give to homeowners embarking on their first renovation?

Tiles from Hafary.

You have to put yourself out there. Familiarise yourself with various themes, furniture styles, design ideas and brands so that you can discover your own taste.

Follow home accounts on Instagram to learn from other homeowners’ best and worst decisions. You can even create your own home account and join the community—it’s a very supportive one.

And last but certainly not least, spend time finding the right designer for yourself!

This post was adapted from an article originally published in IdealHomes 2022.