Small space, big dreams

Enterprising Singaporean carves tiny bedroom out of HDB flat's service yard

- Yamini Chinnuswamy

When Ms Sasha Marie Shelley and her family were preparing to move into their new Build-To-Order flat in May, the 24-year-old had just one request: to have her own space.

"I've shared a bedroom with my sister for 24 years. We have always been pretty close and still are," says Ms Shelley. "But as we grew older, I started to notice that we were leading very different lives, which were not compatible."

Her sister, who is 30, is an artist who keeps late hours. Ms Shelley, a youth speaker with a local church, has a more conventional schedule.

"If she is up late working on a piece, she might have to keep the lights on, which affects me while I'm trying to sleep so I can wake up early for work," she says.

However, their new Punggol flat has just two bedrooms spread across 742 sq ft. Their previous 732 sq ft flat in Toa Payoh also had two bedrooms.

"I considered using the bomb shelter, though I realise that is not advisable and there are restrictions on what you can do with that space," says Ms Shelley.

Her mother's plans to convert the service yard into a home office fell through, making it available as an option for Ms Shelley.

But trying to squeeze all the comforts of a bedroom into the tiny space — which measures just 1.4m by 2.56m — required hours of research, brainstorming and creative problem-solving.

"I spent hours searching online content platforms such as Pinterest, TikTok and YouTube for inspiration," says Ms Shelley.

She even stumbled across a girl in South Korea whose apartment was just 75 sq ft. "I was very inspired by how she made such a small space into something homely and comfortable."

But, for the new Shelley family home, there were practical considerations before Ms Shelley could tackle her own small space.