Throwaway account because I know the self-proclaimed interior design gurus and couples waiting for their BTO (Built-to-Order flat) are going to come for my head.
Every single day on r/Singapore or TikTok, there’s someone complaining about how new 4-room and 5-room flats are “basically birdcages” and how the government is squeezing us into shoeboxes. Yes, BTOs are smaller than the massive old-school 1980s executive flats. This is a known fact. But honestly? Half of you don’t actually lack space. You just have too much rubbish.
We’ve become a country obsessed with buying things just to fill up rooms, and then we complain we can’t breathe. Look at the typical young couple’s flat nowadays. It’s packed to the brim with Taobao hauls, giant automated laundry racks that take up the entire service yard, three different coffee machines because “home cafe vibes,” and an enormous L-shaped sofa that eats up 70% of the living room space. Don’t even get me started on the dynamic island custom carpentry that makes navigating the kitchen feel like an obstacle course.
We complain about the “shrinking” master bedroom, but then we insist on squeezing in a king-sized bed, two bedside tables, a massive built-in wardrobe, and a dedicated vanity table. Of course you’re going to hit your shin against the bed frame every morning!
Go into any older relative’s house. Even if it’s a smaller 3-room rental or resale flat, it often feels strangely airy. Why? Because they don’t buy things just for the sake of an Instagram story. They have a dining table, a few chairs, a TV, and that’s it.
We need to face reality. Singapore is a tiny island; our flats are not going to magically transform into sprawling suburban bungalows. If you live in a high-density city, your lifestyle needs to adapt to the space, not the other way around. If your home feels claustrophobic, don’t blame the floor plan first. Go open your bomb shelter, clear out the seven luggage bags you haven’t used since 2019, stop buying minimalist-but-chunky dust-collecting ornaments, and realize that minimalism means actually having fewer things, not buying a minimalist-looking shelf to hold twenty items.