While most new launches that you’ll see today have pretty regularly shaped and efficient layouts (these are naturally easier to sell), some are truly quite the oddball.
If you’ve been shopping around in the resale market too, you might have come across even more awkwardly shaped units. Everything else seems great on paper, it’s close to the MRT, freehold , and has the interior space that you need. But, it has bay windows and a really odd-shaped room – it’s a real head-scratcher of a decision!
As such, I’ve compiled some of these quirks and oddities found in local apartments of various shapes and sizes and smart solutions to work around them. You may even be surprised at how these can be made use of and accentuated into a cool design feature in your home instead.
Bay Windows
Prior to October 2018, bay windows and planter boxes (which often make up around 5 per cent of a condo’s saleable area) had been exempted from GFA calculations. To say this was a exploitation was an understatement, as it allowed developers to charge buyers for these areas while reducing the average PSF cost of the development as these areas were not taxed.
As you can imagine with such a ‘loophole’, the addition of bay windows and planter boxes exploded, and developers were indiscriminately placing these features even in inconceivable places. Especially when bedrooms were already getting smaller, having bay windows sometimes just made it worse.
Today, I would say opinions on the utility of bay windows tend to be one of a nuisance more than anything. Most would deem bay windows difficult to work with and a waste of precious floor space. Others wish to bask in romanticised living. While there is some truth to the concerns, they need not be so and can instead become a defining feature of your home. With some creative thinking, they can provide a cosy setup to even the most compact of units.
Here are a few workarounds that could work for you:
1. Reading Nook with Built-in Shelf
One of the main attractions of a bay window is as a cosy reading nook. Bay windows are perfect for bookworms to curate a cosy and inviting reading space to dwell in. It’s a bit more work, but creating a custom made bench cushion plus a couple of fluffy pillows can instantly transform the space.
2. Multi-purpose Dining Bench
While bay windows in living areas are typically just used as a display or storage space, you could also look to use it as part of your dining setup.
Take this opportunity to have your bay seating act as an exaggerated dining bench that also serves as a spacious lounging space. Pair your dining table with additional loose seating for a stylish mixed look. Throw in some pillows and cushions for extra comfort while you are at it. In other words, make your bay window work harder for you and not against you.
3. A Modest Study with a View
With Singapore’s limited land space, high floor apartments that overlook the city’s skyline are becoming a norm. In view of this (no pun intended), what better way than to maximise vantages of the outdoors and set up a conducive study filled with natural light.
Keep things minimal with a simple built-in desk in place of where a typical bay window would be (of course, this is dependent on how high the bay window actually is). Include pull-out drawers in your table and add some open shelving to the side to maximise vertical space.
Originally published in StackedHomes.