Apartments in Singapore seem to get smaller every year, but there are some clever things you can do to create more useable space with built-ins. Whether it’s somewhere to store your bikes or a disappearing dining table, here are some great space-saving ideas for your home.

Excellent entryways

When it comes to the entrance to your apartment, you know you need to have a fair bit of storage for all your shoes, bags, umbrellas plus somewhere to put your keys, your kids and their gear. This is why creating well-planned built-ins in your entryway is worth spending your money on. 

Creating a clever space to store your keys and shoes is easy in this fully built-in shoe cabinet in this Boon Lay Drive apartment. What’s even cleverer? Creating a charging station for your phone and tablet right inside the door so you not only never run out of charge, you’ll also always know where they are.

Image Credit: Forefront Interior

Image Credit: MMJ Design Loft

Disappearing dining table

We all know how important eating is in Singapore, right? But sometimes we might not really have enough space in our apartment to create a dedicated dining area. This is where clever design comes into play with the creation of a ‘disappearing dining table’!

In this Toa Payoh home the interior designer created a an elegant timber addition to the kitchen breakfast bar. The banquet seating is fixed and holds extra storage, while the table top slides out from under the kitchen bench. Swap around the bar stools for chairs and you’ve got a fabulous dining table when you need it. 

Image Credit: IDID Pte Ltd

Super storage solutions

When it comes to creating storage in small spaces, Singapore interior designers are pretty damn good. Whether it is a whole wall of built-ins, or clever usage of overhead space, there’s a way to fit more into your small apartment no matter what your needs or decor style.

This French Provincial style apartment in Chua Chu Kang has a whole wall of storage built into the entryway and the living space to create an on-theme study area that adds to the overall concept while also creating a more open concept living space.

Image Credit: Dyel Design

The rustic realness of this bedroom in Jurong East has built-ins that echo the overall style of the apartment’s interior design concept by cleverly using the same timber and edge materials. By creating wall-to-wall cupboards the textures act as wall coverings as well. 

Image Credit: Forefront Interior

Want to have a fish tank in your home but not sure where to put it? Why not get it built-in? The positioning of this fish tank near the entrance to this Tampines Greenleaf home also helps with Feng Shui.

Image Credit: Chapter B

Are you a book lover who just can’t bear to part with your hardcovers and paperbacks even though you now buy more books on your tablet? Never fear, this glamorous built-in library space in Lorong Liew Lian uses overhead space that not only is a great place to store books, but also works to create a comfy lounge area with dedicated lighting for a great read.

Image Credit: The Interior Lab

Another way to make use of headroom space that you might not need is to create some fun ‘steps to nowhere’ that you can use to store whatever you want. These super storage steps in this Pasir Ris apartment double up as a place to store a bike too, while also creating a cozy chill-out area underneath.

Image Credit: Neu Konceptz

Cycle care

Speaking of bikes, here are a few other places to store them in your home that don’t take up as much space as you’d expect. Use your precious bicycles as pieces of decorative art by stacking them up on your walls like in these two apartments. One apartment design in Bukit Batok has stashed the bikes right next to the TV, while the other apartment in Anchorvale Street has spread the bikes out along the dining space wall. Which do you prefer?

Image Credit: Zenith Arc

Image Credit: Starry Homestead

We hope these great built-in ideas have helped you solve some of your storage issues and enabled you to free up some previous space.

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