Inside Chantalle Ng and Lin Meijiao's recently renovated one-storey black-and-white conservation house

Believe it or not, local actress Chantalle Ng, 28, has always slept with her mum, veteran actress Lin Meijiao, 60.

The pair, who are very close, enjoy chatting before bed so despite having her own bedroom, Chantalle prefers bunking in with mum.

But with her increasingly busy work schedule and irregular hours, she decided it would be more conducive to have her own space.

Last year, she renovated her bedroom, along with some parts of their abode, and finally moved in.

Chantalle and Meijiao have been living in a rented one-storey black-and-white conservation house for the past decade.

The semi-detached house, which Chantalle reckons is at least 100 years old, consists of a living room, kitchen, dining room, two bedrooms and a separate bathroom and toilet. A third room – Chantalle’s walk-in wardrobe – was recently added by converting part of the backyard.

The mother-daughter duo foresee themselves living here for at least another five years, so Chantalle didn’t mind splurging a little on the revamp. Renovations, which were partially sponsored, cost S$25,000 and took less than a month.

As this is a conservation house, she had to get approval from the authorities before starting reno works. Modifications to the exterior are not allowed, though Chantalle claims they are “pretty chill when it comes to the backyard”. They also tried to minimise built-in as the house must be reinstated to its original state at the end of the tenancy period.

Chantalle recently gave #JustSwipeLah a tour of their newly renovated home. 

Taking cues from its colonial architecture, the house boasts a modern-European theme, with wainscoted cabinets, timbre floors, and mostly white and wood palette.

Little was done to the living room aside from the addition of this 3.5m-high bookcase. The shelf is not built into the wall, so it can be dismantled and reassembled at their next home.

Chantalle has recently picked up the habit of reading, so she needed space to house her growing collection of books. And when the bookcase is filled with memorabilia and decorative items, it can also double as a feature wall.

“I wanted to showcase my mum’s old magazine covers but she thinks it’s very shameless,” laughed Chantalle.

There is no sofa in the living room, only two antique green rocking chairs which have been with the family even before Chantalle was born.

The rockers were hand-painted by Meijiao’s late dad, so they are reluctant to give them a new coat of paint.

CHANTALLE'S BEDROOM

Beside the living room is Chantalle’s bedroom, which has been transformed to look like a cosy hotel suite.

Prior to the reno, it was a “storage space” for her clothes and dressing room.

“It was very cluttered. I used to have a bed in there but at some point, I moved it out because I didn't have space to put all my clothes. Now that I have a walk-in wardrobe, I try to minimise the things in my bedroom,” shared the actress.

All you’ll find is a queen-sized bed, bedside table, sofa, and bed for her pooch.

It doesn’t help that Chantalle has a sensitive nose, so it’s key that she keeps the room minimalist and clean.

In fact, guests have to wash their hands and feet before entering the room, and she even made pal Tasha Low take a shower before sitting on her bed.

“I don’t think it’s very extreme,” laughed Chantalle. “When she comes over, it’s usually after filming so she’s not clean and has to shower first.”

If you’re wondering, Tasha willingly complied with the odd request.

“I think she had a plan to play computer games the entire night and really wanted to be comfortable,” she added.

WALK-IN WARDROBE

To accommodate her new walk-in wardrobe, an extension was built from the dining area into the backyard.

The space exudes boutique vibes with designer purses on display and an island for jewellery and trinkets. Closets lining both lengths of the room provide ample storage, though if you asked Chantalle, she wouldn’t be able to tell you the contents of each of them.

The actress, who claims to have “no eye for aesthetics”, let her stylist organise the display and closets. “Eighty per cent of the clothes are for work and are from him. If I can’t find something, I will call him, and he’ll tell me where it’s kept. I only have one cabinet for my own clothes,” she said.

BATHROOM AND TOILET

The previously “dim and old school” bathroom and toilet were given an overhaul.

While Chantalle admitted she was surprised by the prices of sanitary ware and fittings, that did not stop her from splurging S$3,000 on a smart toilet, one of her favourite additions to her house.

She could not stop raving about its “life-changing” features like automatic lid, temperature-controlled bidet and night light function.

“I used a smart toilet when I was in Japan and I told myself that when I renovate my house, I must get one. When you go to the toilet at night, you don’t have to turn on the light because there’s this auto night light function. How perfect is that? It’s very ‘extra’ but I could get used to it,” she gushed.

Clearly very proud of her reno and adulting achievement, she added: “I have never spent this much money [in one go] before in my life, but I feel very clever because I signed up for credit cards and used them to pay for my renovation and furniture. As a result, I accumulated a lot of miles and exchanged it for a flight to Germany! I feel so grown up."

This story was originally published in 8Days.