Planning to renovate the home you’re living in? Fantastic! How long is it going to take? Oh. Where are you going to live during the renovation? You haven’t thought about it?!

Sigh. Good thing there are plenty of options for you, care-free friend. What are they, you ask? Well, here are 5 places you could stay at while there’s a renovation going on.

1. Other home

Perhaps you’ve forgotten you’ve got a holiday home tucked away somewhere. Or recently acquired it in a game of chance. Either way, this is best option of the lot; you can do anything you want in it and no one will think worse of you for it. However, if you’re like most Singaporeans, this is the least likely choice because, well, no every one of us is swimming in disposable income. But it’s nice to fantasise about.

 2. Parents or relative’s home

The next free-ish option would be a parents’ or relative’s place. It’s a lot like living in your own home but with a couple of caveats:

• You’ll need to have a good relationship with them. If you can’t live around [insert worst person in your life here], neither is your father/mother/uncle/aunty/cousin/twice-removed long-lost step uncle in-law.
• you’re living under someone else’s house rules. And if you’ve going to continue to borrow their home, you’ll play nice. Understand? Good. Glad we had this talk.
• It’s going to be cramped. Most homes were designed with one family in mind. While that doesn’t mean you can’t cram more people in, doing so will guarantee that, eventually, someone’s toes will get stepped on. And only one party is going to get kicked out of said home.

 Service Apartment - Fraser Residence at Orchard Singapore (Image Source: Fraser Hospitality)

3. Serviced Apartment

Another nice and neat option that’s not too different from having a home. It’s got everything you want and need, and you can sort of treat it as your own. For a fee. 

Money aside, it’s a great choice for families especially for larger ones where living with relatives isn’t really a viable choice. Some might even have decent facilities available (e.g. gym and swimming pool) to make waiting for the completion of your renovation tolerable. Just don’t get too attached to it.

  4. Hotel

If your renovation is pretty minor and will only take less than a month, a hotel isn’t a bad way to spend the time. Cleaning is a non-issue; thank goodness for room service. Fresh bedsheets, towels, and toiletries daily. The dark side of it all? You can’t cook. You can’t wash your own clothes. Space is limited. And during the holiday season, rental can AND WILL skyrocket.  

  5. Live on-site

You haven’t the budget to rent out a place and you’ve run out of favours with your relatives. And friends. And acquaintances. So what’s one to do? Live on-site in the thick of it. It is, by far, the cheapest and least dependant on relationships. However, before you do, there are quite a number of things to consider:

• Store your valuables elsewhere. Folks will be moving in and out of your place. 
• Prioritising some rooms to complete over others. This ensures that the most used part(s) of the home are ready earlier.
• Ventilation and messiness. There’s probably no need to say it but this is pretty much worse than roughing it out in the wilderness. It’s always going to be uncharacteristically dusty and messy. So much so that living in should only be considered by young couples or small families with older kids.

It's only for a bit

Just remember that whichever option you choose, or are stuck with, it is only temporary. At least you still have a roof over your head. And, at the very end, you’ll REALLY appreciate your newly renovated home when it is all done and ready.

Posted on 11th August 2023

Written by Kenny Tan

SIXiDES Editorial Team