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The heart of every home is the kitchen. Why else do most spend the better part of their waking hours in it (it’s true!)?...

6 Kitchen Countertop Materials For Your Next Renovation

SIXiDES is an interior design tech and renovation platform that uses tech to change the way people renovate their homes. Conceived as a means to safeguard aspiring homeowners in realizing their space with ease and peace of mind. SIXiDES unique features provide an integrated solution that guides the users right from the very beginning till the end of the renovation journey.

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Wake up, wash up, dress up. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafts into the room. But no one else is out of bed yet. You head for the kitchen. There it is &mdash; pot of hot coffee waiting for you. The coffee machine ground beans, boiled water, and brewed the grinds the moment you woke up. Your virtual assistant chimes in; traffic heavy today. It&rsquo;ll take 13 minutes longer to get to work. Leave a little earlier; about 8:27am. Plenty of time to enjoy the coffee. And toast. Where&rsquo;s the butter? The fridge reminds you that you&rsquo;re almost out of butter and, horror, coffee beans. It adds that to your to-do list on your phone. Your coffee and toast done, wish your sleepy family goodbye, and leave for the office. You forget to lock the door but that&#39;s okay. It locks up for you. But not before your phone informs you that you&rsquo;ve left your laptop on the dining table.&nbsp; That&rsquo;s just a teaser of what a smart home could do on a normal day &mdash; a glimpse into <a href="https://www.sixides.com/articles/how-to-create-a-smart-home-for-peace-of-mind-in-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">how to create a smart home</a> that elevates everyday living. And while it sounds expensive, smart home setups are now far more accessible and can even be incorporated during&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sixides.com/articles/guide-choosing-an-interior-designer-in-singapore" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">interior design &amp; renovation</a> works with the help of an experienced <a href="https://www.sixides.com/professionals/interior-designers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ID firm</a>. Here&rsquo;s what you need to know before creating your very own smart home.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1642733150190-1642733150190.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;"><h1> </h1><h1>What Is A Smart Home?</h1>Before we start, here&rsquo;s the deets on what makes a smart home, well, smart. Essentially, it&rsquo;s a home communication network that lets all sorts of electronic devices and appliances &ldquo;talk&rdquo; to each other. What&rsquo;s smart about that? It means they can collaborate to suit your routines and habits. The above scenario is but one example of how everything works together seamlessly from one thing to the next. Effectively used, a smart home can reduce your carbon footprint and improve your quality of life.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1642733150209-1642733150209.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;"><h1> </h1><h1>Features Of A Smart Home</h1>In most cases, smart homes are pretty easy to install &mdash; just bring home the smart devices and appliances. No hacking required. For many, it&rsquo;s just plug and play &mdash; turn them on and they&rsquo;re ready to go. Some will require a little fiddling but with helpful prompts from the devices themselves. And then there are the specialised ones that handle all the small details &mdash; these might require a little professional help e.g. security systems.&nbsp;The great news is there&rsquo;s practically a device or appliance for every need. The bad news: it&rsquo;s impossible to list all of them. So, instead, they&rsquo;ll be covered very broadly by categories:&nbsp;Central HubIn order to be smart, there&rsquo;s got to be the brains of the whole operation (other than yours, of course). It&rsquo;s the control centre to which all devices and appliances are connected to and from which you control everything. The best part of this is you already have one right now: your smartphone.&nbsp;AudioThanks to Google, Amazon, and Apple, every home can potentially have their own virtual assistant. They take form of wireless speakers, each with their own brand of AI (namely, Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri, respectively) that can also serve as a central hub. And all you have to do is tell them when you want them to do, just as you would with a living and breathing, slave assistant.&nbsp;They aren&rsquo;t the only ones about either. Brands like Sonos, Bose, and many more also offer their own variety of AI that are more music oriented: some music to follow you wherever you are in your home*, some help to turn down the volume at night, or and some even optimize your home movie experience.&nbsp;*provided you have a multi-speaker set up in your home.&nbsp;VisualSmart TVs are one of the more straightforward pieces of smart tech. As long as you are connected to the internet, you&rsquo;ll have years of content to help you kill time. Take your pick. Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Apple TV&hellip; you get the idea. Paired with a virtual assistant, if you lose the TV remote, no sweat: just say what you want to watch and it will be done.&nbsp;LightingThe lightbulb: the single most important tech where homes are concerned. Lights influence everything. Our behaviour, mood, productivity. With smart lighting, you can do so much more. And you don&rsquo;t even need physical switches to turn them on or off. Or even change colour. Just control it from your phone. Forgot the living room lights before hitting the bed? Just do it from your phone. On holiday in London and need to turn the lights on? Your phone. Need to set the mood for a wild party? Phone.&nbsp;Security&nbsp;Imagine this. Your doorbell rings. It&rsquo;s Mom. Thought to surprise you with your favourite snack &mdash; onde-onde. Gosh, thanks, mom. You can leave it on the dining table. Thanks, love you, bye. And you weren&rsquo;t even home the whole time. Video surveillance to confirm she&rsquo;s who she says she is. Smart locks that you can control from anywhere. And more video footage of mom tidying your room before she leaves. &nbsp;&nbsp;PlugsGive regular appliances a university degree with smart plugs. Turn on the lamp without having to reach for the back of some dark and scary corner of your home. Or hook it up to your virtual assistant. Then it could turn on that lavender scented diffuser just before you arrive home from a hard day&rsquo;s work.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1642733150233-1642733150233.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;"><h1> </h1><h1>Designing A Smart Home</h1>The thing about designing a smart home is not to feel pressured to include EVERYTHING at once. Not everything needs to be built in, if at all. Smart devices can be added gradually, one at a time.&nbsp;

Wake up, wash up, dress up. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafts into the room. But no one else is out of bed yet. You head for the kitchen...

Beginners Guide To Creating A Smart Home

You&rsquo;re probably thinking, is there really space in at home, especially a HDB one, for a garden? The answer is: yes, you absolutely can! Thankfully, thousands of clever homeowners (and more than a few designers from every&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sixides.com/articles/guide-to-all-interior-design-renovation-verification-and-accreditation-schemes-in-singapore" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">list of interior design companies in Singapore</a>) have already figured it out. Here are some ideas you can steal for your own home &mdash; no&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sixides.com/articles/renovation-regrets-furnishing-and-finishes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">renovation regrets</a>&nbsp;later.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1643949508140-1643949508140.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;"><h1> </h1><h1>Small Terrarium Garden</h1>Everyone&rsquo;s got to start somewhere. A terrarium is as good a place to start as any. Put a few glass cases together, some air plants and succulents, and, voila, an amazing centrepiece!&nbsp;It even fits beautifully into a <a href="https://www.sixides.com/articles/wabi-sabi-is-not-wasabi-design-la" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wabi sabi design</a> aesthetic with its natural textures and organic shapes.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1643949508163-1643949508163.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;"><h1> </h1><h1>Dividers</h1>&nbsp;<h2>Room Divider Garden</h2>A divider is a great excuse to put more greens in your home. Plus, it doesn&rsquo;t fully block the view of the other room, maintaining visual continuity throughout the apartment.&nbsp;<h2>Hanging Garden</h2>If a garden divide takes up floorspace you don&rsquo;t have, a hanging garden is your best bet &ndash; takes up zero space. It&rsquo;ll be quite the centrepiece to any home.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1643949508190-1643949508190.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;">&nbsp;<h1>Walls</h1>&nbsp;<h2>Mason Jar Wall Garden</h2>These are probably the most versatile piece of glassware on the planet. Hundreds of uses for them, including a herb garden wall. A real rustic DIY look and a steady supply of fresh herbs to boot &ndash; what&rsquo;s not to like?&nbsp;<h2>Circular Wall Vase</h2>Nothing says organic than curves. And these have them in aces. Get the see through class ones and enjoy the earthy transition from soil to roots to leaves.&nbsp;<h2>Test Tube Wall Garden</h2>Feeling experimental? Test tubes just scream science. Mount them on the wall, pop them plants in and EUREKA! Nature science! Also excellent for plant parents who need a place for plant cuttings.&nbsp;<h2>Pegboard Garden</h2>For the inner OCD in you, pegboards are great if you HAVE to move things around. All the time. Plus, you&rsquo;ll have extra storage space on it.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1643949508217-1643949508216.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;"><h1> </h1><h1>Balcony</h1>&nbsp;<h2>Plant Pots on Apartment Balcony</h2>If you&rsquo;ve got it, flaunt it. Balconies, no matter how small, are great opportunities for a garden. Just make sure you can still open the doors when you&rsquo;re done &ndash; you don&#39;t have to be stuck outside on the balcony forever.&nbsp;<h2>Horizontal Gardens on Balcony Wall</h2>For the especially teeny tiny balcony, don&rsquo;t fret &ndash; just use the walls. Plant everything from flowers to vegetables that need plenty of sun. You have sunlight, right?&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>Outdoor-Indoor Hybrid Garden</h2>Not a big fan of closing the balcony doors? Here&rsquo;s a way to keep that open &ndash; have the balcony garden &ldquo;spill&rdquo; into the apartment. It&rsquo;ll blend the inside and out and make the home look bigger than it really is.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1643949508238-1643949508238.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;"><h1> </h1><h1>Rooms</h1>&nbsp;<h2>Kitchen Garden</h2>Is it a kitchen? Or a garden? Having plants around where you cook can give you that outdoorsy feel whenever you prepare a meal. And admit it: you&rsquo;ve always wanted fresh herbs within reach.&nbsp;<h2>Bathroom Garden</h2>Perhaps you&rsquo;ve convinced yourself &ndash; there&rsquo;s absolutely no space left for a garden. Think bathroom. So very many shelf spaces everywhere for pots to go.&nbsp;<h2>Indoor Garden Closet</h2>So minimalist that you have a spare room to&hellip; ahem&hellip; spare? Turn the whole thing into a garden, or a jungle!&nbsp;<h1>Time to get gardening</h1>As you can see, if there&rsquo;s a will there&rsquo;s a way. Put your mind to it, any place can become a garden. Now, no more excuses &ndash; get out there and green up your home!

You’re probably thinking, is there really space in at home, especially a HDB one, for a garden? The answer is: yes, you absolutely can!...

Indoor Garden Ideas For HDBs

Lighter Is Brighter. Brighter Is BetterThe bathroom is where you do most of your unspeakable, unsightly grooming (I hope), and that means you need it to be well-lit. I happen to have two bathrooms in my humble apartment, the common bathroom lined in white glossy tile, the master bathroom lined in black tile. Sure, there&rsquo;s something luxurious about darker tiles that lend a touch of mystery. But given both bathrooms have the same lighting, one realises when you&rsquo;re trying to tweeze that hard-to-see hair, or fix that smudge in your eyeliner, the darker bathroom&rsquo;s mystery turns into misery real quick.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s a good reminder why many <a href="https://www.sixides.com/articles/6-hacks-for-more-functional-modern-bathroom-designs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">modern bathroom designs</a> lean towards brighter palettes, especially when planning around your <a href="https://www.sixides.com/articles/singapore-2024-renovation-budget-condo-renovation-cost-forecast" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">condo renovation cost</a> or working with the <a href="https://www.sixides.com/articles/best-renovation-contractor-in-singapore" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">best renovation contractor in Singapore</a> to get the lighting just right. <img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1645149842123-1645149842122.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;">&nbsp;On The Same Note... White Is Better Than WarmLeave the yellow mood lightning to your cosier spaces. There is nothing like white lights in a bathroom to make it bright, clean, and highly functional. A strong white light in the bathroom opens up the space and makes for better vision.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1645149842150-1645149842150.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;">&nbsp;Slant Your Floor TilesJust that little tilt in your floor tile just so water naturally drains into the floor trap is a clever trick to ensure you don&rsquo;t have water pooling the corners of your shower that may cause mould to grow or mosquitoes to have a party. This works especially well for larger bathrooms with a single floor trap. It costs you nothing extra, to boot.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1645149842178-1645149842178.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;">&nbsp;Mirror Mirror On The WallShout out to the vainpots of the world. If you are heavily reliant on your bathroom mirror, you really don&rsquo;t want it facing a well-lit window &mdash; the back lit reflection isn&rsquo;t going to do you any favours. The most well-lit bathrooms have a mirror that&rsquo;s adjacent to a window, so you get the best natural lighting when you check out your reflection. Also, the wider the mirror, the larger your bathroom will look. This is the oldest trick in the book to create the illusion of bigger spaces.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sixides-us/uploads%2F1645149842201-1645149842201.jpeg" class="fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 100%;">&nbsp;High And DryIf you have the budget, plan for a bathroom that has both a wet and dry area. Not only is the maintenance lower, you&#39;re half less likely to fall with a smaller slip zone &mdash; take it from someone who has a wet/dry master bathroom I&#39;ve never had mishaps in, versus a full wet old school common bathroom I&#39;ve slipped in several times. Wet tiles are not your best friend when you&#39;re groggy and bleary eyed in the mornings. Having a dry area means you don&rsquo;t have to deep-clean as often, and you can safely store electrical appliances like your hairdryers, curlers and fancy electric shavers on your bathroom vanity, all within reach.&nbsp;Air It OutFoldable doors are all the rage for a great reason, they take up much less space in small toilets, and you can collapse them against the door frame so your entire bathroom can easily air out. After erm&hellip; a really intense session, we all understand the best way to dissipate any lingering odours is good ventilation. A large window, or a toilet that has good airflow will beat a scented candle any day.&nbsp;&nbsp;Photo Credit :&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sixides.com/professionals/interior-designers/ethan-interiors-design-studio">Ethan Interior</a>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://www.sixides.com/professionals/interior-designers/sense-semblance">Sense &amp; Semblance</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://www.sixides.com/professionals/interior-designers/koze">KOZE</a>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://www.sixides.com/professionals/interior-designers/idfferent-design">iDfferent Design</a>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://www.sixides.com/professionals/interior-designers/the-local-project">The Local Project</a>

The bathroom is where you do most of your unspeakable, unsightly grooming (I hope), and that means you need it to be well-lit...

6 Hacks For A Higher Functioning Bathroom

Admit it. You’re reading this because you’ve got to make a decision quick. A decision that’ll affect the rest of your life (well, most of it anyway). You want to know which flooring to go for: vinyl or tiles..

6 Kitchen Countertop Materials For Your Next Renovation

The heart of every home is the kitchen. Why else do most spend the better part of their waking hours in it (it’s true!)?...

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