A small condo and a dual-key are layout problems

Last updated 31 October 2026.

Shoebox and studio searches want storage in a plan that is already full. Dual-key searches want the second door to become a separate home. We can build or assemble furniture. We cannot let the room, and we do not publish whether a dual-key may be sublet. That is a tenancy and planning question. URA’s renting page is linked from this site’s other notes. Read it. We are not the reader who approves a stay. The MCST guide is the hacking deposit and the by-laws. A deposit they set is not a carpentry price.

Storage that is a small carton is S$50 to S$80. A wardrobe carton is S$100 to S$650. A standing desk is S$140 to S$260. A platform or a loft bed in a low condo ceiling is quote on inspection, and it is a bad idea if you have not measured the ceiling. We do not publish a minimum ceiling for a loft bed. A high-ceiling light band does not apply to a shoebox that is not high. The constraints note is low ceilings, odd bays, west sun, ground floors and MRT noise.

A dual-key kitchenette is not a second full kitchen by default. If the plan has a hob, gas work is a Licensed Gas Service Worker. A new circuit is S$220 to S$450. A socket on an existing circuit is S$55. A carpenter shelf over a tiny sink is a quote. Do not hack a bathroom in a condo because an HDB three-year story does not apply. The MCST may still refuse the hack, and waterproofing is still real. A fire door between the two sides, if one exists, is not a furniture door. SCDF says fire safety works are submitted by a Qualified Person. We are not one.

West sun in a single-aspect shoebox is heat, not a style. Interior film is quote on inspection on the film pages. Curtains are not sold. Secondary glazing for noise is S$750 to S$2,800 on the soundproofing page when that is the product, and a door seal is S$280 to S$550. Those rows are interior. They are not a facade window replacement. A ground-floor unit with a patio that floods is the balcony deck page, S$280 to S$550 to lift and flush when that job matches, not a new interior.

Furniture has to pass the lift and the door. The HDB lift guide’s method is to measure. A condo lift is not an HDB cabin. We do not publish either size. A built-in made in the room avoids the lift and is quote on inspection. The shoebox carpentry service is that quote. It is not a design package and not a rental listing.

Homey Furnishing Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 202018148K), 27 Mandai Estate, #06-10 Innovation Place, Singapore 729931, invoices permit-exempt maintenance. V On Construction Pte. Ltd. (ACRA UEN 201611708H), on the HDB Directory of Renovation Contractors, invoices hacking, a new layout, and other work that needs an HDB renovation permit. Homey Furnishing is not a Council for Estate Agencies licensed estate agent and does not sell, rent or market flats. It is not a Ministry of Manpower licensed employment agency and does not place helpers.

Curtains, blinds and roller shades are not part of this booking. This page also does not sell or rent the home, and it does not place a domestic worker.

Photograph the fitting before you buy a product or book a hack.

1. Measure the plan and the ceiling.
2. Ask the MCST before any hack.
3. Use carton rows only when the product matches.
4. Do not ask us to let the second door.
5. Keep fire doors and gas with the trades that own them.

The building changes the permission. It does not invent a second price.

A triangular bay is not “wasted space” until you have tried a loose shelf. A built-in that dies when you move is quote on inspection and should be priced as something you will leave behind. Say if the unit is a rental you do not own. We will not fix a wardrobe to a wall the landlord has forbidden. We also will not be the landlord.

One window means the bed, the desk and the aircon fight. The aircon note for BTOs is the method: we do not publish a capacity. Placement is quote on inspection. Do not cover the only fresh-air opening with a tall wardrobe.

In a studio the wardrobe, the bed and the desk cannot all be deep. Pick the bed you sleep in and let the other two be shallower. A 600 mm wardrobe that blocks the bathroom is a failed wardrobe. We will say so from the photo. A mirror on the bathroom door is fine if the door still closes. A shoe tray by the entrance is a tray, not a built-in, unless you ask for the quote.

Dual-key owners sometimes want the second side to look like a hotel room. That is paint and a bed, not a second entrance we approve. If the second door opens onto a kitchenette, do not put the bed against the hob. Gas and a bed in one room is a layout we will refuse to build around. Move the bed. The licensed gas worker owns the hob.

Moving out of a shoebox later is the reason to prefer loose pieces. A built-in left for the next owner should be something the MCST and the next buyer can live with. We will not scribe a TV wall over the only window. The constraints note is what happens when that window also faces west or a track. A desk in that glare is the study-corner problem, even in a condo. Turn the screen, do not cover the only sash.

How you're charged

A job that already has a sentence on HomeySG uses that sentence. The hour is not added on top of a band unless the written scope says so. There is no fuel surcharge. A whole-flat repaint, a private defect-scan fee, and a litre of a named paint brand are not in the catalogue.

Who is allowed to do the work

HDB’s important information on renovation says renovation in a flat, including some work that does not need a permit, is carried out by a contractor from the Directory of Renovation Contractors. The same page says failing to use a listed contractor for renovations, or breaching the renovation rules, can lead to a fine of up to $5,000. That sentence is HDB’s. It is not a ruling on your flat. Read the page before you treat a handyman visit as a renovation.

• Permit-exempt maintenance that already has a band, such as a hinge, a silicone joint or a small hole patch, stays on the Homey Furnishing invoice.
• Hacking, a new layout, and replacement of toilet finishes inside HDB’s restriction period move to V On Construction Pte. Ltd. UEN 201611708H. The price of that permit scope is quote on inspection.
• A new cable or a consumer unit is an EMA licensed electrician. A new water point is a PUB licensed plumber. Piped gas is a licensed gas worker.
• Window installation and replacement on an HDB flat is a BCA approved window contractor on HDB’s directory, with a renovation permit first. BCA describes workhead RW01. Homey Furnishing is not that contractor.
• Selling, renting or marketing the flat is estate agency work. CEA registers property agents. We do not do that work.
• A weekly cleaner on this site is not a migrant domestic worker placement. We do not hire out helpers.
• Curtains, blinds and roller shades are not part of this booking.

Ways to keep the bill smaller

• Photograph every mark before you book a full repaint. A hole that matches the S$150 to S$280 sentence does not need a whole-flat price.
• Put several permit-exempt tasks on one visit. The S$55 call-out is one task. Further permit-exempt time is S$45 an hour, not a second trip.
• Report a new-flat defect to HDB, or the developer if the contract says so, before you pay anyone to cover it.
• Do not hack a bathroom floor to “save” a later leak. HDB’s three-year restriction exists so the flat below stays dry.
• Open every door, including the dual-key door, and photograph the overlap. That is the layout.

WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630.

Small condos use the same small rows. They do not get a shoebox surcharge.

Anything not in that table is quote on inspection.

WhatsApp the photos to +65 8561 0630. The reply uses a band already printed on HomeySG, or it says quote on inspection.

• Shoebox carpentry
• MCST deposits
• Low ceilings, sun, noise
• Soundproofing
• Measuring furniture
• Condo renovation