When Your Cats Deserve a Room of Their Own
Most pet owners in Singapore know the compromise — you love your cats, but you also want a beautiful home. The litter boxes get tucked away, the scratching posts clash with the sofa, and the cat trees look like they belong somewhere else entirely. The brief for this project was simple but bold: design an HDB home where the cats are not an afterthought, but a celebrated part of the interior design itself.
The result is The Cat House — a modern minimalist HDB renovation completed in 2025, featuring a full-scale built-in glass cat enclosure right in the heart of the living room. Visible the moment you walk in. Impossible to ignore. And honestly, impossible not to love.
The Glass Cat Enclosure — The Star of the Show
Built floor-to-ceiling in the corner of the living room, the cat enclosure is framed in black steel style panels with full clear glass — the same design language you'd find in a boutique cafe or a luxury office, applied here to give two very pampered cats a room of their own. Inside: multi-level shelving, multiple cat trees at different heights, a feeding station, scratching posts, and recessed spotlights overhead. A mesh panel at the top provides ventilation. A full-height glass door allows easy access for the family.
From outside, it reads as a considered architectural feature — a glass room within a room. From inside, the cats have a 270-degree view of the entire living area and everyone in it. It is, quite simply, the best seat in the house.
Designed for Cats. Designed for Humans.
There is no smell escaping into the living area. No stray litter tracked across the terrazzo floor. No scratched sofa corners. The cats have everything they need in one enriching, stimulating space — and the family has the clean, beautiful home they deserve. Both win. Every single day.
Living & Dining — Calm, Clean, and Completely Liveable
Surrounding the cat enclosure, the living room is deliberately understated. A deep red leather sofa is the only bold colour in the space — a warm anchor that holds the room without competing with the glass feature beside it. A live-edge timber coffee table adds organic texture. Polished black terrazzo flooring runs throughout the living and dining zone, dramatic and effortlessly easy to clean (essential in any cat household).
The TV feature wall is full-height grey matte handleless cabinetry with a single backlit display shelf. No hardware, no clutter — just clean lines and hidden storage behind them. Cove lighting traces the ceiling perimeter, wrapping the room in soft, diffused warmth at any hour.
Kitchen — White Stone and No Clutter
The kitchen follows the same minimalist discipline as the rest of the home. All-white matte handleless cabinetry, a Carrara-effect marble splashback, white stone countertop, and a flush black gas hob. Under-cabinet LED lighting keeps the workspace bright and clean. A brushed-silver water purifier is the only object on the counter — a deliberate choice that reflects how this family lives: considered, uncluttered, and intentional.
Master Bedroom — A Hotel-Grade Retreat
The master bedroom is the quietest room in the home. A low-profile upholstered bed in warm greige sits against a light oak headboard panel, with full-width overhead cabinetry running the entire wall. A warm LED strip concealed behind the headboard casts a soft honey glow that transforms the room at night. Dark wood flooring, a black ceiling fan, and nothing unnecessary — just a room that is genuinely, deeply restful.
Daughter's Bedroom — The Collector's Room
The daughter's room is the home's most personal space and its most joyful. A custom platform bed with built-in under-bed storage drawers sits against the wall, paired with a built-in study desk and a gaming chair. But the detail everyone notices is the full-height backlit display shelf — a lit cabinet built into the wall, housing her collection of figurines, crystals, and treasured objects in its own warm glow. Hello Kitty bedding, dark grey curtains, and a shelf full of things she loves. Entirely, unapologetically hers.
Why Pet-Friendly Interior Design Is the Future in Singapore
Singapore has over 90,000 cats registered in HDB flats alone. A generation of homeowners treat their pets as genuine family members — yet most renovations still treat pets as a problem to be managed rather than a lifestyle to be designed around. The Cat House proves it doesn't have to be that way. With the right brief, the right materials, and the right designer, a pet-friendly HDB can be just as beautiful — and in this case, more interesting — than any home without one.
If you have cats, dogs, or simply a very strong opinion about how your home should feel, we'd love to hear from you.
📍 Singapore HDB Renovation — 2025
🔗 See more projects: www.exploreliving.com.sg/blog
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