Are You Overspending On HDB Renovations? Why You Should Rethink Custom Cabinetry

7 min read

I think many of my ID and contractor friends might kill me for writing this, but one of my biggest pet peeves of BTO and HDB renovations in Singapore is the amount of needless custom carpentry that is not only costly, but also usually looks super tacky.

Especially if this is your first home where you haven’t lived in the space yet or moved in fully with your stuff, you don’t know how much stuff you have and you really won’t know how to store your items in the most efficient manner before you’ve moved in.

It’s just a weird case of reverse over-engineering, where you fit your life into what you’ve paid for instead of paying for a proper solution when you’ve figured life out a bit more.

Anyway, I’m a strong advocate for loose furniture over custom carpentry, and here are some reasons why:

Reason #1: Build-in carpentry is expensive in the long run

It is not uncommon to receive quotations of more than $10k for a custom wardrobe, vanity, TV consoles, and the like. It makes total sense for built-ins to be expensive because they are highly labour-intensive. It usually requires fabrication off-site, transportation to your home, and careful installation upon arrival.

Once you’ve installed your build-ins, they are basically tattoo-ed into your home, where removal in the future is costly and a change in configuration requires similar levels of thought and effort.

Because they’re quite permanent additions to your home, any damage done to the surface (scratches, pen marks, chipping) will give you additional emotional damage because the entire unit is, as mentioned, not easily replaceable.

The cost on your wallet and your future mental health makes it not worth it, in my opinion.

Reason #2: Built-in carpentry can’t evolve along with you

As we evolve in our lives, so does our home. The thing I dislike about built-ins is their lack of flexibility when it comes to evolving with the homeowners.

The whole reason why most people initially want built-in cabinets is because they require storage. At the start of our young lives together as a couple, it makes sense to want storage because you’re moving in from your childhood nest to your own home, and you’ll have a lot of stuff you probably want out of sight from your Instagram.

And as life goes on, we might have more stuff, we might have less. Built-ins don’t account for what happens when you change and evolve. That semi-permanent storage box you’ve built into the wall can’t be turned into a space for plants, nor space to put a work desk, nor can it shape-shift to fit your kayak, if you choose to take up that hobby. 

Maybe you want to change your room layout, but now cannot because you have storage space latched onto the corner.

You get the point.

I know for many Singaporeans their HDBs and BTOs will be their forever homes, but that doesn’t mean your lifestyles and habits will be forever. So unless you’re sure you need it forever, don’t do built-in.

Reason #3: Most built-ins are too basic

The whole point of custom carpentry, in my humble opinion, is to have some sort of cool feature to make it worth the effort to even build (e.g. hidden compartments, ornament detailing, transformer concepts). 

If you’re just building a normal cabinet with clothing rods and shelves, you might as well just add a wall, get a cheap telescopic wardrobe and install custom doors. I’m sure that’s gonna end up much cheaper and it’s even easier to hack down compared to entire built-in cabinetry.

The whole point of using wood, a soft material, is to make something complex out of it. Beautiful joints, carved detailing, cool construction features… If you’re just gonna make boxes, there are cheaper and better materials to use to construct those simpler structures.

Reason #4: Concerns with Formaldehyde

You might have seen this going around TikTok and some news networks, but formaldehyde poisoning has become a more common nightmare for homeowners who decided to refresh their homes with built-in carpentry.

Formaldehyde is basically a chemical compound used in building materials and household products for preservation and binding purposes. It is colourless, has a strong odour, and is commonly mixed into paints and wood composites to ensure the material finish lasts longer and bonds together stronger.

It’s a pretty useful chemical compound, but the danger lies when it is overused and exceeds safe levels. Prolonged exposure to formaldehyde can cause respiratory issues and even cause cancer. In Singapore, where our climate is hot and humid, it further exacerbates the risk of formaldehyde release, also known as off-gassing.

It’s important to note that any wood furniture could also contain formaldehyde, and it’s not exclusive to built-in carpentry. However, it is important to note that unsafe formaldehyde levels are generally more commonly found in built-ins than in standalone furnishing.

Currently, only formaldehyde in paints will be banned on 1 Jan 2026, which is a whole year after this article will be posted. Formaldehyde used in wood and adhesives has yet to have any regulations placed upon them.

Currently for air-condition spaces, the formaldehyde concentrations should be limited to 0.08 parts per million. So if you buy a testing kit and the reader reads more than 0.08, you know you’re in trouble.

There are lots of formaldehyde-removing solutions in the capitalist market we live in: sprays, carbon sachets, and the like. In both the short and long term, DIY solutions like such are expensive and you will have to constantly purchase the products to keep formaldehyde levels low in your home. It would be better to get a professional team to come in and lower the output of the toxic gases for you before you move in.

Reason #5: Your hardware will deteriorate and it’s high maintenance down the line.

Something that a lot of people don’t realise is that all your hinges and hardware (handles, screws, etc,) will deteriorate with use. With loose carpentry, it’s a lot easier to replace and even just change out the entire unit because typically everything will deteriorate together and it’s just better to change everything.

If you have built-in carpentry, it is troublesome to change. Imagine unscrewing the door from the hinge, removing the old hinge, screwing the new one, attaching it to the cabinets, levelling it correctly to your built-in, and repeating that until all doors are replaced.

It is the exact same problem with drawer slides. Especially drawer slides.

If you don’t want to do it yourself, you’ll need to find someone to do it. And it’s going to cost money.

Trust me, as someone who has experience (hotel interiors, exhibitions, my own parents’ built-ins, my friends’ built-ins), this is the part that takes the cake. When you don’t have a built-in, it’s much easier to change.

Our home is forever but materials are temporary. Make sure your decisions are future-proof.

Reason #6: It slows down your renovation timeline

For many young couples looking to move in with their partner as soon as possible, adding anything custom or built-in is just going to push that milestone later.

This applies to a lot of renovation pieces (since it’s a lot of parallel timelines moving together), but considering how much labour and time it requires to design, fabricate, and install your built-in cabinetry, and the fact that built-in carpentry usually needs to be installed first, you’re risking prolonging your renovation when something unexpected happens during the construction timeline.

A lot of times when renovation delays happen, it’s usually because of supply chain issues, which typically occur for flooring, furniture, and… you guessed it, carpentry. If you don’t do custom carpentry, you don’t put yourself at that risk.

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There are a lot of reasons why people might want built-in carpentry for their home, and in no way am I saying to never do it, I’m just saying to be more thoughtful of your intentions and needs before committing. Built-in items are very much like tattoos for your home, and you’ll never get a tattoo on your skin without pondering about it, right?

A lot of times, the reality is that you don’t need the built-in carpentry. It only makes sense to do it if it’s less costly from loose furniture or if you have a very specific need (e.g. custom platform bed frame with under-bed storage).

We also tend to forget that we can always do built-in carpentry later in our lives, because it’s one of the least messy parts of renovation in my opinion. After all, fabrication and all the ‘dirty’ work is done off-site.

If you’re not sure whether you want something built-in or not, compare the prices and use logic to decide. I personally would rather splurge on electronics and other household essentials.

Bonus tip: Working with IKEA

(This isn’t sponsored. If you’d like to sponsor us IKEA please reach out, xoxo)

One of the most expensive custom cabinetries for resale HDBs would occur in the kitchens, where most people would opt to redo the entire kitchen. If you’re of normal average height, it’s not a bad idea to just take pre-made built-in cabinets (or even a whole kitchen set) from IKEA.

While IKEA sometimes can have supply chain issues that would cause delays, the price-to-quality ratio makes them good value for money in the market. You can opt for your fancy appliances as well, the only catch is that their cabinets cannot be customised, so you might have extra space and gaps if you don’t plan well (but you can do custom cabinetry for that spot, instead for the entire kitchen).

At the end of the day, it’s your house, you do what you want. I’m just a very practical person tryna save us broke Z-ellinials some much-needed cha-chings.

If I had a BTO or an HDB, I’d certainly skip built-in cabinetry. Don’t give yourself reno-regrets, so don’t say we didn’t warn ya.

If you’d like to get in touch for a more in-depth consultation, you can do so here.