You Won’t Believe This Cozy Cafe At Home Is Actually A Rental!

Have you ever felt like you couldn’t decorate a home to your liking because it was a rental? Singaporean-based dietician, Caleb, can relate. But that didn’t stop him from building his dream room, which doubles up as a cozy cafe at home.

Caleb has always dreamt about designing his future home. But, this Malaysian lad put his dreams on hold when he moved to Singapore to pursue his career. Wanting to support his family financially, Caleb decided to stay in the cheapest room he could find – a small room typically known as the utility room located at the back of the kitchen.

Living in a rented property came with many restrictions. Space was one. Then came the long list of rules. Because of that, Caleb often sought solace outside of his room especially during the weekends.

Caleb’s living situation was tough but still bearable; until the pandemic last year forced everyone to stay at home. To top it off, his former landlord implemented even stricter rules. Without an escape anymore, Caleb felt trapped.

“The confined space and restricted environment made me realize that I have been compromising on some necessities in life; freedom and a conducive living space,” Caleb says.

His living situation reignited his childhood dreams of designing his own space. Not wanting to feel caged in anymore, Caleb decided to move.

Fortunately, a kind church friend offered a bigger room for the same amount of rent! Additionally, his new landlord entrusted him with the most important thing: complete freedom to makeover the room.

Since Caleb was unable to travel, he channelled his funds to making over his room. With SGD600 and less than 24 hours later, he transformed a blank room into a cozy home cafe (aptly named Caleb’s hideout!)

After five years, Caleb can finally call his home away from home his happy place.

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Name: Caleb. Follow my adventures @calebshideout

Location: Singapore

Type of home: Room

Size: 3.93m x 2.91m

Years Lived In: 8 months

Rental / Owned: Rental

How would you describe your home style? 

I would say my room has a slant towards Korean style. It has a mixture of different elements like light wood and rattan and it is filled with earth tone colours. However, unlike the conventional minimalistic Korean-style room, my room is filled with various indoor plants. I have close to 30 plants now!

What inspired your home decor? 

I took references from a lot of Korean-style rooms on Instagram and home renovation and rented room makeover YouTube channels like Lo-fi House, 一条Yit, EClife意思生活.

I designed everything and sourced the furniture all by myself. Although tiring and time-consuming, it was a very satisfying and enjoyable journey of realizing the vision I had in my mind and under my budget too!

I did not renovate my room, but I made a major change by laying light pine wood vinyl flooring myself. Once I moved to my new room around 9pm, I started working on the flooring and assembling the bed frame, rattan rack and a few other large furniture until 5am.

I was very excited to finish the makeover of my room so I actually woke up at 8am and resumed working on it. I completed everything around 12pm on the same day!

What made you decide on the cafe at home concept?

I am a dietitian by day, but I am totally a foodie and cafe hopper by night and on weekends! I adore vintage cafe vibes with lustrous greens, natural sunlight and cozy music which are plentiful in my beautiful country Malaysia, but scarce in Singapore.

As we are encouraged to stay home due to the pandemic, I made myself a nice room that resembles a cafe so that I can stay in my room comfortably during the weekends. I love staying at home now!

Tell us about your favourite element in your home.

My favourite element is the light pine wood vinyl flooring that I got from Taobao. Initially, I wanted to source for furniture that would fit the dirty green tiles of my room, as I thought it may be more economical and practical. But that meant the furniture may need to be of an antique style, which is usually hard to find and expensive!

Thus, I made a bold decision to change the flooring with removable click-and-lock vinyl flooring planks. Although it was a laborious process that hurt my knees, the vinyl flooring elevated the entire mood and really brightened up my room! It provided a good foundation for my room.

What is the best investment you’ve made for your home? 

Besides the vinyl flooring, it would have to be my Bluetooth light wood speakers. It is much cheaper than other branded speakers but it is very aesthetic and fits the style of my room perfectly.

I will play some lo-fi, vintage jazz, bossa nova and blues music when I am enjoying my home cooked dishes and cafe food and while I am doing chores.

Name one thing you would like to change about your home. 

My study table. After I started taking photos of my food on that table, I realized that it is too small for me. It has restricted me from taking food photos from different angles.

Where do you shop for furniture and home decor? 

Most of my bigger furniture like my bed frame, table, clothing rack and wooden crates are from second-hand goods website, Carousell. I got amazing bargains there!

For instance, my bed frame only costs SGD30 and the kind seller even offered to deliver the bed frame to my new place! My rattan clothes rack was only SGD8! The chair was given by a seller for free and the table was only SGD20.

I got my vinyl flooring from Taobao because they are so much cheaper than buying them locally. I also got some unique furniture like my bedside table, table lamp and hanging lamp from Taobao.

As for my home café stuff like plates, coasters, glasses, cups, they are mostly from Taobao. A small number is from Shopee but shipped from Mainland China.

I only found out about Taobao from a dear friend of mine when I was planning to move. Taobao offers unique and relatively cheaper tablewares, even with the increased shipping fees in the recent years.

What is your next home project?

I’m considering changing the layout of the furniture in my room. Additionally, I want to switch my current table to a white round table. I may move my bed to a different corner and place the new table near the window.

I can totally imagine myself sitting by the window, sipping a cup of coffee and savouring a slice of cheesecake while basking in the filtered sunlight shining through my sheer curtains!

Any advice you would like to share with others?

When we were young, we may have been more daring to dream big and to love as we have fewer concerns. However, as we grow older and experience the pain and disappointment of failure, we may become more cautious, logical and fearful of losing the things we have. This in turn hinders us from dreaming big, being ourselves and loving others.

May we be forever young, be bold to love and to dream like our young selves! Do it even though we may fail because that is what makes us shine.

My room makeover process reminded me of this important life lesson.

Can you share one of your own recipes with us?

Tofu Cheesecake

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Serves: 8 pax

Wondering how you can make a healthier, simple, yet delectable dessert? Try this fast no-bake tofu cheesecake!

By replacing part of the cream cheese with soy products, this dessert is lower in carbohydrate, sugar and fats; higher in healthy plant protein, than conventional cheesecakes!

You will definitely love the unique combination of soy and cream cheese, with the touch of lemon, in this dessert!

Ingredients	Measurements	Notes
Crust
Digestive biscuits	160g
Soft margarine	40g	In room temperature
Filling
Firm tofu	300g	Chilled
Cream cheese	250g	Chilled
Brown sugar	100g
Unsweetened soy milk	160ml	Chilled
Gelatin powder	15g
Lemon juice	2 tablespoons
Lemon zest	¼ teaspoon

 Steps:

1. Crush the biscuits finely in a food processor or blender. Combine with soft margarine and blend well. Press the mixture firmly on the greased springform pan. Chill the crust in the refrigerator while preparing the cheesecake filling.
2. Pour the gelatine into a bowl and mix well with 60ml of unsweetened soy milk. Microwave for about 35 seconds.
3. Drain the tofu. If necessary, use a paper towel to absorb the excess water on the tofu.
4. Put the tofu, cream cheese, brown sugar, 100ml of soy milk, lemon juice and lemon zest into a blender and blend until smooth. Add in the gelatine solution and blend until smooth.
5. Pour the cream cheese filling over the crust. Spread it evenly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

What do you love most about this DIY home cafe? Follow Caleb’s journey on Instagram here.