Malaysian couple turns small Ipoh house with limited space into cosy home

Dr Izzati has kept the colour theme for her home as white and earthy to create a more spacious and cosy effect. Photos: @zatyyaacub

From colour choices to her kitchen design, Dr Izzati Yaacub has put much thought into renovating and furnishing her double-storey terrace house in Ipoh, Perak.

As her home is 1,000sq ft (92.9sq m) in size, the medical officer and her husband decided to go with a white and neutral colour theme.

“Our home is mainly white with a combination of earth tone colours like cream, beige and brown. Since our home is quite small, we decided to go with lighter colours to make it look more spacious, and I always feel that white and earth tones make a home feel more cosy and bright,” shared Dr Izzati, who is based in Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun in Ipoh.

The white sideboard with woven poplar design works well as a storage space and display area.

Dr Izzati and her husband started moving to their new home around June 2021 during the movement control order. At that time, renovation work was still ongoing but slow, as many things were delayed due to pandemic restrictions.

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They had bought over the house – which is located within a community and a location in the city that they liked – from another owner at a reasonable price.

However, Dr Izzati said they spent more on renovation work as there were a lot of areas that needed redoing.

“But for us, we love challenges. We love to change an old house into a new home and make it into our own style. There’s nothing wrong in buying any type of house as long as you love your home and make it your home sweet home,” said Dr Izzati, who turns 30 in September.

She describes her living room as modern Scandinavian combined with wood, rattan and plant elements.

For the kitchen, she adopted a modern farmhouse style that features melamine kitchen cabinets, quartz stone counter tops, subway tile backsplash and a farmhouse sink.

The kitchen island is kept small due to the limited space.

“My kitchen is a simple white kitchen. I just want my kitchen to be bright and airy so it will be easier for me to cook and clean up.

“My husband and I designed it from scratch and I’m the one who chose the colour for my kitchen. Since our kitchen is not that big, we prefer it to be functional and practical. For example, we used a small-sized kitchen island so it wouldn’t be too crowded or cramped,” explained Dr Izzati, who shares her home decor journey on Instagram (@zatyyaacub).

She has also organised her pantry in a simple, practical way. In fact, that space was selected by @ighometourmalaysia – a local home tour group on Instagram hosted by home decor enthusiasts to inspire one another and share ideas on home design and decor – under the theme #ightmpantry for her creativity.

“For my pantry area, I got the idea from (a social media platform) and from (digital creator) Ashikin Amran’s pantry too.

“When I saw her pantry, I fell in love with it. I love the glass drawer style since I can see the items inside the drawers without opening them.

The glass-front drawers allow Dr Izzati to see the items inside easily and help her organise things better.

“Furthermore, I prefer a closed pantry since I’m a working mum and don’t really have much time to keep cleaning the dust on my pantry.

“I can also hide all my electrical appliances and food items inside the pantry without messing up my counter top. In organising the space, I love things that are practical and simple.

“All food items like canned food, snacks, onions, potatoes and other packet foods are put inside the glass drawer. Small electrical appliances are stored in a big storage box which I place on the top shelf,” she said.

Dr Izzati is also a fan of DIY projects, having done up her daughter Aurora’s playroom.

“I painted, designed and decorated Aurora’s playroom from scratch. The biggest challenge is when what you plan doesn’t turn out as what you expected.

“I had planned one part of Aurora’s playroom wall to be chequered but it took so much time and concentration to make a chequered wall and in the end I gave up.

The playroom which Dr Izzati painted and designed for her daughter.

“I’m a bit sad about it but I’m still proud of myself for making a dream playroom for Aurora. It is like living my childhood dream too since I never had a playroom when I was a little girl,” she said.

Having dedicated time to designing and renovating their home, Dr Izzati says they are pleased with the result and naturally feel an attachment to it.

“Maybe our home is not so luxurious or big compared to others’, but it is perfect for us as we designed and decorated it ourselves.

“I love every part of our home, but if I have to choose my favourite space, it’d be our kitchen as it is the heart of the home and the first area that we designed and decorated ourselves.”

Dr Izzati admitted that their house is still a work in progress, as they have not finished doing up the master bedroom and guest room.

She would also like to improve her living room space.

“I’ve always been in love with the arched built-in TV cabinet design but for now, we are still not able to achieve that dream. Maybe one day we will have the opportunity to include that.

“It’s ok to dream because dreams are free and where reality comes from,” she said.