Terence Cao Told ID “Don’t Ask Me Anything” Until Reno For His Toa Payoh Childhood Home Was Done; Reno Would Have Cost 6 Figures

How much trust would you place in your interior designer? Enough to hand over your keys and not see what they're doing to your home until the renovation is complete?

Apparently, yes, if you're Terence Cao.

The local actor recently gave tours of his newly renovated childhood home, an almost 60-year-old HDB flat in Toa Payoh, revealing that he gave his interior designer pretty much free rein over the place.

Judging from the floor plan and footage of the unit before its renovation, it appears to be a three-room flat with two bedrooms.

His instructions were surprisingly simple: The home had to be functional.

“I told them, ‘This is my key. Don’t ask me anything until you deliver the house. Don’t even call,’” Terence, 59, said in an Instagram video by lifestyle media platform Koocester.

Was he not scared?

“No!” he replied without hesitation. “Because I trusted [them].”

And it seems his decision to stay completely out of the design process paid off.

Recalling the first time he saw the finished home, Terence said: “They over delivered beyond my expectations. For me, it was totally mind-blowing.”

The home has an industrial-inspired look, with raw textured walls, stainless steel finishes and darker tones offset by pops of burnt orange and red. Retro ventilation blocks add character to the space.

The renovation was sponsored as part of a collaboration, though Terence revealed that it would have cost “six figures”.

Terence has a long history with the flat.

“I actually grew up in this neighbourhood,” he said. “I’m turning 60 next year. That’s how old this block is.”

According to reno platform The SIXiDES, which featured Terence's home in a separate house tour, he lived in the flat through his childhood, teenage years and early working days, before eventually returning to make it his own.

Renovating a home that's close to six decades old came with its share of challenges, with the designers having to work around existing beams, pipes and other structural quirks.

Instead of fighting them, they used curved false ceilings and partition walls to create a smoother flow between the living room and kitchen.

Giving his ID complete creative freedom also meant Terence was in for some surprises.

 The biggest? One of the bedrooms had been hacked away to create a spacious dining area, with a sleek black granite island taking centre stage.

“I came in and I was totally shocked. I said, ‘Hey, I lost one room,’” he recalled.

His remaining bedroom, meanwhile, is concealed behind a stainless steel hidden door and is deliberately sparse.

“This is a place for me to actually rest, recover, rejuvenate,” said Terence, adding that he shouldn't spend too much time in his bedroom as he “should be more productive”.

As for the room he “lost”, Terence seems very happy with the trade-off.

The new dining area's black granite island is now his favourite part of the entire home.

“I could do so many things with this island. It’s like a centrepiece for me,” he said.

Given that Terence is the founder of livestreaming platform Star Live, the space could come in handy for work too.

“I can do live streaming, podcast, I can do a full food show here,” he said.