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A man turned his HBD room into a sanctuary for him, his wife, and three spiders (for now).
In need of an office space, he decided to design, plan and execute the transformation of a previously-bare room into a work-from-home haven.
Kelvin Lee, who works as a web developer and graphic designer, shared his room transformation journey on Facebook on Sep. 19.
Did many things from scratch
Lee told Mothership that he was working overseas previously but came back to Singapore to take care of his mother. While doing freelance work, he realised he needed an office space to get work done.
He kickstarted the transformation by cleaning out the room and stripping everything down.
This is what the room looked like before. Image via Stacey's Web/Facebook.
He created a mock-up of the room using 3D modeling software to get the dimensions right.
Lee's mockup of the room. Image via Stacey's Web/Facebook.
Then he painted the room a dark shade of grey, installed light fixtures, added fake plants, and carpeted the floor.
One of the room’s main features is an artificial plant feature wall, which includes Lee’s PC and four acrylic tanks.
The wall is padded with foam to hold the artificial plants he reused from his wedding.
Lee's artificial plant feature wall. Image via Stacey's Web/Facebook.
The tanks, while vacant now, are intended for any rescue spiders that he sometimes brings back.
"Sometimes it's a badly injured spider, sometimes it's just one that is lost in an urban place."
He also repurposed his old cupboard door for his new light fixture. He stuck fake plywood on both sides to give it a fresh look, and then hung them up with metal chains.
The light fixture being built. Image via Stacey's Web/Facebook.
This is what the light fixture looked like after. Image via Stacey's Web/Facebook.
"With the things I upcycled, and the material and tech (devices) I already have, I only spent about S$2,000 on it."
This is what the room looks like now. Image via Stacey's Web/Facebook.
Free-roaming spiders
Since the age of eight, Lee has had an interest in spiders.
"Most kids would catch spiders to fight but I just loved to keep them and raise them."
While on his delivery rides, he has picked up a couple of spiders that he thought needed help. His first spider Stacey was brought home after he accidentally tore its web while cycling.
Lee currently has three spiders sharing his office space with him - Coffee, Siew Dai, and Hershey.
He admitted that Coffee is his favourite, saying that his wife "complains I pamper Coffee too much, which I will readily admit I do".
This is Coffee. Image via Stacey's Web/Facebook.
Coffee even has her own corner in the room, on a desk right next to Lee's.
Coffee's corner. Image via Stacey's Web/Facebook.
Coffee's mother, Skittles, was a rescue spider that later died.
"I had raised Coffee ever since she was an egg, so naturally, I love her the most."
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Image via Stacey's Web/Facebook.