Home improvement projects with his dad make up some of the best childhood memories for Andre Cherbonnier.
“My dad and I always had lots of projects around the house. We had a full set of power tools and built a fence once,” recalls Andre, the eldest of four siblings. The family of six lived in the ground floor unit of a 4-unit duplex in Changi in the 1990s, with an estimated built-up area of 2,000 sq ft.
The 4-bedroom home was nestled in a unique cul-de-sac with a large football field and playground in the middle, encircled by a row of uniformed duplexes. And with a spacious garden in the front and back of the house, it had all the elements for the kind of awesome outdoor adventures that childhoods were made of back in the day.
Andre and his father in their garden with the family dog
“We were always trying to build something,” remembers the 36-year-old who works in Forex. “I’d like to think that has somehow translated into my personality in terms of always working towards improvement,” he adds.
Andre’s childhood home was decorated in a country cottage style, and he has tried to replicate that in his own places. “My taste has been moulded largely around that very homely, lived-in feel,” he says.
Andre decorating the Christmas tree at home with his father
He also wants to provide similar childhood experiences for his 3-year-old son. “We have a nice apartment but I want him to have a yard – that’s the goal. And I want to create as much warmth in the space, and provide the space for him to run around and play like we had,” says the hands-on dad.
The home Andre has chosen for his own family now is a 2-bedroom apartment in Siglap, which was rented out almost immediately after it was purchased in 2012, as Andre was posted to Hong Kong for work and the family relocated with him. When they moved back to Singapore in 2015, they rented a terraced house with a small garden in Thomson, and shifted back to their 1,000 sq ft Siglap space in 2016 when the tenants’ lease was up.
Andre and Ari at home
Like his own dad did with him, Andre now wants to inculcate a sense of independence and resourcefulness in his son. “He’s allowed to decorate his own part of the house. His room is his little wonderland; like a toy store cum library. And he has a wooden chest that he can do whatever he wants to. He’s also got lots of artwork on the walls,” Andre shares.
When mum and dad cook, little Ari gets to help, too. “He brings his own little stool everywhere around the house so he can help; he’ll help to mash potatoes, throw in seasoning, stir things up,” says Andre.
It may be a smaller space and the activities may be different, but bonds can be built anywhere and in any space, big or small.
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