You don’t need years of saving for your own apartment to afford a comfortable living space. Time and time again, talented individuals around Vietnam on a budget have proven that hard work and creativity can turn even the shabbiest of rental apartments into the houses of many people’s dreams.
Still, no matter how many times we see such stories, photos of these awesome home renovations never fail to impress us. Case in point: Duy Nguyen, a man currently living in Saigon, has made headlines on several news sites thanks to the wonderful job he’s done to upgrade his apartment.
The living area and bathroom entrance of his apartment
Image adapted from Duy Nguyen (left) and Duy Nguyen (right)
Earlier this week, Duy Nguyen posted on Nghiện Decor – a popular Facebook group of home decor enthusiasts – to share his remarkable home renovation journey.
From what the 28-year-old man said, the room only measures 3.5 by 4 meters, and as is to be expected from such a small apartment, it was nothing to write home about in the beginning with its old walls and tiled flooring.
Image adapted from Duy Nguyen (left) and Duy Nguyen (right)
By the time Duy was done renovating it, though, his living quarters looked much more accommodating: the walls have been repainted white, the floor covered with wooden parquet, and cute little wooden shelves have been added to display plants and pictures.
Image credit: Duy Nguyen
The man has also created a comfortable sitting corner featuring cushioned sofas under hanging light bulbs emitting warm light.
Image adapted from Duy Nguyen (left) and Duy Nguyen (right)
Meanwhile, the loft floor started out quite plain with only a portable wardrobe, but with a mattress, LED lights, and framed pictures added, it looks much more like a place you’d want to sink your back into after a long day at work.
Image adapted from Duy Nguyen (left) and Duy Nguyen (right)
As for the bathroom, it was also formerly in a pretty ill-equipped state – even still using the dreaded squat toilet that most modern houses have moved on from.
And again, Duy has drastically improved both its aesthetics and its functions by adding a new toilet seat, a new showerhead, and more wooden shelves to hold the toiletries.
Image adapted from Duy Nguyen (left) and Duy Nguyen (right)
Duy told The Smart Local Vietnam that he estimates the total cost to be around 13-14 million VND (~USD560-USD600). The renovation project reportedly took 10 days to complete.
While most of us probably still need years before we can afford our own house, it doesn’t necessarily mean we have to settle for scruffy rental apartments until then.
As long as we put our minds to it, we can drastically improve the quality of our living quarters right now on a very reasonable budget, as Duy has proven.
For more interesting stories happening around Vietnam, check out:
Cover image adapted from Duy Nguyen (left) and Duy Nguyen (right)
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