HE SPENT MOST OF his career designing private apartments and knows practically every possible home configuration. So when former architect Koon Wai Leong set to work on his first family home, he knew exactly how to change the layout of an existing apartment to suit his family of four.

For example, he knew which walls were non-load-bearing and could be knocked down, says Mr Koon, who is now the general manager of property developer Hoi Hup Realty.

When they were still a family of three, Mr Koon, his wife Kelly and their daughter, used to live in a rented apartment. But when their second child came along, they realised that they needed a bigger space, and decided it was time to purchase their own home.