Renovating a Family Home in Petaling Jaya: Lessons from SS1 Residence
For many families in Petaling Jaya, the house they bought years ago is still in the right place. The neighbourhood is familiar, daily routines are close by, and the memories are hard to replace. What changes is the family. Children grow up, needs shift, and rooms that once felt generous start to feel tight and tired.
That was the situation at SS1 Residence, a 4,800 sq ft family home in Petaling Jaya that Ascendas Design Group completed in 2024. The house has been home to a doctor and their family for more than two decades. It had been tastefully renovated before, but the family had grown. They needed more room and wanted the house to feel fresh again. Rather than move, they chose to renew every corner of the home they already loved.
Why renovate instead of moving
Leaving a mature PJ neighbourhood is a big decision. It means giving up a known location, a community and a house with history. For this family, the better question was not where to go next, but how to make the existing house work for the way they live today.
A full interior renovation answers that in two ways. First, it can reorganise and expand the living areas so the house fits a larger household. Second, it replaces dated finishes so the home feels current again. At SS1 Residence we did both. The living areas were expanded and the finishes were transformed throughout, while the home's own charm was kept.
A white, brown and gold palette with a tropical touch
The design direction was clean, elegant and tropical. One consistent palette of white, brown and gold runs from room to room. In a house of 4,800 sq ft, that consistency matters: it keeps the home feeling calm and connected instead of a collection of separate styles.
In the living room, dark timber ceiling beams and a ceiling fan sit above a light floor and soft white seating, with a timber daybed and indoor plants adding the tropical note. The dining room is warmer, with terracotta floor tiles, rattan-back chairs and a chandelier, and full-height windows bringing in daylight.
The kitchen and dining area takes a lighter approach: pale floors, white cabinetry, fluted timber-toned panels, brass pendant lights and concealed cove lighting along the ceiling. A large island with an induction hob anchors the kitchen, and lit shelving gives the family a place for their own pieces.
Every space balances function with appearance. The aim was a home where each member of the family feels comfortable, not a showroom to tiptoe around.
What PJ homeowners can take from this project
If you are weighing up a renovation of an older family home in Petaling Jaya or elsewhere in the Klang Valley, a few questions help early on:
Where does the house feel cramped today, and can the living areas be expanded or reorganised rather than simply adding rooms you will rarely use?
Which finishes are just tired, and which features carry the character worth keeping?
Can one clear palette tie the whole house together, so every room feels like part of the same home?
Is the kitchen designed around how your family actually cooks and gathers?
Good interior architecture starts with how a family lives, then shapes space, light and materials around it. You can see more of our residential work on our Interior and Architecture pages, or read about what we do on our Services page.
Ascendas Design Group was founded in 2018 and is led by Ar. Idr. Phang Mun Kien, Founder & CEO, who has 14 years of experience in architecture. The team works with homeowners who want to stay in the home they love and make it work for the next chapter of family life.
If you are planning to renovate your family home, book a consultation with Ascendas Design Group. We will start with how your family lives and design around it.
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