Browse 12 makeover looks for an older terrace, semi-D or bungalow: what to restore, what to replace, and what each change involves.
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The best old house makeovers keep the original features that still work, such as terrazzo or parquet floors, breeze-block vents, solid timber doors and the stair, and replace what has worn out: the windows, the low old ceiling, the grilles, the paint and, out of sight, the wiring and pipes. ClickBina's old house renovation guide notes that a house that is 30 to 50 years old usually has several systems wearing out at once, so the hidden work comes before the finishes. These 12 concept designs show restored, updated and retro looks. Use the filters below to narrow them by style or home type.
Each design below is an illustrative concept render of an older Malaysian landed house after a makeover, grouped by style and by the home it usually suits. Tap any image to enlarge it. Every card links to the ClickBina guide that covers the floor, window, ceiling, stair or paint work behind that look.
12 designs shown
Illustrative concept design · Restore & keep · Terrace · Semi-D
A polished cream terrazzo floor runs through a dining area with a solid timber table and chairs, timber-framed sliding doors to the garden and a ceiling fan.
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terrazzo floor restoration →Illustrative concept design · Restore & keep · Terrace
A neat row of white square vent cells is kept above wide white sliding windows with sheer curtains, in a plain white room.
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window replacement costs →Illustrative concept design · Modern update · Terrace · Semi-D
A bedroom window wall of tall white casement windows with horizontal bars, linen curtains drawn aside, beside a timber bed with white linen; terrace roofs outside.
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nako window replacement →Illustrative concept design · Modern update · Terrace · Semi-D
A living room with a smooth white plaster ceiling, a warm cove light strip and downlights, a terrazzo floor, a grey L-shaped sofa and a low timber console.
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living room ceiling designs →Illustrative concept design · Modern update · Terrace
A grey terrace front with white-framed windows behind plain black vertical bar grilles, a grey panelled door and a small wall light.
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removing and replacing old grilles →Illustrative concept design · Modern update · Terrace · Semi-D
A concrete stair with warm timber treads, white risers, clear glass panels and a timber handrail rising from a terrazzo floor in a bright stairwell.
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staircase cladding options →Illustrative concept design · Modern update · Terrace
A 1980s double-storey terrace front in white with a sage green band across the upper floor, dark window frames and doors, and warm wall lights at dusk.
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the exterior repaint process →Illustrative concept design · Retro & mid-century · Terrace · Semi-D · Bungalow
A living room with a teak-look sideboard, a mustard sofa on black splayed legs, a round timber coffee table and a tall plant on a terrazzo floor.
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mid-century and retro interiors →Illustrative concept design · Restore & keep · Terrace · Semi-D · Bungalow
A bedroom with a honey-toned herringbone parquet floor, a timber bed with white linen, a bedside table and sheer curtains over a bright window.
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parquet floor sanding →Illustrative concept design · Modern update · Terrace
A white flat-roofed rear extension with a wide black-framed glass opening into a new kitchen, set against older pitched-roof houses, with a lawn in front.
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rear kitchen extensions →Illustrative concept design · Restore & keep · Terrace · Semi-D
A varnished panelled timber main door with a brass lever handle, set in a freshly painted white wall beside a simple wall light.
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timber door refinishing →Illustrative concept design · Retro & mid-century · Terrace · Bungalow
A white room with a cream and green small-piece mosaic floor, a rattan armchair, a low timber console and an arched doorway.
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what wears out in an old house →These are illustrative concept designs created to show makeover options for an older house. They are not completed ClickBina projects. We renovate older houses, and your house is assessed and quoted after a survey of its own floors, walls, wiring and roof.
More galleries: browse all design ideas by area of the house, from cabinets and kitchens to porches and grilles.
Start by walking the house and listing what is original and still sound. In a 1970s to 1990s Malaysian house that is often the terrazzo or parquet floors, the breeze-block vents, the solid timber doors and the concrete stair. These are expensive or impossible to buy new, and they are what make an old house feel different from a new one.
A good makeover usually mixes one or two restored features with clean, plain new work around them. Too many retro pieces, or a fully modern fit-out that hides every original feature, both lose what the house had going for it.
| Original feature | Keep when | Replace when | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terrazzo floor | Sound, only dull or stained | Badly cracked or lifting | terrazzo restoration |
| Timber parquet | Blocks firm, no termites | Loose, rotten or termite-hit | parquet sanding |
| Breeze-block vents | Blocks intact, you want the airflow | Rain and insects come in and the room has aircon | window replacement |
| Nako louvre windows | Rarely | Leaking, rattling, hard to secure | nako replacement |
| Old board ceiling | Rarely | Low, stained or sagging; check for asbestos first | ceiling designs |
| Concrete stair | Structure sound | Cracked structure (engineer first) | stair cladding |
| Home | Usually works | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Old single-storey terrace | Polished terrazzo, new windows in the old rhythm, simple grilles, a fresh front | Rear extension rules and the back lane |
| Old double-storey terrace | Timber stair treads with glass, a new ceiling with cove light, a repainted front | Party walls and the neighbour's roof junctions |
| Old semi-D | Parquet bedrooms, mid-century living room, restored main door | Matching the other half of the pair outside |
| Old bungalow | Mosaic or terrazzo kept, large windows replaced, wiring redone | Large areas mean higher floor and paint costs |
ClickBina's old house renovation guide sets the order: make it safe and dry, treat termites and cracks, replace wiring and pipes while the walls are open, waterproof, re-tile, then carpentry, paint and a final clean. A polished floor or a new ceiling that has to be opened again for a rewire is money spent twice.
ClickBina's old house renovation guide adds up a worked example for a double-storey terrace with two bathrooms, covering safety repairs, rewiring, re-piping, bathroom re-waterproofing, a full repaint and a deep clean, at RM38,800 – RM73,900, before new floors or a new kitchen. Within that, a full rewire is RM8,000 – RM15,000 for a single-storey terrace and RM12,000 – RM20,000 for a double-storey.
For the looks in this gallery, the linked guides quote: terrazzo restoration at RM8 – RM15 per sq ft for a grind-and-polish, rising to RM15 – RM35 per sq ft with patching and re-grouting; parquet sanding at RM4 – RM8 per sq ft; a plaster ceiling at RM6 – RM12 per sq ft flat or RM15 – RM25 per sq ft for a cove; solid timber stair treads at RM180 – RM450 each; a new powder-coated window grille at RM80 – RM130 per sq ft; an aluminium casement window at RM250 – RM600 per panel; a double-storey terrace repaint at RM4,000 – RM8,000; and a full rear extension at RM40,000 – RM120,000 (indicative Klang Valley ranges for 2026).
We renovate older houses, and we restore floors, replace windows and grilles, build plaster ceilings and repaint as part of that work, with the wiring, pipes and waterproofing planned in the right order. WhatsApp us your job details for a quote: the house type and roughly how old it is, which original features you want to keep, and the looks from this page you like. ClickBina is an experienced KL & Selangor contractor, we reply within the hour, and the price we agree is a flat price with no hidden charges.
About the images: every image on this page is an illustrative concept design generated to show a makeover option for an older house. Captions describe what each render shows. RM figures are quoted unchanged from the ClickBina guides named above, indicative Klang Valley ranges for 2026.
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