Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: 4-Room Flat is Soft and Scandi-Sweet in Pastels
This newylweds' dream flat is inspired by the Scandinavian style as well as skincare brand Aesop's aesthetics
For their first home, the doting husband gave his wife free play on all design decisions, resulting in this soft and sweet sanctuary. To help them flesh out her ideas, the couple commissioned Mr Shopper Studio, a design-and-build firm that’s quite popular for its use of pastel palettes in the Scandi style.
Tweaks to the layout for the flat include opening up the kitchen and replacing its wall with an arch. “The huge arch effect adds a more graceful rhythm to the place,” says Deng.
Complementing the arch is the selection of a round dining table, contrasted with a linear pendant light.
Dining table: Comfort Design; Dining chairs: Blafink; Lighting: My Lighthouse
Complementing the arch is the selection of a round dining table, contrasted with a linear pendant light.
Dining table: Comfort Design; Dining chairs: Blafink; Lighting: My Lighthouse
The archway conceals glass sliding doors that will allow for the kitchen to be enclosed and prevent cooking aromas from permeating the open-concept living and dining area.
For the kitchen, Deng explains: “We kept the design practical, with a shorter top cabinet space as the owner didn’t need that much storage.” The shorter top cabinet space also allowed for the placement of pendant lights, which is the lighting preference of the owners.
“The owners usually dine out and hardly cook at home so we made the kitchen [equipment] simple, with just the essentials,” Deng says.
Tiles: Hafary; Lighting: My Lighthouse
“The owners usually dine out and hardly cook at home so we made the kitchen [equipment] simple, with just the essentials,” Deng says.
Tiles: Hafary; Lighting: My Lighthouse
In the master bedroom, the wall facing the bed was rebuilt with a recessed niche “to place their TV and other media devices so they all sit in nicely without eating into the walking space, making the room slightly more spacious,” says Deng. The designers selected the furniture to match the sweet Scandi theme.
Bed, bedside tables: Prestige Affairs Furniture; Chair: Alibaba Express; Curtains & Blinds: Our Jack Solutions; Lighting: My Lighthouse
Bed, bedside tables: Prestige Affairs Furniture; Chair: Alibaba Express; Curtains & Blinds: Our Jack Solutions; Lighting: My Lighthouse
The challenge for the master bedroom was how to brighten it and make it appear more spacious. The designers swapped the standard-issue door for a a reed glass door to allow more natural light into the bathroom. Bringing in the curved design concept to this space are the basin, hanging mirror and cabinet’s recessed pulls.
Sanitaryware: Lucky Khoon Bathroom Studio Pte Ltd
Sanitaryware: Lucky Khoon Bathroom Studio Pte Ltd
Another tweak to the layout was converting one room into the walk-in wardrobe. “The wife has a lot of clothing, so sacrificing a room and converting it into a wardrobe space seemed like a common but next best solution we had for her,” says Deng. “Since her priority is to maximise storage capacity, we kept the dresser area very compact with just sufficient space for her daily grooming needs. The clothes rack in the middle was bought as a loose piece for daily [reuse] wear like jackets or jeans that they don’t plan to wash yet.”
The wardrobe’s recessed pulls have a similar curved detailing as the bathrooms.
The wardrobe’s recessed pulls have a similar curved detailing as the bathrooms.
The other bedroom was designed as the wife’s ‘Dream Room’.
“This room was created to fulfil the dream of the wife since her childhood days. She had always wanted a pink floral bedroom of her own, but she had a shared bedroom. (Now that she is married, she is still sharing a room, she jokingly shared),” says Deng. “This would be a space she plans to have some quiet moments by herself and maybe with kids in future.”
The designers customised the wallpaper to reflect the owner’s favourite bloom, with the colours fitting in with the flat’s colour scheme.
“This room is mainly filled with loose furnishings that she likes: the pillows, cute Miffy rabbit lighting, a refurbished antique wardrobe, and a table and chair for a reading corner,” says Deng.
This room also serves as the guest bedroom.
Wallpaper: Wallhub Pte Ltd; Furnishings: IKEA and Alibaba Express
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“This room was created to fulfil the dream of the wife since her childhood days. She had always wanted a pink floral bedroom of her own, but she had a shared bedroom. (Now that she is married, she is still sharing a room, she jokingly shared),” says Deng. “This would be a space she plans to have some quiet moments by herself and maybe with kids in future.”
The designers customised the wallpaper to reflect the owner’s favourite bloom, with the colours fitting in with the flat’s colour scheme.
“This room is mainly filled with loose furnishings that she likes: the pillows, cute Miffy rabbit lighting, a refurbished antique wardrobe, and a table and chair for a reading corner,” says Deng.
This room also serves as the guest bedroom.
Wallpaper: Wallhub Pte Ltd; Furnishings: IKEA and Alibaba Express
Tell us
What do you love about this home? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images, save the story, and join in the conversation.
Read more stories of HDB homes
Who lives here: Newlywed couple in their late 20s
Location: Toa Payoh
Type of property: Four-room HDB BTO (Build-to-Order) flat
Size: 90 square metres (about 970 square feet)
Project duration: 8 weeks
Designers in charge: Sheldon Toh, Kate Deng & Ken Lee
The owners wanted a light-filled, pastel-coloured Scandinavian theme for their new marital home, with the husband opting to let the wife have her dream space. As such, the Mr Shopper Studio design team consisting of Sheldon Toh, Kate Deng & Ken Lee used a colour palette of light wood, neutrals, rose gold and pink.
Adding an aesthetic tweak to the Scandi style, the designers “took a few inspirations from Aesop, a skincare brand that the owners like,” says Deng. “We played around with mainly clean lines and curves, having this as our key direction for designing their home.”
TV console: Harto Design France; Planters: Bob Mubarak; Curtains & Blinds: Our Jack Solutions