Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Chance Encounter Results in a Happy Design Collaboration
This couple built their Scandi-inspired dream home with the help of a design team they met in their HDB lift
Project manager Dennis Lim of Team Interior Design is straightforward about this home’s design: “Our client, who is architecture-trained, already had a well-defined personal design direction. We mainly assisted in affirming the design specifications, ‘buildability’ and sustainability, as well as providing further design implements to fine-tune the look”. The resulting look for the clients’ new 5-room BTO flat is clean-lined yet warm – functional Scandinavian style with plenty of cleverly concealed storage.
You get an over-encompassing look at the owners’ functional aesthetics as soon as you step into the house. Right next to the door is a floor-to-ceiling height shoe cabinet paired with a side table that doubles as a shoe bench (convenient for shoe-wearing or removal!), neatly marked out from the social spaces through a metal screen.
The screen itself lends texture with its geometric design, and functions as a transparent divider that demarcates the dining area. The design team removed some walls to create this open-concept living and dining space that leads into the kitchen and laundry.
The screen itself lends texture with its geometric design, and functions as a transparent divider that demarcates the dining area. The design team removed some walls to create this open-concept living and dining space that leads into the kitchen and laundry.
The homeowners, Lim says, love travelling around Southeast Asia, and their home showcases this through its generous use of ikat weave furnishings and baskets purchased in Indonesia.
Furniture such as the coffee and side tables, sofa and bar counter were custom made, and hence coordinate well with the ikat weave and the patterned surfaces.
Furniture such as the coffee and side tables, sofa and bar counter were custom made, and hence coordinate well with the ikat weave and the patterned surfaces.
The ikat weave rugs, in fact, are a bold focal point complementing the Scandinavian style palette of oak wood, white walls and black hardware. They also match the herringbone pattern on the feature wall and flooring.
The herringbone-patterned oak wood feature wall in the living room was DIY, says Lim. The flooring is vinyl in a natural oak finish.
The herringbone-patterned oak wood feature wall in the living room was DIY, says Lim. The flooring is vinyl in a natural oak finish.
Even the shoe cabinets, clad in marble-patterned laminate, sport a herringbone pattern for design continuity.
Eschewing a traditional dining set, the owners opted for a dining bar that’s part of the semi-U-shaped kitchen (it’s a U with a tail as it incorporates the laundry area that leads out to the utility yard).
A recessed shelf in the shape of a house acts as a focal point for the dining-cum-bar area, which extends from one of the kitchen countertops.
“The reinvented layout enlarges the kitchen workspace yet ensures varied functionality by incorporating a bar counter that doubles as a dining table,” says Lim.
A recessed shelf in the shape of a house acts as a focal point for the dining-cum-bar area, which extends from one of the kitchen countertops.
“The reinvented layout enlarges the kitchen workspace yet ensures varied functionality by incorporating a bar counter that doubles as a dining table,” says Lim.
In keeping with the look of the living and dining space, the open-concept kitchen features white polished laminate and oak laminate from Lamitak for highlights and trim. Black tiles were laid in a herringbone pattern for the backsplash, and the flooring is made of natural oak-finish vinyl, also in the same pattern. Kitchen drawers and top-hung cabinets are fitted with the Blum system.
The master bedroom is a compact yet airy-looking space, enhanced by the transparent walk-in wardrobe made of chicken wire glass and black framing. Lim points out that the bed is designed as a platform with concealed storage: “As we know, new BTO flats always pose the challenge of space constraints. This unit boasts hidden storage solutions where one least expects, such as the one beneath the platform bed (as well as the window bench, dry pantry in kitchen, full-height shoe cabinet, etc.), combining storage with aesthetics,” says Lim.
Oak laminate bring that fresh Scandinavian aesthetic into the master bedroom and walk-in wardrobe.
Deviating a little from the oak-and-white cosiness of the Scandinavian style, the guest bathroom (left) and master bathroom (below) feature white subway tiles with black grouting, black honeycomb floor tiles, powder-coated steel frames and bamboo-laminate vanity tops.
The black frames tie in with the wardrobe’s design, and the bamboo laminates echo the honeyed hues of the oak from the rest of the house.
See more of this project
The black frames tie in with the wardrobe’s design, and the bamboo laminates echo the honeyed hues of the oak from the rest of the house.
See more of this project
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What do you like about this design? Let us know in the Comments section.
What do you like about this design? Let us know in the Comments section.
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Who lives here: A married couple, both 37 years old, lecturer and teacher
Location: Five-room build-to-order (BTO) flat in Compassvale
Size: 112 square metres (1,206 square feet)