Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Textural Details Give This Family Home A Rustic Edge
The goal was to address the needs of the different generations while creating a unified look for the whole apartment
Designing a family home has its challenges because of all the family members’ needs and personalities that have to be considered. All the more when the client is your own family, as in the home of designer Alen Ng of Urban Habitat Design. He had the difficult task of renovating the five-room resale HDB he shares with his older brother and sister-in-law who own the house, and parents. “I was given the full freedom to design the entire house. But from time to time, I consulted and sought feedback from them (the owners) and the elders to make sure I was on the right track,” he shares. He had to ensure that the look is something “timeless and lasting” that everyone would approve of.
Tying together the foyer, living and dining areas is a variety of wood laminate and cement-look finishes that makes the entire space warm and cosy. Long windows keep the space bathed in natural light.
A mix of cove, pin and pendant lights brings mood to the space, and highlights the different textures.
New furniture picks are interspersed with the owners’ existing pieces. One of the new pieces is the pendant lamp in the dining area, which matches the bicycle-inspired metal gate at the entrance and adds an industrial touch.
Next to the dining area is the study, which was already hacked open by the previous owners. Black metal-framed glass doors are put in place to demarcate it, while still allowing light to filter through.
Next to the dining area is the study, which was already hacked open by the previous owners. Black metal-framed glass doors are put in place to demarcate it, while still allowing light to filter through.
The study also doubles as an entertainment room for occasional mahjong and board game sessions.
“The installed sterling board is intricate enough to be a feature wall and also functions as a pinboard for putting up pictures and reminders,” says Ng. Two sides of the room are efficiently utilised for storage with built-in shelves and cabinets.
“The installed sterling board is intricate enough to be a feature wall and also functions as a pinboard for putting up pictures and reminders,” says Ng. Two sides of the room are efficiently utilised for storage with built-in shelves and cabinets.
From the living area, one can peek through to the kitchen. Pocket doors allow the owners to keep the space open for entertaining purposes, or closed to prevent cooking fumes from wafting into the social spaces.
The layout of the new kitchen was modified so that the cooking and washing areas are on the longer left side, and the fridge and bar on the shorter right side. “Dark and medium wood tones are held together by soothing, muted blue hues, because it felt like a nice contrast to a hot and bustling kitchen,” says Ng.
A divider of wood laminate was installed to give privacy to the new vanity area and the relocated bathroom entrance.
In the master bedroom, Ng created a warm, hotel-like setting. “The king-size platform bed, headboard, ceiling and TV console are merged into a single entity that has a laid-back gazebo feel,” he says. This canopy-like feature clad in wood laminate punctuates the pale walls and flooring to round off the cosy ambience.
The designer positioned the new vanity to make good use of the odd window corner in the bedroom. “It bridges the bedroom side and the now slightly-more-spacious bathroom,” says Ng.
The shower and toilet areas are clad in stone-look tiles that impart a sense of increased ceiling height. The owners also chose mosaic tiles as an accent, adding some sparkle to the shower area.
The second bedroom belongs to the parents. “It has a simple Scandinavian feel,” says Ng. Light wood and grey tones envelop the room.
The designer had to work around the odd shape created by the structural column. As a design solution, he built a dresser for mum on one side, and a TV mount for dad on the other. A ledge that wraps around the column and runs along the width of the wall makes a visual connection between the two sides.
The third bedroom is Ng’s ‘man cave’. “This particular room captures a little bit of the entire house. I designed it in such a way that in the future, the next person who is going to live here can just change the paint colour and laminate for a different look ,” he says.
But for now, the room is full-on masculine with its custom-built dark-toned bed-and-desk combo. It is restful as it is practical, with various wood finishes used to create texture and storage.
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What is your favourite space in this home? Let us know in the Comments below.
TELL US
What is your favourite space in this home? Let us know in the Comments below.
Who lives here: A family of five
Location: Whampoa Road
Size: About 110 square metres (1,184 square feet)
Project duration: 8 weeks
The designer settled on a contemporary-meets-rustic theme. “I wanted to give the house a cosy, darker, rustic edge – to avoid the too-sleek look of modern contemporary spaces, without going fully industrial. With colours and materials more raw and natural, the impression is that the house looks a bit worn yet still has that ‘timeless’ look,” he says.
Guests are greeted by a bicycle-inspired gate at the main entrance. “It brings a laid-back, countryside farmhouse feel. Personally, I think there’s something nostalgic about bicycles and that’s why I felt it was a fitting addition to the rustic theme,” he shares.