Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: This 5-Room Flat is Eclectic in French Chinoiserie
Ideas from his many travels infuse this bachelor's flat with stylish personality
For the veteran design team at Three-d Conceptwerke, working closely with clients to understand their lifestyles and personalities helps them create a customised space that is “fiercely intimate and one of a kind”. For this five-room flat renovation, they learnt about the homeowner’s work-travel adventures: “He is in the hospitality industry, and constantly travels to many different countries for work. In his line of work he gets exposed to different interior styles for different properties. In the process, he developed a very personal taste and preference for “French chinoiserie”. This, together with his collection of eclectic trinkets and artefacts, created a look that was entirely unique and eclectic”, the design team says.
The Three-d Conceptwerke design team reconfigured the layout, creating an open-concept kitchen with a seamless connection with the living and dining spaces, and providing breezier cross-ventilation to this social area.
A French trim was used on the false ceiling to “create a lattice network where lighting points were located in each square pattern”. The trim was also applied to the walls, strategically framing the TV and various artworks.
The palette was kept neutral with white, grey and wood tones, because the owner’s selection of soft furnishings and decor are very bold and vibrant. “It is a hobby of his to constantly change up his furnishings to keep it fresh and updated,” the design team says. “He wanted a timeless and classic canvas for him to keep reinventing his style without sacrificing on function.”
Custom-made furniture: Hammer and Nails
A French trim was used on the false ceiling to “create a lattice network where lighting points were located in each square pattern”. The trim was also applied to the walls, strategically framing the TV and various artworks.
The palette was kept neutral with white, grey and wood tones, because the owner’s selection of soft furnishings and decor are very bold and vibrant. “It is a hobby of his to constantly change up his furnishings to keep it fresh and updated,” the design team says. “He wanted a timeless and classic canvas for him to keep reinventing his style without sacrificing on function.”
Custom-made furniture: Hammer and Nails
As the owner likes to cook and entertain often, an open-concept kitchen was called for. He has also built up a sizeable collection of crockery and silverware, and the designers proposed kitchen cabinetry that would display these appropriately.
The lion head knobs for the cabinets in the kitchen were sourced by the owner himself during his travels. Within one of the under-counter cabinets is his cat’s bedroom, and the designers incorporated a discreet cat flap for it.
“He is a generally neat person, so despite having an open-concept kitchen and living area, with lots of decor items to display, he is able to upkeep and maintain the open concept,” the design team says of the owner.
The lion head knobs for the cabinets in the kitchen were sourced by the owner himself during his travels. Within one of the under-counter cabinets is his cat’s bedroom, and the designers incorporated a discreet cat flap for it.
“He is a generally neat person, so despite having an open-concept kitchen and living area, with lots of decor items to display, he is able to upkeep and maintain the open concept,” the design team says of the owner.
The floor area of the second bedroom was incorporated into the master bedroom, so it could have a more spacious walk-in wardrobe.
The grey, white and wood palette with French trimming is also applied in the master bedroom, allowing the owner’s personal effects to shine.
The grey, white and wood palette with French trimming is also applied in the master bedroom, allowing the owner’s personal effects to shine.
Applying the neutral palette into the ensuite bathroom, but giving it a distinctive flair, the designers proposed a partially tiled design on the walls. “The tile pattern and shape was very unique and unusual, and despite it being white, we did not want an overkill on the pattern on the walls, lest it make the place look too complicated and smaller than usual. Instead by delegating different heights to it in different spaces of the toilet, it brought out the uniqueness of the tile better,” they say.
Epoxy paint was used for the rest of the walls, to give it higher water resistance. “And the bathroom was adequately waterproofed on the necessary areas before tiling and painting works were executed,” the design team says. Metal-framed glass doors ensure a bright, open and airy feel throughout.
Epoxy paint was used for the rest of the walls, to give it higher water resistance. “And the bathroom was adequately waterproofed on the necessary areas before tiling and painting works were executed,” the design team says. Metal-framed glass doors ensure a bright, open and airy feel throughout.
The owner selected the graphic tiles for the guest bathroom; the designers used terracotta tiles to give the composition a cohesive look. “These [graphic] tiles are interesting – they each look like vintage/retro posters adorning the wall, except in tile form,” says the design team. “As a guest bathroom it would be generally dry, therefore the choice for terracotta tiles is alright even though they are more porous than other tiles.”
The third bedroom is a dual-purpose study room and guest room. In fact, a door as well as the balcony connect it to the master bedroom so that the owner can easily move between rooms when he is working from home.
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See more of this project
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.
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Who lives here: A bachelor who works in the hospitality industry, and his cat
Location: Geylang
Type of Property: Five-room HDB flat
Size: Approx. 1,290 square feet (120 square metres)
Project Duration: 2 months
Chinoiserie is the French word for decorating “in the Chinese style”, beginning in the 17th century. An extra helping of the harmonious French style tones down the exuberance of the East-meets-West hybrid in this five-room flat. The result is this eclectic yet restrained French Chinoiserie look where clean white Parisian mouldings and oriental detailing sit side by side with vintage cartoon art pieces and contemporary designer furniture.