#39
Singapore
S$8.00
your sourcebook for home interiors, designers and products
Shortlist Unexpected shopping gems in the Ubi area
Style Kit An HDB flat renovated beyond recognition
Spotlight Figuring out the math of small spaces
Trend Alert Weaving Granny Chic into Your Home
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Pushing the potential of homes below 100sqm lookboxliving.com.sg
Dine on Dino You can have your cake and eat it too, on a dinosaur cake stand, no less! The Sauria cake stands from Seletti are designed for the quirky, fun-loving homeowner who wants to dish out dessert on a T-rex, brontosaurus or triceratops. Seletti Sauria cake stand, $103 onwards, from Fred Lives Here www.fredliveshere.com
Down in Texas Like a blast from the past, the Texas Collection of living and dining room furniture brings mid-century design to modern day homes. We’re partial to the dark walnut veneers and solid beech wood legs that will bring a sense of gravitas to the home. Mix and match individual pieces to customise your own pieces. Here, two sets of open shelves and a sideboard are grouped together to form a hall display unit! Texas Collection, price on enquiry, from Mondi Infiniti www.mondilifestyle.com.sg
Sitting Pretty
We love the clean and contemporary lines of the Margo dining chair. It comes in either a walnut veneer frame or a black stained ash veneer frame, perfect for urban homes. Want to bring a burst of colour to the dining space? The Margo chairs have seats that are available in different colours and fabrics. Margo dining chair, price on enquiry, from Lush www.lush-lush.com
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Shortlist
The Collective
Natural Rest Reduce your carbon footprint and sleep easy with the Coco-Mat range of environmentally friendly and biodegradable bedding. Instead of springs or coils, the mattresses are made using 100 per cent natural materials like coconut fibre, natural rubber, goose down, oakwood, seaweed, eucalyptus, horsehair and cactus fibre, all of which promise better sleep support. Not convinced yet? Coco-Mat mattresses and bedding can be found in the Diamond First Class cabin of Etihad Airways and top hotels and resorts around the world. Coco-Mat bedding, price on enquiry, from Grafunkt www.grafunkt.com
In Good Spirits
Repurposed History Make a statement with these sturdy bookshelves. Each piece is made from reclaimed wood that was salvaged from old houses, abandoned boats and railway tracks. We love how they come from sustainable sources. The best part is that each of the designs can be customised to your preferred size.
The brand new Chateau collection from Royal Selangor consists of all the necessities you’d need in your own private bar. This includes a whiskey tumbler, bottle coasters, champagne flutes and decanters, among others. But what makes this collection unique is that each piece takes inspiration from the Renaissance era, a time of artistic and scientific growth. We can spot graphical references to the architectural forms of the 15th to early 17th century, like pewter lattices and classical motifs. www.royalselangor.com
Teak bookshelf, price on request, from Knocknock www.facebook.com/knocknocksg
NEW!
Strangely Stylish Strange & Deranged recently opened the doors to its flagship store at Palais Renaissance, bringing its brand of luxury home and lifestyle wares to discerning homeowners. Expect to see international brands like eccentric French designer Gilles Caffier, German family-run company Guaxs and traditional Florentine frame-maker Giovanni Baccani. If you need help picking the right items for your home, feel free to check out Strange & Deranged’s interior styling and consulting services. www.strangeandderanged.com
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Shortlist
The Collective
NEW! Shower Secrets In today’s space-starved bathrooms, homeowners are always on the lookout for small-space solutions. Hansgrohe’s ShowerSelect thermostats and mixers address this problem with a smart and well-designed solution: a concealed installation in the shower area that takes up minimal space and leaves the bathroom looking tidy and uncluttered. Ergonomic and intuitive, the ShowerSelect thermostat and mixer can be controlled with the touch of a button! ShowerSelect thermostat and mixer, price on enquiry, from Hansgrohe www.hansgrohe.com.sg
This One’s For The Kids A new children’s lifestyle concept store recently opened its doors at Block 6B Dempsey Hill, showcasing an eclectic range of furniture and accessories curated with the little ones in mind. Playfully calling itself Cuckoo, the light-filled store is packed with charming children’s furniture and special accessories. Discerning parents will love the wide range on offer, including several new-to-Singapore designers, vintage inspired rattan furniture and some instantly recognisable kids’ brands. www.cuckoo.com.sg
Wall to Wall Forget expensive feature walls – you can now create your own statement wall with the Jonathan shelves. These hexagonal, modular wall-mounted shelves can be expanded, configured and personalised according to the size of your wall. And by mixing and matching from the matt grey and turquoise shelves, you can let your creativity run free and customise your own eye-catching wall design. Jonathan modular shelves, price on enquiry, from Slingshot www.myslingshot.com.sg
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Shopping Trail
text Rachel Lee-Leong
Ubi and Tai Seng The most surprising finds can often be found in the most unexpected of locations. The Ubi and Tai Seng areas are perfect examples. Far-flung as they seem to be, these neighbouring areas serve up more than their fair share of home-related stores and resources. You could easily spend an entire day here shopping for everything from furniture to sanitary ware.
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Air One of the very first stores in Singapore to champion local design, Air is home to four proprietary brands – Air, Plank, Royce and Funktion – with each brand bearing a distinct personality. Its flagship brand Air features a good mix of contemporary furniture ranging from sofas to beds; Plank focuses on wood-based furniture; Royce gives a nod to more luxurious materials like leather; Funktion takes on a more playful attitude towards design. Previously at Mount Sophia, the Air flagship store recently moved to Tai Seng Avenue and now occupies a loft-like space that is filled to the brim with furniture. Mixing and matching pieces from all four of its brands, the store is a great place to find not just great furniture pieces, but also ideas for styling up your home.
29 Tai Seng Avenue #01-02 Singapore 534119 Tel (65) 6336 0662 www.weloveair.com Mon – Sun: 11.30am to 8.30pm
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Mudian To say that kitchen and wardrobe specialist Mudian takes its carpentry seriously could very well be an understatement. A trip to its 2-storey showroom in Ubi is proof enough. The showroom is a treasure trove of ideas, each one meticulously executed. Kitchen mock-ups ranging from the rustic and traditional to the chic and modern are all fodder for inspiration. Each one is set-up like a real kitchen, fully fitted with the latest technology and conveniences that make cooking that much easier. You’ll also want to check out the wardrobe mock-ups in the showroom that offer something whether you’re looking for the ideal walk-in wardrobe or a simple but efficient closet.
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33 Ubi Ave 3 Vertex Building #01-21 to #01-23 Singapore 408868 Tel (65) 6733 7378 www.mudian.com.sg Mon–Fri: 10am to 7pm Sat: 10am to 6pm
Shortlist
Shopping Trail 3
The Curtain Boutique Most people don’t even know where to begin when it comes to dressing their windows. Blinds versus curtains? Rollerblinds or Roman blinds? Day curtains with or without black-out drapes? The Curtain Boutique is a good place to start when it comes to making these decisions. The soft furnishings supplier carries a wide range of blinds, curtains and even window films to suit every budget. Notably, it carries premium window fashion brand Hunter Douglas and displays examples
of the brand’s most popular products for true-to-life demonstrations. If you’re looking for curtains, The Curtain Boutique’s curtain fabric ranges span the unique and decorative to the understated and elegant.
81 Ubi Ave 4 #01-17 UB One Singapore 408830 Tel (65) 8688 8814 www.thecurtainboutique.com.sg Mon – Sat: 11am to 8pm Sun: 11am to 7pm
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Carera Bathroom of different styles for products from bathtubs and showers to washbasins and faucets, range is definitely the name of the game here.
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A one-stop shop for bath and sanitary ware is always convenient. Measuring a whopping 7,000sqft, it’s a veritable dream-come-true for the busy home renovator. The Carera Bathroom showroom gathers some of the best bathroom solutions under one roof; Laufen, Roca, Hansgrohe and Geberit are presented in elegant settings that inspire you towards creating that dream bathroom. With an impressive line-up
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Blk 65, Ubi Road 1 Oxley Bizhub, #03-75 Singapore 408729 Tel (65) 6702 6475 nodencollective.com
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#02-00 Ubi Biz-Hub 150 Ubi Ave 4 Singapore 408825 Tel (65) 6547 1760 www.blum.com/sg/
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A gem of a find in Ubi, Noden etor Jln M Collective carries mid-century furniture designs, art prints, candles. And if you’re in the mood to shop, a small selection of clothes and fashion accessories should keep you busy as well.
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Making furniture fittings accessible and easy to understand, the Blum showroom makes a convincing case for investing in systems that make the joinery in your kitchen and other spaces work without so much as a hiccup.
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Specialising in wallpaper, wall murals and wall coverings, Wallaffairs is all about giving your walls a pop of life. S A big plus: find wallpaper options that can be even cheaper than paint! po
16 Tai Seng Street, Level 1 Singapore 54138 Tel (65) 6383 0119 www.nobel.com.sg
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If you like to make the most out of your shopping trips, Qsquare is right up your alley. A combination of multiple stores in one location, Qsquare is home to OM, The Design Store and Minotti, just to name a few.
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A Different Luxury Art director of Italian furniture brand Moroso, Patrizia Moroso, talks about her statement-making furniture and her relationships with designers Text Redzman rahmat
Editor’s Picks My Beautiful Backside sofa, $24,931
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Fishbone coffee tables,$1,738.22 upwards
Shortlist Profile
Think of furniture manufacturer Moroso and you will probably think of daring designs, bold splashes of colours and sculptural forms that sit as statement pieces in any home. The Italian brand has a history of collaborating with some of the world’s most renowned designers, which has led to some of its most iconic furniture designs. In Singapore, Moroso has partnered with furniture retailer XTRA to make its furniture more readily available. Art director Patrizia Moroso was in town to share her ideas on how her family business can contribute to Singapore’s dynamic design scene. “I love this country,” she immediately gushes. “It’s so different from where I come from. But I do see some similar aspects to Italy, especially in what this country is striving to achieve in art and design. I love seeing the old mixed in with new, and it reminds me of how my home town used to be.” The gregarious Italian joined the
family business in the mid-eighties and since then, has helped to transform the firm into a leading international design brand. Patrizia is responsible for roping in creative minds to design for the company, working with some of the most celebrated designers in the world like Patricia Urquiola, Ron Arad, Ross Lovegrove, Marcel Wanders and Oki Sato of Nendo. Having a network of some of the industry’s greatest creative minds means that Patrizia can reach out to anyone to start a collaboration. But she has a unique way of selecting which designer to work with. “I only work with people that I love and enjoy spending time with. When you go out for dinner, you only want to meet with your friends, and that’s the same way that I choose my designers. But I might meet someone new today, and tomorrow I’ll ask if they want to work with us.” Moroso’s furniture has always been associated with a certain level of affluence, but Patrizia wants to clarify that her company has set its own standards of luxury. “We’re not doing the typical type of luxury, like gold tiger prints,” she laughs. “We try to give another kind of luxury in the form of beauty, ideas and concepts. It’s not about how much it costs to make it, the value is in the details, the materials and the story behind the product.” Moroso is available at XTRA www.moroso.it www.xtra.com.sg
Tennis chairs, $4,818.21 each
Q&A with
Patrizia Moroso
Describe your home. My house is sort of like a warehouse. Working in a design company means that many times, someone will come up to me and say, “We’ve made a mistake with this furniture and now we have to destroy it!” I’ll stop them and take the furniture home! So my house is filled with these abandoned, imperfect furniture. I also have a lot of old Chinese and Tibetan furniture, like chairs, benches and doors. As for colours, my house has a lot of white and wood, but the two strongest colours are black and oxide red.
What do you think of Singaporean homes? Singaporean homes have such a close relationship to space. Because of the limited space, the design needs to express the personality of the people living there. Every object in the house needs, in some way, to mean something to the owner.
What are some of the design trends you’ve noticed around the world? Global trends mean nothing to me. I don’t believe in trends; I believe in people and designers. When it comes to trends, different countries have different needs. In Singapore, homes are very small, while somewhere in New York, you can have a huge loft apartment. So each city has its own ideas and trends. But the one thing that is important everywhere in the city is the issue of sustainability and how we can contribute to the betterment of the world.
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Left: A dark-stained oak veneer feature wall stretches across the living and dining areas, bringing a streamlined aesthetic to the space. The wall conceals the bedroom entrances while hinged panels let the couple hide the television easily. Right: When the doors to the bedrooms are closed, the living area feels like a self-contained capsule, perfect for entertaining guests. For additional storage, the designers built a wall-to-wall low cabinet, which also doubles as a display ledge, just next to the main entrance.
An Eye For Design By bucking interior design trends and focusing instead on functionality and adaptability, these homeowners turned this resale HDB unit into an elegant abode.
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Style Kit Homes We Love
Home
4-room HDB
Floor Area 914 sqft
text Redzman Rahmat Photography Justin Loh, Shining head media Art Direction Betty Wong
J
oseph Wong and Lai Zhenwei spent a considerable amount of time looking for a new home to start their life together with their toddler, Josiah. After looking at seven different units, they decided on this 4-bedroom resale HDB flat in Clementi. But, as any new homeowner would know, finding the perfect home is only half the battle; next comes the planning, designing and renovating. Thankfully, Joseph and Zhenwei are both architecturally trained, and recently started their own design and architecture firm, JOW Architects. With a wealth of experience shared between both of them, Joseph and Zhenwei understood the needs and necessities of designing a home. And one of the most important lessons they’ve
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learnt on the job is that a home shouldn’t be driven by what’s popular or trendy. “The concept of our home is based purely on our lifestyle needs,” Joseph says, emphasising the point. “We don’t want to be driven by what’s trendy right now. Personally, it’s important for me to create interiors that work well instead of simply looking nice. That said, of course we want our home to look good too!” The young couple refused to go down any one design route as they did not want to be constrained by what they could or could not do in the home. Instead, they took on a more holistic approach. “Design isn’t simply about the aesthetic; we see it as a way to solve problems elegantly,” Joseph says.
Style Kit
Homes we love
“We don’t want to be driven by what’s trendy right now. Personally, it’s important for me to create interiors that work well instead of simply looking nice.” – Joseph Wong, Designer
Design Notes
By scaling down the size of the tiles according to the size of the room, you can influence the perception of space. Here, 50mm by 50mm mosaic tiles present a neat and orderly backdrop to the kitchen.
Above: The homeowners wanted a way to close off the kitchen, both to contain the cooking fumes in the kitchen and to keep the air conditioning in the living room. This specially customised door is made with a powder-coated steel frame and ribbed glass, which allows diffused light to gently filter into the rooms. Left: Unlike most HDB units, the kitchen in this resale flat is surprisingly bright and airy. To accentuate this, the designers went with an all-white scheme for the kitchen, save for dovegrey floors.
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Design Notes
Don’t be afraid to mix different tones of wood in a single space. A herringbone parquet floor like this is a good starting point to introduce other timber tones.
One of the main priorities for the homeowners was to have large vacant spaces, both for their toddler Josiah to play around in and for entertaining guests who pop over during the weekend. To squeeze out more space from this 914sqft apartment, the designers decided to compartmentalise the home, making sure that each room can exist as a self-sufficient room. This is best seen in the living and dining areas, where an oak veneer feature wall takes up the entire length of the apartment and conceals the bedroom doors and the television set. “It’s perfect for giving the living areas a self-contained feel. When guests come over, I can close off the bedroom doors and put away the television set,” says Zhenwei. Joseph adds, “We wanted a clean front-of-house, and this wall helps to anchor the space and streamline the home. We like how it enhances the space.” In keeping with the clean lines of the home, the couple also concealed the wiring, electrical trunking and water piping using false beams and false ceilings throughout the home. The other rooms are just as intuitively designed. Take for example the study room, or the “man cave” as Joseph affectionately calls it. It’s fitted with customised shelves, plenty of storage cabinets and cove lights, all of which add up to the perfect workspace for the busy couple. Like the rest of the home, beautiful natural Burmese teak runs underfoot in a timeless herringbone pattern.
Style Kit
Homes we love
“One of the main priorities for the homeowners was to have large vacant spaces.�
Left: A natural and earthy colour palette sets the tone for a relaxed home, with wood textures playing an important role in the overall design. From the dark stained oak veneer on the walls to the Burmese teak herringbone parquet floors, this home has a cohesive material and colour palette. Right: A single, small window is the only source of natural light in the master bedroom. To brighten up the room, the design team adopted a light, white palette as the base of the colour scheme, enhancing the space and creating a brighter ambience.
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The Math of small design God is in the dimensions when it comes to designing for small spaces. We reveal the most efficient design measurements to take note. Text Ashley Choo Illustration Angela Soh
Everything is a squeeze in small spaces but if you get the dimensions of your rooms right, your little space can be a comfortable haven. Arm yourself with your floor plan and a ruler and we’ll go through certain numbers and dimensions you need to know while shopping for your remodelling project.
Sofa: 25cm Breathing Space On Each Side When measuring the wall that your sofa will be placed against, ensure that not only is there enough space for your new sofa but also at least 25cm on each side of the couch for breathing space. “If you’re planning for your sofa to fit perfectly in that space, your sofa will look and feel crammed and uncomfortable,” says Ben Hou, retail manager for furniture retailer OM. Ben also reminds homeowners that the space will also have to accommodate your curtains, which will take up 10–15cm of wall space.
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Floor Tiles: That Trendy 80 x 80 To get away from the uniform HDB look, homeowners now go for larger tile sizes than the typically supplied 60 x 60 cm. “People don’t like grout lines,” says Wee Geck Ying, Senior Business Development Executive for Hafary, a tiles supplier, “and more are opting for 80 x 80 cm tile sizes.” If you want even bigger sizes, you need to see if your living space can accommodate them. For example, if you can only lay a handful of 60 x 180 cm tiles in a small space, the room will just look awkward. Also remember that bigger tile sizes not only cost more per sqft, the labour cost to lay each tile is also higher since since two men will be required to lay each tile right.
Spotlight
Small Spaces
“Remember that bigger tile sizes not only cost more per sqft, the labour cost to lay each tile is also higher since since two men will be required to lay each tile right”
Pendant Lamps: 30cm Clearance Space First consider the height of your ceiling when hanging up your lamp and then ensure that there is enough clearance space for the height of the people using that space. You should provide at least 30 cm clearance space for the person standing below. Hanging a pendant lamp too high up may not be aesthetically pleasing too. Plan for the lamp to cover up to 20 per cent of the ceiling height for the space to look balanced. If you have a rectangular table below the lamp, you may wish to install more hanging pendant lamps over the table.
Dining Table: 60 Is Magic A well-balanced, proportional dining table usually comes in the standard size of 180 x 90cm. For small spaces, this size is a luxury owners can ill afford. “You need at least 60cm in length for a person to feel comfortable eating at the dining table,” Ben says. Bearing that in mind, you can shop for a dining table with a minimum 60cm length with extendable options whenever you have guests over. With placement, 60cm is also the dimension of choice between the dining table and the wall so that you can pull out a chair and slide in comfortably.
Coffee Table: Allow For Legroom Make sure there is enough legroom between your coffee table and your sofa when you sit down. Ben reckons 30cm is the bare minimum space you should allow for. On the other side of the coffee table, you should allow for at least 40–45 cm between the table and the TV console so that you’ll be able to pull open your coffee table or console drawers.
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Built For Two The newly married couple staying in this home couldn’t decide between a Scandinavianinspired look or an Industrial style for their BTO flat in Tampines. The solution: mix the two! Interior design firm White Attic Interior took both of the couple’s requests and combined them into a cohesive design that meets the needs and preferences of both individuals while taking into account the family’s future plans.
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Showcase
white attic interior
Project Type 4-room HDB
Floor Area 1,000 sqft
Quirky Collection Designer Chiah Tian Ming from White Attic Interior understood that the owners of this 4-room HDB flat are fans of the bright colours and cheerful irreverence of pop culture. As such, he designed this house as a clean canvas that homeowners can personalise with furniture, wall art and home accessories. He left large expanses of wall empty for the owners to hang up posters, and included plenty of space for them to display their quirky collections.
Grounded Surface Materials and textures play an important role in giving a small home its defining characteristics. Here, Tian Ming used red craft bricks on a feature wall and cement-like homogenous tiles on the floors to achieve a Scandinavianinspired abode for the newlyweds. To maximise floor space, he also built a long settee that runs beneath the living room window. Not only does this bench hide storage cabinets, it also acts as an additional sitting area for when guests drop by.
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Configurable Space The only wall that has been removed in this BTO flat is the entrance to the kitchen. “We didn’t see the need to blow the budget by knocking down walls,” says Tian Ming. “But hacking away the kitchen entrance opens up the space and brings more light into the house.” Matt white laminate cabinets, blonde wood laminate countertops and white subway tiles bring a casual air to this kitchen. “The wife also requested for an island counter, but there was no way we could comfortably build one into a kitchen of this size. Instead, we customised a 3-foot trolley that can be extended to 4 feet. The homeowners can move it around and use it to configure a U-shaped kitchen, a T-shaped kitchen or even use it as the island kitchen counter they initially wanted.”
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Showcase
white attic interior
The owners of this 4-room HDB flat are fans of the bright colours and cheerful irreverence of pop culture.
Sleeping In
Forward Thinking
The light-filled bedroom features a raised platform and an open pole system wardrobe. “We lifted the entire floor and created storage drawers beneath the platform,” says Tian Ming. Instead of a bed, the owners can just place a mattress on the platform. The open wardrobe encourages a deluge of light to brighten up the room, something that the homeowners specifically requested for.
This spare bedroom acts as a multipurpose space. Whether used as an impromptu storeroom to keep the bicycle or as a distraction-free study room, Tian Ming wanted to dedicate the barebones space for the young couple’s future plans for a family.
White Attic Interior Pte Ltd Showroom (By Appointment Only) 50 Serangoon North Avenue 4 #05-15, First Centre Singapore 555856 Tel: (65) 8223 6258 sales@whiteattic.com.sg www.whiteattic.com.sg
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