Rustic Beauty

The homely style and laid-back charm of this chic apartment home offer the perfect backdrop for showcasing the owners’ love of carpentry and cooking.

The home features a nice play between cool and warm hues, from the light-coloured paint and upholstery to the customised carpentry

WHO
A couple in their 30s

HOME
Three-bedroom condominium apartment in West Coast

SIZE
1,335 sqf

The couple have a large collection of whisky bottles, toys and art – all of which are displayed throughout the home

For a sense of design continuity, the kitchen also features exposed plywood cabinetry.

Ken and Evon are cooking enthusiasts, so the designer integrated their passion into the interiors by displaying ingredients and cooking tools.

Evon and Ken’s three-bedroom apartment is a mash-up of simple Scandinavian interiors and quaint country charms. The two styles may seem like opposite ends of the design spectrum, but the home’s exposed plywood carpentry bridged them perfectly; it sports unfussy linear forms, as well as distinctive grains and wood tones that imbue warmth to the space. The red brick wall also added to the cottage-style look.

“When my fiance and I visited the office of our interior designer – Joy from Eightytwo – we fell in love with the plywood furnishings in the space. We wanted our home to have a light-hearted ambience with soothing colours, and the plywood that Joy suggested pairs nicely with our pastel blue walls,” shares Evon. 

Much of their $90,000 (furnishings included) expenditure went to the labour-intensive woodwork, from the living room’s display shelves to the floor-to-ceiling wardrobe-cum-platform beds. The latter’s cocoon-like design was inspired by the couple’s stay in a Japanese boutique hotel. “Its wrap-around shape gives you a comforting sense of security, and is a great way to incorporate storage,” says Evon.

The recessed nooks in the walls and wardrobes give the homeowners plenty of freedom to switch up their displays.

The exposed plywood and chic whisky bottles create an interesting look

The couple also cook regularly – “he’s the main chef and experiments a lot, while I prefer stir- and pan-frying,” she says – so the bomb shelter in the kitchen became a fully stocked pantry, and the designers converted existing cabinets into an open shelf for easy access to condiments. Their passion for cooking is also seen in the living room, where pots and pans are displayed on a wooden rack – it makes for an accent wall that truly befits the homeowners’ personalities! 

WHERE TO GO
Eightytwo, TEL: 6698-7987

Joy, the interior designer from Eightytwo, designed this cottage-style vanity for the common bathroom.

Joy looked for tiles, from wood-look ones to subway tiles, from stores such as Hafary, Soon Bee Huat and Rice.

For a consistent look, the bay window in this bedroom was clad in plywood.

text ELIZA HAMIZAH photography FRENCHESCAR LIM art direction KAFFY TAN