Playful touches within this spacious apartment stimulate the imagination. ISABELLE TOW takes you on a personal tour.
Playful touches within this spacious apartment stimulate the imagination. ISABELLE TOW takes you on a personal tour.
Occupying the largest space, the kitchen is the heart of this home.
Who lives here
A married couple in their 30s and their two young children
HOME Five-room HDB executive maisonette apartment in Yishun
SIZE 1,572 sq ft
Tiles from Hafary were used on the staircase riser.
Blessed with ample space in their resale executive maisonette flat, Alec Ong and Jane Lee imagined a cosy nest built along the tenets of Scandinavian design with a sense of fun to stimulate their two young children. To execute the renovation, the husband and wife engaged interior designers Rachel Lee and Steve Kum of Distinct Identity.
The kitchen features an island counter that is further extended by the dining table.
Given the most space, the kitchen and dining area are the heart of this home, with the Scandinavian aesthetic manipulated to maximise sunlight streaming in. To attain that ideal, the home had to be rejigged. A wall separating the staircase and the kitchen was torn down, so light could pass from one end of the home to the other unhindered.
Gold hexagonal cabinet knobs, black subway tiles and a wood-look countertop from KompacPlus keep the kitchen aligned with the Scandinavian theme.
The bright, open interiors are enhanced by a mostly white scheme complemented by light wood hues, and accents of grey and black. Rachel and Steve built an island in the open-concept kitchen next to the Castlery dining table.
Ample space for shoes, knick-knacks and even a settee make for a thoughtfully-designed entrance foyer.
Also part of their brief: find a place for the couple's Lego sculptures. So they created display cases as part of the feature wall in the living room. Indeed, much like the Lego display cases, many playful elements have been woven into the Scandi design of the home. For example, gold hexagonal cabinet knobs and a full-height blackboard for doodles keep the kitchen informal, likewise the tiles on the staircase riser.
Grey walls in the master bedroom add a comfortable, restful vibe.
Moving along, the playful theme may have been subtly hinted at around the house, but it takes centre stage in the children’s’ bedroom. Painted by Rachel and Steve, a mural of snow-capped mountains behind to their bunk beds must surely conjure dreams of wild adventure.
Patterned tiles from Lian Seng Hin were used in the common bathroom upstairs.
Elsewhere, you can tell the concept was conceived with much thought. A cosy settee fitted into the built-in shoe cabinets in the entrance foyer allows everyone to sit while putting on and taking off their shoes. A long daybed under the living room windows creates additional seats, and serves as storage space by way of cabinets built into its bottom.
The stairs reflect the owners’ desired colour scheme.
The double vanity in the upstairs common bathroom, which the children use, ensures that both can use it at the same time.
The interior designers painted the mural behind the kid's bunk beds. The rug is from Deer Industries.
The family moved into their home last September after a two-month-long renovation that cost $82,500, excluding furnishings and electrical works.
Photos DISTINCT IDENTITY
