Here are 10 ways to give your home a fresh new look, without having to tear down the walls.
CEILING TREATMENT
ZONED SPACES
Ceilings – like walls and floors – make up a majority of surfaces in the home. Yet, many homeowners are not sure what to do with them, leaving them whitewashed.
The right ceiling treatment can make a difference to style and ambience. Architect Liew Guofeng of Studio Super Safari says: “Ceiling treatments can accentuate the strengths of the home layout, such as creating visual continuity between spaces, while drawing the eye up. This strategy also helps zone spaces and breaks the monotony of long corridors.”
“Having false ceilings is a good way to conceal unsightly electrical wiring and aircon ducts. Explore different materials to complement the interior style of your home.”
J. J. Yip, Interior Designer, Wee Studio
Space Sense
Studio Super Safari
Lumas
ART
DRESSED-UP W ALLS
Find the walls in your home a little too plain for your liking? Choose artworks that’ll dress up your living space, while making a statement. Be it oil paintings, installations, calligraphy or photography, they’re sure to add visual interest and might even become conversation starters, should your guests be curious about their provenance.
Countryside by Abdullah Khan. Available at The Artling.
Light up your home with Tumpuk Lapis Tampak Isi Hue by Yogyakarta-based artist Fika Ria Santika. Made of acrylic sheet and resin, this LED lighting is abstract, bold and eye-catching. Available at Gajah Gallery.
MIRROR
STATEMENT PIECES
Mirrors are not just handy when you want to check your appearance before heading out; they’re also great accessories to decorate spaces with, and perfect tools to help enlarge and brighten up spaces. Place them around the home to create interest, such as with Ipse Ipsa Ipsum’s Peranakan-inspired floor-standing mirror handcrafted with coloured bone inlay (top), or Driade Miro Screen from Made & Make (left) reminiscent of intricate architectural designs, such as that of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Italy. Whether tinted or clear, these reflective surfaces serve as great statement pieces too.
Ferreira de Sa’s handwoven collection
Furnish living spaces and bedrooms with rugs, for the warm, fuzzy feeling under foot.
Nasser Nishaburi
Nani Marquina’s Shade flat-weave
RUGS
ADD WARMTH
Accompany style with tactility to achieve a relaxing experience at home. Furnish living spaces and bedrooms with rugs, for the warm, fuzzy feeling underfoot. This way, you’ll never get a rude shock stepping on cold floors when you wake up each morning. Styles, materials and textures are aplenty, including Ferreira de Sa’s handwoven collection (available at Flexform) or Nasser Nishaburi’s digital printed selection. Add colours to the home subtly while you’re at it, like with Nani Marquina’s Shade flat-weave rug (available at Grafunkt), which has a soothing, gradient effect in soft pastel hues.
GREEN WALL
CLEAN AIR
If you don’t have the luxury of space like a garden or balcony, fret not! Green your home by incorporating green walls. Not just for aesthetic purposes, the right selection of plants also means the air in your home will get purified, while you enjoy shade and privacy as the plants help screen your home.
“Some easy-to-maintain houseplants include the Flamingo flower, which can improve indoor air quality by removing harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde and ammonia, based on a study by Nasa,” shares Shirleen He, senior executive for business development at Greenology, a vertical greening specialist.
Nippon
Dulux
PAINT
NEW POS SIBILITIES
Make your walls pop, not just with colours, but textures too! Brands like Dulux and Nippon offer a range of special-effect options, from glittery desert sand-inspired finishes from the former, to the latter’s velvet-look paint. There are even collections where you can create duo colour-toned walls, which appear as different colours when viewed from varying angles. Time to explore new possibilities with paint!
Studio Wills + Architects
CURTAINS AND VALANCES
FINISHING TOUCHES
Selecting curtain fabrics and valances – the window treatment that covers the uppermost part of the window – can be a pretty overwhelming but essential task if you’re looking to achieve a warm, cosy vibe at home. Like icing on cake, curtains and blinds are some of the finishing touches that will bring the perfect ambience, tying together the whole look and feel. Wilson Chew, managing director of curtain and blinds gallery mc2, advises homeowners to take note of the different types of curtain panel options – on two sides of the window, or a single panel that stretches across the entire length of the window – the selection of valances, as well as the opacity of fabric used, as that will result in different lighting effects within the home. Valances are often used in homes with Victorian- or Classical-inspired styles, as they add to the look.
“For smaller apartments, full-length curtains may look overwhelming. Soften the look by adding valances as a window topper. It is also a clever way to hide curtain rods or odd-shaped windows,” says Wilson.
“Many homeowners opt for pelmets made of plywood, as they can be painted over or covered with wallpaper to conceal drapery hardware in a minimalist way,” shares Jessy Ng of Onna, a curtain and blinds specialist.
Mmlittlee
WALLCOVERINGS
CUSTOM PRINT
Ever thought of printing wallpaper of your choice for your home? Now you can, with Layerplay’s latex printing technology, which can print wallcoverings, posters, canvas prints and even decals that stretch up to 30m, with water-based inks. Choose from an expansive collection of patterns, illustrations, gradient effects, photography and more, as well as materials you’d like to print on, including fabric, paperback and premium non-woven textured wallcovering. Now, that’ll really up your game for customised home designs, we say!
Rice
MOSAIC TILES
METALLIC CHIC
Create eye-catching walls and floors by tiling them right, giving these surfaces a threedimensional look that stand out. Metallic-finished tiles, such as Appiani metallic mosaic (available at Rice), make great options to brighten up tight spaces such as bathrooms. Lay them in a uniform or haphazard fashion to match the overall interior style in your home.
Born In Colour
Commune
SIDEBOARDS
TAKE SIDES
Create a welcoming ambience with some neat styling at the entrance foyer. For Scandinavian style homes, keep the space clutter-free and position a sleek sideboard where you can drop your daily essentials, such as keys, conveniently. This way, you’ll never have to worry about misplacing them too. To match the rustic- or Classical-inspired look, choose options with wainscot panels or brass handles.
Crate & Barrel
text DOMENICA TAN
