Homeowners Dave Lua and Tan Ai Ling chanced upon a dining table from Crate & Barrel and fell in love with it. They decided to buy it and have their interior designer friend, Tommy Lai from tld., design their living and dining spaces around the dining centrepiece. “We have friends over quite frequently, so it made sense to have a large dining table as the heart of the home where everyone can gather,” Dave explains.

Apart from the dining table, the international trade manager couple pretty much gave Tommy carte blanche, but they did express an aversion to “Japanesque or Scandinavian” styles. This meant staying away from a light-coloured interior, which suited this particular apartment just fine.

“When I first visited the flat, I found the interior extremely bright because of the large windows and unblocked surroundings, so I proposed darker and warmer shades to help mitigate the glare,” says Tommy.

“Besides, the homeowners are whisky lovers, so a darker palette also adds to the whisky bar ambience,” he adds. The result is an industrial-style home that combines influences from Lower Manhattan warehouse lofts with subtle hints of a whisky bar.

Wood reclaimed from Brazilian telephone poles add character and a sustainable sensibility.

By removing a short section of the wall dividing the kitchen and dining and living rooms, the three areas became one big open-concept space within which the Phoenix dining table is the centrepiece.

This painting by a Vietnamese street artist was a gift from the couple’s friend, and takes pride of place against a blue wall in the hallway leading to the master bedroom.

A muted palette was selected for the master bedroom to create a calm and cosy environment. The Treku Bel bed and Folks Wonderbox coffee tables, used as bedside tables, are from Grafunkt.

A study desk from Vietnam-based British design team Square Roots also doubles as a dressing table. The Lamb chairs feature black steel frames with slate fabrics and raw oak backs.

Tommy used pure white tiles to create a hyper sterile aesthetic that contrasts with the darker living spaces. The experience that he was going for was one of “stepping into a sterile box at the end of a work day to wash away your tiredness and worries”.