Home Tour: $20,000 Renovation for a young couple's 2-bedroom condominium along Stirling Road
For this interior designer, working on her own home allowed her to experiment with a new style and further hone her expertise.
By Lynn Tan -
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As an interior designer, Vivian Chen believes firmly that everything you build in a home needs to serve a purpose and it is important to strike a balance between function and aesthetics.
“To me, the aesthetics is like the book cover and the functional aspects, the content. The two go hand-in-hand and together, they make up a book,” says the design director of home-grown studio, Muwu Construction Pte Ltd. This philosophy guides her in all her projects and of course, her own home, which she shares with her husband, Michael Chan, a financial advisor.
Who Lives Here: A couple in their 20s and 30s and their French Bulldog
Home: A 2-bedroom condominium at Stirling Road
Size: 635 sq ft
Living room in interior designer Vivian Chen (of Muwu Construction) and financial advisor husband, Michael Chan's 635 sq ft 2-bedroom condominium along Stirling Road.
Homeowners' lifestyle needs
Be it form or function, it all begins with a thorough understanding of who and what you are designing for. And nobody understands the lifestyle and needs of the couple like they do.
Homeowner and interior designer Vivian analysed their daily routines and habits so that each and every space, cabinet and furniture is designed and selected to address a specific need, right down to the exact spot for keys, where the vacuum cleaner should go and where to stash their snacks.
A coffee machine and liquor decanter sits on a countertop.
Cushioned dining bench backrest and a framed artwork adorn the dining area walls.
Direct sales from condo developer
As they purchased the unit from the condominium developer, the finishes and fittings were all brand new. They made the prudent decision of retaining all the built-in wardrobes, kitchen cabinets, bathroom fittings and doors. Some new carpentry and lights were added, the existing tiled floor was overlaid with vinyl that matches the existing doors, and the rest was styling.
White wainscot doors and a settee for in-built carpentry cabinets.
Vintage style glass pendant lamp adorn the wainscot bedside walls.
French vintage interior design
Vivian has a preference for French vintage style, but has never had the chance to try it out for her clients’ homes. The couple’s home provided the perfect opportunity.
“As it is the first time I am working with this style, I had to figure out the wainscoting aspects, the proportions and other details,” she explains. “It was also a challenge to try and match the finishes and fittings provided by the developer.”
Walkway corridor in interior designer Vivian Chen (of Muwu Construction) and financial advisor husband, Michael Chan's 635 sq ft 2-bedroom condominium along Stirling Road.
Sim racing setup
She also took into consideration her financial consultant husband, Michael’s preference for having minimal loose furniture within the home and opted for built-in as far as possible.
“I like to have a fixed, allocated space for everything so that when I come home, it is all where it was before and not all over the place,” he says. In addition, the second bedroom has also been set aside for his sim racing setup and doubles up as a guest room.
Deep, earthy terracotta brown bedsheets and throw line the bed.
Terracotta brown throws and cushions line the guest bed, while a tower of signature Hermes boxes are displayed neatly on a shelf.
Feng Shui Home Colours
Feng Shui requirements had implications on the interior design, including the colour scheme. According to the Feng Shui master, husband Michael’s colours are earthy tones such as cream and brown, which Vivian applied on most of the walls, new built-in cabinets, furniture and flooring.
A green wainscoting wall behind the sofa in the living room of interior designer Vivian Chen (of Muwu Construction) and financial advisor husband, Michael Chan's 635 sq ft 2-bedroom condominium along Stirling Road.
Green Colour Feng Shui for Home
Fortunately, her colour, green, complements her husband Michael’s colours and this is expressed mainly on the wainscoting wall behind the sofa.
Interior designer Vivian Chen (of Muwu Construction) and financial advisor husband, Michael Chan lives with their French Bulldog in this 635 sq ft 2-bedroom condominium along Stirling Road.
$20,000 Renovation cost
The renovation works, which cost about $20,000, commenced a few days before the start of the seventh lunar month and the couple moved into their new home a month later, in September 2022. Working on her own home has helped Vivian become a better designer.
“The questions that I asked myself as I designed our home, I now also ask my clients,” she says, and this helps to achieve a more purposeful design outcome.