House Tour: Whitchurch Road Black and White Colonial bungalow for an expat family
By Lynn Tan -
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Dutch interior designer, Barbara Fritschy, has called Singapore home for the past 13 years and she owns Make Room, an interior design company that she founded 12 years ago.
Having lived in this Black and White bungalow with her husband Joost, their three children, helper, two cats and a dog for a few years, they decided that it was time for a renovation.
Who Lives Here A Dutch couple in their 40s and their three children
Home A Black and White bungalow at Whitchurch Road
Size 2,500 sq ft (land area); 1,500 sq ft (built-up area)
Interior Designer Make Room
Hacked Kitchen
The works included hacking and redoing the kitchen, reconfiguring the existing master bedroom into two children’s bedrooms, creating an outdoor living and dining space, as well as new cabinetry.
“We wanted a new and more practical kitchen. We carved out another bedroom so that all three kids can have their own room. The original living room was a space that we never used, so we turned it into a library,” shares Barbara.
Barbara upcycled this chair that her neighbour was throwing out with new paint and upholstery to turn it into a one-of-a-kind, statement piece.
Eclectic Decor Style
Barbara’s love for vintage and eclectic pieces, as well as colour is apparent everywhere you look, punctuated by personal artefacts and trinkets collected from her travels.
Every space within the home has its own theme and each bedroom reflects their individual personalities and hobbies. The myriad themes and design influences coupled with her open-minded approach results in a style that is uniquely Barbara.
Furniture and other pieces from Barbara’s collection and travels can be found around the home.
Art is also something that she feels passionately about and she recently started her own art gallery, Curated by Make Room. Incorporating art into her home was very important to her: “I love how art shows your personality, evokes emotion and ties spaces together.”
The living and dining areas look out to the pool deck and surrounding greenery.
Private Swimming Pool
The outdoor living and dining space beside the pool deck celebrates life in the tropics and makes the most of the greenery surrounding the property. It is no wonder this is the busiest place within the home.
A pink-and-white bathroom beside the pool is both pretty and functional.
Pink Pool Bathroom
Barbara used neutral colours and natural materials as a base, then incorporated a colour that compliments the burgundy red in the adjacent library to ensure continuity across the indoor-outdoor threshold.
The same rationale was behind the Jai Vasicek artwork that was selected for the outdoor space. Its pink, red and orange hues with earthy tones further reinforce the connection between the two spaces.
Cool furniture elevates the poolside experience.
Outdoor Rattan Chairs
One important consideration was to strike a balance between not making the space look overly outdoorsy and not compromising on materials and comfort. This explains the choice of rattan chairs and a wooden dining table, which Barbara lacquered for outdoor use, for the dining area.
An old sofa gets a refresh with a new linen cover that is suitable for the outdoors and also budget- and environment-friendly.
A pair of Moustache Bold Chairs by Big Game inject a fun and funky vibe in the library.
Full-Height Bookshelf
The library presented Barbara with the opportunity to realise her dream wall shelf.
“We own a lot of books and love reading, so I wanted lots of shelves,” she explains.
Open shelves that go all the way around the top of the windows turn an otherwise utilitarian element into a visual feast that is further accentuated by the colourful book spines juxtaposed against the burgundy laminated shelves.
As the library is also a transition space between different parts of the home, she decided to go with a bold burgundy paint colour for the walls and ceiling.
The existing kitchen counter was extended to make room for a coffee station. To avoid hacking the wall tiles in the rental unit, Barbara wallpapered the backsplash with special heat-resistant and waterproof wallpaper.
Japandi Kitchen
Barbara went Japandi with the kitchen and opted for a natural-looking, wooden Lamitak laminate paired with a beige, stone-like Kompac Plus countertop.
The existing plethora of cabinets and shelves made the old kitchen feel rather compact and crowded. She replaced the top cabinets with open shelves to free up the space visually and made up for the storage capacity by adding more drawers that are roomy enough to hold a lot more items.
The master bedroom sports a minimalist theme and is the only monochromatic space in the home. It offers Barbara and Joost a safe and relaxed haven from their busy lives, surrounded by art pieces from her gallery, Curated by Make Room.
Master Bedroom
The priority for the master bedroom was to create more storage space. Instead of a standalone wall of wardrobes, Barbara designed them like a portal over the master bed.
A ledge behind the bed negates the need for bedside tables. Due to the amount of built-ins within the master bedroom, she used linen fabric for the wardrobe doors complemented with shaker style laminated cabinets.
This achieves a lighter look compared to solid laminated doors and also help to ensure that the clothes are aired.
Barbara’s elder daughter loves green, so she created a green paint wall and ceiling feature that frames her bed.
Children's Bedroom
The former master bedroom is now two bedrooms belonging to the couple’s 10-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son.
Barbara managed to pull this off by designing her daughter’s bed like a cosy nook underneath full-height built-in cabinets, which serves as a room divider whereby the other side becomes her son’s bedroom wall.
Her son’s room may be compact in footprint, but is efficiently planned out with space for all his Lego and a big desk.
Son's Bedroom
She even managed to incorporate drawers and a trundle below for sleepovers, as well as a dresser by the side. In contrast to her young daughter’s girlish bedroom, her son’s blue-and-green-coloured bedroom - his favourite shades, is neutral enough for him to grow into.
A large desk is just what he needs for playing with his Lego and skate ramps, with extra deep shelves to showcase his Lego builds.
Barbara splurged on this marble desk, a piece that she adores and takes with her everywhere she moves.
Renovate Rental Property
The home took six months to complete - two months for the renovation and four to get the furniture and accessories sorted out. Although it is a rental property, Barbara and her family are planning on living in this home long-term, so she spared no effort and expense in doing it up.
However, she was mindful about investing in furniture and lighting that they can take with them if and when they move. She also refrained from replacing the white floor tiles and kept the paint colours of the doors and door frames.
As an interior designer, the most challenging aspect of doing up her own home is having to make choices. “I see the latest and the greatest every day, so making choices was the hardest. To make things even trickier, I genuinely like a lot of things, but fortunately, I can also find ways to make them all work,” she says.