Home Tour: A family of 5’s Japandi café-style 4-bedroom condo in Dairy Farm

For many couples, upgrading their home is a natural progression as their families grow. For Chong Han and Xiao Fen, they felt that their 4-room HDB flat was no longer the right fit for their family of five. Their three kids, aged ten and below, would need their own space.

Their new home is a resale condominium apartment with four bedrooms. The unit was already a decade old, and they wanted to refresh the home where needed. They went back to Kelvin Teo, the design director of Space Sense Studio, who had designed their previous home.

Who Lives Here: A family of five
Home: A 4-bedroom condominium apartment at Dairy Farm
Size: 1,410 sq ft
Interior Designer: Kelvin Teo, design director at Space Sense Studio

Space was the couple’s priority, and the 1,410 sq ft home fit the bill. The couple wanted their home to be a space where they could enjoy one another’s company and space and be undisturbed whenever work calls. With three young kids, it was necessary to them that the day-to-day chores are not a hassle. The interior design was not just about aesthetics, but also about practicality and functionality.

The generous floor area was a strength, but interior designer Kelvin felt that more could be done to create the spacious feel the couple wanted. For one, the apartment comes with an enclosed wet kitchen and a service yard with a powder room.

As the couple was receptive to an open kitchen, he opened the wet kitchen to create a more spacious dry kitchen. Now, it houses a long kitchen island and breakfast counter. The service yard and powder room were also merged to create an enclosed and larger utility area.

Café Style Kitchen

“The family likes their home to feel cosy and spacious, with a bit of a café style and plants. They wanted the spaces to be utilised well. Since they don’t really cook, they like the idea of having an open kitchen,” interior designer Kelvin explains.

One of the most unique design features is the concave design of the kitchen island structure. “It’s custom-made by my carpenter and finished with a screed texture paint. The Caesarstone concrete-looking countertop blends with the colour,” Kelvin shares, highlighting the couple’s unique design preferences.

The steel frame shelving behind the kitchen island gives a touch of café styling that they were looking for. Along this stretch, they opted for a concealed hood with a customised box up to create the mosaic chimney hood.  

Living Room Design

In the living room, concrete textured paint was used on the walls and ceiling. The result is a seamless and cocooning feel. While there are black accents, the tone-on-tone palette is largely soft and light. This combination complements the Japandi furnishings and design elements.

Kelvin conceptualised a lighting strategy for the home comprising spotlights and a continuous flow of LED light strips. They also opted to forgo a television console, keeping the television wall understated with fluted panels.

Notably, black frames pop up in spaces throughout the home. In the study, the black frames of the display shelves bring a graphic element to the space. The bedroom closest to the living area has been converted into a study and is kept enclosed in its original form to encourage focus and concentration.

Although it is a room for one, the bedroom for the couple’s son is customised with an integrated solution so that there is floor space for play and hobbies.

Daughters’ Room

With the intention of maximising space, Kelvin customised a bunk bed for the couple’s twin girls. Steps and a ladder make this minimalist space both fun and comfortable. There is also ample wardrobe space to take the girls through their growing up years into young adulthood.

Master Bedroom Design

As for the master bedroom, the floating bed design gives the bedroom a light feel, while the semi-transparent glass sliding wardrobe in black anchors the space.

Bathroom Design

Another plus of this unit is its large bathroom. It made separate bathtub and shower areas possible, and the water closet was tucked away from the entrance. Seeing the bathtub upon stepping into the bathroom makes a strong impression.

After a 4-month renovation period, the family of five moved into their home at the beginning of 2023.