Home Tour: An IT director’s 1-bedroom condo at Farrer Road

The brief that bachelorette, Julie Lim, presented to Adrian Heng, design director of Spaceone ID Consultancy was to design a modern, minimalist and luxurious interior for her apartment. “I prefer a calm and relaxed environment that reflects my simple lifestyle,” says the IT director in her mid-50s, who moved into her new home in mid-2024 after a two-month renovation. She also wanted a home that is easy to maintain. With not a lot of storage provided by the developer, this was another aspect that Adrian had to address. 

Who Lives Here: An IT director in her mid-50s
Home: A 1-bedroom condominium at Farrer Road
Size: 463 sq ft
Interior Designer: Adrian Heng, design director of Spaceone ID Consultancy

Here are three strategies that interior designer Adrian adopted to tackle the small footprint while accommodating the client’s requirements.  

Full Height Carpentry

Interior designer Adrian recommends maximising the built-in carpentry to provide more storage capacity and to keep clutter at bay. “Go full height wherever possible,” he says.

For Julie’s home, he erected floor-to-ceiling cabinets on one living room wall. The adjacent wall has a projector screen with low storage cabinets below. Above the cabinets is a countertop that extends all the way across to the kitchen, culminating in a custom-made, suspended, semi-circular dining table that is separated from the kitchen by a glass partition. Almost every inch of wall space has been put to good use. 

Master Bedroom Design

A similar strategy applies in the master bedroom where the existing built-in wardrobe from the developer has been replaced with an L-shaped one that is integrated with the bedside table and headboard to make the most of the tight bedroom space. No space is wasted, not even the area below the mattress. Adrian incorporated pullout drawers for storage into the custom-designed bed base. 

Simple Colour Palette

Keep the colour palette simple. Limit the pops of colour. “This helps to keep the interior clean by not cluttering the small space with too many different colours or materials,” Adrian explains. In this case, the colour and material palettes also tie in with Julie’s preference for a modern and minimalist style.  

Textures in Interior Design

Introducing some interesting forms, textures and patterns can help relieve any potential monotony. Circular elements such as the bespoke round armchair and ottoman along with a round side table break away from the straight lines and rectilinear forms. “They are eye-catching and give me the feeling of comfort and warmth. They deliver the ‘welcome home’ message,” Julie comments. The boucle fabric for the armchair and ottoman also introduce some texture into the scheme, while the patterns on the round rug resemble the raked sand in Japanese Zen gardens.  

No Television Console

Most people do not think twice about a television set and television console simply because they have become so ubiquitous in almost every home. The fact that most people have them does not necessarily mean that you need them too. And if you do not need them, do away with them. 

For a small apartment, every inch of real estate counts. It is important to question certain assumptions and norm, and it is essential to design strictly according to the client’s needs. Instead of a conventional television set and television console, interior designer Adrian devised an alternative- a short throw projector saves space and negates the need for a television console, which would otherwise encroach into the living room. It also frees up wall space for more built-in storage.