Home Tour: A marketing manager & civil servant's vintage-style Executive Apartment in Woodlands
By Rossara Jamil -
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A 24-year-old executive apartment finds a new lease of life with a free-spirited design richly textured with vintage and bohemian touches.
Who Lives Here: A couple in their 20s
Home: An executive apartment in Woodlands
Size: 1,580 sqft
Eclectic interior design
Due to the layout and placement of windows, this large executive apartment flat in Woodlands lacked light in various spots. Its former palette of brown hues also made the space appear darker and gloomier. Despite the oddities, the new homeowners, a marketing manager and a civil servant, saw its potential and pictured a warm, modern, and quirky design concept.
Interior designer Debbie Lim who is in charge of the project says, “They also value comfort, organisation, and a connection to nature, while also considering the practical aspects of daily living,”
Reconfigured floor layout
Even with a floor area of 1,580 sq ft, the original layout presented dark corners in the home, particularly in the kitchen and living area. The aim then was to reconfigure the layout to counter this issue and produce the organised and cosy ambience that the couple envisioned.
Debbie, an interior designer from Team Interior, introduced various strategies, including reconfiguring the layout and introducing lighting and finishes.
One was sealing up the original kitchen entrance and then creating a larger access directly into the dining area. Fronting the larger entrance with black-framed glass sliding doors brings more natural light into the dining area and creates a bold focal point.
WFH study area
“They are concerned about optimising the use of space, especially in the original kitchen and master bedroom layout, which did not cater to their needs,” Debbie explains.
The couple also enjoys hosting gatherings at home, so a designated area for entertaining guests is on the wish list. For productive work-from-home days, they would need a comfortable and well-designed office space.
They have kept the space planning for there home office unchanged, whereby it is located in the study area provided by the original HDB layout. The remaining bedroom is now a guest room.
Vintage interior design
During the 4 months of renovation before the couple’s move in March 2020, Team Interior focused on creating a relaxing ambience that draws inspiration from global cultures, nature, and vintage elements.
Vibrant pops of green liven up the home, while patterns and textures via the accessories and natural fibres create an eclectic aesthetic.
Interior designer Debbie says, “The apartment embraces an abundance of patterns and textures. It combines prints such as terrazzo, rattan, and geometric patterns, often in bold and contrasting colours. Textiles also play a significant role, with the use of embroidered fabrics, tapestries, and textured materials like macramé, jute, and tassels.”
Dining Room
The unit has half-height windows at the balcony on one end of the common area and clerestory windows at the other. The living and dining areas felt enclosed with a palette of brown hues and lack of natural light.
Clerestory Windows
To resolve this, the interior design team painted over the walls and ceiling in white to maximise the artificial lighting used to brighten the home.
Relaxing living room
The interior design team also gave the home new flooring. The light wood vinyl flooring and white walls brighten the home up considerably. Like the dining area, touches of rattan appear in the living area for a relaxed vibe.
An art piece depicting Audrey Hepburn’s iconic image pops in this space decked out in understated furnishings. The team also incorporated a wall-mounted shoe storage unit within the niche near the main entrance.
Patterned kitchen tiles
Reorientating the kitchen entrance was a significant move that enhanced light and airflow within the kitchen and towards the dining area. It also created room for an island.
The placement of the kitchen island draws the eye towards the service yard to give a sense of a more open and spacious kitchen. Patterned wall tiles complement the bold green finishes, while grounding wood-looking floor tiles match the vinyl flooring in the rest of the home.
Pictured above, the dark walnut wood kitchen cabinets cast a dark shadow over the dimly lit kitchen.
Green bedroom
Green continues to be an accent colour in the master bedroom, while the white walls brighten the room. The design team also connected the master bedroom to the adjacent bedroom to remove the wardrobe from the master bedroom.
With just the bed in this space, the result is a relaxed and open ambience. The bed is also tucked away from the two windows in the bedroom for more comfort.
Vanity and wardrobe
Taking the wardrobe out of the master bedroom enhances the laidback feel. Since there is ample space to work with, interior designer Debbie has provided clear and practical organisation for comfortable day-to-day living. In addition to the wardrobe, the vanity area is also placed here, where there is plenty of natural light.
Herringbone tile bathroom
No trace of the old bathroom design is present after the overhaul. The new bathroom sports a refreshing mood with pastel green wall tiles laid in a herringbone pattern.
A black-framed glass partition for the shower area matches the dark grey sink for consistency. To keep things practical, they created a vanity with drawers well above the floor for easy maintenance.
