House Tour: A Pinterest-worthy five-room BTO with a cream and neutral palette
By Domenica Tan -
With a budget of just $28,000 for renovation and $25,000 for furniture, appliances and decor accessories, homeowners Justin Koh and Monica Anne Lie designed their five-room apartment in Ang Mo Kio to exude a warm, cosy look, complete with lots of white and wood tones. Justin works in the sales industry, while Monica, who works mostly out of her home office, is the owner of demi-fine jewellery brand The Ordinary Co., and often shares behind-the-scenes images through her Instagram page (@luxmondi).
Instead
of relying on extensive built-ins for storage, the couple chose to mostly
furnish the place with loose furniture, so they’d have the flexibility of
styling and refreshing it as and when they liked.
We speak to Monica about the renovation and styling journey of the home she shares with her husband.
How did you conceptualise your home’s design?
My husband had no preference but helped a lot with the renovation costing and specifications. I was very inspired by the Instagram images of cream-toned homes that are popular in Korea. I also like European design elements often found in magazines like Kinfolk and Cereal. The hardest part was locking in a specific look as I love all kinds of interior design styles — including the Japanese zen-inspired and Balinese resort look.
I think it is possible to meld many concepts and have a cohesive outcome. Once we selected colours like cream, white and grey, it was very easy to pull the look together.
Your apartment is mostly white. how do you maintain that?
I think having just two adults – no children or pets – definitely helps maintain the whiteness! We bought a second-hand white sofa for just $350 and did some dry cleaning and refurbishing, so we won’t feel the pain of stains here and there.
As for the walls, we walk around the apartment with a cup of paint every few months to touch up small dirt streaks. It seems minor but it really helps refresh the look.
What are some of your space-planning and storage strategies?
Our philosophy was to avoid having too many carpentry and built-in elements. This saved on renovation costs and lets us to move things around, add more storage or change the entire purpose of a room. Only the kitchen and toilets are completely built-in.
We’re particularly proud of our vintage 1950s wardrobe in the master bedroom that we bought from a lady who lives in Tiong Bahru. It belonged to her family for years and fits all my husband’s clothes now. We also put our bed frame against the window instead of the wall to create more visual space.
Which part of the home do you love the most?
Our living and kitchen areas. I drew the design for the kitchen cupboards and selected the wood- and concrete-look laminates, as I like the aesthetic of more colour tones and textures.
My husband sourced the terrazzo countertops and our carpenter helped make everything come together with little fuss!
Plus, I’ve always wanted an island and the one we have now is freestanding, which looks great and is more cost-efficient than fabricating a built-in one. It also creates additional storage in the kitchen. I also love our sliding glass cupboard where we keep dishes we have amassed from our travels. Our friends often ask if we actually use the dishes because they look so pretty.
The living room is where we spend lots of time lazing about, relaxing and watching our favourite shows. Thanks to our comfy goose down sofa, we often snooze there, too.
While conceptualising your home office, what were key considerations?
Lots of storage options. Not necessarily built-in shelves but items such as baskets, boxes and dividers within the cupboards to help keep everything tidy.