Home Tour: Minimal, woody renovation for a Chinese tea lover's 3-bedroom condo in East Coast
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Chuan and Angeline’s three-bedroom condominium apartment in East Coast is perhaps one of the best places to enjoy a cup of tea. The generous window in their living room looks out towards the sea, a view that promises many relaxing evenings of sunset-watching.
It is a view that interior designers Lawrence Pua and Ash Ashiqin of akiHAUS Studio designed to be the main focal point, framing everything else around it.
House with Unblocked Sea Views
The rest of the home is kept minimalist and clean with low-profile furniture that doesn’t block the view. This uncluttered look was quite a feat, considering that the homeowners have quite an extensive collection of tea ware that they have collected over the years.
Who Lives Here: A family of 3 with their helper
Home: A 3-bedroom condominium in East Coast
Size: 1,313 sq ft (121 sqm)
Interior Designer: akiHAUS
A quaint niche behind the sofa becomes the ideal display area for the homeowners’ tea pot collection.
Display of Select Tea Ware
Only choice pieces are on display in a niche carved out in the living room wall behind the sofa — the rest are kept concealed in shelves behind timber and glass sliding screens that can be opened to reveal not just the rest of the teapots and silverware, but also the family’s television set.
The simple layout of the living area makes the home feel open and inviting.
These shelves are fully adjustable, and are lit from both the front and back, so warm light peeks through the translucent glass even when the screens are closed.
“It’s almost like a lantern,” says Lawrence.
The neutral palette gives this home a timeless feel.
House Tour: Minimal, woody renovation for this 3-bedroom condo in East Coast
Inspired by Chinese Screens
The design team’s inspiration for this concept came from Chuan’s own collection of intricately-carved Chinese screens, which he had acquired in Lijiang, China.
These screens, featuring hand-carved depictions of flora and fauna, line the opposite walls of the living room. “It’s always a dialogue between the different design elements,” adds Lawrence.
A mix of contemporary and classic elements evoke a sophisticated ambiance.
A Timeless Approach
However, these elements are the only nod to Asian culture. The design team was careful not to lean too much toward a chinoiserie theme, or any style in particular.
“I believe in not sticking to one particular style, because that just dates the home. We wanted something timeless,” says Lawrence. “It’s more important that the home reflects the character of the place and the lifestyle of the homeowner.”
Hexagonal tiles along the counter wall add just the right hint of texture to the white kitchen concept.
Open-Concept Kitchen
The design team also reconfigured the apartment to open up the kitchen and introduce more ventilation into the space. Now, the home is naturally lit during the day, and there is a constant breeze from the kitchen to the living room thanks to the cross-ventilation.
“We also wanted to have that visual connection, like being able to see our son when he’s playing in the living room and we’re in the kitchen,” says Chuan. They are also able to enjoy the view of the sea even when preparing breakfast.
Lawrence and Ash chose a warm neutral palette for the home, introducing subtle textures, such as a backdrop of white hexagonal tiles and a Dekton Aura countertop with a matte marble look from Cosentino.
No detail was left unchecked — even the doors were custom-made and painted to blend into the wall. The home also features gently rounded corners everywhere, including the shelves, so nothing jars the eye.
Full-length sliding doors add a subtle Zen minimalist feel to the bedroom.
Master Bedroom
As with any family home, functionality and storage was a priority.
In the master bedroom, the design team created a platform for the bed to make more room for the wardrobe and the view outside, together with custom-built nightstands that open up fully to reveal the contents rather than the standard pull-out drawers.
The ingenious design also allows the homeowners to have easy access to concealed power sockets inside the nightstands themselves.
The large format tiles in the bathroom make it feel spacious and uncluttered.
Master Bathroom
The master bathroom features three mirrors that are an echo of the sliding screens in the living room. These appear decorative, but open up to reveal deep-set niches with shelves full of bathroom products.
Rounded curves along the bathroom counter make the space feel sensual and warm.
The decorative screens actually open up to reveal storage areas in the bathroom.
Another clever concealment is an access panel behind a console table which can be opened up to service the bathtub from the bedroom. “Good design is always a balance of form and function,” says Lawrence.
Fluted panels in the music room continue the wooden screen theme to ensure a seamless visual flow.
Media Room
As Chuan loves music, the family has a designated media room where he can play his vinyl records. The space is cosy, accentuated by earthy tones and soft fabric surfaces that serve as acoustic insulation. Since there were two structural columns that could not be removed, the design team chose to conceal them with timber laminate instead, with recessed shelves between them that hold Chuan’s collection of vinyl records, CDs, and his sound system.
Nearly every item in the home tells a story, from the teapots the couple has collected from potters in Shanghai and Tokyo to the paintings that had been gifted to Chuan from an artist friend. Thanks to the well-planned design language of the home, these personal items shine without vying for attention.
Renovation During Covid-19 Pandemic
Getting to this point was not an easy journey, as the renovation had taken place during the pandemic and it was only in December 2020 that the family moved in, though without the delays the design and renovation period would have totalled about three months.
However, it was a project made easier thanks to the fact that the homeowners and design team shared a common love of design and attention to detail — Chuan is a graphic designer who runs his own firm. He has a very keen eye,” Lawrence says. “And we’re both very detail-oriented.”