Home Tour: National rower Oz Titus Hong's Peranakan style 1-bedroom bachelor pad in Tanjong Rhu
By Lynn Tan -
SEA Games bronze medallist and model Oz Titus Hong’s one-bedroom apartment is located a stone’s throw away from Singapore Sports Hub where he trains. The multi-talented athlete had been trained as an interior architect and used to specialise in hospitality design.
He may have swopped his design wand for oars, but he relished the opportunity to be creative when crafting his own living space.
“I tried to infuse my home with bespoke, understated luxury, through the use of materials and all the little details and personal touches,” says Oz, not unlike the way he gave character to the numerous luxury hotels that he worked on in the past.
Living Room
Everything has a dual function so as to make the most of a small space. The coffee table can be converted into a dining table, while the sofa serves a triple purpose, including as a dining banquette and a sofa bed.
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Entryway
A DIY mirror feature creates an interesting visual element near the entrance foyer.
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Concealed Bomb Shelter
The most ingenious contraption has to be the movable wall/door/shelf all rolled into one. Concealing the household shelter, it appears to be just a regular built-in, full-height shelf.
It opens up to reveal the household shelter, but swing it 90 degrees, and it becomes a door that partitions off the bedroom from the rest of the apartment.
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Bedroom
The bedroom has a pastel colour palette. Hand-painted silk wallpaper from Just Anthony, porcelain garden stools used as bedside tables and lamps from Ikea have been artfully put together to achieve a tasteful look.
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Peranakan Home Decor
The home's Peranakan influence is a nod to Oz’s Peranakan roots, but with a modern take. The most prominent Peranakan reference is the study, which was converted from one of the original bedrooms.
Two of the existing walls were hacked and replaced by timber screens.
The screens adjacent to the living room are movable, while the panel facing the corridor is fixed. "Telescopic sliding panels require more depth allowance, which will encroach upon the corridor circulation,” he explains.
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Kitchen Island Dining Table
A compact breakfast table folds out from the side of the kitchen island.
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Peranakan Oriental Screens
These full-height screens set the oriental tone of the apartment, and creates privacy for the study room when desired.
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This article was first published on Home and Decor in March 2019.