Life is stuffed with surprising surprises, usually steering us in instructions we by no means anticipated. Take, for instance, the house owners of this 4-bedroom, 167 sqm house in The Serenade @ Holland. The married couple — a pair of civil servants of their 40s — used to reside in a two-bedroom condominium within the former Pine Grove. It was completed in an city type, with a monochromatic palette and glass partitions.
Whereas they initially didn’t plan to have youngsters, life threw them a curveball within the type of a son and a daughter, now aged eight and 4, respectively. The youngsters needed to share a glass-walled room, which, whereas not essentially the most splendid state of affairs, allowed the mother and father to regulate them. As the children grew older, muddle started to build up, which the house’s open plan and open shelving couldn’t hold at bay.
Who Lives Right here: A civil servant couple of their 40s
House: 4-Bed room condominium in The Serenade @ Holland
Dimension: 167 sqm (1,797 sq ft)
Youngsters wanted their very own rooms
“Ultimately, the children will want their very own rooms. And we discovered that it was actually exhausting to maintain the place clear and tidy,” mentioned the spouse. The couple determined it was time to maneuver.
After an arduous seek for the right-sized unit — which needed to be within the neighborhood, because the spouse’s mom lives within the space and helps increase her grandchildren — the couple settled on this generously proportioned four-bedroom only a stone’s throw away from their unique nest.
Parenthesis Studio inside design
To create their dream dwelling, they approached inside designer Yanika Gunawan of Parenthesis Studio with a short to design a low-maintenance, child-friendly house that might incorporate as a lot storage as doable. As well as, having grown weary of the black-and-white scheme of their former abode, they gave Gunawan free rein to tint the house in color.
“They’re a really attention-grabbing couple as a result of they’re not afraid of colors,” mentioned Gunawan. “The temporary to me was, ‘If you wish to make it vibrant, it’s as much as you. We’ve lived for 5 years in a monochromatic home, and we’re very bored of it’.”
However earlier than saturating the house with color, inside designer Gunawan needed to rejig the house’s configuration to swimsuit the household’s wants. Her intention was to create a impartial, clean slate, which might permit the house owners to go away their very own mark by color, sample, or design.
Condominium with personal elevate
The condominium is served by a personal elevate, so Gunawan’s first plan of action was to outline the arrival expertise. This was achieved by putting in a vestibule.
Open idea eating space
Within the open-plan dwelling and eating space, Gunawan constructed a financial institution of kitchen cupboards, including just a few open cabinets for the household to show their pictures. That is additionally the place the wall-mounted TV resides, because the household spends lots of time right here. “The youngsters are all the time asking us to play with them. I just like the house in entrance of the TV as a result of we are able to all be on the ground, taking part in card video games or constructing mannequin trains,” mentioned the spouse.
Kitchen island
Initially, the spouse wished an island kitchen. “Yanika did contemplate placing an island within the dwelling space. However after she did her house planning, she realised that it could make the place look a bit cramped.” In the long run, Gunawan inserted a small pantry with a sink subsequent to the eating space.
“The pantry really got here in very helpful as a result of it was simply subsequent to the eating desk, so everybody might wash their arms earlier than they ate,” mentioned the spouse. The galley kitchen was stored stylish, easy, and purposeful, with loads of cupboard space as requested.
Main remodelling happened in the master suite and adjoining bed room: The wall dividing the 2 rooms was eliminated; the bed room was transformed right into a shared examine, plus a walk-in wardrobe for the husband (the spouse’s walk-in wardrobe was positioned subsequent to the grasp toilet). A financial institution of full-height cupboards was erected the place the dividing wall as soon as stood.
School room
Within the examine space, Gunawan devised an answer to bypass the wasted house created by the bay window, which was too excessive to operate as a seating space. “We created a raised platform and put a stone slab above the bay window in order that it turns into a tabletop workspace,” she defined. “And we additionally added drawers to the platform, so it’s one other storage space for them.”
The youngsters’ rooms — they every have their very own room now — have been left untouched, furnished with unfastened furnishings. The couple’s rationale is that the children will need to personalise their house after they develop up. As they’re nonetheless younger, Gunawan made the house child-friendly by rounding the perimeters as a lot as doable.
Toilet
Constructing supplies, too, have been stored low-maintenance, with surfaces that may very well be simply wiped down. Gunawan used blonde plywood and laminates for the cabinetry, homogenous tiles within the bogs, and Dekton (a superbly patterned ultra-compact floor from Spanish provider Cosentino) within the grasp tub.
To maintain issues attention-grabbing, she utilized a brushstroke mural wallcovering from American purveyor Phillip Jeffries to a few panels of the TV console. For further oomph, she clad the again panels in metallic to create an expensive shimmering impact. The doorway vestibule additionally shimmers, due to a textured, handcrafted wallcovering designed by an Indonesian artist. Within the pantry, shiny bronze “KitKat” tiles bounce the pure gentle streaming in from the balcony.
The tip result’s far much less a color bomb than a complicated intermingling of hue and texture, with a vibe that channels a luxurious resort. This, Gunawan defined, is in order that the household won’t tire of the design so simply. In any case, they’ll all the time feather their nest with extra flamboyant delicate furnishings.
This text was first printed in The Peak in December 2023.
