Featured Member's Blog - A perfect home for wedded bliss
Photography: Steve & Jean Text: Ho Pei Ling
ABOVE: The dining area is overlaid with light tan parquet to liven up the ambience.
For newly-weds Steve Lui and Jean Tan, purchasing their Jurong West Central flat is the first and most significant step towards starting a family, and fulfilling their nuptial vows -- to love, honour and cherish each other. Naturally, the young couple was determined to construct a welcoming, attractive living space that they will enjoy spending time in, and weave many happy memories together.
To spruce up their 5-room resale flat (which occupied 110 sq.m.), Steve and Jean engaged an interior design consultant and the direction given? "We wanted something that is contemporary and reflects an upmarket chic to complement our urban lifestyle," said Jean.
The entire renovation process took a mere 2.5 months, during which the enthusiastic couple adopted a hands-on approach towards interior décor. "85% of the design initiative came from us", said Jean. "We worked very closely with the design firm to decide on the colour schemes to use, the look and feel of the furniture as well as the list of things that needed to be done."
The young couple gleaned inspiration from home and décor magazines such as Home and Garden, Square Rooms and Cube. Whenever they came across creative design articles, they'd eagerly show the design firm and innovate from there. And boy, did the pains of their labour pay off.
Steve and Jean's new home reflects the minimalist elegance of contemporary style, instantly identifiable by the presence of clean lines and simple, functional designs. By sticking to a consistent neutral palette -- characterised by predominant hues of black and white -- the relatively small apartment is instantly enlivened to exude a crucial openness and space.
To enhance the illusion of space further, top-to-bottom curtains are installed in the living area to allow light to illuminate the entire living area. Similarly, the dining area is overlaid with light tan parquet to liven up the ambience.
Since color-coordinated accessories work best when there is a dominant theme, bold accents of vibrant red are introduced to break the monotony of the neutral walls and infuse a fun-loving atmosphere to the environment. Hence, candy-red sectional sofas and shag carpet are installed in the living room to create a pleasing contrast, a theme that is repeated in the bedrooms.
Likewise, chrome and steel furnishings are chosen to provide a decorative framework of sleek finishes, particularly in the kitchen area, that complements the urban, stylish look established throughout the enitre living space.
Without a doubt, Steve and Jean have made for themselves a beautiful, sophisticated home that will never go out of style. Here's to many happy years ahead!
To view more of Steve's & Jean's home, visit our tblog hereOR visit other renotalk members' t-blog here.
Loooove your new home? Be it contemporary, English country, mediterranean, modern or a mixture of all, we welcome you to send us your lovely pictures to
