Renovation Journey: Balinese Paradise

At A Glance

• Venelie, 26, F&B manager
• Area Size: 47 sqm / 506 sqft
• Location: Cambio Suites (condo)
• Renovation duration: 3 weeks
• Cost of renovation: $18,000
• Cost of furnishing: $30,000
• Interior design firm: The Orange Cube
• Interior designer: Chris

Seeking a fuss-free renovation, Venelie wasted no time in settling on an interior designer. Confident that Chris from Orange Cube could get the job done, she signed the contract straight after her first meeting with Chris. A quick three weeks later and she could settle into her Balinese resort home. Read on for more of Venelie’s effective and efficient renovation experience.

Qanvast: Your house is pretty small. Was it hard to find furniture to fit into the space?

Venelie (V): Yes! Even my parents joked that my home is too small for a person to live in [laughs]. As most of the furniture from general furniture retailers was unsuitable for such a small space, I ended up customising a lot of the furniture – such as the coffee table and the sofa – so that it could fit in my home.

Qanvast: Was there any particular shop which you visited to get your customised furniture?

V: I got most of my customised furniture from Park Mall. The retailer there was able to customise the length to about 1.8 metres rather than the usual dimension of 2 metres so that there would be enough space for me to move around.

Qanvast: Tell us about your search for an interior designer.

V: It was quite fuss-free. I didn’t want to spend too much time searching for an interior designer so I was just considering between Orange Cube – which came highly recommended by one of my customers (and it’s also on the Qanvast app) – and my sister’s design firm. Seeing that I was considering Orange Cube, my customer invited me to her house just so that I could take a look at Orange Cube’s carpentry. I was impressed by what I saw and decided to set up a meeting with Chris. Upon meeting her, I felt that she is very approachable (as compared to the designer from my sister’s firm) and I liked her designs so I decided to sign the contract with her on the spot.

Qanvast: What are some good and practical designs which Chris proposed?

V: Since my home is small, Chris conceptualised designs which were space-saving. For instance, she designed this dressing table which could be tucked away when not in use. As I didn’t want the mirror to face the door, this was a suitable design since I could just close the trapdoor whenever I am not using the dressing table.

Chris’s designs reflect her thoughtfulness and that’s something I am really appreciative. For my living room cabinet, since I do not have a storeroom, she factored in the space that I would need to store my ironing board and my drying rack and designed a cabinet that had enough space to fit all these things. She also came up with a lot of other space-saving designs and hidden compartments around the home. She definitely went above and beyond my expectations.

Qanvast: What was working with Chris like?

V: She was the perfect interior designer for me as her designs are all geared towards fulfilling my needs and are in line with my preferences. She was also very prompt. She could quickly travel down to meet whenever I called. Her workers were also equally prompt. When I told her I wanted a craftstone wall in my home, she immediately went to find pictures of walls and samples an hour later. When it comes to renovation, she was able to rectify them within a day. I was very impressed with her efficiency.

Qanvast: So did you like how your home turned out?

V: Yes. I told Chris that I wanted a ‘Balinese hotel spa’ look for my home and she achieved that look by throwing in a lot of wooden elements. Whenever I engage in meditation in my bedroom, I really feel as though I’m in a relaxing Balinese spa. Well done, Chris!

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