All sorts of trends come and go but Scandinavian (and by extension MUJI) styles are still popular amongst homeowners. However, couple Sarina and Shiever didn’t want that for their 120 sqm resale condominium.
Despite having a similar colour scheme and furnishings, their interiors are far from what you’d call Nordic-inspired. Instead the home leans more towards modern classic, a style that’s just as functional and everlasting. To find out more about how they achieved the look, we sat down with Sarina herself to chat about her experience working with Meter Square.
View this project by Meter Square
About herself and her family
Sarina (S): I live with my husband, my 11-year-old son and my domestic helper!
On their home’s concept
S: The resale condominium wasn’t what I envisioned my dream home to look like, that’s why we decided to overhaul the spaces. But, our renovation needed to be completed on short notice – we were staying in another estate and had to move in quickly.
S: I had a very clear vision on what I preferred in a space – simple designs, wood elements and the colour white but I didn’t want a typical Scandinavian interior. All I needed was a designer to help me marry all these elements into the home.
On their must-haves
S: Our old furnishings were in pretty great condition and we wanted to include them in the new place. Other essentials include cabinetry for additional storage and space for a TV in my master bedroom.
On their house, post-renovation
S: I really love it; wood textures and trimmings are repeated throughout the house. Though we have the same built-ins in all the bedrooms, the wardrobe in the master is super useful – aside from being home to our clothes, we managed to stash a TV in there [laughs]! We also constructed the bedframe (as we didn’t have one originally) and broke up the monotony of the room with this botanical silver-grey wallpaper.
Both the en suite and common bathroom underwent the most change. We changed out the doors (they are now my favourite fixtures in the home), hacked the old tiles to lay new ones in its place and used laminates to beautify the vanity areas.
Because my husband loves to read, we have quite the collection of books. Thankfully, we managed to save our wooden bookcase, which we placed in the hardwood walkway alongside a photo collage wall.
The cabinets in the kitchen were also given the same treatment as the ones found in the bathrooms and bedrooms for a more cohesive look. We also managed to reuse our moveable miniature kitchen island where we sit around for breakfast on some days [laughs]!
About getting to know Meter Square
S: I first got to know them through one of my ex-colleagues. She recommended May from Meter Square, who did her home. After checking out my ex-colleague’s house, I was wowed and immediately convinced to work with them!
About working with May
S: I had previously contacted another ID to find out what the timeline would be like and it worried me – the designer said that they could only complete the project in two months, minimum. My main priority then was to get a designer who could complete the project on time.
Our designer May made the process very painless and efficient – she even took the time to sit down and present us with wallpaper designs (when we were still deciding). Through it all, the renovation progress stayed on track with no compromise on quality, even the people working for her were approachable and efficient [laughs]!
After the renovation, she took the time to follow up and made sure that everything was working well. I know many homeowners say that renovating is a nightmare but May made it a really great experience for me.
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