At a Glance
- Shaun, his wife and their two young daughters
- Size: 120 sqm / 1291 sqft
- Location: Kovan Regency
- Cost of Renovation: $75,000
- Interior Design Firm: Free Space Intent
- Interior Designer: Raymond
Wanting a home that would be lots of fun for their daughters, Shaun and his wife turned to Raymond from Free Space Intent to help them to conceptualise a bright and cheery design. We sit down for a chat with Shaun, who tells us about his experience working with Raymond.
Qanvast: First of all, what were some requirements for your home?
Shaun (S): We wanted our home to have a family-friendly design. In fact, most of the designs in our home are conceptualized with our two daughters in mind. For example, we wanted to convert one of the bedrooms into a playroom for the girls so that they could have a space to enjoy on their own.
Qanvast: Tell us how your search for an interior designer led you to select Raymond?
S: We were looking around for home design ideas and came across Raymond’s portfolio on the Qanvast app. We really liked his past projects and felt that he might be a good fit for us, so we decided to contact him. After meeting up with him, we felt that we could communicate well with him and hence decided to engage his services.
Qanvast: What did you have in mind for your home’s interior style?
S: We wanted a theme that was a mix between the Scandinavian look – which was what we had in our previous home – and a design with bright colours. With Raymond’s creative input, we came up with a theme where we would have light wood tones for the wood panelling and an orange tone for the overall colour scheme.
One idea he proposed was putting a hole in the wall that separates the living room from the study room. We were unsure at first because it was a perfectly good wall but he convinced us that it would make our home look bigger and brighter – especially because there is a large mirror on the wall opposite this hole. It also added a unique touch to our home.
Furthermore, his idea made better use of the wall space which would otherwise have been wasted.
Qanvast: So how did that ‘hole in the wall’ turn out?
S: I really like it. When I’m doing my work in the study, I can just pop my head out and observe my daughters when they are in the living area. Likewise, they can see me from the living room so it’s a really cute idea.
Qanvast: Were there any other creative designs which Raymond came up with?
S: Yes. We wanted our home to have a design that was unique and Raymond came up with the idea of having wavy cornices on the ceiling. He proposed that this free-form feature could be carried out in the living room and all of the bedrooms so that the design is consistent.
For the balcony, we were wondering what we could do to add warmth as it looked a bit cold and Raymond suggested putting artificial turf. Our daughters love it because they can just roll around on it. At the same time, it is clean and easy to maintain.
Qanvast: What are some kid-friendly designs which you customised for your daughters?
S: We found a store which did customised bunk beds for kids, and we customised the bunk bed such that it has stairs instead of a ladder for our young daughters to climb on. There are also drawers integrated into the stairs of the bed so that my daughters have a place to keep their little treasures.
Qanvast: Can you share with us about the design of your daughters’ playroom?
S: Raymond conceptualised the colourful wavy cushion feature on the wall. He anticipated that our daughters would run around a lot and the cushioned surface would ensure that they don’t hurt themselves if they accidentally knock into it. It also added more colour to the playroom.
Qanvast: How did Raymond customise the carpentry to suit your requirements?
S: We removed the built-in wardrobes provided by the condominium developer because they did not suit our requirements. For example, the existing wardrobes had too much hanging spaces and not enough shelves, especially for the children.
Thus, we got Raymond to customise the wardrobes for us so that they were more suitable for our family’s use. He also helped us to customise the furniture so that they met our needs (e.g. lots of book shelves and a display wall) and were of the right height for my children (e.g. tables in the bedroom).
Qanvast: What did you like best about Raymond?
S: He showed a lot of understanding of our preferences. He would produce drawings that captured the essence of what we wanted even though we might not have explicitly mentioned it to him – that is how well he anticipated our needs.
Qanvast: Was there any occasion when Raymond went the extra mile for you?
S: Yes. We mentioned to Raymond that we liked the toy bins from IKEA and were wondering if there was any way that we could fit them into the cabinets that his team was building for the playroom.
With this in mind, he went to do his research and even went down to IKEA to measure the toy bins. The next time that we met up with him, he told us that he would customise the dimensions of the cabinets in the playroom so that they could accommodate the toy bins. We were definitely impressed by his effort.
Qanvast: Did you have a pleasant experience working with Raymond and his team?
S: Yes, we did. Raymond had an on-site manager, Perlinda, who supervised the renovation work, managed the renovation timeline and coordinated with the condominium security staff. Raymond closely monitored the furniture construction and regularly visited the house to explain his designs to the construction team.
His construction team was sharp and efficient. They regularly updated me on their work progress and responded promptly to my queries and feedback. They also paid close attention to the intricate designs and specifications, and the quality of their workmanship. I didn’t have to worry at all about the quality of their works.
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