Insights + interviews
Clear Out, House Always Wins!
Apart from decluttering your house, here are some tips for you to clear out your home on a clean slate as David Pang shares more with us about interior design…
Hold on to your cheque.
Are you sure you’re going to spend that hefty sum on a feature wall when all it does is to cushion the space between your television and the wall? Interior design doesn’t need to be subjected to massive bills from the normalcy of carpentry works and splashes of design brilliance; in fact the best form of interior design is often spiritually engaging and practical at the same time.
Never mind the fact that some designers tell you that major make-overs are essential in making your home look good as their proposals are basically disguising your existing ceilings with cove lightings and walls with cabinet displays. Oh and then there are the mirrors as well; although I’m generally agreeable with mirrors making a splash to improve the visual aspects of the place. So, let’s not over indulge ourselves in plastering the entire place with wood and mirrors which are nice but quite frankly not really necessary. And instead of moving along with the crowd, move with the design. Here are some recommendations:
Feature Walls
Imagine after a long day at work and you are finally home watching movies on your television, but in front of you is a cluttered wall of shelves? My take? Remove those wooden blocks. Over sized wall shelvings and cabinets take valuable space off the living room and creates a smaller than desired living place for your family. Walls can be aesthetically improved with artistic wallpaper or even Do-It-Yourself style with some special effects paintwork if you’re in the mood to roll up your sleeves. Keep the area around your television clean and neat so that you feel like you are gazing into a frame of moving art than just another heavily decorated wall cabinet. Also, go for the trendiest colours of the season, or choose a style that you prefer. Unless you are adventurously trying to re-create an optical phenomenon, it would be good to keep the colour palette under three. Adjacent walls are better off with opposing colour schemes for a more striking contrast! There are no strict rules however, but it might be interesting to start playing around with differing shades of a similar colour. A well blended combination of glittering gold or pearl white could render a touch of elegance to your art house.
Once you are done with these, start exploring the lighting effects. Lighting is a powerful way to help dictate the atmosphere of your home. Warm lightings are the norm for most homes due to the soothing feeling it invokes but cool white could also work well with an industrial-fashioned design theme.
Fixtures and Furniture
Storage – To store things, it doesn’t always need to be visible. Go for furniture that provides seating options with concealed storage compartments. The key here is to maximise on the sharing of space between practical utility and design. Cabinets should preferably be kept to the perimetres of the room rather than right smack in the middle. This will clear up a good area to optimise overall space. When we talk about space efficiency, it is about optimising that area from wall to wall, floor to ceiling.
D.I.Y – Depending on the design style that you have opted for, inexpensive items such as used wine crates, wooden pallets and oil drums can be repurposed as coffee tables and display spots.
Display and Decor – There are ways of hanging your wall paintings for decorative purposes, and one of it is wrapping the canvas or design to a plain board before placing it onto the wall for a frameless look. If you have chosen vibrant colours for your living room, a suggestion would be to use grey-scaled imaging prints for the wall posters. Bright prints will work fine with less imposing wall shades.
Privacy and Shade – Curtains and window blinds can enhance the visual comfort of your home, and can be purchased from major furniture stores where there is a wide range of selection for you to choose from, at very affordable prices. For more privacy, you can also consider the installation of UV window films that can also aid in reducing hotspots in your home.
Flooring
This is again subject to design preferences. Tiles can provide a neat and polished feel for your soles and comes in aplenty materials like homogeneous, marble, granite or ceramic tiles. Most would choose homogeneous tiles for cost effectiveness and also due to the fact that it’s less brittle than ceramic tiles. Most tiles can be polished and reconditioned with cleaning solutions readily available in the market from tile suppliers. The prices for tiles can range from SGD 3 per square foot to over SGD 10 for premium selections, you should however bear in mind that this excludes costs such as cement as well as labour.
Vinyl flooring is another popular option for home-owners, and you can save up to 30 percent in costs as compared to tiling up your home. It is basically a type of resilient flooring that comprises of various composites such as rubber, plastic and PVC. The installation of vinyl tiles is a tidy process which takes one to three days to complete, depending on the extensiveness of working area. It is also easy to maintain and replace because the laying of vinyl flooring is a relatiely simple process of tiling over an existing level surface.
Both options mentioned above have their distinct variety of selections to suit your design needs. It would be advisable to sit down with your appointed interior designer for a discussion on the design concept of your home before making an well-informed decision.
