Hong Yu Ran and his partner were turning 35 and thinking about buying a home when they hung out at the (now-closed) car park-turned-rooftop bar The Great Escape at Shaw Towers, daydreaming about living in the central area.
“Then we saw this HDB block from that spot,” shares Hong, referring to the block on Bain Street where they live now. “And I said: why don’t we look for a place there?”
They found the 883 sq ft unit on Property Guru and viewed the next day. “It was love at first sight,” he recalls. “The flat was 40 years old, but it had just one owner, who had kept it in such good condition. We made an offer the following day and got it.”
Hong is the brand manager of menswear label Suitsupply and his partner is in public service. Both are design aficionados who knew exactly what they wanted. They hired The Authors to realise their vision. The result is an eclectic home that feels both familiar and fresh.
The renovations, finished in Sept 2020 after being delayed six months because of the pandemic, cost $68,000, excluding the furniture. Overall, the result is exuberant without being overwhelming. Despite being happy with the result, the couple admits that it is still a work in progress.
We will be following it on Instagram under the handle @bainstreetsocial. Ahead Hong gives us a house tour of this colourful abode.
Most of the original surface finishes were retained. The bedrooms were reduced from three to one to make space for a dining room and a walk-in wardrobe. The furnishings are an exciting mix of vintage, handmade, custom and heirloom pieces.
“We are not the most practical people,” admits Hong. By that, he means they went the extra mile to fill the home with items they love – and each has a story to tell.
The dining area was converted from a common bedroom. With a teal wall and vintage and classic pieces juxtaposed with pop art, it connects to the living space via an oversized arch.
The curvy, dark-stained dining table is from Hock Siong, and the vintage wall sconces were salvaged from Raffles Hotel. The dining chairs were from Second Charm, while the 10kg typewriter came from Mexico.
“It went through three connecting flights to get to Singapore,” says the homeowner.
A photograph by Australian artist Kane Skennar, Pink Wheels, which the couple spotted at an exhibition in the Slow Hotel in Bali, hangs on the wall. They use this room not only for meals and entertaining, but also for work.
In the living room, an iconic chair from MoMA’s permanent collection, the Paulistano cantilever leather chair, coexists harmoniously with vintage onyx floor lamps (another Hock Siong find), a leather sofa from Prestige Affairs, and Turkish and Indian carpets from Hong’s parents.
Old elements like the wall tiles, mosaic archway and terrazzo floor coexist with new ones like the Opus XXXVI tapestry art by Mira Sohlen and the Synergy painting by local artist Inkten.
Also inherited from the old flat is the mosaic-inlaid archway to the kitchen.
Featuring a beige, grey, and terracotta red colour scheme, the kitchen cabinets are new. “We didn’t try to match everything,” says Hong.
The kitchen coffee counter‘s open shelves are filled with plants and small vessels, and so does the shelves in the living room. Some of the vessels were made by Hong’s partner in his pottery class.
The wall tiles on the living room used to cover the entire wall. He kept only half to simplify the look.
The yard features a sink area articulated with floating shelves, a round mirror and glossy subway tiles from Hafary, which also adorn the bathroom.
The remaining two bedrooms were combined to create a master suite with a walk-in wardrobe and a bedroom separated by a fluted glass sliding door. Both are minimalist to create a conducive ambience for rest.
The bed’s custom retro-inspired scalloped headboard takes centre stage in the bedroom. The circular rug is deliberately placed off-centre to break the monotony.
To evoke lightness, the cabinets are mounted to the wall. The couple can replace them with full-height cabinets when they need more storage in the future.
“We knew we’d run out of closet space soon, so we added these Ikea cabinets as extra storage,” he says. He hand-painted these himself.
The walk-in wardrobe comes trimmed with peach-toned neutrals, whereas the bedroom is awash with deep green and navy blue hues. The arched mirror visually enlarges the walk-in wardrobe area.
Photography Phyllicia Wang Art Direction Nonie Chen
This article was first published in Home & Decor.