Home tour: A minimalist apartment near Bukit Timah

How a spacious Bukit Timah apartment was reimagined with a hexagonal kitchen island, a wet kitchen for heavy cooking, and a quiet study integrated into the master bedroom

Homeowners don’t always know what they’re looking for when they engage an interior designer for their abode, but this family of four approached Singapore interior design firm Artistroom with a clear set of requirements.

Having found a spacious condominium apartment near Bukit Timah to relocate to with their growing kids, the parents envisioned their new home with some key adjustments: a wet and dry kitchen, ample storage space throughout the apartment, and a study incorporated into the master bedroom.

Working as an engineer and a marketing manager respectively, the husband and wife pictured themselves working from home as well as frequently entertaining friends and family, particularly the children’s grandparents residing in the vicinity. This necessitated substantial tweaks to the apartment’s original floor plan and built-ins, the design team taking up the challenge of reconfiguring the existing layout from top to bottom.

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The home’s open-concept dining area connects to the living room and dry kitchen

The bright and airy common areas in the Bukit Timah condominium apartment by Artistroom

Photo 1 of 3 The home’s open-concept dining area connects to the living room and dry kitchen

Photo 2 of 3 The bright and airy common areas in the Bukit Timah condominium apartment by Artistroom

Photo 3 of 3 The spacious, minimalist living room

The home’s open-concept dining area connects to the living room and dry kitchen

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Most of the walls in the apartment were removed, opening up the interiors and transforming the space into a blank canvas for Artistroom to mould and reimagine. “The original layout had three large bedrooms, a large kitchen, and living areas with two balconies, but it didn’t suit their lifestyle,” shares business manager and designer Mark Chen. “We created new pockets of space to accommodate their needs.”

These additions include, of course, the couple’s highly anticipated kitchen island, which was incorporated with much thought and care given the challenge of existing structural elements in this area of the home. Shaped into a unique, irregular hexagon, the island constitutes the unmistakable centrepiece of the space, the area finished with a large mirror to reflect natural light into the dry kitchen.

Various layouts were envisioned to maximise this space while simultaneously checking all the boxes for the wet kitchen. The latter was a key priority for the homeowners as well, a hub for the couple to execute heavy cooking while keeping smells, smoke and oil contained. As Chen tells us: “The wet kitchen was specifically constructed along the windows so that any cooking smells could quickly escape out the window.”

One of the homeowners’ key requirements for the renovation, a new dry kitchen was incorporated into the apartment, fitted with an irregular hexagonal island

The wet kitchen was built along the windows to allow cooking smells and smoke to quickly escape out the window

Photo 1 of 3 One of the homeowners’ key requirements for the renovation, a new dry kitchen was incorporated into the apartment, fitted with an irregular hexagonal island

Photo 2 of 3 Another view of the kitchen island

Photo 3 of 3 The wet kitchen was built along the windows to allow cooking smells and smoke to quickly escape out the window

One of the homeowners’ key requirements for the renovation, a new dry kitchen was incorporated into the apartment, fitted with an irregular hexagonal island

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No less thought was put into the parents’ master suite, dedicated to both sleep and focused productivity. To facilitate the couple’s work-from-home arrangement, the master bedroom was fitted with a quiet study, the ideal place to hold long meetings away from the children. This workstation was introduced behind the bed, demarcated with a divider to retain separation between work and rest.

Bathed in a clean palette of white and cream hues, the apartment forms the perfect pared-back canvas for the family to populate with paintings, photographs and cherished objects, all while maintaining an airy and uncluttered ambience. Textured paint adds depth and character, alongside mindful walnut accents to infuse contrast and warmth, redefining this apartment as an inviting family home.

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