BT : Room to grow

Business Times - 05 Jun 2010

PERSONAL SPACE
Room to grow

Ditching the dark, sophisticated look favoured by young professionals, the Ongs have made their family home modern, fuss-free andfamily-oriented. By Corinne Kerk

IT was late 2009 and the property market, after a brief slump, was making a rather quick and unexpected recovery. Like many other buyers, Eileen Wee and her husband, Vincent Ong, were caught unawares. Twice, they missed out on paying the deposit for a property because in both cases, they were just 30 minutes too late when trying to hand in their cheques. 'People were going for viewings with their cheque books,' Ms Wee remembers of what she now calls those 'close shaves'.

But as it turns out, that wasn't such a bad thing after all. Because eventually, the couple were led to an intermediate terrace house off Upper Thomson Road which held a lot of promise.

Like other intermediate terraces, there wasn't enough light coming into the three-storey, 3,600 sq ft home, which sits on 2,000 sq ft of land. However, the space was a nice, supersize upgrade from their previous home - a 1,000 sq ft, 2+1 apartment - and large enough to house three generations of family members - the couple, their two-year-old daughter, Kayla, Eileen's mother and Vincent's father. Plus, it would give Vincent what he'd always wanted - his own piece of land.

So they bought the property and set about turning it into a home.

First to go were the dark floor tiles and blue walls, which were ditched in favour of creamy white tiles and walls. Even the furniture and furnishings were in white, to enhance the sense of light and brightness in the house.

'Some people say the colour scheme of mainly white and a bit of black, is too stark or boring, but you can always add accents like colourful paintings,' says Ms Wee, a director in a boutique public relations and events company. Examples in her home include a dash of bright orange in the form of see-through plastic stools, as well as splashes of colour from paintings on the walls.

Next, several walls came tumbling down. There's the one separating the wet and dry kitchens, so more light can filter into the dining area. Another stood between a second floor bedroom and a corridor. Glass was used as a replacement, to help bring more sunshine into the home. 'The idea is to create space, bring in as much natural light and make it as clean-looking and airy as possible,' explains Vincent, a general manager in a multi-national company.

What they - and most guests - really like about the house though, is the double volume ceiling at the front half of the building, which gives it a 'loft feel' and allows for greater connectivity. 'So while we have our personal space, we can also see what's going on downstairs, even if we're on the second floor,' he says.

The high ceiling and windows also allow an almost unobstructed view from the second floor, of the trees that lead to Upper Peirce Reservoir. To light up the space, they picked a pair of Coral hanging lamps in natural bamboo plywood from Air Division, designed by New Zealander, David Trubridge.

'The lamps cast an interesting pattern on the walls at night,' adds Ms Wee. Only trouble is, owing to the height of the ceiling, they haven't yet figured out the best way to change the bulbs when they eventually blow. 'We'll probably need a super tall ladder!' she laughs.

While those lamps were chosen for their aesthetic effects, a practical must-have for the family is the dry kitchen with a good-sized island counter. 'My father-in-law likes to cook,' explains Ms Wee, who admits she's not so handy in the kitchen herself. 'The island is also the focal point for us when our church friends come over for meals. We have large groups of 40 to 50 people and we lay the food out on the counter and everyone gathers around.'

Another essential is her home office, which was created by knocking down a wall between a second-floor bedroom and what was a small, windowless study. The work area is now large, bright and airy, with light coming from windows at both ends of the room.

Ms Wee's favourite part of the house though, is the spacious living room, because 'after a long day, it's nice to come home and see Kayla playing there, jumping up and down'. 'The home has to have a feel-good factor for us, especially since we travel quite a bit,' she says. 'The layout is practical and everything is functional, from the kitchens to the walk-in wardrobe where we each have our own space.'

However, the house, into which they moved in January, is still a work in progress. 'If time permits, I want to get a lounge chair for my home office, put up a big mirror on the dining room wall, do up the balcony outside the master bedroom and buy more paintings, chairs and lights.'

What the couple learnt from renovating their previous home - which was 'pretty dark' and where the air-conditioner was constantly switched on - also guided them as they worked on this one. 'Then, we were typical of young professionals who wanted a dark, sophisticated look,' says Ms Wee. 'But this house is family-oriented. It is modern and fuss-free because we don't want clutter, and everyone has their own space. There are three generations here and we can live harmoniously together.'

And that, surely, makes having missed out on the first two properties a blessing in disguise.

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