By Daniel Sim | January 9, 2012
Photographs by Grace Tan
A place to share
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Wedding photographer Grace Tan and her entrepreneur husband Alex Lam.
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“I love natural light and my house reflects my personality,” said Grace Tan, a professional photographer who believes that landed property makes a better lifelong investment.
Besides her passion for photography, Grace has also been interested in film-making. In fact, for five years, the former film editor was involved in the production of the award-winning 3R(respect, relax and respond) television programme that focuses on women’s issues. Therefore, with her creative eye for the play of light and shadow, Grace’s desire for a home must not only conform to her sense of aesthetics but to her family’s need for space and privacy.
Grace and her entrepreneur husband Alex Lam, moved into their double-storey, terraced house last August after renovations. The new home not only include a mini-theatre that can accommodate the couple’s love for movies but an open-concept bathroom.
With a generous built-up space of 325.2sq m (3,500sq ft), the five-bedroom home on a corner lot, is shared with Grace’s parents and a maid.
Space & Convenience
Previously, Alex and Grace lived with her sister in another house, also in Petaling Jaya. The house was bought by Grace’s parents some 10 years ago. The couple decided to look for a more spacious home and sold the house in 2009.
“Most of my property research was done online,” said Grace, “And that was how I got to know of this double-storey, corner lot house, which is actually not too far from my old house.
“Initially, we were looking for a bungalow and a semi-detached house nearby, as we were familiar with the area. But the prices of those houses were way over our budget,” recalled Grace, who budgeted RM1.3mil for their dream home.
“We were quite daring back then, as we sold the house even before we found our new home. We negotiated with the new landlord who agreed to give us an extension to move out by August, 2010.
“We found this house in June, 2010, and began renovating it,” said Grace, who was grateful to her in-laws for a place to stay when renovations started.
“Space and convenience were two priorities in my new home, this is because my elderly parents - especially my father who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease - needed extra care when they decided to move up from Malacca to stay with us,” explained Grace.
“As a photographer, the nature of my work requires me to travel a lot and I need a maid to help take care of the house and my elderly parents. This place is perfect because the ground floor is huge and comes with two bedrooms. One room is for the maid and another for my parents. Now, they do not need to climb the stairs like in the old house.”
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Left to right:
Grace is also fond of having indoor plants in the lounge;
The spacious living area;
The open concept study on the second floor. |
Interior designer
On the recommendation of a friend, Grace and Alex met up with interior designer Kenny Chin of KECHdesign.studio to work out the renovation details.
According to Grace, having an interior designer was good, as the designer helped her view things differently. For instance, for the divider in the living room, Kenny advised on the placement while Grace and Alex came up the idea of a square-patterned design.
“To create extra space, we broke down a wall in the living area and extended the space to the garden. We also installed large, window panels to brighten up the area.
It can get really hot during the day, so to overcome the afternoon heat, Alex came up with the idea of having a high ceiling.
Mini-theatre
Grace and Alex also made the living area more spacious by levelling the split-level that previously extended to the kitchen from a few metres from the entrance. The two kitchens have been installed with transparent sliding doors.
Part of the living area was closed off to create a mini-theatre equipped with a sound system linked to their bedroom on the second floor. The mini-heatre was not only to have a special room to meet clients at night but also for the couple to watch their favourite movies. The wall outside the mini-theatre has been decorated with some of the photographer’s favourite photographs.
A wooden, black dining table is one of Grace’s favourite furniture that she brought from her former home. The long dining table - which can seat up to 13 people - is where she shares significant events such as reunions and birthdays with friends and family.
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Some of the luxuriant plants in the garden (left), the red umbrella helps shield the deck from the afternoon sun.
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Garden deck
Sitting on a black, leather sofa in the living area, she pointed towards the garden where flowers were blooming. There is also a timber deck in the middle of the garden used for parties and occasionally, for breakfast outdoors.
A large red-and-white striped umbrella, placed on the deck, offers shade from the hot sun and rain.
Open concept bathroom
Inspired by glossy magazine features and photographing weddings in luxurious hotels, Grace and Alex decided to opt for an open-concept master bathroom. A private space where there are no doors nor concrete walls. The walls were replaced with large, transparent glass panels.
“Our master bedroom on the second floor is exceptionally spacious, so we decided to cover part of it and transform it into a walk-in wardrobe,” said Grace.
Besides the master bedroom, the second floor also has two guest bedrooms plus an open-concept study. Many of Grace’s photography magazines and books are displayed on bookshelves in the study.
Landed property
When it comes to investing in property, Grace is convinced that landed property is always a better bet compared to condominium and apartment units.
Together with her sister, Grace has also bought another piece of landed property in Petaling Jaya. And she intends to buy more of such property when the opportunity arises. Landed property offer more space and greater freedom to do the things that she loves.
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