By Willy Wilson | Jul 19, 2010
Keeping a minimalist house warm and inviting
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| Open concept: Modest space with combined kitchen and dining room |
Just because a house is new, doesn’t mean that it will be a perfect fit for you and your lifestyle. A little interior fine-tuning can transform your house to best suit your needs. Such is the case of a double-storey house in Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, that belongs to an IT consultant.
“A house that requires minimum maintenance is what I needed,” says the homeowner. With a hectic traveling schedule, the homeowner reasons that he doesn’t want to come home to a cluttered mess. The bachelor homeowner also admits that housekeeping isn’t exactly his forte.
Understanding her client’s needs and lifestyle, designer Kay Liew of SpaceMatrix Sdn Bhd renovated the house with an emphasis on spatial clarity and function. She reckoned that minimalist concept would suit her client best.
“Those who favour modern design don’t generally go for clutter. Spare, open, uninflected look is decidedly the clarion call of modernism,” says Kay Liew.
But Kay Liew is quick to add that although her client’s house doesn’t have much in it, it is still incredibly inviting and visually intriguing. She maintains that a house with minimalist concept doesn’t have to be bare, stark and cold. StarProperty.my chatted with the Kuala Lumpur-based designer about what it really means to have a modern minimalist house that is warm and inviting.
Open concept
It isn’t hard to feel comfortable in this 2,000sq ft house. A modest space with a combined kitchen/dining room, living room, substantial terrace and an open-plan upstairs, the three-bedroom house is bathed in warm lightings and neutral colours of white, black and grey. Despite its rather crisp and sterile interior, the house feels homely. It is neither overly designed nor empty. The first floor is significantly unbounded, with half of the space occupied by the living room and the other half by the kitchen and dining.
The living room is decorated with a large sofa that sits atop a reflective off-white tiles. Meanwhile, a tall glass-fronted panel separates the kitchen and the dining. Next to the dining table is a display cabinet that is thoughtfully arranged with the owner’s ceramic collection. How this cabinet came about is interesting.
“The dining and kitchen area was a guest room. We knocked the guest room down and decided to turn it into an open-concept kitchen-cum-dining. “However, there was this column in the middle of this space. Since removing the column wasn’t an option, I decided to build a display cabinet next to the column, and laminate the cabinet and the column in uniform pattern, so that it would look as if the whole thing is a part of the interior,” Kay Liew explains.
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| Unique configuration: The ladder is there to reach the study room, which is built on top of the wardrobe room |
Another interesting concept on the first floor is the wall feature, which is basically a half-meter panel of plywood laminated in striking modern motif. Placed carefully right in the middle of the wall, this feature also functions as a cabinet and shelf. It is here where the homeowner places his CD collection, stacks of magazines and television cables. “It is crucial to place this wall feature right in between the floor and the ceiling,” the designer explains. “The whole space would have felt cluttered if it were to touch the floor or the ceiling. Or worse, both!”
Geometrical definitions
Go up to the second floor and the atmosphere gets friendlier. Blessed with a high-ceiling layout, the second floor feels rather spacious despite housing three bedrooms and a study. Here, the architecture itself makes the most of geometry. On the right side of the staircase is two guest rooms, while on the left side is the master bedroom.
The master bedroom takes up almost half of the second floor. Stressing on the importance of a comfortable feel, Kay Liew set up low-key lighting for the master bedroom. A panel of plywood is also seen in this spacious room, functioning (again) as both a wall feature and hidden cabinet.
What is interesting about the second floor is the walk-in wardrobe, which is accessible though the master bedroom. Armed with two floor-to-ceiling built-in cupboards, the walk-in wardrobe occupies what used to be a guest room. Atop the wardrobe area is a study.
“To maximise the use of space here, I built a study room on the top of the wardrobe room. Such arrangement is possible because it is a high-ceiling house,” Kay Liew reasons. To reach the study room, however, one must climb up a ladder – quite literally. Unlike the first floor, which is dominated by black, white and grey colours, the second floor offers a warmer shade of white and sandy colours.
“To keep a modern minimalist warm, choose your colour combination, fabric and finishes wisely. Then layer various textures on top of the white texture,” advises Kay Liew. A golden advice indeed.
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