Sam and Lin’s home, located in a flat from the 90s, is a stunning blend of vintage character and contemporary design. Nestled in Bishan, their home is a trove of their memories, personal touches and home living inspiration that come together in a warm, lived-in space. They love visiting their favourite vintage furniture store in their spare time, jesting that it’s 'just to smell the wood’. Those trips have culminated in a beautiful space, where every corner tells a story, making their home not just a place to live, but a reflection of their thoughtfulness, creativity, and taste.
“We specifically wanted an old resale flat from the early 1990s. A ‘pre-1996’ unit was a must because that was the year the ‘indestructible’ bomb shelter became standard in flats, and we didn’t want that. We wanted openness and lightness in the space, so we demolished every non-structural wall and rebuilt it to fit our lifestyle.”
“Our approach to cohesiveness was to streamline the materials we love — primarily concrete for the floors, stainless steel, and wood. We wanted the house to be a blank canvas for everything else we’d bring into it, so the colours would come later. We opted for more white and neutral tones, allowing the space to adapt to whatever we’d add later on.”
S: “During our hunt for this home, I fell into a rabbit hole of interior design, bookmarking recurring design classics in homes and spaces we both loved—like the Eames Lounge Chair, Wegner’s GE-6 daybed, Le Corbusier’s Lampe de Marseille, Dieter Ram’s Vitsoe 606, and Arne Jacobsen’s shell chairs. These timeless pieces resonated with us, so it felt natural to slowly fill our home with them.”
L: “The bureau in the bedroom is something Sam bought for me as my wedding gift. It’s probably the dearest thing I hold in my heart. We actually designed the bedroom around it.”
S: “If I had to choose a favourite object, it would probably be our Hans Wegner GE-6 daybed, reupholstered in a two-tone fabric loosely inspired by Finn Juhl. It’s quite a rare piece to come by (mostly because they’re usually in poor condition - being found primarily in student dormitories where they get used and abused) and we waited months for it to arrive from Denmark.”
“A lot of our Danish furniture is from the 50s and 60s, and they’re all sourced from Noden (possibly our favourite furniture store - we drop by almost every time they have new arrivals). They were in fairly good condition when they were brought to Singapore and restored. Because these pieces were built to last generations, if you take good care of them they’re going to last for another 50-60 years.”
“That's what we believe in — buy once, buy well. Not buy cheap, or buy what’s convenient.”
“The organic cotton bath towels are our favourite investment from SOJAO. It’s the perfect weight and it’s not too thick for our tropical climate, so it dries in a reasonable amount of time.”
“The monochromatic and organic artwork you see immediately when you enter our home is titled ‘Push, Pull, Prosper No. 1’ by Thai graphic designer Nuttapong Daovitchitr. We were in Bangkok for a friend’s wedding and found the piece while visiting the Bangkok Art and Cultural Center (BACC). While walking through the exhibit separately (and in opposite directions) at our own pace - a peculiar habit of ours at museums - we somehow converged on this piece at the same time, almost as if it was meant to be. It’s also the first large artwork that we chose to purchase, so it’s really meaningful to us.”
“We’ve lost count of the number of lamps in our house, but there are probably more than fifteen. We get most of our lamps from Finnish Design Shop during campaigns, but my favorite lamp is the Parliament Lamp designed by Le Corbusier and produced by Nemo, which we got through Cult Design Asia. We always try not to turn on the big lights, except when I’m cooking or we’re having breakfast in the morning.”
“Growing up in an Asian household, there’s this whole idea that ‘bright is best,’ and everything was 6000K white light, which is very harsh. So we made the conscious decision to make all the light temperatures in our place consistent at about 2700K. Layered lighting and consistent light temperature are the keys to creating a cosy home.”
“We have really hectic and sometimes unpredictable, punishing schedules professionally, so our cosy home is our sanctuary, a place we return to recover and recuperate after a gruelling day at work.”
