DESIGNING FOR LIFE

Adopting a people-focused approach, Starry Homestead co-founder Yola Yu and her team are creating outstanding living spaces while building an exceptional brand.

- LYNETTE KOH

From landed homes with modern Oriental influences, or apartments with a minimalist yet luxurious Japandi aesthetic, the living spaces created by interior design firm Starry Homestead are united by certain qualities: They are elegant, restrained and contemporary. On the other hand, what you won't see in their works are elements that are overly trendy or that aren't useful.

Meeting Prestige at one of the company’s three showrooms in Singapore, Yola Yu, who co-founded the company in 2014 together with her husband, shares why she isn't a fan of design concepts that are too of the moment. She says, “Many design concepts these days easily become over-trendy. We want to propose designs that make a space aesthetically pleasing, but are also functional and long-lasting, and serve the inhabitants’ lifestyle. This is also more sustainable in the long run.”

In a time where the ubiquity of social media means many clients tend to have many of their own ideas and preconceptions gleaned from various platforms, Yu believes that the role of her team is to listen to clients while providing expert guidance. “Rather than just accept what customers want, we have to propose something from our professional perspective. We shouldn't just blindly do everything that our customers ask for.”

RIGHT FROM THE START

Ensuring that a living space is optimised for the needs of its inhabitants, and giving clients professional advice rather than just indiscriminately saying “yes” to them: These people-centric principles have been at the heart of Starry Homestead since the beginning. Even in its earliest days, says Yu, the company took the uncommon extra step of having a customer-service representative sit new customers down for a preliminary chat, instead of simply assigning them the next available designer. This allows the firm to better understand clients' requirements and expectations from the outset.