Old meets bold

Tim and Nicole were so enamoured with their Tiong Bahru rental that they bought it, preserving its midcentury charm while personalising the pre-war unit.

- JOYCE YANG

For the last decade, Tim has shuffled from one rental apartment to another. But this SIT (Singapore Improvement Trust) flat in Tiong Bahru made him feel so at home, he jumped at the opportunity to buy it from his landlord.

“It was nice for him to call one permanent house a home after living a nomadic lifestyle for almost 10 years,” says Nicole. “Having lived in the home for 5 years, Tim had enough time to experience all the little details of the house and understand our shared preferences.”

This wisdom culminated in a 35-page deck—an occupational hazard, given that they both work in advertising and communications. The brief contained information about the history of their home, a pre-war walk-up located along Yong Siak Street. When working with this typology, there’s an unspoken rule to retain as much of its heritage as possible. In fact, as an homage to the neighbourhood, the couple even commissioned a piece of art silk screened onto a coffee bean jute bag, featuring Mr Tan Yong Siak himself.

Striking a balance between the old and new, however, was no easy feat, noted Sheena, their interior designer from Shed Studio.

“The design should not only reflect their personalities and preferences, and accommodate their random collections over the years, but also retain certain elements of the old house to keep part of its history intact while being relevant to the neighbourhood,” Sheena said.

Aptly, the theme emerged as “a mix of eclectic, mid-century, with a little bit of old- school nostalgia.”