Ordered Balance: Q1 Interior

This home’s neatly arranged rectangular spaces and simplistic decorative features speak of a preference for order over chaos.

From the onset, the naïve observer is informed of the prevailing theme in the form of a catch-all surface situated at the entryway, a simplistic piece of ad-hoc furniture formed from a monochromatic pair of right angles that converge to hold up a circular decorative platter. The shapes of the elements making up this decorative statement suggest a dependence on rectangular forms, while the colours foreshadow the predominant neutral palette.

The wide entryway spills out onto the open layout of this home’s ground floor, presenting an open expanse of white floor tiles— interrupted only briefly by the raising of an entertainment wall in the centre. The shade of wood utilised in this decorative feature is echoed in the capitonné upholstery of the seating lounge, the two similar shades constituting a core of sandy brown in a sea of white.

Rectangular Demarcation: The recurring use of neatly proportioned rectangles in the seating lounge presents an aesthetic theme that is to prevail throughout the rest of the home.

A speckled black and white carpet, seemingly made to fit within the footprint of the seating lounge, presents shapes vaguely reminiscent of tree growth rings. The pattern adorning the carpet reinforces the symbolism of aged wood in this space, supported by the dark brown upholstery and the dusky wood background of the television wall. The rectangular footprint is reflected and expanded upon multiple times in this seating lounge, represented in the see-through niches around the television wall, the low coffee table, and the coffered ceiling directly overhead.

The other side of the partition presents a dining arrangement that is neatly contained by disparate architectural features on all sides. The long edges are asymmetrically flanked by a mirror image of the television wall and the raised floor of the adjacent kitchen, while the shorter lengths of the space are aligned with a generous stretch of windows and the stairway to the upper levels. As in the seating lounge, the sand-coloured forms of the robust dining table and accompanying chairs echo the wooden element of the partition wall.

Neat Proportions: A generously sized dining table seats 10 diners within a space seemingly designed to fit around the arrangement like a snug glove.

The cooking space rests on a raised dais of grey floor tiles next to the dining space, rendered monochromatic with a foreground of black presented against a background of white cabinetry. The array of white rectangles in the kitchen nests a horizontal stretch of windows at the level of the countertops, echoing the rectangular basis of the interior once more before the central theme is rolled back in favour of classical details throughout the upper level of this home.

Uplifting Effects: The receptive faces of the kitchen counter and island surface are lit along their bottom edges by hidden sources of illumination, creating an illusion of levitating fixtures.

Low-Key Lighting: Light plays a key role in accentuating the interior spaces of this home, from the dusky stair landing to the pastel-saturated bedstead of the pictured bedroom.

Dramatic Lighting: A show of light and shadow is presented in this bedroom with a mere handful of fixtures strategically placed to throw cones of light into corners.

Subtly Transitional: The straight lines and perfectly perpendicular junctions of modern design presented in the bedroom are intriguingly paired with classical details such as wainscoting to the walls and capitonné upholstery.