It’s not often that a home’s design revolves around the chairs. In this Mid-levels home, however, the homeowners’ mismatched wooden dining chairs are the focal point for the apartment, and their Hans Wegner armchairs are a source of pride and joy. “Who doesn’t love Hans Wegner?” asks the man of the house, who also has a series of posters relating to the legendary Danish designer. “My husband likes chairs, but he’s not a designer; he’s an investment banker,” his wife jokes. “Maybe when he was really young he aspired to be a designer, but his parents didn’t let him, who knows!
Had time allowed, the couple would have travelled all the way to Denmark to find the perfect pieces for their new abode. As it was, they were time-constrained, so they ended up looking in the husband’s hometown, Melbourne, Australia. They sourced special vintage pieces, including an antique saxophone that has been re-appropriated as a funky lamp stand. Behind the couch, framed Art Deco posters, art exhibition flyers and original prints have been carefully arranged on the back wall. Many of these pieces had already been chosen before A Square Ltd started on the initial design sketches.
Bearing the homeowners’ collection in mind, chief designer Tony Wong kept the decor pared down. “We created a very minimalist canvas so that their outstanding and trendy pieces could easily be adopted into the space,” he explains. With the focus steered away from decorative touches, the designer concentrated his skills on maximising the space in the home.
The designers and homeowners originally toyed with the idea of an open kitchen, but ultimately decided against it in favour of a larger kitchen that was more conducive to cooking big family meals. The homeowners also wanted a brick wall, but having one risked making the dining room too dim. To resolve this, Tony constructed a thin glass strip at the top of the wall that separates the kitchen and the dining room, thus allowing natural light to filter through the kitchen’s large windows and into the dining area.
Little remains of the apartment’s original layout. The previous owners – a couple – had designed the space with two adults in mind, whereas the new owners wanted an interactive family home. So Tony and his team started from scratch. To create the illusion of higher ceilings, Tony shortened the height of custom-made furnishings – such as the large, L-shaped sofa in the living room – by just a fraction. These playful optical tricks continue through to the master bedroom, where wall-to-wall built-in closets finish a couple of inches below the ceiling. This changes the perspective from the bed: the couple can look up at a backlit wall, rather than staring at a row of cabinets.
Space is of the essence here; especially when the family of three has another little one on the way. “We want our children to have the space to play, so we didn’t want to cram in too much stuff,” says the lady of the house. They decided against having a coffee table and too much furniture in favour of a flexible, open area. This ensures that there is plenty of room for guests to lounge around, and it allows their two-year-old son to flop down on the soft, heather grey shag rug during family movie nights.
These homeowners may have kept their furnishings on the minimal side, but what they have chosen has been picked with care, thoughtfulness and a keen eye for timeless design. In this lovely home, it’s all about quality, not quantity.
Photography by Edgar Tapan; styling by Bridget Saunders
See also: This Japanese Retirement Residence is Imbued with Zen and Serenity
