Creating depth and layers in our living room

936

Eclectic
HDB (Maisonette)
≥1,500 sqft
4 br
Couple Living

We wanted a clean and sleek look for the living room so white colour for the walls was an obvious choice. It also brightens the space significantly in an apartment that does not have sunlight permeate through it generously. Electrical wires in old HDB flats cannot be concealed, so between false ceilings (read: reduce the height of the space) and white wire casing (read: really, really ugly), we chose none, going instead with black wire conduits in an industrial-inspired look. The monochrome blending turned out to be perfect in our eyes.
The living room is really all about subtlety for us. A TV feature wall with more storage than Doraemon’s pocket usually appears early in our wish list but all such thoughts perish whenever we find out how much it would cost us. An arm AND a leg, you said? Besides, we do not really appreciate having too much distraction when we are watching shows on the television set - so maybe a clean white background wall was really the best idea. For the sofa set, the tan leather fades comfortably into the background. The 2 x 2-seater combination is arranged in a slightly curved configuration to add an organic touch, with the ottoman “floating” like an island, being neither here nor there. And nope, as it turned out, we found out that we didn’t need a coffee table.
Despite being the standout feature, the staircase within an EM can make the living room feel rather narrow at certain parts. Removing the original kitchen wall dramatically widens the perceived feeling of space on the lower floor in an EM. We chose to deploy the same tiles that we used for the living room in the dry kitchen to create a contiguous effect.
Old HDB flats have many recessed walls, and this is a prime example of it. Hacking was an option but the additional space on the other side was of no real use to us. Smoothening the wall was another option, but it would make the space seem even smaller. Adding an arch makes it seem deliberate, and curves tend to soften the look. White walls are great but also rather sterile, so we decided to hang a modern impressionist painting to introduce some colours to the apartment.
As our living room is not particularly long, we opted not to go for a huge tv screen - as tempting as a 75” screen size might sound. Besides, our existing 55” tv still worked perfectly well when we moved into the apartment. We did make allowance for the bracket to accommodate a future upgrade to a 65” screen, and yes, that advance planning just materialised. Our tv is mounted on gypsum board, with plywood to reinforce the bracket area. This allows all the wires to be mostly concealed. There is also a power track that is hidden from view by the tv console.