We often choose one distinct style as a starting point for our home reno before diving in to fill up our Pinterest boards with images. Granted that each decor style has many homes to be inspired by, the same can’t be said when many styles fuse into one. After all, it takes a certain eye to blend contrasting styles nicely.
Still, it’s a feat that was achieved by the owners of this HDB flat in Woodlands. With experimental colours and a whole array of vintage trinkets, this home has understood the assignment of having a blast to the past, while retaining contemporary flavours. And yes, there are several unique showstoppers for you to pause and admire.
Mailbox bookshelf with pop art & vintage memorabilia
Image credit: The Alchemists Design
Step into the corridor and you might just mistake it for the mailboxes in your ah ma’s HDB void deck back in the good old days. Instead of having them squeaky clean, the metallic surface of the mailbox boasts a subtle rust as well as faded marker writings and stickers of the respective unit numbers, making it stand still in time.
The plush designer chair brings a playful, pop art contrast to the vintage memorabilia.
Image credit: The Alchemists Design
Giving flashbacks on our home economics classes in secondary school are the vintage sewing machines lining the top of the mailboxes, as well as a yellow taxi sign that pops through the space. More notably, there’s a giant pedestrian traffic light that steals the show; it doesn’t have to light up red for you to stop and soak in the space before moving on.
Image credit: The Alchemists Design
Opposite the mailboxes sits a giant plush armchair cloaked with a dark yet bright pink bohemian rug. Old-American cart boxes, a Parisian rattan handbag with flowers, and a street lamp with a sneaky “danger” sign and box hanging from its posts add to that old-timey charm.
By now, you’ll realise that the space is an amalgamation of figments of the past inspired by many cultures, but punctuated by more contemporary elements too – the furniture is backdropped against a teak wooden wall that’s reminiscent of a Balinese resort, but also adds a gentle contrast to the louder pieces.
Muted pastel colour blocking and curved corridor arches
Image credit: The Alchemists Design
Walk along the corridors of the house and you’ll notice they celebrate 2 trends that have gained popularity recently – curved walls and pastel colours.
Having curved arches along the corridors adds a refreshing jazz to the space, and is a perfect way of letting all the different areas – and you can say, different decor influences – flow together. The muted pastel colour blocking brightens up the space and effortlessly provides the middle ground that blends the vintage and modern influences together.
Image credit: The Alchemists Design
A large ornamental display cabinet may be a dining room staple in many homes, but they’re incomparable to the one in this very abode. Clad in bright canary yellow, it proudly displays mini glass ornaments, Venetian vases, and flowers. Together with the fluted chairs, it creates a subversive twist to an otherwise traditional decor piece.
Image credit: The Alchemists Design
More display cabinets can be found around the living area to display the owners’ knick-knacks and eclectic fixtures, blending in pop art and old-school styles together. Looks like Andy Warhol would certainly fel at home in this Woodlands flat.
Futuristic statement pieces & terrazzo walls
Image credit: The Alchemists Design
Statement pieces in this home don’t just come from the past; the bold and futuristic are also being embraced, with this egg chair that’s suspended right beside the dining area. Leather pillows and faux animal skin mini rugs add boujee vibes to the space.
Image credit: The Alchemists Design
While mirrors are the go-to choice in making a space appear bigger and more posh, the multi-panel wall mirror in the living room pulls a different trick up its sleeve. Unlike the usual broken mirror aesthetic, this piece combines multiple organic shapes separately, adding a trippy aesthetic to the living area.
Image credit: The Alchemists Design
Surely, the classics can’t be forgotten. Enter the kitchen and bathroom areas and you’ll get your dose of herringbone and terrazzo tilings on the walls respectively.
Woodlands HDB flat with vintage & futuristic elements
Blending the old and new is no easy task, yet it has been sophisticatedly executed in this Woodlands abode, with the keen creative eye of interior design firm The Alchemists Design.
Not only does it let its big one-of-a-kind fixtures take centre stage, it ingenuously uses timeless modern influences to seamlessly put together the various statement pieces such that they don’t clash jarringly, but create a rather original look.
For more home inspirations:
Cover image adapted from: The Alchemists Design
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