We had a wonderful opportunity in May to connect with Debbie Lim, for some interior designing and home styling tips. Debbie is an interior designer and also the owner of her own interior studio.
If you've missed our Instagram Q&A, here are some of the questions from our followers. With advice from Debbie, we hope these home styling tips would make staying home a little cosier during this period of time. Debbie also addressed real concerns of new home owners during this pandemic and they could be helpful in your own renovation journey.
1. How to style brown leather sofa in a Japandi theme?
The key to balancing a heavy element like leather in a Japandi theme is to incorporate a variety of textures and thoughtful accessories. You can soften the look by adding layers to the piece.
For example: a light coloured textured rug underneath and neutral tones of cushions/ throws. Hanging interesting artwork or photo frames above the sofa and against a white backdrop would also draw the eyes upwards and help balance out the space visually.
2. I have a large white blank wall in the living room behind my sofa. How best to decorate?
Incorporating a gallery wall of your favourite photos/ travels/ family is one of the easiest and most personal ways to dress up a space. Otherwise, you can also consider decorative items like wall baskets/ sculptures/ macrame.
3. What are the pros and cons of the kitchen to the dining area half wall?
It really depends on your lifestyle and choices. If you love cooking and having friends/ family over, an open kitchen with a kitchen island would be a great space for your entertainment needs.
If you often do deep frying or you have particularly OCD tendencies, you can opt for a closed kitchen concept where the oil and grease can be kept within. Alternatively, you can also have the best of both worlds and opt for a semi open concept with foldable glass windows/ doors.
4. Is it better to get large or small rugs for living rooms (placed below coffee table)?
I would assume the rug would be placed below the sofa and coffee table. As a general rule of thumb, make sure your rug is 6 to 8 inch wider than your sofa and allow for at least 2/3 of the sofa leg to sit on the rug to ground the space.
5. Do you advise the use of wallpaper in a dry area of toilet?
As long as there is no direct exposure to water and proper ventilation in your intended location, wallpapers are a great way to spruce up a space. For better durability, check out @hello.circus for their range of vinyl coated or solid vinyl wallpapers.
6. Is there a steep increase in renovation cost now?
The short answer is yes. There are spillover effects due to a disruption in the global supply chain and lack of manpower due to the renovation industry being heavily reliant on foreign workers. A suggestion would be to budget wisely and work closely with your ID to tailor the renovation quote to your needs.
7. We just bought a resale flat. How much time should we allocate for renovation now?
Depending on the extent of renovation you are looking to do, the usual time frame for resale renovation range from 1 to 3 months. However, do budget at least 2 months more if you are looking to start your renovations currently as there is a manpower and supply shortage which adds to the timeline.
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