Feel Good Factor

Wolf Woof transforms this home with a Scandi dog cafes concept, levelling up from the client's initial brief. ROSSARA JAMIL finds out more.

- ROSSARA JAMIL

Not every homeowner is keen on big ideas, but when presented with the opportunity of a fresh perspective, they can come away with surprising even themselves. For Carmen Tang's client, a support account manager, and her older brother, a project engineer, the initial brief was for a Muji-ish concept that is low in maintenance. However, Carmen spotted something in the client's spontaneous personality and interest in travel, cultures, food, dogs and socialising.

"After speaking to her, I was even more convinced that the style she had asked for was a little too sedate for her personality and style," the director of the interior design studio Wolf Woof says. "I felt that she spoke rather animatedly and had suc quirky sense of humour."

Carmen dug deeper to understand her better and proposed an alternative design: a Scandi dog cafe. Although it felt risky, Carmen had confidence that the client would like it. The client, who first knew about Carmen from her cousin, found the concept refreshing and loved it.

That said, Carmen was also mindful. "I didn't want to take the concept too far till it's more of a concept home than a home for my client to live in. I wanted it to be quirky yet relatable and not trying-toohard-to-make-a-statementfor-statement's sake," she says, adding that exercising restraint and knowing where to draw the line is vital.