Room For One

This apartment has been totally revamped to suit the specific needs of its bachelor homeowner. LYNN TAN susses out the details.

- Lynn Tan

Space, or rather the lack of it, is a common issue with many homeowners. This makes Zach Lim’s 1,100 sq ft bachelor pad seem like a luxury, and reminds us that big or small, it is what you do with a space that counts.

The community manager of a tech company wanted an interior that “feels more like a hotel than a home”. He initially wanted to work directly with a contractor, but soon realised that he was a little over-ambitious. Here’s where Joey Khu, director of Joey Khu Interior Design, came into the picture. “My design for this home is very lifestyle-driven because Zach is a bachelor. It also takes into consideration the fact that he has family and friends over quite often, so there should be more open spaces within the home,” explains Joey.

This led to a total reconfiguration of the layout, including hacking the kitchen walls and combining it with the adjacent dining area, as well as converting two of the three bedrooms into an extension of the living room and a walk-in wardrobe. Everything in the two-and-a-half-month long renovation costing between $170,000 and $200,000 is new – from the flooring, ceiling and lights to the built-in furniture, fixtures and fittings. “Nothing from the original apartment was retained,” says Joey.