minimalist & adaptable

Without planning for a child-friendly home, Najwa’s flat was yet easily adapted when she had a baby, all thanks to a minimalist, flexible setup with few furnishings.

When you know, you know—at least when it comes to your dream home. Najwa and her husband went down to view their current home on a Saturday, travelled to view a few more, and just couldn’t stop thinking about the very first one they saw. Taking it as a sign, they made an offer on the house a few hours later.

One of the most important factors in shortlisting the houses they viewed was the layout of the flat. “The layout had to make sense for what we wanted in the future—to be able to create an open kitchen and combine the main bedroom with a common room,” Najwa shares.

“When we bought the house and planned the renovation, we had no thoughts of family planning at all,” she remembers. “It just never occurred to us that we should make some design choices for a child in the future!” Now, her son is 15 months old, slowly but surely approaching the toddler stage.

Despite not planning for a child-friendly home, the house turned out to be fairly suitable for a baby, with the exception of the open kitchen and the balcony doors, which don’t have a lock. The couple kept the furniture and decor to a minimum, so it was easy to shift things around and adapt the space once the baby arrived.

“The only change we made was to put away the decorative items on the lowest recessed shelf. Oh, and getting socket covers! Everything else has pretty much remained the same,” Najwa reveals.