Perfect Blend Of Style, Privacy And Comfort

For this couple who hosts private dining sessions at home, working with Inizio Atelier proved to be the secret sauce for achieving the perfect blend of style, privacy and comfort for their abode.

- Yuen Yi Ying

AT A GLANCE

Space 5-ROOM RESALE HDB FLAT Location LORONG AH SOO Home to A MARRIED COUPLE Reno period FOUR MONTHS Budget $60,000

Kudos to the savvy couple who saw potential in this roomy 1,420sq ft space. Now home to private dining chef Jeff Zhen and his wife, Bettina, this modern yet industrial-leaning space used to look very different before the design team at Inizio Atelier stepped in. Soot from years of burning joss sticks had stained the ceilings, and many of the walls were uneven or had warped tiles, which downplayed the home’s appearance, shares Inizio Atelier’s director Alex Xie and Senior Design Consultant Guerrand Lai who helmed the renovation. However, after searching the resale market for a marital home, both Jeff and Bettina were won over by this unit. “It was the only home that my wife and I had nothing that we disliked,” Jeff tells us. “I think the main draw was that this home was huge, by current BTO standards. It had a great layout that didn’t have dead or wasted spaces, and it had great potential to be remodelled to our liking.”

As Jeff runs An Ox Box, which offers tasting sessions for customers to taste the difference between fresh beef and different cuts of dry-aged beef, the couple had plans for their home to be able to host up to four dinners a week, consisting of groups of five to eight diners. This would’ve been par for the course in prepandemic times. However, during this uncertain period which disrupted their plans, Jeff got the opportunity to work closely with the design team to refine ideas for the flat.