The resulting look that Carmen created for them is all at once cosy, functional, and luxe. The black palette is the main highlight of the home, but it’s far from boring, thanks to Carmen’s strategic use of textures, lighting, and greenery.

In the communal area, the living room is demarcated by a raised platform. This not only sets it apart as a cosy nook, but provides additional storage by means of lift-up doors and pull-out drawers from beneath the platform.

“I designed it this way because if the storage space is underneath, it becomes part of the floor and lends different layers to the space while maintaining an open view,” says Carmen on this design choice.

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The living room can also be transformed into a guest room by pulling down the roller blinds that are tucked away just out of sight, sectioning off the area for privacy when friends or relatives stay over.

To soften the look, Carmen added furnishings such as a tan leather sofa, a rug, and artificial greenery on the walls. For texture, she used grooved laminate on the carpentry and walls.

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When the family feels like hanging out in a semi-outdoor setting, they spend time in the spacious balcony area just outside the living room, where there’s another seating area and a small bar with an overhead wine glass rack. This gives the family plenty of different seating options for entertaining.

There are plenty of personal touches that make this home truly unique. In their four-year-old’s room is the same dark palette – they wanted to keep it timeless, explains Carmen – but with a SuperMario-themed feature wall.

Each “level” on the wall provides storage space for their child’s toy and figurine collection. Like the living room, the bed is elevated on a platform, with plenty of room for clothes, books, and other necessities.

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As both a designer and stylist, Carmen makes it a point to advise her clients on artwork in their home. “One of my favourite artists is Reuben Ireland, and he specialises in black-and-white portraits with strong imagery and refreshing angles,” says Carmen. His style fit the design of this home so well that Carmen simply had to introduce the artist’s work to the homeowners, who liked it too. Ireland’s work now adorns the master bedroom and corridor.

For such an upscale boutique-hotel look, the cost of renovation was kept extremely affordable at $35k, not including furnishings, lighting, and the design fee. It all came down to knowing where to splurge and where to save. The original flooring, inner doors, and wardrobe that came with the apartment were kept intact, saving on carpentry work.

“We didn’t want to replace the inner doors, so we worked with their existing colour scheme and added more touches of the same brown throughout the house,” says Carmen.

The little touches need not be expensive, as long as you know where to put them. The green wall in the balcony, for instance, is astroturf that has been nailed to the wall. Carmen also elevated the look of the shoe cabinet in the entryway by adding non-weight-bearing gold legs to the bottom. The attention to detail is what makes the home feel luxurious. “It’s the little things that make a difference,” says Carmen.

Photography: Veronica Tay
Art Direction: Nonie Chen

This article was originally published in Home & Decor.