https://www.scmp.com/rss/330969/feed Naomi is a freelance writer who started her career working on the other side of the media fence - in corporate PR for Australian TV networks. She now works at a more leisurely pace across Asia, writing on topics that interest her most, namely design, fashion, culture and lifestyle. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com This is the second time in less than 10 years that Ben Lee and Charlene Chan have gutted and remodelled their 1,700 sq ft (158 square metre) Sha Tin flat. And it will be the last. “I couldn’t find any better,” says Chan of the freshly finished flat, which boasts a 1,500 sq ft rooftop and uninterrupted green views. This time around, the three-bedroom, three-bathroom unit has been designed to accommodate the changing composition of the family, and future-proof it. “I realised we needed something... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3238433/eco-friendly-minimalist-grown-hong-kong-family-home-redesigned-entertaining-guests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3238433/eco-friendly-minimalist-grown-hong-kong-family-home-redesigned-entertaining-guests?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Oct 2023 03:15:08 +0000 As distinct as the Southeast Asian countries they hail from, creative works displayed at the recent Find Design Fair, a key event of Singapore Design Week, demonstrated the diverse and resourceful ways designers in the region are bringing their ideas to life. The Emerge @ Find showcase, billed as a meeting of the traditional and the technological, featured a spectrum of furniture, textile, lighting and objects by more than 50 designers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/interiors-living/article/3236597/singapore-design-week-2023-find-design-fair-celebrates-southeast-asian-designers-working-across?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/interiors-living/article/3236597/singapore-design-week-2023-find-design-fair-celebrates-southeast-asian-designers-working-across?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Oct 2023 23:15:12 +0000 One of the many benefits of international travel is the way it can open up the imagination. For the owners of this 4,100 sq ft (381 square metre) flat in Singapore’s leafy Mount Sinai area, a holiday in the south of France sparked a light-bulb moment that has since transformed how the family lives. “We used to be kind of minimalists,” says Singaporean entrepreneur Amy Long, who shares the four-bedroom, four-bathroom flat with her husband and daughters, Sierra, eight and Willow, five. “The... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3181742/minimalism-maximalist-design-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3181742/minimalism-maximalist-design-singapore?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jun 2022 04:43:55 +0000 While Scandinavian-style interiors are not uncommon in Hong Kong, few homeowners have gone as far as a couple in Tsuen Wan who incorporated a sauna in their 1,200 sq ft (111 square metre), two-bedroom duplex when they renovated it last year. The ultimate in Nordic lifestyle experiences, the Swedish-built hot room, installed between two bathrooms on the upper floor, characterises the qualities the pair wanted in a home, namely a quiet dwelling with long-term health benefits, where they could... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3174844/apartment-hong-kong-scandinavian-and-mid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3174844/apartment-hong-kong-scandinavian-and-mid?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Apr 2022 04:46:21 +0000 While Japanese minimalism, with its characteristic blond timbers, low-slung furniture, sliding partitions and use of natural materials, is having a moment in interior design, its appeal lies in more than just its aesthetic. Inspired by the country’s traditional Zen Buddhism, it focuses on keeping life simple, clean and uncluttered. Appreciated not only in interiors, but in everything from architecture to ikebana (the Japanese art of flower arrangement), pottery and prose, it encourages the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3153729/japanese-minimalism-soft-lighting-and-spa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3153729/japanese-minimalism-soft-lighting-and-spa?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Oct 2021 01:30:24 +0000 The Singapore black-and-white is among the most culturally distinct examples of colonial architecture in Asia. A hybrid of Malay and Indian influences developed early last century when British culture sought a home for itself in the tropics, they once accommodated magnates, magistrates and mandarins. Perhaps an occupying Japanese army, too. So almost five years ago, when Australian Charlie Cameron, her British husband and their two children moved into their four-bedroom, four-bathroom rental in... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3146183/colonial-singapore-art-deco-houses-less?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3146183/colonial-singapore-art-deco-houses-less?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Aug 2021 01:30:08 +0000 Imagine a hotel where your bed monitors your sleeping patterns and adjusts the environment to provide the ultimate night’s sleep. Or where your guest room is on wheels: a driverless RV fitted out by your favourite hotel chain to traverse the great outdoors, stopping at partner hotels along your route for housekeeping and dips in the hotel pool. Need more towels? Your robotic butler will be right there. These ideas may sound fantastical, but the technology to develop them is already here and it’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3138119/hotel-future-robot-butlers-smartphone-controlled-beds-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3138119/hotel-future-robot-butlers-smartphone-controlled-beds-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Jun 2021 11:15:00 +0000 Only time will tell what the “new normal” looks like post-pandemic, but while the world has its thinking cap on, some of the biggest names in office design and fit-out have been using results gathered from the largest work-from-home experiment ever to create environments for a wary workforce. In April, Swedish giant Ikea, not known for its office products despite being the world’s largest home furnishing retailer, reinvented the workspace of its Singapore headquarters and in the process found a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3135614/inside-ikeas-post-pandemic-singapore-office-yes-furniture?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3135614/inside-ikeas-post-pandemic-singapore-office-yes-furniture?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Jun 2021 04:45:10 +0000 Kermit the Frog once lamented that it wasn’t easy being green. Large-scale developers who for years have been trying to reconcile their economic and environmental concerns would agree.  Yet after the announcement in March that Swire Properties had sold for SG$293 million (US$219 million) all 20 units at Eden, it seems it’s becoming easier. That ultra-luxury residential project in Singapore is acclaimed for its attention to “biophilia” – the idea that humans are innately attracted to nature. The... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3130412/singapore-leads-green-architecture-and-sustainable-building?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3130412/singapore-leads-green-architecture-and-sustainable-building?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Apr 2021 22:30:22 +0000 Traditional cheongsams can be exquisite expressions of elegance, but their limitations are clear to anyone who has worn one: they are restrictively narrow in parts, oppressively warm in humid climes and overly formal for everyday life. The same could have been said about the house that former scientist Ee-ling Fock and her radiologist husband, Eric Ting, bought in the central Singapore suburb of Novena in 2018. The outdated home, she realised, could be tailored for the 21st century, just as she... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3123739/how-stylist-tailored-fashion-designers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3123739/how-stylist-tailored-fashion-designers?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Mar 2021 01:30:17 +0000 Interpretation Evelyn Ting Huei-chung: “There was a set site boundary – a concrete platform – and within that we had to construct a structure that could be used for events in the park. There were restrictions in terms of roof height, not over 10 metres, and it had to be single-level, but other than that it was open as to how we wanted the space to engage with people. “One of the main jumping-off points for us was how to create a pavilion that speaks to both local architecture and culture. How... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3019539/growing-west-kowloon-cultural-districts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3019539/growing-west-kowloon-cultural-districts?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Jul 2019 05:15:10 +0000 The 2013 release ofThe Great Gatsby reignited the fashion for 1920s nostalgia, and not just for the joie-de-vivre that is symbolic of the era – but also for the opulence of the art deco design movement known for its rich colours, bold geometry and decadent detail work. Art deco captured the energy of the moment, and like Jay Gatsby for Daisy Buchanan, we can’t get enough. City University of Hong Kong’s CityU Exhibition Gallery is evoking those heady days of fringed flappers and subterranean... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3001192/chinas-art-deco-influence-how-east-redefined-french-design?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3001192/chinas-art-deco-influence-how-east-redefined-french-design?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Mar 2019 12:00:10 +0000 “The larger mission was to revitalise and enliven the public realm and make it more welcoming, inclusive and dynamic. People felt that the harbourfront wasn’t that visi­ble, from Salisbury Road in particular, so improving connectivity was part of that. There was also a programmatic component that had to do with arts and culture – creating spaces that allow and support the programming of events, concerts, art installations, performances.” Interpretation “We had various design iterations before we... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/2187269/architect-behind-hong-kongs-avenue-stars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/2187269/architect-behind-hong-kongs-avenue-stars?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Feb 2019 14:04:41 +0000