Young couples often struggle to find their groove when it comes to interior design. For many, finding the right style for a new apartment with financial and space constraints may seem daunting. However, sprucing up your new apartment doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are 6 apartment designs that are perfectly suited to the needs of young couples.
Embrace your passions
If you’re a young couple looking to spend your downtime on your favourite hobbies, tailor your home decor to reflect your likes and tastes.
To showcase your passions, Jane Liang from NID Interior suggests highlighting them as central features for your home. “Bringing your hobbies into your home doesn’t mean just setting aside storage space for them. Your displays can be both aesthetically pleasing and functional,” says Jane.
Music lovers can choose to set up a music room to jam and listen to their favourite songs. Better yet, showcase your instruments and wow your guests by installing floor-to-ceiling windows as part of your acoustic insulation.
If you’re a toy or comic lover, make them the central theme of your home design. This can include showcasing your posters, incorporating action figures into your furniture, incorporating Lego as art in your home, and creating a display cabinet for your collection.
Go for comfort
Young couples with hectic schedules may view the home as a space for rest and relaxation. To create a more relaxing atmosphere, incorporate elements such as wood and stone into your furniture to give your home a more down-to-earth feel. Reduce glare by introducing soft or natural lighting.
Couples can also create a more soothing environment by opening up your space. To work with spatial constraints, Andrew Ang from Weldas Interior suggests using white furniture to brighten up smaller areas such as the kitchen. “Lighting plays a key part in making a home relaxing”, he says. “Use warm tones for areas such as the bedroom to better unwind at the end of the day.”
Using soft or flowy fabrics can also help to create a more breezy and relaxing environment, while introducing carpeted floors or rugs helps to minimise noise.
Bring out the spunk
If you’re looking to break out of traditional home designs, incorporate personal flair by choosing bold colours, patterns and shapes to make your home more interesting. This can include using brightly-coloured furniture as the centrepiece for each room. Unusual colours such as metallics can also be used to to accent your space.
Young couples can also play around with unusual lighting designs. Stanley Tan from Vigorous Design suggests that couples can use electrical trunking as a main design feature.
“For an industrial theme, choose black pipes to complement exposed cement or grey walls. When designing the bedroom or living room, opt for brass or gold pipes for a softer look,” he says.
Keep it clean
According to Lawrence Luo from Nitty Gritty design, minimalism is the go-to look for Singaporeans. For couples looking to keep your home simple and clean, a Scandinavian interior design is the way to go.
“The key features of a Scandinavian themed house is the use of light muted colours and wooden elements on the walls and floors. People also shy away from elements like wall-to-wall carpets,” says Lawrence. “Keeping the place simple and clutter-free is a key feature of minimalistic designs.”
To keep a space clutter-free, invest in furniture with designated storage (e.g. under-bed storage), or hidden storage options (e.g. shelves camouflaged behind a feature wall). Furniture such as stowable tables also help to conserve space.
HDB 3 Room by Nitty Gritty Interior
Placing furniture around the perimeter of the room also helps to enhance the minimalist features of a home.
Furniture and walls should be of a similar colour scheme, while the use of colours such as pastels or bright orange accents help to make your space pop.
Gather in style
For young couples who love hosting friends and family, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere is a key component in home design.
Angie Toh of Edgeline Planners highlights two steps to make your home guest-friendly.
Firstly, low couches and throw pillows help to provide comfort. These features make sure that the entertainment space is relaxing for party guests. Better still, transform your living room into a versatile dining space to encourage conversation.
Secondly, set the tone of the gathering with the right lighting and soft music.
Establishing a proper sound system for music helps to connect different rooms in the house. In addition, layering different types of direct and indirect lighting (e.g. table lamps and ceiling lights) helps to put guests in the right mood.
“Youngsters prefer indirect lighting sources that help to make an area feel more cosy and suitable for parties. In terms of fittings, we try to hide the lights to give the place a more intimate feel,” says Angie.
Bring your travels back home
Travel destinations are often bucket list-toppers for young couples. Couples who love to travel can look to incorporate exotic elements into your homes. This can include designing a feature wall inspired by your favourite destinations, or displaying key souvenirs from your travels.
When going for a strong feature wall, Vince Teo from WHST Design suggests making your space as simple as possible so as not to distract from the bold design.
For couples looking for more direct inspiration, mimicking a resort or getaway location is a way to remind yourselves of your favourite holidays.
A tropical-themed house can incorporate works of art and sculptures sourced from abroad. In addition, incorporating green elements and lots of natural light help the space to tie-in to the tropical theme.
“Colours are the most important component of a resort-based theme,” says Vince. “Use warm tones such as browns to make your home more inviting, and avoid direct light that will make a room look too bright and harsh.”
HomeRenoGuru
Tailoring your home design to your interests is easy – to see how these experienced interior designers can help turn your vision into reality, visit HomeRenoGuru’s design gallery. The gallery features a plethora of design options to help you find the ideal style for your home while matching you with the best interior designers for you.
