Too many concrete surfaces could make a home look cold, and uninviting. This three-bedroom HDB maisonette however, is anything but, despite having a minimalist style and lots of concrete and white surfaces.

The trick is adding just the right dose of wood texture and greenery, to complement the stark interiors. Also, the utilitarian order of hooks prevents the ceiling from looking too overwhelming.

A pale wood palette, from wall and floor tiles to carpentry laminate, brings light-hearted warmth to the open kitchen.

The living room looks out into a high-ceilinged balcony, which is decorated with many plants and offers a soothing view.

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The statement-making feature above the staircase includes light fixtures that the couple purchased online from Taobao.

Homeowners Dave Lua and Tan Ai Ling chanced upon a dining table from Crate & Barrel and fell in love with it. They decided to buy it and have their interior designer friend, Tommy Lai from tld., design their living and dining spaces around the dining centrepiece.

“We have friends over quite frequently, so it made sense to have a large dining table as the heart of the home where everyone can gather,” Dave explains.

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Apart from the dining table, the international trade manager couple pretty much gave Tommy carte blanche, but they did express an aversion to “Japanesque or Scandinavian” styles. This meant staying away from a light-coloured interior, which suited this particular apartment just fine.

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“When I first visited the flat, I found the interior extremely bright because of the large windows and unblocked surroundings, so I proposed darker and warmer shades to help mitigate the glare,” says Tommy.

“Besides, the homeowners are whisky lovers, so a darker palette also adds to the whisky bar ambience,” he adds. The result is an industrial-style home that combines influences from Lower Manhattan warehouse lofts with subtle hints of a whisky bar.

Wood reclaimed from Brazilian telephone poles add character and a sustainable sensibility.

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By removing a short section of the wall dividing the kitchen and dining and living rooms, the three areas became one big open-concept space within which the Phoenix dining table is the centrepiece.

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This painting by a Vietnamese street artist was a gift from the couple’s friend, and takes pride of place against a blue wall in the hallway leading to the master bedroom.

A muted palette was selected for the master bedroom to create a calm and cosy environment. The Treku Bel bed and Folks Wonderbox coffee tables, used as bedside tables, are from Grafunkt.

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A study desk from Vietnam-based British design team Square Roots also doubles as a dressing table. The Lamb chairs feature black steel frames with slate fabrics and raw oak backs.

Tommy used pure white tiles to create a hyper sterile aesthetic that contrasts with the darker living spaces. The experience that he was going for was one of “stepping into a sterile box at the end of a work day to wash away your tiredness and worries”.

Many homeowners have a partiality towards the industrial look, but may not want to commit fully to the rawness that the decor theme immediately conjures. For a more subtle industrial effect, the designers from Space Sense manage to inject a warm, homey vibe into this five-room HDB flat with the honey-toned veneer flooring.

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A living room wall is made less boring by creating a niche from “missing” bricks.

The open-concept kitchen coheres with the black, white and wood theme in the living areas.

Black was made the dominant colour of the washroom – the pipe and window frame were even spray painted black to unify them to the look.

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The bedroom was kept bare in order to make the concrete brick wall stand out.

You may think you’ve seen enough homes with the industrial look, but this one’s made unique with its thoughtful furnishings and accessories. Truly, it’s all in the details.

For the living room of this HDB flat, designers from Space Sense took inspiration from equipment case boxes commonly seen at concerts for the coffee and side table.

There is a balance of rough and smooth with the juxtaposition of the brick wall and timber flooring in the living area.

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The industrial theme is fleshed out as concrete screed walls and overhead beams in the kitchen.

The broody colour scheme in the common area gives way to a paler lighter wood tone for the master bedroom for a relaxing vibe.

Raw wood finishes were incorporated in the bathroom as well.

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The designers at DistinctIdentity were approached by the owners of this 1,100 sqf four-room HDB flat in Tampines which was in dire need of a makeover. Their speedy eight week job cost $45,000 to execute.

Set against a green wall is a custom-made TV console and a series of crate-like cabinets of varied heights, seemingly arbitrarily arranged. Finished in metal and wood-lookalike laminates, the cabinets house audiovisual equipment, footwear and knick-knacks.

Opposite the green wall, what looks like an incomplete brick wall forms another point of interest.

The tidy dining area also features the same brick and green wall elements.

The kitchen has concrete-screed surfaces and laminated cabinets with rugged wood textures.

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Stretching across the width of the bedroom is platform, done up in concrete-screed-lookalike laminate that hides several storage compartments. Floor-to-ceiling wardrobes, which occupy two adjacent walls, offer more storage space.

Influenced by the surge of industrial-inspired cafes of late, the homeowners of this 1,184sqf five-room HDB flat in Punggol asked their interior designer Kelvin Teo, of Space Sense, to adapt the theme to their home.

Dark wood-lookalike tiles cover the floors, while terracotta brick veneer and the barn door-like wainscoting clad one living room wall. Breaking away from the industrial look is the brown chesterfield sofa from Locus Habitat, which anchors the area.

Upon entering the home, your eyes will immediately be drawn to the massive shoe cabinet which is designed as a container. The largeness of the cabinet is needed to store over 100 pairs of stilettos and sneakers.

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Masculine and sleek, the monochromatic kitchen boasts a backsplash of subway tiles and exposed piping that conceals lighting cables.

The walk-in wardrobe is the result of converting one of the bedrooms for this purpose.

Kelvin toned down the decorative elements in the bedroom and utilised a quiet and even palette to create a restful sanctuary. Renovation took nine months and cost $82,000, not including furnishings and fixtures.

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