Wabi Sabi @ Bedok Reservoir

Theme: Wabi-Sabi

Location: Bedok Reservoir | 3 Rm HDB Resale

Developed in: 1985

Three people in a cozy living room with a wooden bookshelf and a framed quote. One man is sitting on the ledge of the bookshelf, smiling and holding a coffee mug, while a woman sits on the floor, looking up at him. The third person is visible at the bottom, sitting on the floor wearing beige pants and a reddish shirt. The room has a light decor with books, pictures, and a desk with art supplies.

Embrace the beauty of imperfection with cement screed finishes, lime-wash walls, and a minimalist layout that reflects the client’s artistic lifestyle and appreciation for natural simplicity.

A built-in wooden bookshelf with cubbies, a bench seating area, and various books, framed pictures, and decorative items. A beige curtain covers a window behind the bookshelf. A framed quote is on a nearby table, and a desk with a red lamp is partially visible.

A minimalist interior room with a wooden sideboard filled with cameras, books, and framed quotes. To the right, there is a small table with a lamp and framed photo, and a plaid armchair with a small side table beside it. The wall is plain with a small built-in shelf on the left.

In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi is centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. It is appreciating the beauty that is ‘imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete’ in nature. Exuding nature, prevalent throughout most forms of Japanese art. Project wabi-sabi was a great experience for Insight Out Studio, it was a pleasure working with our client as her lifestyle and love for arts allowed us to achieve such marvellous results. Interesting fact: You’ll be surprised to know that this house does not have an air conditioner installed upon our client’s request.

Wabi Sabi kitchen with wooden cabinets, white countertops, and a large window letting in natural light. Equipped with small appliances, shelves with jars, plants, and a metal storage rack.

A dining room with a table covered in a beige cloth, with a laptop and dishes on it. A wooden chair is at the table, and a black chair is nearby. A potted plant, a beige folding room divider, and a person dressed in black are also in the room. There are two pendant lights hanging from the ceiling and walls with visible pipes.

Zooming into the kitchen - It looks clean and minimalistic as we did not go with the conventional kitchen look. We did away with the top cabinet resulting in a kitchen with no hood and dish rack. Instead, we mounted the tabletop onto the wall for easy maintenance and cleaning of oil splatters and dirt with time. We wanted to give some personality to the theme and added a frame profile around the kitchen cabinets to enhance its look.

We used full cement screeding for the kitchen wall, did away with any wall tiles. Some things to take note of when using cement tiles would be to expect hairline cracks and uneven colors. As the effect of cement screed is natural, the flaws are a part of its beauty. The client was able to appreciate the beauty in imperfection and was happy with the outcome of it.

Bathroom vanity area with a round gray sink, mirror, and various toiletries, with a window and a white louvered closet door.

To achieve an unusually large washroom space, we hacked the wall in between the common and master toilet. Resulting in the combination of two toilets. The basin was shifted outside of the washroom space to segregate the dry and wet areas. Focusing on the details, we erected a wall to create a shampoo niche so you may do away with bulky bottle storage racks.

A mirror reflecting a room with a bed on the floor, a blanket, a box on the floor, a painting of a street scene, and a curtain. In the foreground, a glass pitcher with lemon slices and a bowl of green and orange grapes are on a wooden surface.

Our living room and bedroom walls have a lime-wash paint finish. Lime-wash is a finish that gets its textural veneer from added sandstone aggregate. This finish has an almost chalky look to it and when in a can, it appears to be more like putty than a thin paint! The beautiful concrete slab you see in the master-bed room is used to create a unique 2-in-1 combination of a vanity cum study table.

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