This Sentosa condominium balances its owners’ different tastes while paying tribute to its premium Sentosa seaside location with thoughtful architectural alterations and carefully curated furniture and finishes. Melvyn Lim and Sharon Tan, husband and wife in their 50s who work together in the aviation industry, chose this three-bedroom condominium in Sentosa for its breathtaking ocean view.
Built in 2010, this Sentosa condominium is also well-maintained by the Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST). For the design, they enlisted the help of interior and architecture design studio Nidhi Jain, helmed by founder Nidhi Jain and partner Emily Salay Loberg, who was recommended by a mutual friend.
Wife wanted natural boho, Husband wanted retro
Credit: Nidhi also curated the artwork. This one in the living room is chosen for its complementary colours and feng shui compatibility.
“The duo have a very eclectic taste. So we wanted a space which jives with their personalities,” says Nidhi.
Sharon is a fan of neutral shades and boho aesthetics, while Melvyn wanted retro vibes. There were also feng shui elements and a pet golden retriever to consider in the design. The finished interior beautifully balanced these considerations in a cohesive design that embodies its tropical seaside location.
It looks at once fresh and nostalgic, and feels elegant but cosy and lived-in.
Calm Entrance Foyer
Credit: The entry lobby shields the living space from visitors while setting the beachy vibe with its textures and sandy colours.
The entrance foyer welcomes dwellers and guests into a calming, soothing space awash in gentle sandy hues courtesy of the wallpaper, the plaster mural artwork, and a combination of woven canes, jute and wooden furniture. Nidhi deliberately added a partition to this area to give the living area some privacy.
Warm Living Room
Credit: The dining room balances cool and warm tones beautifully. The ornate bench was reclaimed from a post office in India.
The dining and living rooms flow into each other seamlessly, and both enjoy a view of the ocean.
The couple wanted a warm cottage feel throughout the home, which the designers articulated with liberal use of genuine wood veneer that requires no additional polishing or varnishing after installation and has been treated to withstand the humidity and the heat of the oceanfront location.
Rugs and artworks – whose colours are chosen according to feng shui requirements – tie the whole look together.
Restored Antique Furniture
The furniture is a mix of newly curated pieces and unique restored antiques sourced from overseas. The dining room’s bench was reclaimed from a post office in India. It served as the starting point of the dining room’s design – its solid white finish, the grey-tone blue wall and textured artwork paired with smokey Neverending Glory pendant lights from Lasvit and natural timber dining table and chairs.
Master Bedroom Door from Rajasthan
The retro-inspired colour palette of sage green carpentry and leopard-print wallpaper serves as an eye-catching Zoom call background for Melvyn in this home office.
The master bedroom’s sliding door panel is a 100-year-old antique door from a haveli – a traditional Indian manor – in Rajasthan that weighs 50 kilogrammes.
Nidhi shared that turning the door into a functional sliding panel was one of the biggest challenges in the project.
“We sat down and, after many test rounds, figured out a way of making this happen. It was all worth it,” she says. Inside the bedroom, a woven cane bed frame lends a tactile quality to the peachy warm colour palette.
A Cosy Home Office
Melvyn and Sharon are also business partners. They travel often, so they did not want their home to feel like a hotel.
At the same time, they also needed a home office and a unique background worthy of all the business Zoom calls and meetings that showed their unique personalities.
The study’s design solves this requirement with a shared desk and back-to-back monitor placements.
The backdrop on Melvyn’s side is a wall of sage green bookshelves with a leopard-print wallpaper interior, while on Sharon’s side is large-format floral art in a similar colour palette in a matte black frame.
Bathroom
Credit: Patterned tiles and a pastel green wall lend freshness to this bathroom.
The wet areas combine shades of white with accent colour pops. The kitchen has been enlarged by half its original size, extending to the backyard. It combines white and grey marbled surfaces with a navy blue finish. The bathroom also features various white and grey textures and a fresh pop of sage green.
Credit: The balcony, in the meantime, is decked with black and white outdoor furniture and planters that brings a little luxurious tropical colonial vibe to the space.
Melvyn and Sharon moved into the home in November 2022 after a four-month renovation that cost around $250,000. Both owners and designers are happy with the result, which has managed to weave together different personalities, tropical and seaside elements, and feng shui requirements into a sumptuously eclectic home.
Renovation cost: $250,000
