Anchor the look

A sea-loving couple has turned their condo unit into the interior of a ship. -ST

Thu, Nov 01, 2012
The Straits Times 

Married couple Christian Wong, 36, and Dawn Ow, 34, have always dreamt of living in a beach house.

In land-scarce Singapore, they have turned their 1,076 sq ft apartment into the next best thing.

Sea-loving couple turns condo unit into ship

Click on thumbnails to view (ST)

Their two-bedroom Bayshore Park condominium unit resembles the interior of a ship, with white tongue and groove wooden panelling on walls and the ceiling of the living room, reminiscent of a ship's cabin.

A clock shaped like a ship's steering wheel and porthole-style mirrors adorn the walls. Models of old ships are also scattered throughout the apartment.

The balcony, which stretches from outside the living room to the master bedroom, serves as an alfresco dining area.

It has an outdoor bamboo deck where you can enjoy the sea breeze from East Coast Park. There are also replicas of a vintage diving helmet and an engine order telegraph device, which was used by the wheelhouse of a ship to give instructions to the engine room.

Mr Wong says: "We removed a whole row of walls facing the balcony, so there is more space here. The previous owners didn't make use of the balcony and used it to store junk."

The couple, who wed in January and moved into their apartment in June, had been planning their dream home for a while. Many of the accessories were purchased over one year in Singapore, Bali and Australia. Ms Ow says: "We are sea and beach lovers, so it has always been a concept in mind.

That's why we started to buy all these things."

The couple, who help run a media- buying agency, enjoy sea sports and had their honeymoon in Hawaii.

Renovations and furnishing, which started in April, took about two months. The process was complicated by the fact that the couple did not engage an interior designer. "The prices were too expensive - it would cost $80,000 just for the basic stuff," says Mr Wong. "Plus, the designs suggested were too modern and not exactly what we were looking for."

Ms Ow, who studied design at university, came up with most of the ideas for the apartment. She says with a laugh: "We had a hard time explaining to the contractor what we wanted. And we still busted our budget."

Renovation cost about $100,000, while the decor and furnishings were in the low five-figure region.

"It's pretty much completed but if we see anything beautiful along the way, we would love to acquire it," says Ms Ow.