For the list of recommended stores, go to List of Furniture Stores, Part II.
So finally, furniture! This Part I, I will breakdown the furniture that I've obtained so far by the product name, where I bought them from, and the design intent - room by room. After that, I'll list of the stores that I purchased from and my recommendations will be in Part II.
1. Living & Dining Room
With the Living, Dining, & Kitchen occupying half of the apartment as one large space, compartmentalising each area became a bit of an issue. The Kitchen & Dining were separated by the island. The Dining & Living are then divided by the sofa.
Majority of the initial furniture purchased for the unit was for the living. I chose the L sofa rather than 3 seater + 2 seater due to the limited space and that the back wall & AC door was difficult to orientate with. The colour of the sofa had to be muted; any darker colour and it would shrink the room OR any vibrant colour and it becomes a distraction.
The dark TV console and the muted sofa had to be balanced by a vibrant rug; the Kahlo Rug was probably the quickest impulse purchase I ever made which dictated the selection glass coffee table which I chose to leave the view of the rug unobstructed.
Off the bat, I don't have dining chairs. The round dining table follows suit of the coffee table; in itself a glass display feature rather than a practical dinner table to feed 6. So the selection of chairs had to be curated as it would be quite visible and the ones I was keen on were limited and also, unfortunately, outside my budget.
I wanted the "dining area" to be light - use of a linen runners and raw timber from the tray and table legs. The background and decor around it are kept monochromatic with the black bar stool and breakfast island creating a clear divider to the kitchen.
2. Master Bedroom
Seeing the room, you'd think all the furniture were selected to accommodate around the open-wardrobe but it was actually the bed that dictated everything and was my first purchase for the apartment. The depth of the shelf were reduced than initially planned and even the materials were revised not to undermine the bed.
The beautiful vast Melanie bed was bought before I even received my keys; with the dark wood frame & built-in side table, it was to became the center piece of the bedroom. The selection of bed covers and decor was to keep it clean and minimal; with such a size in comparison to the room, any bold colours or patterns would make the room feel gaudy.
3. Study / Guest Bedroom
The study became a storage room of my collected memorabilia and work space. Where college textbooks, artworks bought from street vendors, and unused notebooks are kept in - a room of stuff I couldn't decide where to place in the rest of the apartment - but eventually it all melded together to be its own identity.
The eventuality of the room is to turn it into a Guest Room to would-be visitors or potential Airbnb guests but part of me is hesitant in letting someone else occupy the room and the other part acknowledges that I'd burst my furniture budget to finish the room in the first place.
Click here to read Part II for the full list of stores that I purchased from and recommend visiting.