Wabi-sabi - a Japanese philosophy that finds beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness. I interpret this as a little raw, a little messy, a little rough. But not too messy and chaotic and eclectic. It is a fine balance between being imperfect versus not giving a fck. 
Generally, design wise, it is simple, with natural colours, wood, greens, ceramics and more. We got inspired to do this while talking to and ID (that we did not choose in the end) Here are some inspiration pictures - obviously we don’t have the high ceiling and as much sunlight - but with a hdb layout, we can make it look a little more cavern and homey like. 
This image is the layout we almost went for - it is the new BTO layout, brand new 99 year lease, new common areas downstairs, more interconnected walkways, new rubbish chutes, gardens, younger families etc. However the internal space is a tiny 93sqm with small rooms and corridors, and most DINKs end up hacking a bedroom wall anyways to make it more spacious. We intend to rent some rooms out or start a family so hacking walls was not ideal for us. If we went with this new BTO layout this would be how we would’ve arranged the house, with a long-ish living area and a small 1.2m dining table in between the kitchen and living areas. 
Given our inspiration look and feel of the house, we were lucky to chance upon this open layout house which combines the living and dining areas into a huge rectangular area. We believe it will shape the house more in the wabi-sabi, simple, spacious and cavern-like feel that we are looking for. UX wise, we like a lot of floor time, space, places for gatherings. 
Vertic's texture paint gave us the best price/quality ratios. We like the suzuka paint series as well because it gives the textured look while having a smooth finish. We believe that will give us an easier time maintaining it. 
Here are a few items that we chose to suit our needs in the house - gathering space for friends and family, elevated audio system, modular sofas. Of course, lighting and paint gives a good atmosphere, but we are also thinking how our necessities can fit in without spending too much effort to keep the whole design aligned Huge dining table since we have a more open layout. 2m table can easily host 8 pax, or even a multi-use kinda area with 1 person WFH and a few other having a meal for example. 
Modular sofas found on Taobao - Chu hu. It can be arranged in anyway you want with the backrest being modular as well. 
9 November
