SINGAPORE – Celebrated hospitality and residential designer Isabelle Miaja loves how pops of colour, textured textiles and decorative art come together in her maximalist home to create character.

“I don’t like clutter as it clouds the mind and, in that sense, I agree with some of what (Japanese tidying guru) Marie Kondo teaches,” says the French-Spanish designer, who is in her 50s and owns two art galleries in Singapore. She lives in a house in Bukit Timah with her son Julian, who is in his 30s. Her daughter Severine is married and her younger son Maxime is studying overseas. Both are in their 20s.