The Chic Home: Four-storey terraced house is a cosy retreat for three generations

SINGAPORE - The Kareems, business owners in their 50s, live in this terraced house with their son and daughter, both in their 20s, and Mrs Nasreen Rasheed Kareem's mother.

They bought the Telok Kurau property from a developer in 2020, and hired Mr Hans Chua, project director at interior design firm Erstudio, to remodel it into a home reflecting the family's personalities, says Mr Abdul Rasheed Kareem.

The house spans 2,500 sq ft in land area and 6,000 sq ft in built-up area. Interior renovations came to $550,000 and, despite the pandemic's workforce challenges, Mr Chua's team completed the project in just 16 weeks.

As everyone in the home is involved in the family business, the Kareems wanted a beautiful, cosy house where they could spend time as a family after a long day in the office.

The main entrance leads into a foyer with a concealed cabinet that can store at least 100 pairs of shoes. Following that is the family zone, consisting of the living and dining rooms, dry and wet kitchens, pantry, powder room and helpers' room.

To create a lounge-like atmosphere, Mr Chua chose dark wood panels to contrast with the light-coloured floor.

On the second level is a spacious formal living and dining room for entertaining guests. Making it brighter and airier is a four-storey glass wall on one side of the stairwell that lets in plenty of sunlight.

Through this glass facade, along with balconies and windows, the family gets a bird's-eye view of everything going on around them. Mrs Kareem says passers-by have been stopping to admire and take pictures of their house since the family moved into the home in January 2021.

Besides the formal living room, there is also a semi-outdoor terrace with views of the traffic junction. Here, Mrs Kareem's mother spends the late mornings relaxing and watching the world go by.

The two upper levels are a private zone. In addition to the guest room, there are bedrooms for the couple and Mrs Kareem's mother, who wanted her room to have her favourite light turquoise blue, which Mr Chua incorporated into the headboard.

For the husband and wife, he proposed a timeless champagne and gold theme. The couple chose durable and high-quality furnishings.

Mrs Kareem refers to the fourth floor as the children's "kingdom". Her daughter's room, decorated with wood, in a colour scheme of pink and olive green with gold accents, opens onto a semi-outdoor balcony, which Mr Chua envisioned as an ideal place for her to paint.

Of the son's bedroom, Mr Chua says: "We went with the Manhattan concept, pairing dark walnut with tan leather." There is also a dedicated gaming area for the gaming enthusiast.