SINGAPORE - A home can reveal a lot about its owner, especially one as meticulous and exacting as Mr Clive Choo.

Every aspect of the 36-year-old entrepreneur's 764 sq ft, two-bedroom condominium apartment near East Coast was designed to his specifications.

Mr Choo, who lives with his two dogs, Yoshi and Miwa - aged two and eight respectively - chose local design firm Happe Design Atelier to overhaul his home.

Due to the pandemic, the process took about five months. It cost $90,000, excluding furnishings. Mr Choo and the dogs moved into the home in August last year.

Conceptualisation began as the condominium was being built, during which Mr Choo requested that the developer remove the L-shaped wardrobe.

The request was denied, but Mr Choo converted the space into a walk-in wardrobe with a desk. The room has since become his favourite.

"It not only doubled my storage space, but also served a practical purpose by separating the sleeping area from the vanity area," he says.

As one of his biggest priorities was maximising space, Mr Choo asked the design team to install additional storage space under the platform bed, including drawers along the steps leading up to it.

The original design of the unit had to be changed as he wanted a monochromatic palette for a cosy environment - including replacing the marble floors with vinyl flooring.

"Some may consider it crazy to replace a material as premium as marble, but I was more concerned with achieving the desired look and feel. Besides, the dogs walk more comfortably on vinyl," he says.

As for the walls, the grey paint showed obvious streaks and uneven patches. Mr Choo switched to fabric wallpaper, resulting in a softer overall look. On the walls and ceilings of the bedrooms are vinyl tiles from Timeless Furnishing. The kitchen and living room are also visually distinct from the bedrooms to better convey a sense of moving from one space to another.

Mr Choo included smart home features from Ganen, a local home automation company. Through a mobile app, he can switch the lights on and off, draw the curtains remotely and trigger preset lighting at specific times.

This also allows him to switch on the lights for the dogs at home in the event he is out all day, so they will not be left in the dark in the evening.

He particularly likes Ganen's kinetic switches as he can place them anywhere - including on cupboards, which would otherwise have been impossible without obvious wiring.

He paired this system with fixtures from lighting shop Sol Luminaire. Other items in the house, like the furniture, were mostly bought online from Taobao, he says.