The Sofa

Its been 3 weeks since the reno started but progress is really slow. The house is still in an ugly state, raw cement, sand piled up, dust and dirt every where...

Hence, I rather talk about something nicer. Some time ago, I posted here a selection of sofa seats I like. When it comes to really hunting for one to put in my own house, strangely I sought for something rather different. Not that I couldn't find a replica chesterfield with a suitable depth, some how, this design has lost its appeal. Too much leather, and too heavy a look.

The Poeten sofa remains my top favourite, but price wise, its just way out and I believe not available in Singapore. How did something originally designed by Finn Juhl for his personal use became such an expensive item?

The closest style I could find and of reasonable pricing, are the sofas from Room of Woods. But some of the seats aren't quite comfortable for me.

Talking about Room of Woods, I'm going to slowly save some money for an armchair from them. These look so retro and cute!

 photos from Room of Woods

Back to the topic on sofa, you might have guessed by now that mid century post modern is my latest favourite theme. I like the piece below, found in a cafe in Taiwan. 

photo from here

I saw a similar piece at Second Charm and instantly fall in love with it.

photo from Second Charm

Again budget is an issue. Though second hand, its quite pricey (at least to me). But I guess its paying for the tedious restoration work and also getting something vintage...

Then I found this at Oddyssey for only $400 original condition! Doesn't this look familiar? Its almost like the sofa we grew up with. My mum's place still has something similar, but with a bit more frills and carvings. This piece just need a change of cover and some restoration work to cover up some scratches. Not sure if it could look as good as new for a reasonable restoration cost or I could live with some blemishes though. But the simple curves of the frame, matt black finishing... So lovely. (Try to imagine it in a different fabric.) 

photo from Oddyssey

After much consideration and popping by various shops, in the end, I chose a piece I saw earlier at Air. Surprised? Guess I took the easy way out as I do have a few more pieces to restore and not quite sure if I could cope.

picture from Air Furniture

This is quite different, but also a style I like and the depth is just right. Hope I don't regret on the choice of fabric. Took quite some time to decide between dark grey and cherry brown. In the end I settled for cherry brown...

Light wood

Generally, I prefer dark, rich colored wood furnishings over lighter coloured wood. But this lighter colour tone has been catching my attention recently.

 the Maruni chair. Such simple lines!

Seems like the Japanese minimalist style is also spreading to Europe. Or are these more of Scandinavian style?

 I like the TV console set but will probably stick to white for the background wall.

 
Bed and TV console from Smootree, a distributor of European furnishings, which by the way, also carries amazing cool space saving designs.

Another beige coloured bed, image from Foundry.

The theme could even be extended to the bathroom.

Something I posted much earlier here, the Axor Bouroullec bathroom.

I think this colour tone looks great with a lot space. Not sure if it would turn out as good in a smaller space. But it seems like the simpler it looks, the higher the price tag.

Here's something more affordable, from Ikea. In fact, I bought a similar table a few years ago and decided not to stain it to retain the very natural look. 

image from Ikea

Singapore stores featured on US site

While searching for the address of a furniture store online, I happened to stumble upon a feature of it on Apartment Therapy, a popular US home furnishing and interiors site.

Foundry

I like the clean cut lines of their collections, which are often featured in Home & Decor, a Singapore interior magazine. Unfortunately, a visit to their store at Seah Street proved to be disappointing. They seemed to have filled the store with too many items within a limited space, which doesn't really do justice to the designs. Or is it a realistic reflection of things will look in a cluttered house?

Here's another of our local store, One Thousand Tales (at Haji Lane), featured on Apartment Therapy.

Comparatively, the atmosphere is much better and homely at One Thousand Tales. Oh, and I love those chairs and sofas, except that I can't really afford them...

photos from Apartment Therapy and Soon Lee.
 

Coffee or Tea. 25 Jun 11

I've passed by Restore on a number of occassions but did not step in for food and drinks until yesterday.

Post-modern chairs hanging on walls are a striking sight of this cafe cum furniture shop. Old furniture like chairs, cabinets, dressing tables, etc. are given new life through restoration work.

Love the retro fabrics that looks so cheerful

When I stepped into the cafe, the Japanese lady owner was giving instructions to a guy, seemingly to re-upholster some pieces. More lovely pieces should be on their way.

patrons gazing at the chairs while having coffee

My friend had previously told me that tea is good, but it was a rainy day and I'm in the mood for cappunccino. Unfortunately, the cappunccino is not that nice.

But the berries waffles are great, soft, fluffy and buttery; when eaten with maple syrup and slightly sour berries with fresh cream, the taste is just perfect. Understand that these are made by the Japanese lady boss.

I'll certainly come back for bagel and tea next time.

Check out their website at http://restoreliving.blogspot.com/.