Small Home: Casa Desa

What attracted you to this apartment and what was it like when you first moved in?

The unit is on the top floor of a three-storey block of flats. I was immediately drawn to the split-level nature of the building being on a slope, allowing for an interesting staircase connection overlooking a courtyard. Taman Desa (meaning 'Village Garden' in Malay) is a quiet neighbourhood found on a small hill close to downtown Kuala Lumpur and its neighbouring city, Petaling Jaya. I grew up in an area nearby so I always quite liked the idea of living in Taman Desa. I bought the apartment from a good friend who left the space in good condition with minimal built-ins.

What did you keep and what did you change?

The existing broken white marble flooring – quite a popular finish in the 1980s – was the first thing I chose to preserve, as I really liked it. The previous tenant also removed the balcony for a bigger living room space, but I decided to reinstate it, installing tall folding windows to create an indoor-outdoor living space.

What do you like to do at home and how does the design of your home make it all possible?

I love cooking, hosting and experimenting with food, hence the kitchen is the core space in my home. The open-plan nature allows the living and dining space to revolve around the kitchen too.

Where did your inspiration for all the multifunctional built-in units come from?

My two very active cats Jasper and Juno were the inspiration behind wanting the built-ins to be both interactive and functional storage and display space.

The idea behind the cat ramps came from being unsure of what to do with an old pillar and beam around the dining area, which I eventually decided to use as a ‘cat shrine’.

The ledges suspended above the ramps act as both a resting place and sort-of-viewing-deck for the cats, as well as a place to store and display my books and art.

More recently, I designed and built a wall-mounted shelving unit consisting of six modules stacked on top of each other with interconnecting holes for the cats to climb through. Other features of the unit include a bookshelf, cable organiser, a stand mirror and more cat ramps. The offset sliding mirror doors also provide an interesting distortion of the reflected surroundings while the staggered placements of each of the shelf modules allows for interesting nooks in which to display my art collections. The inspiration behind building this additional shelving unit was the need for more space-saving storage with additional features for the cats to play with and enjoy.

Could you talk us through the timeline of the design and build?

I bought the apartment in 2017, moved in for a year whilst planning the design, and started the renovation process in 2019. The design process was pretty quick, lasting around one month, whereas the actual renovation and building work took about three months.

Were there any surprises or unexpected challenges once you got started?

As the property is quite old there was a lot of wiring and piping that had to be hacked and replaced, which was a lengthy process but definitely necessary. Also as someone who cooks and entertains quite often I wanted to create an open-plan kitchen, dining and living space which required knocking down the wall separating the original kitchen and living room. This turned out to be quite tricky because there was an unexpected structural pillar and beam that I had to keep and which I decided to leave exposed. Although it was a bit of a challenge in deciding what to do with the pillar and beam, they served as the basis for the cat ramps and inspiration for the raw and exposed look and material palette.

What else guided your choice of materials and finishes?

I wanted the space to feel warm yet understated – playing around with pairing cheaper and more luxury materials like plywood and natural stones helped me to achieve this. Choosing to work with plywood and clear varnish as the main cabinetry material also allowed me to seamlessly integrate the cat components into the built-in cabinets. I created large circular openings on some of the cabinet doors to function as cubby holes for the cats, and swapped the cabinet door knobs to circular opening handles to match.

How did your background as a light artist influence the design?

Lighting at home is crucial for me. Ironically, being a light artist and working with advanced lighting technologies, I much prefer ambient and simple lighting at home. Though I do have ceiling downlights, I'll only use indirect lighting such as wall lights and table lamps around the apartment at night. I also pay close attention to the finishes and materials of the objects and furniture around my lighting; I really like to see how light bounces off them. I'm also big on the sensorial deprivation concept, whereby the absence of a certain sense heightens others. In this case, the lack of light at night allows my other senses to peak, and at the same time release. The lighting above my cat ramps is blue as research has shown that deep blue light calms pets. It doesn't always seem to work with them though!

Tell us more about the cats.

I've had Jasper for almost five years, since he was a kitten. I recently adopted Juno who's one year old. Jasper is a black and white tuxedo cat, whilst Juno is a black Persian cat. Seeing as I've had Jasper for longer, he and a previous cat both served as inspiration for the design of the apartment. Now Jasper plays the cool older brother showing Juno the ropes. He actually taught Juno how to climb the ramps when he was a kitten. Juno is the hyperactive one but is also clingy and loves my bed.

Speaking for yourself, Jasper and Juno, what are your favourite details in your home?

The ramps and the balcony ledge are definitely a shared favourite. Now that there are two cats, they often play ‘zoomies’ down the main staircase straight up to the ramps and up to the ceiling ledge.

The balcony ledge also acts as an interesting threshold for me to connect with the outside world from inside my apartment with its tall folding windows. The height from the ledge also allows the cats to peer down to the surrounding apartment compound. Jasper and Juno also like the new shelving unit as they can both watch each other from across the living room, with one sitting on top of the shelves and the other on top of the ramp, and they also have new holes and ramps to enjoy.

While your home caters so generously to the needs and happiness of your cats, it's also filled with an eclectic mix of books, art and colourful furniture and objects. What's the key for you to make it all work?

I intentionally kept the plywood built-ins muted and raw as I wanted to use them to display my vintage furniture and objects that I love to collect. Some of my collection includes: a vintage IKEA Bogan table (1986) by Tord Bjorklund, the Etch Lamp by Tom Dixon (where I used to work in London), the iconic Artemide Tizio desk lamp by Richard Sapper and vintage brass switches from Chatuchak market in Bangkok. I also have some of my own art creations around the place such as 'Orb', an iridescent spherical module which reflects incredible lighting during the day, a custom iridescent-chromed steel plate coffee table and a custom pair of pendants above my dining table in the same material. I love collecting objects and feature pieces from my travels as they usually add pops of colour or have an interesting texture, form or funny story behind them. The same goes for the artwork, with my two favourite ones being a 3D wood-cut diorama by Malaysian artist Tomi Heri depicting a robbery scene in a back alley, and a landscape painting I have by my sister's mother-in-law, the Australian artist, Jill Bond. Beyond that, my book collection is quite varied and includes a range of art, architecture and cookbooks.

Any thoughts on how furniture and design in our homes might evolve to better suit our pets?

Two words: MICRO-FIBRE! All finishes and upholstery need to be microfibre or another sort of cut pile fabric so that your cats aren't interested in scratching them. I definitely learnt that the hard and expensive way. I think there's definitely a gap in the market for beautifully designed pet furniture – at least in Asia – that can integrate seamlessly within the home. It's actually always been a dream of mine to design some cool pet furniture. Most of my pet furniture is modular and adaptable, meaning I can scale them up or down and move them around to suit different living needs in a small unit, whilst also offering exciting play components for my pets.

We've talked a lot about your kitchen and living area but what about your bedroom and bathroom? How did you alter these spaces during the renovation?

I'm tall, so the main feature of my bedroom is my custom king-size bed with its custom micro-fibre upholstery frame which is ideal as the cats also sleep in my bedroom. I have a beautiful black and white triptych in my room too, painted by one of my favourite Malaysian abstract artists Mark Tan. The etched-paintings are flanked by two super-warm wall lamps by the Sabine Marcelis x Ikea collection.

Out of all the spaces in my apartment, the bathroom is probably where I spend most of my time unwinding. I wanted the toilet to look monochromatic and sleek, so I chose a skinny, rectangular, textured grey tile for the wall against a matching grey tiled floor. I also opted for a small mounted sink with a tall vanity mirror to add to the look. I also customised a crystal-inspired wall lamp made from found materials, like broken CDs and charcoal, which I think acts as a focal point and anchors the bathroom space nicely.

How would you describe your home in three words?

Understated, cheeky and sleek.