The Straits Times
Monday, Feb 25, 2013
Mr Noah Naima, head designer and creative director of home-grown menswear label ATZU., is a stickler for details.
Everything in his 1,389 sq ft apartment in Mount Faber Road was carefully picked, from the thickness of the borders on his cloth window blinds to the sweet honeysuckle scent permeating his home. It was customised by Air & Odor Management which does ambient scents.
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Mr Naima, 28, says: "A home shows off your personality. If it is just another regular place, then it's just a house. So everything has been thought through in detail."
Before settling on this apartment, he had already seen about eight others. On seeing the Mount Faber unit for the first time, he recalls: "I walked around and was pointing out where things could go. That's how I knew I had fallen in love with it."
He previously lived in a 1,400 sq ft condominium apartment in Pasir Panjang.
The two-month renovation involved removing walls of the three-bedroom apartment to create an open, white-washed study. The master bedroom boasts a sophisticated light grey scheme with hints of white and gold.
The living and dining areas have a chic Italian vibe with black-and-white floors and striped wallpaper.
Not one to shy away from making a statement, Mr Naima went with a strong lime-green feature wall.
"I knew that it would work. My friends were blown away by the colour," says Mr Naima, who assists fashion director Daniel Boey to style fashion shoots and teach models how to pose on the first season of reality TV show Asia's Next Top Model.
Inspiration for rooms came from decor magazines that he read and he would tear out pictures he liked and file them in a folder. "Just like in fashion, you keep a tear sheet so you can remember what you like and can go back to it," says Mr Naima, who has been in the fashion business for about 10 years.
Aside from sourcing for furniture locally, he travelled to places such as Hong Kong, Vietnam and Bangkok to look for pieces from stores which friends recommended or had chanced upon there.
He had about 25 big items shipped back from Bangkok, such as a sunburst mirror and a customised dark oak dining tabletop for his eight-seater dining table.
Locally, he frequented stores such as FairPrice Antique in Outram Road, where he found a pair of antique bedside tables, and Lorgan's The Retro Store in Pasir Panjang Road, where he got chandeliers and a white 19th-century chair which was reupholstered and refurbished.
He would visit furniture stores two to three times before deciding what to buy. "I would study the advertisements in the newspaper every weekend and hit four to five stores. I got an idea of what was available before I bought anything."
The cost of the renovations, along with the fittings and furniture, came up to a "low six-figure sum", says Mr Naima, who moved in with his partner last month. "I'd rather spend the money now on good, proper furniture than low-quality ones. You do it once and you do good."
natashaz@sph.com.sg
