A contemporary Malay bungalow with shining style

Lindsay Whitney Lindsay Whitney
Contemporarily Dashing | BUNGALOW, Design Spirits Design Spirits Modern Terrace
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As the third largest economy in Southeast Asia, Malaysia has been able to subsidise the development of plenty of sectors, and the world of design and architecture is one of these—it's undergoing a serious boom at the moment, meaning that designers have bigger and bolder home plans in which to showcase their decorous talents. One of the companies to have emerged out of this pot of fervent, luxury home-building activity, have been the Design Spirit's Designers and Decorators who work out of Klang, Malaysia. 

All of the properties that Design Spirit are charged with putting their magic touch on are innovative buildings to begin with, made opulently stylish and livable by the designers, who employ a range of modern to modern-retro aesthetic motifs. Their projects are helping shape the present and future standard in Malaysian design and decor, so let's have a look at their latest project, a 3 1/2 floor family bungalow on the outskirts of town.

Living scope

We start with the downstairs lounge and living area, located just off the kitchen, in order to show the bungalow dimensions that abound throughout the house--the second floor hallways look down below onto the open living areas. 

The living area design is typical Design Spirit modern-retro taste: comfy, chunky suede and leather furniture in warm colours in order to make this large space feel a bit cosier. And the walls are themselves art instead of having art hung on them; one wall is black and white striped while the other has been laid with charcoal horizontal stones and given a carved out, lime green shelving unit. Lastly, orb-like shapes of brushed gold occupy the upper white wall for a vintage finish.

D staircase

Half circle, spiralling staircases form a capital D shape, as you descend them from the top of the bungalow to the bottom. 

The steps themselves are made of a mix of cherry- and rosewoods and the bannisters are quite sturdy enough in metal and hard wood to make you feel secure as you walk and look all the way down. And the crystal string chandelier reaches down two floors!

A little funk in the kitchen

We love this kitchen design. Started with the stainless steel silver, handle-less cabinetry and the lime green backsplash of the long rectangle sink window, to the red, grey, pink and yellow-white glass hanging lamps above the island—it's just all so upbeat and funky! 

Modernity has further been accentuated by designers with a not so clunky wooden counter off the main stovetop island, paired with thin, retro bar chairs. 

A patio for entertaining

Okay, the decor on this patio has wisely been kept super simple, with strategically placed seating areas to encourage both sociability and privacy, making it a perfect place for a party. 

The furnishings themselves are all demure with simple edges and no ostentation, so the focus is rightly on the beauty of the house's architecture, the pool and the, most likely, fabulous Malay weather. Lastly, the palms placed in the centre of the pink pebble tarmac on either side of the pool function impeccably as a space-breaker.

Pool from above

From this view we can see the unique design the of pool, which has been done in a diamond shape, a bit like a misshapen baseball field, except home base is a circle hot tub with a blue mosaic tiled seating bench. 

We can also see the staircases from outside, which are completely encased by large, soft green tinted windows.

More than modern

The bathtub and shower in this bathroom go beyond modern, they are positively futuristic because they are so rare and so advanced. 

The tub is an up-to-the-minute whirlpool with energy-efficient tap stream technology while the shower is a simply a glass box that appears to have been placed directly onto the bathroom carpets, but lo!—a closer look shows the shower bottom is made of wood to match the rest of the bathroom floor. Quite a trick!

Did you enjoy this home tour? If so, we recommend checking out: A modern Korean home to die for.

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