Space Makers: Ethereall examines how to treat interiors as living systems

Set along the coastline, Ethereall’s Amber Road apartment project begins with humidity as a design driver rather than a constraint. Completed in 2025, walls are finished in Vasari lime wash, a breathable mineral surface that resists mould while introducing a soft, shifting texture. Light moves across it throughout the day, giving the interior a quiet sense of depth.

The clients arrived with opposing instincts—one was drawn to curves, while the other preferred restraint. Chua’s response was measured. Curves appear where they matter: easing structural beams, softening edges, tempering heavier materials. They don’t define the space; they refine it.

Existing tiles were preserved, with circulation subtly reworked instead of erased. The kitchen, anchored by a Cosentino Sensa island, becomes the centre of daily life. Elsewhere, the palette holds steady—mineral tones, soft timber, brushed metals, punctuated by warm tiles from Rice.

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For homeowners shaped by years of travel across the UK and Europe, the brief for this landed home at Greenleaf Place was less about replication than recall. The result draws on modern farmhouse cues—panel mouldings, arched openings, timber floors—without leaning into nostalgia.

A double-volume stair hall anchors the house, its height emphasised by a chandelier that pulls the eye upward. Arches thread through the interior, softening transitions and giving the architecture a steady rhythm.

The kitchen introduces contrast: dark cabinetry against marble surfaces, lifted by brass fittings. Elsewhere, the palette remains controlled, allowing moments of personality to surface more sharply. A powder room, lined with printed wallpaper and deep green mosaic tiles, shifts the mood entirely—contained, but intentional.

Family spaces are quieter. A reading and play corner softens the tone, bringing the house back to its everyday function. Materials—timber, marble, imported mosaics—are layered with care, balanced against budget constraints that require discipline rather than dilution.

For a couple navigating demanding work schedules, this Edgedale Plains apartment is designed less as a showpiece than as a release. The brief was direct: a home that feels uplifting, relaxed and just a little playful the moment they step inside. Instead of centring the bedroom, the design shifts focus to the living area—the space where the couple actually spends most of their downtime. It becomes the emotional core of the home, shaped through colour, texture and a series of small architectural moves.

A palette emerges from contrast. The wife’s preference for green and the husband’s inclination towards terracotta were balanced rather than blended. Terracotta tiles introduce warmth and weight, while softer greens temper and ground the space. Neither dominates, but both are present.

Curved niches and built-in shelving break up the apartment’s structure, creating places for books and objects to accumulate over time. They double as display and architecture, adding depth without clutter. Walls are finished in lime wash, giving surfaces a soft, mineral quality that shifts subtly with light.

Material choices carry the same logic. Herringbone timber flooring introduces movement underfoot; textured tiles and terrazzo surfaces bring tactility to the kitchen and bathrooms. Matte black fittings cut through the warmth, adding a sharper edge that keeps the interior from feeling overly nostalgic.

Lighting is handled with restraint—integrated, indirect, and designed to shift the mood rather than define it. By evening, the apartment settles into a softer register, closer to a retreat than a city home.

Across these projects, what holds is not a visual signature, but a way of working. Ethereall returns to the same questions each time: how does this space support the people inside it, and what does it need to do so well?

Chua describes her process as translating a client’s ethos into a “space of art.” In practice, it’s less abstract than it sounds. It shows up in the decisions that don’t draw attention to themselves—the material that ages well, the layout that anticipates habit, the detail that resolves quietly.

In a field that often rewards recognisability, Ethereall takes a different approach. Each project begins again, without a template. The outcome is less immediate, but it lasts longer: spaces that settle into daily life, and stay there.

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