Cover The dining room from a side angle, where bold colour carries from the tropical artwork to the Lladró chandelier, the bar’s patterned tile arch, and the tiger-print bar stools alongside the wine fridge
The dining room from a side angle, where bold colour carries from the tropical artwork to the Lladró chandelier, the bar’s patterned tile arch, and the tiger-print bar stools alongside the wine fridge
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Creature Designs transformed an abandoned condominium in Penang into a home vibrant with bold colour, working with clients willing to take risks on colour and form
When Shen Yee Choong first spoke with her client over a video call, she sent her a photograph: a bottle of Royal Salute whisky from the brand’s Miami Polo edition, its packaging rendered in pink and turquoise. It was, she says, all the brief she needed.
“The moment she shared she wanted something colourful was the moment that excited me for the project,” says Choong, co-founder of the Penang-based interior design practice Creature Designs. “Opportunity to play with colours and textures in a residential home comes by really rarely.”
Above Designer Shen Yee Choong in the kitchen, which features terracotta-pink cabinetry, open shelving lined with rattan baskets, and a richly veined marble backsplash
Designer Shen Yee Choong in the kitchen, which features terracotta-pink cabinetry, open shelving lined with rattan baskets, and a richly veined marble backsplash
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Above The entrance foyer, with a built-in arched nook in white plaster featuring fluted panelling and a cushioned bench, with a view through to the pink dining room beyond
The entrance foyer, with a built-in arched nook in white plaster featuring fluted panelling and a cushioned bench, with a view through to the pink dining room beyond
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The home in question is a 2,642-square-foot unit on Penang’s Gurney Drive. When Choong first saw it, the apartment was abandoned, its finishes dated, and its layout a study in acute angles. Built in 1993, the building imposed strict renovation rules: only one structural wall could be removed. Choong took the geometry as given and worked from there.
“When I finally went to visit the site, I was inspired by shapes,” she says. “The original layout of the unit is very octagonal with many edges, so I was drawn to rounds and curves to soften the space.” Circles and softened edges now recur throughout the apartment, from the door and wall linings to the base of the dining table, creating a visual consistency that feels native to the floor plan.
See also: Inside Peninsula House: The transformation of a Penang art deco landmark
The living room in full, with the blue velvet sofa, chinoiserie wallpaper wall, arched pink shelving, rattan peacock chair, and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the sea and tree canopy
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Above The living room, with a blue velvet modular sofa facing the pink arched shelving units lined with the owners' collected objects, books, and ceramics, set against chinoiserie wallpaper
Above The living room wall, with dusty pink panelled cabinetry flanked by a floral chinoiserie wallpaper panel and the mint-green geometric screen partition at the edge of the frame
The living room, with a blue velvet modular sofa facing the pink arched shelving units lined with the owners' collected objects, books, and ceramics, set against chinoiserie wallpaper
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The colour palette deepened during a trip Choong made to India while the project was in its early stages. She was there working on a separate commission when her clients first made contact. In Telangana, she encountered hand-painted textiles; in Jaipur, she was struck by the architecture’s use of colour. Pink and green began to assert themselves as the apartment’s dominant registers. Bold, saturated tones were assigned to the communal spaces; quieter palettes to the bedrooms. “Social areas have bold colours while private areas like bedrooms have calm colours,” Choong explains.
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The dining room viewed head-on, with the tropical botanical artwork on the left wall, the Lladró chandelier overhead, the Dad’s Woods dining table at centre, and the mint-green bar and arched nook beyond
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Above The dining and living areas in a single view, with the arched pink display shelving, the mint-green geometric screen divider, and the blue velvet sofa visible in the living room beyond
Above The bar, with mint-green cabinetry, a rounded island base, patterned red-and-white tile backsplash set within a plaster arch, and two bar stools upholstered in a tiger-print fabric
The dining and living areas in a single view, with the arched pink display shelving, the mint-green geometric screen divider, and the blue velvet sofa visible in the living room beyond
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The living room anchors the scheme, where green panels line one wall with the kind of precise, unadorned profiles Choong favours. The clients, she notes, have a strong affinity for nature and a preference for modern lines. “Instead of going to the end of traditional or classical style, I’ve modernised the details we used in the home,” she says. Rattan and wood appear throughout, and furniture was produced locally in Malaysia, including pieces crafted from bamboo. An antique table in the living hall, at least four decades old, was incorporated as found. Several lamps and a chair were repurposed.
Read more: Inside the Qing Suites: how Penang’s Blue Mansion annexe became a heritage hotel
The kitchen cabinetry wall, with a full slab of red and grey veined marble as the backsplash and terracotta-pink lower cabinets below matching open shelving
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Above The kitchen sink corner, where the veined marble countertop wraps around the angle, a globe pendant hangs overhead, and linen blinds with coral scalloped edging frame the city view
Above A kitchen pantry nook framed by a full plaster arch, with terracotta-pink open shelving, a marble countertop, and woven baskets throughout
The kitchen sink corner, where the veined marble countertop wraps around the angle, a globe pendant hangs overhead, and linen blinds with coral scalloped edging frame the city view
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In the dining room, a colourful art-deco-inspired pendant lamp from the Spanish porcelain brand Lladró hangs above a table by the local woodworking studio Dad’s Woods. Art drawn from the owners’ travels fills the walls; one piece in the master bedroom was made by Choong herself.
See also: 7 dining rooms in Asia with histories worth knowing
The master bedroom in full view, showing the herringbone timber floor, walnut desk, globe-base table lamp, and a small, rounded armchair and ottoman by the curtained window
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The master bathroom shower area, with fish-scale teal mosaic tiles set within a plaster arch and dual brass overhead and handheld fittings
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The apartment is a family home, occupied by a couple whose taste runs toward the adventurous. Choong describes them as stylish and risk-tolerant, clients who largely deferred to her judgment and visited the site only once during the renovation. The final presentation was, by her account, a nerve-racking moment. “It’s pretty much a big reveal,” she says. “I was nervous showing them the final result.” Their response was positive, and only minor detailing adjustments followed.
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The family room, with an antique rosewood table inlaid with mother-of-pearl in the foreground, a geometric glass-and-metal sliding screen, and a large colourful artwork on the pink wall
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Above The powder room, tiled in white and duck-egg blue with terracotta pencil-line borders, a rounded floating vanity, and an arched mirror
Above A guest bedroom with a scallop-edged headboard upholstered in a pink striped fabric, a cylindrical rattan bedside table, and floor-length curtains with a navy trim
The powder room, tiled in white and duck-egg blue with terracotta pencil-line borders, a rounded floating vanity, and an arched mirror
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Choong’s own favourite spaces in the completed apartment are the kitchen and the master bedroom, though she is candid about what she might have pushed further. She had hoped to source an embroidered fabric for the headboard and to refine the metalwork detailing to a softer finish. Neither was fully realised. “I wouldn’t say I’m unsatisfied,” she says, “just aware that there were opportunities to go even further.”
Some practical constraints proved harder to navigate. Certain sections of flooring could not be removed under the building’s rules, so Choong introduced transition tiles at the junctions between materials. The octagonal floor plan that posed the original challenge is still legible in the finished apartment, albeit softened by the strategically planned curves.
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Photography: David Yeow
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Jennifer Choo is Regional Managing Editor of Tatler Homes, covering architecture, interior design, and art across Asia. Based in Malaysia, she oversees regional content on luxury residential design and contemporary art collections. Legally trained but choosing to pursue her passion for design, she previously led notable design publications and worked as an interior stylist and art consultant for property developers, design firms, and private clients.
