Cover The terrace house’s living room pairs a Cassina Sengu coffee table with HC28 Meg lounge chairs, while a Vibia Wireflow pendant anchors the corner by the garden-facing windows
The terrace house’s living room pairs a Cassina Sengu coffee table with HC28 Meg lounge chairs, while a Vibia Wireflow pendant anchors the corner by the garden-facing windows
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Beloved Singapore home-grown fashion brand Love, Bonito co founder’s East Coast terrace house is both a haven for family life and an inspiring location for the filming of her podcast series
Rachel Lim grew up in and attended schools in Singapore’s east side, so she naturally gravitated back after getting married. The co-founder of fashion label Love, Bonito lived in an apartment for a time until she and her husband, hospitality interior designer Leonard Lee, decided to look for a landed property. They found the perfect dwelling not too far away in the East Coast area.
“We came across this house and really fell in love with it,” says Lim, whom I met one morning finishing up work calls at the dining table. The home is pleasant and immediately inviting, with full-height windows framing the front garden. Light washes down the stairwell, putting focus on the crisp, white staircase.
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Above Lloyd Tabing’s “Tell Me What You Want” artwork adds character to the terrace house’s living room
Above Dark timber volumes frame a view to the living room
Lloyd Tabing’s “Tell Me What You Want” artwork adds character to the terrace house’s living room
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The 4,400 sq ft terrace house was built in 2022 by The Carpenter’s Workshop, which christened it The Kirigami House after the Japanese art of paper cutting and folding to create intricate 3D patterns often applied to pop-up cards.
This dwelling has that effect; the white faceted facade pockmarked with small square openings mitigates privacy and light, and the staircase unfolds like a white ribbon up the house’s section.
Above A marbled stone backsplash and curved wood cabinetry frame this quiet corner of the terrace house’s kitchen
A marbled stone backsplash and curved wood cabinetry frame this quiet corner of the terrace house’s kitchen
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Atmosphere and Emotion
A tactual béton brut wall juxtaposes against the staircase’s minimal and precise form. On the upper levels, steel-framed glass fenestrations for several spaces amplify daylight through the house so the lights are barely switched on during the day. It is within this framework that interior designer Stacey Leong added her touches through a four-month long renovation.
“We know Stacey through a mutual friend. We’ve always loved her design aesthetic and thought if we ever have a new home, we would want her to [work on it],” says Lim, who is not only a busy entrepreneur but also a hands-on mother to a three-year-old daughter and six-year-old son. The intentional changes respect the architectural features that the couple loved and were also pragmatic for the hard knocks of life with young children.
Above A travertine bench built into the dark wood panelling offers a quiet pause, with greenery visible through the steel-framed window beyond
Above A closer look at the travertine bench, its curved form softening the run of dark wood panelling
A travertine bench built into the dark wood panelling offers a quiet pause, with greenery visible through the steel-framed window beyond
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“We didn’t start with a fixed aesthetic or a mood board. The brief was more emotional than visual,” Lim recalls. “We’re drawn to spaces that feel quiet, grounded, and deeply considered. Leo’s work in hospitality has shaped how we think about atmosphere and spatial experience, while I tend to gravitate towards how a space supports everyday living and emotional ease.” She credits Leong for “translating and refining what we were trying to articulate into something cohesive, and helping us make decisions with clarity.”
Connected, Artful Living
It helps that the terrace house’s original structure had good bones that support tropical living, such as natural ventilation, daylight, shade, and thresholds fusing seamless indoor-outdoor living. This starts at the first storey, which Lim describes as “open, fluid, and adapts easily to the rhythm of our days—from quiet mornings to fuller evenings with family and friends”.
Sweden-based American artist Lloyd Tabing’s abstract artwork lends colour to the wall, and works as a focal point to Leong’s gentle rhythms of mirrored panels, lime-wash paint and curved lines.
Above A custom dining table with curved metal legs and a Dekton surface stands beneath a sculptural chandelier in the terrace house’s dining room
Above Dark timber shelving is recessed into a stone-clad wall in the dining room’s corner
A custom dining table with curved metal legs and a Dekton surface stands beneath a sculptural chandelier in the terrace house’s dining room
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The furniture and lighting selection, which includes Meg lounge chairs from HC28 and a barely there Wireflow pendant lamp from Vibia, augments the softness and soulful ambience.
Leong calls the terrace house kitchen’s five-metre-long island counter “a chef’s dream”. This is Lee’s happy place. His love of cooking led to a side stint as a food influencer, and the kitchen with a central cooking layout was considered for professional filming requirements.
Above A marble-clad island wrapped in Infinity Iconic Cipollino porcelain anchors the kitchen, paired with King Living Quay bar chairs and a Nightworks Studio Petrine Double pendant
A marble-clad island wrapped in Infinity Iconic Cipollino porcelain anchors the kitchen, paired with King Living Quay bar chairs and a Nightworks Studio Petrine Double pendant
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Above The five-metre-long island counter, Leong's "chef's dream," is wrapped in Infinity Iconic Cipollino porcelain
Above Curved cabinetry and a steel-framed clerestory window let daylight spill into the kitchen, keeping it connected to the outdoors.
The five-metre-long island counter, Leong's "chef's dream," is wrapped in Infinity Iconic Cipollino porcelain
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Yin and Yang
“Wood accents and sculptural wall sconces add warmth to complement the raw edges of the original bare concrete walls,” says Leong. Her layering onto the base palette largely dictated by the family’s feng shui master is “a sophisticated balance of yin and yang, where warm and cool tones intersect to create architectural tension”.
Above The master bedroom opens to the garden, where soft drapery, an Aratamete tencel rug and Nightworks Studio pendant lights shape a calm, intimate retreat
The master bedroom opens to the garden, where soft drapery, an Aratamete tencel rug and Nightworks Studio pendant lights shape a calm, intimate retreat
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Above An arched, wood-clad passage leads from the master bedroom into the walk-in wardrobe
Above Flush cabinetry and a restrained palette reinforce the master bedroom’s intent as a pared-back sanctuary
An arched, wood-clad passage leads from the master bedroom into the walk-in wardrobe
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Leong elaborates: “The result is an interior that celebrates the natural interplay of light and volume, feeling both grounded and avant-garde.” Nature is never far away in this house.
Like the living room, the master bedroom opens to a lush garden that doubles as a screen from passers-by. At the attic level, the gym and Lee’s study open to a rooftop garden where the family sometimes head to when it is cooler in the evenings.
Above The master bedroom has a picture window to a lush garden, with artwork set into a backlit wood niche above the bed
The master bedroom has a picture window to a lush garden, with artwork set into a backlit wood niche above the bed
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Above Large-format Reves Blue Onyx porcelain from Florim wraps the vanity, set against curved timber volumes and globe sconces
Above A double vanity in onyx-look stone is lit by round wall sconces reflected in the mirrored cabinetry
Large-format Reves Blue Onyx porcelain from Florim wraps the vanity, set against curved timber volumes and globe sconces
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There is another garden next to the greenhouse-like studio where Lim films her popular Who We Are podcast series. The once-bare garden is now a verdant backdrop for the videos. The natural light makes the videos and photographs look good, too.
“The studio is very introspective. It’s where I go to think, write, create, and host conversations. There is a different energy there; more inward and intentional, and the separation helps me show up differently in that space,” explains Lim.
Every part of the house is lived-in and well used, supporting the daily rhythms of family life. “It was a very iterative process—less about filling the space, and more about placing things that truly belonged,” says Lim, on making this “perfect find” a home.
Above In the terrace house’s studio, a King Living 1977 curved sofa stands beneath a wall artwork from Montana Moore titled “Connections”, with a braided rug from Aratamete softening this light-filled corner
Above A curved, barrel-vaulted ceiling and built-in shelving lend an intimate, gallery-like quality to the studio
In the terrace house’s studio, a King Living 1977 curved sofa stands beneath a wall artwork from Montana Moore titled “Connections”, with a braided rug from Aratamete softening this light-filled corner
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Credits
Photography: MarcusL Photography
