Singapore Interior Design: Bring your home from drab to fab with Arete Culture

The Singapore interior design landscape can be daunting (and frighteningly expensive), but “Design in a Day” specialists Arete Culture give us all hope for stylish homes, mama!

Let’s face it, mamas, every now and then all of our homes could use a bit of a refresh, but the prospect of extensive renovations or costly interior design services makes most busy mamas run for the hills. With the motto “Luxe for All”, Singapore interior styling service Arete Culture is different: from their innovative “Design in a Day” express home makeovers, to the gorgeous furniture and accent pieces available at their expansive boutique in Tan Boon Liat Building, Arete can invigorate your home with fresh style in a quick, efficient and – best of all – affordable way!

Founded in 2009 by the effervescent and oh-so-stylish Caroline Chin-Geyler and having already completed makeovers on more than 300 homes in the region, Arete Culture offers a full suite of interior styling services, including interior staging, home consultations, and complete interior overhauls.

Their newly-launched “Design in a Day” express styling service is perfect for mamas craving expert decorating advice without breaking the bank: for $900 you’ll get spatial and aesthetic planning and a complete makeover of a targeted area of your home – all in just six hours! Want to revamp your living room or turn your home office into a nursery for a new baby? You’ll be amazed to see Caroline and her team work their magic! Arete understands mamas’ time is precious, too: express makeovers can be done in a single afternoon, or over three days from first consultation if that suits your needs better.

Arete’s unique penchant for quick and efficient service without compromising luxury and personalised tastes has carried over to an exciting new endeavour: their new Bespoke Boutique Furniture Collection. If you’e ever purchased furniture in Singapore before, mama, you’ve probably experienced the interminable 6-8 week waiting times that can come with ordering from the big shops here. Who wants to wait months for a sofa or a dining table when you’ve moved into a new home?! It’s hard to get settled and truly feel at home when there’s a couch-sized gap in your living room, amirite?

In keeping with Arete’s ethos of affordable, quality design delivered efficiently, the Bespoke Boutique collection completes all customised pieces within three weeks from the date of confirmation (they also offer a range of readymade products available for immediate purchase at their shop). Working with a Singapore-based carpentry studio, Arete has assembled a collection of hard-to-find, stylish pieces at friendly prices, including solid dining tables, poster beds with oversized headboards, TV consoles, side tables, coffee tables, bookshelves, storage cabinets and sideboards.

Every piece in the Bespoke Boutique Collection is made with Caroline’s trademark style, and customers can customise each piece to personal preference by selecting a specific size and finish (whitewashed, distressed, lacquered, etc.) to suit their space and aesthetic. Timely delivery is of such importance to Arete, in fact, that they promise customers a complimentary piece similar to the one you ordered if your requested product isn’t ready in three weeks.

Want to see these gorgeous pieces for yourself, mama? Be sure to visit Arete Culture’s newly-renovated boutique at Tan Boon Liat Building, which more than doubled in size this past March. In addition to readymade pieces from the Bespoke Boutique Collection, you’ll find a wide range of textiles, home accessories, ottomans, rugs, lighting and lamps, mirrors and artwork. The shop is cleverly configured by room of the house (entryway, dining area, lounge, bedroom, etc.) with accessories futher arranged by colour and style in each space to create an aesthetically appealing and exciting shopping experience. It’s a total 180 from the overwhelming clutter we’ve experienced at other furniture and design shops in Singapore!

If you’re after even more fab pieces for your home, mama, you can visit Arete Culture’s “suburban store” in Bukit Batok, which focuses on outdoor furniture. Starting this August, they’ll be Singapore’s exclusive distributor of Archipelago Furniture, a high-quality range of outdoor tables, chairs, and lounge sets made from durable and long-lasting – but still stylish and customisable! – materials.

A number of members of the Sassy Mama team have actually worked with Caroline and Arete Culture on our own homes, and we can personally attest to her fabulous style and amazingly attentive customer service – to be honest we’re not sure she actually sleeps! Caroline and her team work so hard to present multiple styling options to suit the needs and preferences of every home while still keeping budget and pricing in mind. She’ll also give you expert tips on how to work with what you already have; it’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint or some new throw pillows can do to reinvigorate a space. The end result is a finished product that is stylish, comfortable, and most importantly – you.

Arete Culture
Main showroom: 315 Outram Road, #06-01 Tan Boon Liat Building, Singapore 169074, Tel: (+65) 9640 3829
Opening hours: Monday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm

Bukit Batok suburban showroom: #09-08 Lam Soon Building, 63 Hillview Avenue, Singapore 669569, Tel: (+65) 6310 8098
Opening hours: Monday to Wednesday, 10am to 5pm; First Saturday of the month, 10am to 3pm; other times by appointment

www.areteculture.com, www.facebook.com/areteculturehomemakeover