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Bella Koh and Terence Yeung have had strangers mistaking their home for a cafeWith quirky eateries popping up in Tiong Bahru, curious - and hungry - strangers have stumbled into Ms Bella Koh's apartment, looking for yummy bites.迷你倉旺角Ms Koh, 33, who moved into the ground-floor unit of the three-storey pre-war building almost three years ago, says: "My husband and I leave the main door open for sunlight to come in, but people walk in thinking that it's a cafe or snap photographs."I have to tell them that it's our home."It is easy to mistake the chic home in Eng Watt Street for a chic cafe.Open the door to this 1,350 sq ft apartment and the first thing that catches your eye is a marble countertop laden with a cake stand and Le Creuset pots, a stove and a vase of fresh blooms.Ms Koh, who owns vintage accessories and lifestyle store Flea & Trees in neighbouring Seng Poh Lane, can often be found behind the stove, whipping up homemade goodies for dinner or baking organic cookies.Next to the stove is a white- clothed dining table with mismatched classic modernist chairs. Two are Herman Miller Eames Molded Plastic side chairs, while another two are Hiroshima chairs by Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa.Ms Koh lives with Mr Terence Yeung, 43, a graphic design lecturer at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Married for about five years, they have no children.It was Mr Yeung who designed the apartment, with much input from his spouse.Ms Koh, who is also a food stylist, would search for inspiration by looking through home decor pictures and show him images she liked. She would tell him what she dreamt of having in a home and left the space planning to him - a "pretty good" design process, she calls it.The couple overhauled the apartment to bring the kitchen space to the front - originally, it was right at the back.They also changed the layout so that a long corridor that used to run down the right flank of the apartment now runs down its left.Changing the corridor space allowed them to carve out a bigger bathroom in the master bedroom. That bathroom - enlarged from 3.6 sq m to 5.6 sq m - now has a rainshower and a bathtub.They also turned one of two bedrooms into a walk-in wardrobe for Ms Koh. Doors open up to reveal four racks of her shoes - about 50 pairs - displayed neatly, just like in a shoe store.The palette of the apartment is predominantly white, right down to the sofa, bed covers and table cloths. Anything that is not white is a muted beige tone or in black.Colours, the couple explain, can be distracting.Mr Ymini storageung says: "Having a home that is too colourful is like someone wearing too much clothes at one go."People are the best addition to make a space interesting. No space should be more important than humans."Their love of all things white extends to their choice of "art". An empty frame hangs in their living room on a white wall - dubbed the "Frame Of Nothing" by the couple.Mr Yeung says: "We were discussing for the longest time what to put in the frame but, after a while, we gave up and didn't put anything in it. It fits the theme of our home anyway."When designing the house, he was inspired by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of cult Tokyo-based architectural firm Sanaa, who practise "light architecture" in their works. The two architects often design minimalist homes, playing with natural light and mixing indoor and outdoor spaces.This is reflected in the semi-open back area, which is separated from the rest of the flat by a glass door. There, a small bed has been placed for the couple's six cats to nap and lounge on while basking in the sun.Mr Yeung also drew upon Japanese architect Tadao Ando's style of dramatic lighting for the airwell in the dining room, which does not get a lot of light when the front door is closed.On marrying the aesthetic philosophy of these architects, Mr Yeung says: "The external part of the home should co-exist with the inside. We left the airwell as it is, so that our home gets a lot of air ventilation and some light."A must-have in their home - and something they recommend for those who entertain often - is a kitchen island.Mr Yeung says: "Everyone can participate in the cooking process - be it stirring the pot or having a taste of what's cooking. You're never cooking facing a wall, which makes the process very solitary and unwelcoming."Given that both husband and wife have an eye for good design, designing their home together involved balancing their individual tastes.As he says: "I'm modernist in taste and she likes the minimalist look."Their only debate was over the backyard, she says. "I didn't want granite flooring, but he did."The couple's previous home - a 1,045 sq ft apartment a few lanes away in Eng Hoon Street where they lived for seven years - had a lot of grey surfaces, she adds. "I guess I was put off it after a while, and didn't want it in the new house."The backyard now sports beige flooring.On working to his wife's dream specifications, Mr Yeung quips: "She's my client and I'm the designer. It was a good challenge... I took the dream to reality."natashaz@sph.com.sg迷你倉