Designer showcase

		Thursday, Oct 27, 2011 The Business Times
Designer showcase
By Geoffrey Eu WHEN Aisha Ashraf Khawaja couldn't find a writing desk to fit into a small space in the study of her third floor apartment in the River Valley area, she simply designed one herself and then had it made to order - having specialist woodworkers and your own furniture-making factory has its benefits. Click on thumbnail to view Of course, it helps that Khawaja is a US-trained interior architect with her own design firm, although contrary to what you might expect, her home isn't just a personal showcase for her designs. She takes particular pride in having the ability - and the confidence - to fill specific spaces with items that reflect her eclectic tastes. “Have you planned for your future?" Her company Accentuate Home was formed in 2010, five years after she moved to Singapore with her banker husband. In the first few years she worked for an interior design company specialising in the hospitality industry, travelling often to Dubai when there were plentiful projects to oversee. Now that she has two young children to look after, however, Khawaja has joined the ranks of working mothers with small businesses of their own. Her company, the appropriately-named Accentuate Home (www.accentuatehome.com.sg), targets the ever-growing expatriate market, but she isn't interested in flooding homes around Singapore with her distinctive designs - it's a bespoke operation, with each new project giving her the opportunity to say something different. The Karachi-born Khawaja's aesthetic sensibilities were shaped by an Asian upbringing and studies in the United States. She describes her furniture as a mixture of East and West, of classical and contemporary styles. Typical items might include an elegant leather side table or a living room bar-cabinet finished in textured eel skin. 'I design everything, choose the finishes, go to the markets to source different leathers and combine different materials so that it's more like an art piece,' says Khawaja. 'Since I do mainly bespoke stuff it really depends on the client's space - I like to see what existing furniture they have and I don't expect them to throw away what they already have.' When she returned to her native country after finishing her studies, Khawaja joined a well-known local firm and worked on many residential interior projects. 'The thing with Pakistan at that time, people had no direct access to brand name furniture then,' she says. 'A lot of people in Karachi are extremely well travelled, so they see what's around and they asked me to help them achieve a certain look.' As might be expected, Khawaja's three-bedroom home is elegant, comfortable and immaculate, even if certain spaces are designated as unofficial child-friendly zones. She works in the study as well as in the dining area, where she sketches her concepts while keeping an eye on the kids as well. 'I prefer to do everything by hand and I work by appointment so it's a lot easier to manage my time,' she says. By virtue of a streamlined operation where she has control of the manufacturing and delivery process, Khawaja is able to keep costs manageable and prices of her furniture down - every piece, such as a large hand-carved mirror frame or a leather-wrapped cabinet, is priced between $1,100 and $4,500. She recently opened a store as well. 'I'm very familiar with the way things work, because the factory in Karachi is managed by my family,' says Khawaja, adding that despite the political situation in the country, she is happy to be able to provide gainful employment to a small group of workers. She has worked with them long enough to know what they are capable of so in a way her designs are driven by the type of expertise she has at her disposal. She works with solid rosewood and different textured leathers. 'I don't use any faux stuff at all,' she says. Her creations are mainly one-offs because, she says, 'I get really tired of seeing the same things. A couple of pieces were popular but I don't like the thought of others having exactly the same thing. I call my pieces limited editions so at most I will make six or seven of the same thing. I also sell my furniture in Pakistan, where everyone knows one another - over here I can still get away with it.' Her Singapore apartment has several signature pieces on view, including a leather console near the entryway, a maroon ottoman in the study and the distinctive bar-cabinet in the living room. However, one of her favourite pieces in the apartment is not hers - a large mirror by Philippe Starck occupies a prominent spot at the end of a corridor leading to the bedrooms. 'When we were in college everything was designed by Starck - I'm still a big fan,' she says. In addition, the walls of the home are filled with dozens of artworks from the Asia region in various shapes and sizes, featuring primarily paintings by artists from Pakistan but also from India, including a watercolour of horses by the late great Indian modernist artist M F Hussain. 'I used to paint a lot when I had more time, but not any longer,' says Khawaja. After six years in Singapore and a year in business for herself, Khawaja is comfortable with living and doing business here. 'Initially my clients were drawn mainly from the expat community but ever since I launched my store more locals are coming in. People are also more open about combining different styles to come up with a more individual look - it's really just a matter of personal taste.' She adds: 'Homes should really reflect the client's lifestyle - they should never be like a museum or a showpiece. The best places to live are those that you are really comfortable in.' This article was first published in The Business Times.