Entrepreneur Puteri Zarith did not want her home to looked cluttered or overcrowded.
“I told my interior designer that I wanted everything to be [minimal],” said Puteri, 35, who is married to Dr Munzir Shkori and is a mother to 10-year-old Arayyan Darwish and seven-year-old Puteri Medina.
“I wanted a lot of breathing space. When I enter my home, I do not want to feel suffocated. I believe less can be beautiful.”
All the empty space in her condominium unit provides ample opportunities for her two young children to play rather freely.
“If the house is overcrowded, my children’s movement will be restricted,” she says.
“I do not want that for my children.”
Her second instruction to her interior designer was that she did not want any bright, shocking colours.
The co-founder of local beauty brand TruDolly says: “I just wanted my interior designer to play around with black, white and cream colours. I wanted earth colours. I wanted subtlety.”
Her third condition was she wanted the house to have brightness. That explains the large glass windows all along her living room.
“My house is like an aquarium where the neighbours can watch our movements,” she says.
“I do not mind that. I just love brightness.”
She says that one of the best compliments she has ever received from guests who have visited her home is that it has a very calming atmosphere.
That is one fact that certainly cannot be denied. The moment you enter her duplex condominium, which is a four-minute walk from Suria KLCC, you can already feel a sense of calm.
One of the most interesting spaces in the unit is the dining room, which features a table made from marble, contrasting with a modern-looking chandelier.
A ‘side table’ – which is actually three travelling bags of different sizes stacked on top of one another in her living room – also catches the eye. It is a perfect conversation piece among her guests.
She also has two abstract paintings on her walls. The abstract paintings are subtle and do not draw too much attention.
In the dry kitchen where she eats breakfast with her family, the wall is filled with black and white pictures. Like the paintings, the black and white pictures add a subdued, monochromatic element.
One of the features she loves about her condominium is the mini private pool for every unit, which is located just outside the door.
Next to the mini pool, she has placed a sofa where she can read and spend time talking with her husband while the children enjoy a dip.
