From an old house for rent, it has created a new story for a life after retirement of Khun View Korawan Sompopkulwet, the owner. She decided to renovate this 30-year old house on an area of 180 square meters to become a European style house in which she put her collections from travelling into the functions she needs for her living. This is the beginning of “The Traveler Home”, a new compact house of a traveler that can completely fulfill both the mother and the children’s needs.
The Beginning
This is a secondhand house that I bought it 14 years ago. It is about 30 years old. It is quite old. I had renovated it once, and made it for rent. For now, my mother has retired and I want her to live comfortably in a not very big house for only one person. Moreover, travelling from this house to mine is so convenient that we can quickly reach each other. With these reasons, I decided to renovate this house for my mother living after her retirement.
Inspiration
“This house is not only a new house for my mother; it is also a place storing the impression and favorite collections from various trips. My boyfriend and I love travelling a lot; and ‘The Traveler Home’ seems to be the inspiration to create this traveler’s house; favorites during travelling are put into this house. Consequently, this house is mixed together with a hint of the European style and Chinese style. However, it also looks smart with a little hint of the Loft style. It is exactly a house with a mixture of our passion and functions needed for our mom,” says Khun View.
New Look
“Formerly, the house had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms; however, it was too many and the atmosphere was dull. Therefore, it has been renovated to have only 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. The total budget for construction was about one million Baht. It took about 6 months to complete renovating this new house for my mother.” The rain-splashing board was removed. The roof is reconstructed into a triangular shape and redecorated by layering bricks at the front. The door and windows are framed with black aluminum contrasting to brown clay tiles. The house looks completely different, as a new one.
Function
Since only her mother lives in, Khun View really wants the house as small as possible to be able to get it clean thoroughly. Functions in the house are all designed to exactly meet her mother’s needs. The house is separated into two mains parts; the left part is designed to be an open space linking all corners together. This part is arranged for a living room, a dining room and a kitchen. On the other side of the house, it is separated as a private area for her mother; a bedroom and a bathroom are equipped; it is opposite to Khun View’s collections room. It is exactly a good idea to separate space functions to best fit with the number of members living in the house.
Interior
In spite of her different favorites, Khun View is a kind of collector who pays attentions to every little detail within the house. The wall of the house looks colorful by layering it with clay bricks in a brown tone. A steel wired net is installed as a partition between a kitchen and a living room looking smart and raw. Similarly, the floor is arraned with half wooden-grain tiles and Secrete tiles to enhance lively atmosphere into the house. Both pieces of furniture and Khun View’s collections are kept in the room which is decorated to looks dark and smart with walls and long French windows in black aluminum frames. This makes golden curtains become dominantly outstanding. Antiques collected from her childhood and from her various trips as well as her pieces of artwork are decorated and kept in a teak wooden showcase inspired from a showcase at the grocery in the past. It is absolutely a house that blends identity and favorites of the owner together with harmonious balance.
