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VITRA Tan Boon Liat Building, 14-08

AFTER YEARS OF being a shop within another shop, the Swiss family owned design company Vitra finally has its own store in Singapore.

Located at Tan Boon Liat Building, the Vitra store is a partnership between Vitra and designer furniture retailer, W. Atelier.

Nora Fehlbaum, CEO of Vitra says that the store is a response to growing customer interest in Asia.

Vitra believes that vibrant living and working spaces gain character through a mix of old and new, high and low, classic and contemporary. Hence, products from the Vitra home, office and accessories are available along with furniture classics by Verner Panton, Isamu Nogushi and Jean Prouve. There are also contemporary pieces by Jasper Morrison, Konstantin Grcic and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

To make furniture shopping a breeze, the store has various settings, from living, dining and home office to formal and informal office systems.

JIYOUJIA NomadX, Plaza Singapura, 03-65

If you've been jealous of savvy homeowners who buy furniture from Taobao, Alibaba's popular e-commerce platform because you can't read Chinese, things just got easier.

At NomadX, a showroom for major e-retailers, there is a selection of home and living products curated from Taobao's home and living store, Jiyoujia.

"Singapore is an important market for Taobao, and we continue to witness strong and sustained demand for the home and living category here by shoppers," says Mickey Xiong, Taobao's country director for Southeast Asia, who adds that the home and living category is its fastest growing segment here.

The pieces sold in Singapore are from Mulin Home and Fun House, two of the most popular Nordic inspired merchants on Jiyoujia. They include beds, sofas, dining sets and bathroom cabinets, with clean lines and simple aesthetics.

The collection from Mulin Home is largely made from cherry wood and black walnut wood, and designed for the minimalist-inspired home.

Fun House is a brand founded by a group of architects who have designed and remodelled over 100 furniture sets for their China-based customers, and now count over 50,000 families as part of its loyal customer base.

STARCHIE starchie.net/furniture

It's the same old problem when you move to a bigger home, or downgrade to a smaller one - your furniture no longer fits because it's either too big or too small.

Enter Starchie's Urban Living collection, which grows or shrinks according to your needs in the form of The Castella modular sofa range, and The Naughton, an expandable coffee table.

"Although today's living spaces are as varied as the lifestyles of the people occupying them, most of the mass-produced furniture options in the market encourage a buy-and-throw culture, where furniture and home goods are viewed as temporary possessions, rather than a part of your home and your life," says Starchie's founder Silvia Tasani.

She adds, "the Urban Living collection is furniture that can and should grow with you through life."

Ms Tasani worked with industrial designer Celine Ng on The Castella, which comprises seats mounted on an X-frame, with a choice of either an armrest or a side table. Start with a one seater and then add on pieces of varying widths as required. The Castella comes with an ergonomic, adjustable backrest and in water-repellent fabric upholstery, in four colours.

Ms Ng says, "the sofa's ability to extend indefinitely makes it an ideal companion as the user goes through different stages of his life, from a bachelor to a husband, then to a father."

Versatility is also the highlight of the Naughton coffee table, produced in collaboration with Singapore-based design consultancy StudioNorm.

The Naugton comprises two wooden tabletops, resting on a steel frame which is able to extend and contract. When extended, the two tabletops placed side by side form a bigger table. Otherwise, stack one tabletop on top of the other to make a smaller table.

NEST, FROM SCANTEAK scanteak.com.sg

For its latest collection, Nest, Scanteak chose not to work with established names but rather with student designers.

A class of furniture design students from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts were briefed to create an item that would solve the challenge of living in small spaces. Co-mentored by Wendy Chua, a lead designer from Outofstock Design Studio, the students competed to produce five solutions to modern living. The top three designs were picked and are now available for sale.

"We realise that with the right mentorship, commercial designs can come from even the youngest of minds," says Jamie Lim, CEO of Scanteak.

The three winning products are the Entente divider, the Teak-Tok casual side table, and the Borne desk.

The Entente works as a divider, or extension of a dining table. It can also be used as a stand-alone console for homeowners who need a space to store their keys and other items.

The multi-purpose Teak-tok functions as a side table when it stands upright, and a coffee table when it is tipped over. Flip it upside down and it becomes a book rack.

Lastly, the Borne study desk comes with an attached side table. The idea is that the parent can work at the main table while the child does his homework on the side table, allowing two people to use the desk at the same time. Alternatively, the side table can be used to hold items such as printers. It can also be pushed under the big table to save space.