Texture Is Back

For most of the 2010s, the dominant palette in Singapore interiors was smooth: quartz countertops, lacquered cabinetry, glass splashbacks. Walk into a newly renovated home today and you are more likely to run your hand across something rougher. Lime plaster, travertine and reeded glass have all moved from occasional accent to load-bearing design decision.

• Lime plaster catches light unevenly, which flat paint cannot do.
• Travertine's natural variation reads as more expensive than uniform stone.
• Reeded glass divides open-plan spaces without fully closing them off.

Lime plaster leads the shift

Lime plaster is the material designers mention most often. Applied by hand in thin coats and left with visible trowel marks, it catches light unevenly in a way that flat paint cannot, which is exactly why it has become popular in apartments that rely on natural light rather than heavy fixtures. Isabelle Chen of Forma House, who has used it across several recent projects, says it also ages in a way clients have come to appreciate rather than resist. "It's not meant to look pristine forever. A slightly imperfect patch of wall two years in is part of the material, not a flaw in the application."

Travertine and reeded glass follow

Travertine has had a similar rise, moving off feature walls and onto kitchen islands and bathroom vanities, where its natural pitting and color variation read as more expensive than a uniform stone slab, even when the cost per square foot is comparable. Reeded glass, meanwhile, has become the material of choice for dividing open-plan spaces without fully closing them off, letting light and a blurred sense of movement through while still giving each side some privacy.

What ties the three together is texture that resists photographing perfectly flat, which several designers noted, somewhat wryly, may be part of the appeal in an era when everyone is trying to make their home look slightly less like everyone else's.