From the start, Like That One by Belle and Cheu has been a guerilla operation. They wanted to bring some fun, some DIY spirit, and some vintage cool to Singapore. They take the 'Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle" mantra very seriously. Tearing down Indonesian houses to make furniture is more sustainable than felling trees, but less so than just fixing up a teak sideboard from the 60s! As a bonus, these chic "green" pieces often use wide, solid planks that few can replicate today.

Singaporean furniture of the recent past has unique features not seen elsewhere. One is the use of traditionally Art Deco lines and creaftsmanship well into the 1960s. Another is the tendency to combine high quality wood with laminate tops, sometimes with a matching wood-grain hue but at other times with the faded pinks and blues or boomerang prints you might find on the counters in a 1950s American kitchen.

For them, restoring or re-purposing vintage Singapore furniture goes past nostalgia and moves into the realm of creating a sense of place, of rootedness, in a city that prizes the new. From treasuring the tropical combination of wood and laminate, to rescuing industrial pieces from defunct stores and factories, Like That One is there, ahead of the curve.

#01-01 Skytech, 2 Bukit Batok St. 24

Tel: +65 65609168