The Helping Hand - Gorgeous Wood Furniture

My parents have always been fans of richly hued wood furniture (rosewood, in particular), as they believe that natural materials last longer, and if well taken care of, will age beautifully with time and develop a character of their own. 

Over a course of 25 years or so, my parents have collected various gorgeous rosewood pieces. They add warmth to our house, with the added benefit of being very low-maintenance, requiring a little polishing with oil every once in awhile.

As much as I would like a clean and modern look for my future home, I know that it would be wise to follow in my parents' footsteps, and invest good money in some quality wood furniture. I love the crisp look of steel and glass but deep down, I know that glass will chip and crack, and steel will rust and tarnish.

I've been looking around for shops selling quality teak furniture in Singapore, and was recently told about this website: http://www.thehelpinghand.org.sg/.

'Our furniture line starts life in teak plantations in Indonesia. Local families craft each piece by hand according to their family expertise as well as the shape and size of the timber, making each piece unique and one of a kind. Pieces vary with season and shipment so we encourage all to vist (sic) our store to see our full collection which is constantly changing!'

I was intrigued by their furniture collection, which contains some very modern pieces. 

I'm eyeing these (all pictures courtesy of http://www.thehelpinghand.org.sg/index.html):

 This console would be perfect for an entryway, with a large mirror hung above and a balanced display of vases and photo frames on the console top (the deep brown colour of the console is easy to match - robin blue, teal, pink, yellow...imagine the possibilities for accessorising this console!). The 2 drawers would be perfect for stashing your keys once you get home, so you won't lose them around the house!

I would love to have this chest of drawers in my walk-in wardrobe. The website does not provide the measurements of the wardrobe, so I would like to have a look at how deep the drawers are and how long the chest is. Hopefully the drawers are deep enough for meaningful storage space.

 

'Delicate slices of bamboo cross-sections and beautiful paper texture of the Kotak Bambu lamp create intriguing shadows when lit from within. Its clean silhouette and distinctive texture add a natural but modern touch to any space.'

This lamp belongs on my jewellery stand!

 

I was hoping that there would be a zoom function, so that we could have a look at the texture of this mirror, which is made with woven reeds.

 I'm a sucker for all things retro/vintage, and can imagine having coffee on this marble top table on the weekends, relaxing on my balcony. 

Old school kopitiam glamour in the comfort of your own home!

 

The floorplan of my new house is such that the corridor of the main door leads straight to the living room and out through the balcony. I've been told that fengshui-wise, it's bad luck, since good luck comes through the front door, and will drain out through the open balcony doors. 

I'm taking no chances and will be using a bookcase to demarcate my entry way corridor from my living room. A full bookcase would block out the natural light and wind from the balcony, so these 2 book cases with cubes would be perfect. Plus, given my penchant for collecting quirky and absolutely irrelevant items (think gold dinosaurs...), I'd have a nice display area for them and for my books. I'm guessing that the 2nd bookcase would be too large for my apartment (the size of HDBs these days...), so the stepped one should be a better fit. It's also less imposing and is itself a pretty display item.

I'd also like to mention that by buying furniture from The Helping Hand, you will be supporting a good cause:

'The Helping Hand was founded in 1987 as a Christian half-way house for the rehabilitation of ex-drug addicts, by Mr Robert Yeo, himself an ex-addict. 

As of 2006, we have opened our doors to all ex-offenders. The Helping Hand is a Volunteer Welfare Organization (VWO) under the Ministry of Community, Youth, and Sports (MCYS) with Institution of Public Character (IPC) status.'

The Helping Hand also provides moving services - 'For a free quotation, please call: 9111-4797 or 6283-2204 or email: handsremoval@thehelphand.org'.

Why not head down to their showroom at 819 Upper Serangoon Road
S534678, Singapore (Store hrs: Mon- Sat 10am - 8pm, Sun closed) to have a look at their range of furniture and support those in need of our help?

I'll definitely be making my way down one of these Saturdays, join me!