Old habits die hard, they say. But did you know that, with just a few design tweaks to the home, you could change your entire lifestyle? You didn’t? Then you should really talk to Averse on how you might redesign your life.

Meet Averse Yau: Founder, Director, and Creative Director of A Blue Cube Design Pty. Ltd. (or just ABCD). Beginning his career as a sales designer for an interior design firm before deciding that he wanted to do more – he wanted to change lives for the better.

When no one was looking, we quietly snatched him away for an interview.

Photo Credit : A Blue Cube Design 

Where did you start? How did you get into interior design?

I came to Singapore looking to get into sales 13 years ago. My first job here just happened to be for an interior design firm and I took on the position of, what I termed, a sales designer – I didn’t see myself as an interior designer then. What I did then was sell renovation packages.

What changed?

Doing sales was like selling a set meal. Copy and paste. Doing the same thing. I didn’t think my career was progressing. However, I met this client, ­and he really inspired me to change – he had put a lot of trust in me. It was through our relationship, where he treated me more as a friend than a contractor, that I truly appreciated the value of a dream home designer. So, I worked towards becoming one. 

Photo Credit : A Blue Cube Design 

What was the journey to becoming an interior designer like for you?

Well, I was inspired to learn a lot more about design so, on my own time, I researched things like materials, design language, and ways that design can improve households and change lives.

What would you say your proudest work is?

My two work studios. Singapore Interior Design Society (SIDS) awarded both as the Best Workspace Award in 2021 and 2022.

Is there a part of the studios you particularly love?

Pretty much all of it. It was designed by my team and me. One was designed when it was just me and the other when I had expanded to a three-man team. I’m really proud of them because, for the first one, I took my time designing it – a few months. For the second, I knew what I wanted for it from my experience with the first one but it still took me a year to plan and come up with it.

Being an interior designer, we usually design to homeowner requirements, working towards functionality and budgets, which can be tedious. The budget and quality don’t usually meet. For myself, I understand the function and quality of all the materials, so it was easy to work out the budget for everything. Because of that, I can get materials that I want, understanding their pros and cons. For example, marble is porous and typically not a good material for tabletops. Understanding that I still pushed to use it for my own purpose. While I can’t promise my clients that they won’t damage marble, I’m willing to install – anything that happens to it is on me. I’m responsible for my own design, so I’ve got free reign over it.

Photo Credit : A Blue Cube Design 

How did you end up starting your own outfit?

I never thought about starting my studio until Covid-19. The firm that I was working at didn’t survive the pandemic. So I got together with some friends and, after some discussion, we started ABCD.

What guides your work? What would you say your design philosophy is?

Designing a home is like designing a lifestyle for an individual or family. Good design determines a good lifestyle, while bad design does the opposite. Therefore, understanding a homeowner and their family’s lifestyle, and their good and bad habits, is very important to designing a home. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing housewives who’ve never cooked until they’ve got a very nice kitchen, children who would never come home early now willingly do so because it’s more comfy, and a couple who loves travelling but now can’t wait to come home every time they’re away.

I believe in this thing called art therapy. I had a late friend who found peace through performance arts despite having to fight cancer. Art can heal emotions. That’s why design is really important because good art can help people.

What inspires your work? Is there a favourite place you like to go to for inspiration?

Everywhere. I kind of have a poor work-life balance. The two have merged so well that I don’t realise whether I’m living or working. The moment I step out of my room, office or bedroom, I will just absorb things all around it. So I like travelling. I always find that Mother Earth is the best designer in the world. There’s inspiration in things like the unlikely colour combination such as chicken feathers where you get brown and blue together. In marble, you can book-match (matching grains so that both sides mirror each other) them and see things like cow heads. After I’ve stored all this inspiration in my head, I use it in my work.

That’s not to say that I don’t get inspired by other designers too!

Photo Credit : A Blue Cube Design 

What is your advice for up-and-coming interior designers?

Interior design has changed. Consumers are more knowledgeable and tend to surf the internet to get information and ideas. Do not be afraid of what’s coming next. And do not avoid doing something because you’re afraid of making mistakes. Bravely embrace your mistakes, learn to admit it, understand it, fix it, and then improve it.

Posted on 30th September 2022

Kenny Tan, 

SIXiDES Editorial Team