'I fought with her for 5 days': Joshua Tan lets wife choose most furniture in new home except 'ideal' toilet bowl

Another celebrity has moved into a picturesque apartment, and we're taking notes to up our interior design game.

After his recent Dec 26 wedding to influencer-turned-doctor Zoen Tay, actor Joshua Tan showed #JustSwipeLah host Jernelle Oh around their new crib, a ground-level two-bedroom condominium apartment surrounded by lush vegetation.

The apartment's largely minimalist design was the brainchild of Zoen and the couple's interior designer.

"And what were you involved in?" Jernelle asked.

"Paying," the 32-year-old responded immediately.

Zoen's eclectic design choices include a curved sofa with an irregularly-shaped coffee table in the living room, complete with an uneven tissue paper holder. The mirrors in the toilet are irregular in shape as well.

"Zoen really has good taste," Joshua remarked, adding that it was why she chose him too. "Because she chose this odd person, she likes odd shapes too."

Joshua did admit that he chose a few things around the house, including the thing he deems "most important" — the toilet bowl.

"I like to spend a lot of time here relaxing, swiping, watching videos — so the toilet must be very comfortable," he added.

Showing Jernelle the toilet bowl, he added that it was "the place I liked the most", to which Jernelle shot him down: "This is like any other toilet bowl at a house."

But that was the entire point for Joshua.

He said: "My wife initially chose a very special toilet bowl — like a spaceship, very curved, and I felt very uncomfortable sitting on it. I went and tried out many toilet bowls and found a very ideal one.

"Upon sitting on it, I thought, 'This is the one! This is the toilet bowl!'"

"The most ordinary one," Jernelle remarked.

"I fought with her for five days, and finally, she let me choose it," Joshua replied.

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Speaking to local media 8days recently, Joshua revealed that he had dreamt of getting his own home since he was 19, saving up at least 60 per cent of his earnings towards the goal.

Though they purchased it in 2020, the couple rented out the apartment for two years while Zoen studied in Sydney, before discovering a massive termite infestation in August last year.

"From the balcony to the toilet and the master bedroom, and even inside the parquet, it was all affected," Joshua said then. "It was a scary lesson 'cos there are things that a ground floor unit might experience that others might not.

"So, when we renovated, we overhauled the entire place and made sure we treated it thoroughly. Now we have minimal wood in the house. It scarred us."

After a four-month renovation period that cost over $200,000, the couple moved into their new home right before their wedding.

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'I don't want guests to stay too long'

Though most of the furniture in the living room is white, the dining table does have six colourful chairs, which Joshua told Jernelle aren't comfortable to sit in.

"Actually this is deliberate, I don't want guests to stay for too long," he said, before mimicking shooing them away. "Leave quickly, leave quickly. Leave once you finish eating."

This also extends to their study, which doubles up as the guest bedroom.

He said: "You see this very big sofa? It's actually a sofa bed, but if you extend it, there won't be space to put luggage, right? It's because we don't welcome guests, they can leave after a day.

"If they want to stay longer, we've given them an option, but it's best to give them an uncomfortable option."

The guest bedroom and master bathroom both come with glass panels that become transparent or opaque with the press of a button, but Joshua deems himself inept at using the newfangled technology in his smart home.

He remarked: "I have too many remotes, I don't even know which remote control is for which device."

ALSO READ: Pebbles and space: Yao Wenlong gives first look into new JB home

drimac@asiaone.com

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