The Coolest Restoration

A hotel in Penang has done one of the coolest restorations I’ve ever seen. Taking a congested row of Chinese shop houses and combining it into one very casual and stylish hotel with multiple rooms.

Inside, the walls are retained as is, exposing the wonderful layers of build up gathered over a century of use. However, the furniture has been nicely updated with a few modern objects and a lot of restored pieces that retain their original wear. By carefully controlling the colors and placements, the space exudes a sense of style that is simply not achievable through just modern furniture.

I hope to see more such restorations in the future that retain all of the glamour and sense of history of a bygone era, but accent it with some modernity that is fun and classy.