Purchasing a property is a big step and yet an absolutely rewarding one—but now comes the critical question: how will you furnish it? There’s only so much your Pinterest mood boards, social media, and trips to decor stores can do. Hiring a trusted professional will ease your worries and problems while helping you achieve the ultimate home with form and functionality at its core. In comes Atap.co, Malaysia’s go-to platform to matchmake you with the best interior designer for your property.
Founded in 2016 by Shen Maosheng and Seow Yaohan, the interior designer-sourcing platform was conceived to solve the recurring problems faced by property owners like lack of budget transparency, unverified firms, and low-quality workmanship. Atap.co is an avenue for property owners to connect with interior designers who have been vetted, verified, and can take on the project based on the requirements of the property owner. Since its inception, Atap.co has become Malaysia’s leading interior design platform, with tremendous brand recognition amongst property owners. Atap.co garners over 500,000 monthly visitors on average, and processes around 500 new renovation leads amounting to RM15mil monthly.
Atap.co is easy to manoeuvre; property owners can view interior designer profiles and portfolios while browsing interior ideas from other Malaysian properties. Users have two options to connect with interior designers: the first, by picking a specific designer and sending in a direct enquiry; and, the second option, by sending in a general request with all the requirements like budget and style to Atap.co’s team. On the other hand, interior designers can create profiles and upload their portfolios for property owners to view. Atap.co’s Lead Marketplace allows interior designers with credits to contact property owners with verified project requirements.
After the success of its online platform, Atap.co moved towards building an offline presence to create more tangible experiences. In 2019, Atap.co introduced Atap Design Awards to recognise and reward talented individuals and teams in the industry. Interior design firms from across Malaysia—many of them based in Klang Valley, Penang, and Johor—congregate once a year at the award ceremony, where the best portfolios compete to win top honours. This has helped highlight many firms and increased their brand recognition and credibility.
In order to give property owners a chance to experience the furnishings and materials in their future spaces, Atap.co introduced the Atap.co Experience Centre, a 4,500 sqft showroom located at The Square, Jaya One in 2019. The success of the first location was followed by the Atap.co Experience Centre Setapak, which was unveiled in August 2021.
The strength of Atap.co’s online following and offline ventures have seen them partner with notable brands from beyond the home furnishing industry including Gamuda Land, Harian Metro, and iProperty.
The future holds many more opportunities for Atap.co as the company intends to introduce a slew of new offerings and services in the coming years—all with the ultimate goal of making interior design and home furnishing an accessible and affordable option for all property owners in Malaysia.
To find out more about Atap.co, visit their website or Facebook page.
