Eclecticism rules in couple’s ochre apartment

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SINGAPORE – The word ochre evokes a lot of things – a natural clay pigment, a colour that rests somewhere between yellow, brown and orange or even the paint that some African cultures use to colour the skin.

For Ms Geraldine Toh, an artist and freelance stylist, ochre represents the perfect symbolism and moniker for her dream home project – The Ochre Home.

“When coming up with a name for the home, I wanted one that would be all-encompassing and could accurately represent what it looked like. With this name, it’s easy to visualise what our space would look like, while still being memorable.”

The spectrum that ochre encompasses was also the literal visual palette when designing the space.

“Ochre happens to be the scheme of colours that is predominant in our home – shades of brown and orange are in our selection of materials and furnishing, and a statement geometric yellow square wraps a corner of the living room and part of the main door,” she adds.

Being an artist, she says, ochre is also often used as a staple in paintings.

Ms Toh’s home, which she shares with her husband Vincent Lim, who works in fintech, is certainly an accurate representation of her artist statement.

As someone who studied fine arts and who also paints commissions of artworks and murals, her eye for colour and proportion is evident.

“I would describe the style of our home as mid-century modern inspired with a mix of eclecticism. It’s a combination of iconic mid-century shapes and design details, together with unique and modern additions of pattern, colour and textures.”

Choosing this particular apartment, which is 30 years old, was a no-brainer for Ms Toh. Its spaciousness, airiness and square layout made it easier for the couple to plan the space. In fact, this impression of wide open space is one of the first things a visitor notices upon entering.

Still, there were some minor layout changes that the couple made.

Ms Toh says a wall was removed at the kitchen to create an open entrance, while the common bathroom door was repositioned to be more discreet. The master bedroom door was also moved to create a closed nook for an open-concept, walk-in wardrobe.

As Ms Toh herself does freelance home styling, it is interesting to understand the evolutionary journey of the home.

Their home went through a long journey of changes, before looking the way it does today. Ms Toh says: “One of my strongest beliefs is that you should always take your time to furnish your home – to wait, chance upon and collect pieces and items that really call out to you and have a backstory behind them, to make the process of building a home a lot more authentic.”

Describing her home as “forever a work in progress”, she says she made it a point to keep everything modular and moveable.

“I wanted to keep the spaces exciting with possibilities to rearrange their layout any time, and with pockets and corners with different functionalities despite them all being in one big open space.”

She also favours a touch of eclecticism over matchy-matchy perfection – something prevalent on Pinterest boards and overly designed “dream” interiors on Instagram.

“I prefer unique stand-alone pieces that still go well with everything else in terms of colour scheme and texture, rather than overly matchy sets of furniture, so that any new additions or changes will only add to its dimension and visual interest rather than standing out as odd,” she says.

This visual interest is seen throughout The Ochre Home. On one wall is a mural of a flower painted by her, while small touches make a difference.

The air-conditioning units, for example, are Toshiba’s Haori, which come with customisable fabric outer jackets that seamlessly integrate with the home interiors.

Ms Toh and Mr Lim also took their time to lovingly assemble their furniture.

“We thrifted quite a few furniture pieces by chance and also took our time to search and decide on others. We found joy in learning about the history behind the pieces we have, which are conversation starters for sharing stories of how they came to our home,” she says.

Their Commune leather sofa is from an expatriate family who was leaving Singapore, while their stackable dining chairs are vintage 1980s pieces by Casala Obo Formsitz. These were sourced from AA Furniture in Singapore, a store that specialises in vintage furniture and antiquities mainly from Japan.

Another key nook in the home is the study area that has been carved out from the main living space without the use of walls or dividers. The area also features a study desk that has a kidney-bean shape and is a 1960s Danish piece from local store Noden.

Even the lamps in their home have a story. Ms Toh says: “The lamp on the study desk is a vintage 1970s Louis Poulsen Panthella, from Aria Design Store. Though the design is still in production today, this piece has a beautiful patina and features an old-school switch.”

Along with other pieces like a 1960s Danish coffee table from local store Copan and a thrifted Marcel Breuer cantilever chair with a green leather finish from local collector The Thrift 3, the home also features the Flos Arco floor lamp in the living room.

Other pieces, too, have stories behind them. A 1970s pinecone wall lamp from a Danish vintage store in Vancouver was hand-carried home by Ms Toh. Mid-century design signatures are also aplenty as the home includes an Eames lounge chair and ottoman, Hans J. Wegner’s CH24 Wishbone Chair and a special-edition Safari chair in mustard fabric by Kaare Klint.

Two of the most special pieces have a more humble provenance. A pinewood side table and a kapur wood bench, both built by Mr Lim in his woodworking classes, add a personal touch.

Beyond the furnishings, the main inspiration for the home was coming up with a space for creativity to flow and where artworks and hobbies could find their place.

“As an artist, and with my husband having hobbies such as photography and music, we knew that we needed to set aside a creative room for where the art-making happens and where the equipment is stored,” she says.

She also wanted to ensure photographic prints and abstract paintings that were created prior to their moving in could be displayed.

“We made sure to keep our walls bare and white as a clean canvas for any artwork we put up. Over the years, the wall spaces were slowly filled up with our guitars, art and photos, and my very first mural that kick-started my mural painting career. This was done on a bare wall directly facing the master bedroom,” she says.

With their personal stamp all over The Ochre Home, as well as years of inhabiting the space creating a lived-in atmosphere, the couple’s vision for their dream home has truly been achieved.