Down-to-earth home with stories to tell

Artist and stylist Geraldine Toh's apartment project combines art, design elements and an earthy sensibility with the colour ochre

- Renee Batchelor

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.