Down To Earth

In the spacious apartment of Geraldine Toh and Vincent Lim, art, design elements and an earthy sensibility commingle in perfect harmony.

- RENÉE BATCHELOR

The name 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 Geraldine Toh, an artist and freelance stylist, ochre represents the perfect symbolism and moniker for her dream home project. "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. Says Toh, "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. Being an artist, the colour ochre is also often used as a staple in paintings," she explains.

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."