Home Showcase:
Inside a family’s treasure-trove home
Walking into this bright and spacious home, you can’t help but notice standout furniture pieces interspersed with the kind of decorative accessories that are sure to have a story behind them.
There’s a feeling of unpretentious homely comfort and elegance, which matches the welcome nature of my host, Jenny. As she brews me quite possibly the best coffee I’ve had in Singapore, we chat like old friends over her kitchen island. She walks me through her expat journey.
Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you originally from and what brought you to Singapore?
We first came here in 2007 with my husband John’s work, before moving to Germany to a wonderful village setting in 2010. After a one-year stint there, and a move back home to Melbourne where we’re from, we ended up back in Singapore in 2014 as John had been offered an exciting job opportunity.
Where did you first live on your return?
We had always lived in landed properties, but when we came back in 2014 we decided to try condo living. We’ve always considered Sentosa a beautiful place to live, so we thought we’d try it out for two years. It was nice, but after a while of doing the daily runs to the Australian International School, I found the distance a bit much. John ended up switching jobs, so we stayed on in Singapore and then moved into a shophouse.
Condo to shophouse – that’s a completely different style of living. What inspired that move?
Well, we’ve always admired the shophouses of Singapore, and the blackand-whites. And we came across a beautiful shophouse in Emerald Hill. The location was fabulous, and we loved the three-storey style of the house as well. That’s when I went crazy with the furniture shopping. Pretty much everything you see in our current house we bought to furnish the shophouse!
Where did you move next?
After that, we decided to go for something opulent. We settled on a large property with a beautiful garden space and a 25-metre pool wrapped around the house. It had lots of greenery and high ceilings. When my son left to study in Australia, the space felt quite big, and we knew the other kids would eventually be moving out to study overseas, so we decided to go for a smaller place as our next move.
What attracted you to your current home?
I remember just walking in and immediately thinking: “I like this”. I love the way the layout flows, and the overall homely feel. I liked the front yard and the pool, too. For me, it ticked all the boxes. We wanted at least four decent-sized bedrooms, and a separate living space for the kids, so they could have their own privacy. I found the iron staircase feature quite stunning too. And the location was brilliant, with the kids’ schools nearby, as well as John’s work.
The first thing that caught my eye was the intricate headdress on display in your entrance – wow!
Yes, it’s become quite the talking point. I bought that piece in Bali; it’s a bridal ceremonial headdress from Sumatra. I just saw it in the store window and walked in to find out the price. Once I’d decided to buy it, I thought, “How are we going to get it home?” It wouldn’t squish into hand luggage, so we were trying to get a box for it. In the end, I said, “We’re going to have to put it in my suitcase!” So I shoved all my clothes and bits and pieces in the children’s cases and managed to get the headdress to fit perfectly inside my case.
What was your first purchase for the house?
I only had to buy a rug for this house. We already had everything we needed from our shophouse days. In fact, I had to let some items go before we moved here.
Do you go for a particular theme when you furnish your space?
I like to mix items that I truly love, so I don’t particularly go for themes. That’s why you see a variety in the house. Before I buy anything I tend to ask myself, “Do I really love this?” and “Do I want to take this back to Australia when the time comes?” I tend to buy for the long term.
What are your favourite pieces?
I love olden times, so I do love the antique grand altar near our entrance; I picked it up from Just Anthony. I also love the art pieces that we sourced from the Affordable Art Fair. The artwork above the piano is a fantastic piece done all in ink by an artist in their 70s.
What’s your favourite place to source furniture?
I really like Just Anthony – they have some lovely antique pieces. I also like all our rugs, which are mostly from Lotto, apart from the colourful silk rug, which was my only “gift” for this house from Handmade Carpet Gallery.
The little decorative touches throughout the home are wonderful, too; can you tell us about them?
I love kettles. I was really drawn to the large decorative kettle we have on display. And I love my miniature kettles in their colourful ornate designs. I sourced most of the smaller kettles right here in Chinatown for around $10. The opium pipe is pretty special – I got that from Emperor’s Attic.
I like to buy something for the house whenever we travel to a place as a souvenir. We have reminders of our travels dotted around the house; I love the Balinese headdress, of course, and I thought the light feature I found in Vietnam was unusual, as it’s actually made from a landmine.
Friends always comment on the miniature handembroidered traditional Indonesian coat on display, too. It was a lovely gift from John’s Indonesian team.
What types of furniture have you mixed and matched?
I’ve got a variety of different cultures in my home, for sure. I like the modern sideboard in the dining room; it actually matches the carved wooden shutters upstairs. Although it’s a modern piece, it just seems to click with the décor. I like to see things individually, so each piece is appreciated and not lost in clutter. We’ve got modern pieces like our buffet unit and TV console mixed with older antiques like our altar and side cabinet where the opium pipe and kettle are displayed.
You have a beautiful grand piano in your lounge; who’s the musician?
My daughter used to play the piano, and I’ve been keen to start lessons myself. Sadly, it’s not used much now but learning to play is on my bucket list.
Tell us about your grand chairs by the pool, did you buy them for this house?
I always wanted some grand peacock-style chairs for outdoors. I found these green ones when we lived in our shophouse – we placed them on our front porch at that time. I originally wanted them in black, but I think green works well too.
The overall feel of the décor is an eclectic mix that weaves in memories of your travels; how would you describe it?
I’d say that my style is fun and colourful with a touch of serious – which basically describes my personality too!
Speaking of travel, what’s been your favourite regional holiday?
One of my favourites is Vietnam – it’s just so different and diverse, from the beaches in Da Nang to the culture in Hoi An, and the crazy traffic in Ho Chi Minh City. I also really love Bali for all the obvious reasons.
What will be your first holiday once we can travel freely?
We were going to go on a river cruise in Europe for Christmas, but sadly had to cancel that. I’d love to book that again. The trip starts in Budapest and then goes down the river through Austria, before finishing in Germany. We were then going to go to Rome and spend New Year in Paris. I guess a great European trip has now ended up on our bucket list! I’d also love to visit the Greek islands and explore more of Germany.
You mentioned you did a short stint in Germany; that must have been a complete contrast to your Singapore setting.
Absolutely. We lived in a little country village with a forest on the border, where I’d take our dog for walks. It was a lovely quaint setting, with church bells tolling in the morning and at lunchtime. We had a village bakery, a supermarket and a post office, and 10 minutes down the road there was a department store and some restaurants. So we weren’t too far out from the action.
Christmas was spectacular; we had a white Christmas, and there were fireworks on New Year’s Eve. It was a complete contrast to Australia and Singapore, where the weather is so hot in December.
You’ve lived in a variety of homes; is there a favourite so far?
Back home in Australia, we have a beautiful house that’s about a hundred years old that’s very special to us. Our German home was a great experience and totally different to what we’d been used to. Out of all our Singapore homes, I’d say this current one is my favourite, as it has such a homely feel.