Conversations: Love Story With Geraldine
Join us for a special Valentine’s Day chat in celebration of our recent campaign — Love Story.
Hi! I'm Geraldine and I'm currently transitioning from teaching art to pursue my passion in interior styling and art-making as a self-made woman.
I strongly believe in relishing the moment and never settling for something I am not fully invested in. Hence, seeking new and refreshing life experiences (be it in my career, or as simple as a hobby) is something that I constantly encourage myself to do. In my free time, I enjoy watching period dramas, searching for dog-friendly spaces with Vincent, June, and Luna, urban sketching along the street, or scrolling through Pinterest and Instagram for interior and art inspirations. A fun fact is that I keep a personal checklist in my phone titled my 'life bucket list' that I tick off whenever I achieve any, which includes getting a tattoo, kayaking certificate, motorbike license, learning a martial art, and to play the guitar. Till date I have ticked two off.
What's the story behind your home?
For Vincent and I, we wanted our home to reflect our personalities and be a comfortable and inspiring space to wake up to everyday. We love the feeling of openness and nature; hence our home mainly embodied the mid-century modern look with a clean white slate adorned with dark wood elements and plants. We also decorate the space with photo prints and artwork created by Vincent and I, reflecting our interests and hobbies.
The idea of it was to emulate a fluid art gallery where we can change the content and placement of artworks depending on our preferences. The little bits of quirky elements like the yellow painted wall, patterned tiles and ventilation blocks in the balcony is a subtle nod to our love for vintage aesthetics. All in all, our home journey was not something that we had gotten nailed down a hundred percent from the start, but rather a gist, together with a back-and-forth process of decision making to arrive at the current outcome. I wouldn't call it the 'final' outcome as our home will always have room for change.
What's your philosophy when it comes to decorating your home?
Creating a mood board is extremely useful when planning to furnish a home! It helps us to visualise colour and texture combinations in order to make more suitable choices for furniture and furnishing. It can be as simple and saving photos of what you like into an album to get a clearer picture of the overall look. Also, we are careful not to dive into impulse purchases for items that may look really good on its own, but don't tie in with the rest of the space. For example, we would save multiple options of armchairs and compare them with the accompanying sofa and rug before deciding which we should get. Also, beautiful furniture and furnishings also don't necessarily mean they have to be expensive. Most of our big-ticket furniture and furnishings from our bed, sofa, lights, to rugs were bought online or pre-loved. 
Our campaign explores the story of a woman in love — with self, a lover and her life. What is your love story with Vincent, how did you two meet?
Vincent and I met and started our relationship in university while working on one of our common passions — music. He was part of a jam band and I was overseeing the performing arts groups for the hostel that we were both in. Being very similar people in terms of personality, interests and our outlook on life, our relationship has centered around spending time doing what we both coincidentally enjoy and supporting each other in our individual endeavours.
What's one thing you have learned about each other since sharing a home together?
Living together really requires constant communication and compromise in order to adjust to each other's lifestyles and expectations. That said, it's also important to have your own personal space in a shared home!
Respecting and giving each other alone time helps maintain sanity and individuality amidst a life now tied together 24/7 for the rest of our lives (haha). We make it a point to do little things for each other like putting toothpaste on our partner's toothbrush if either of us wakes earlier, etc. Vincent even folds the toilet paper into a little triangle tip to imitate those you would see at a high-end hotel toilet, just to make me feel a little more pampered.
Your favourite Valentine's together?
We are actually not big on Valentine's day as we find things overpriced and places overcrowded. Instead, we spend it together in the comfort of our home. Vincent also doesn't buy flower bouquets and we would rather purchase fresh flowers from wholesale markets and do up our own flower arrangements at home. On our first V'day as a married couple last year, we whipped up dinner together and did a candlelit set up at the dining table. It was inexpensive, private, and equally romantic! As cheesy as it sounds, we don't have to celebrate valentine's day exclusively if everyday can be made special.
Do you have a favourite quote or song you want to share?
"Live what you love" was a quote I wrote on the first card that I handmade for Vincent when we first started dating. He treasured it so much and placed it on his work desk for years as a reminder to himself to always pursue our passion and do things out of love. It has since become an unspoken expectation of his to receive a handmade card from me every occasion.
Find Geraldine here @ochre.home