At @home.abovethegrove, the home of professional chefs Ian and Nicolette, there is no carefully prescribed interior theme. In fact, when the couple asked their interior designer, Kai of Resistance, what the theme of their new home was, his answer was reassuringly simple: “No theme, just whatever the both of you like.”
It turned out to be a fitting philosophy for the couple, both 29 and professional chefs, whose home resists being neatly defined by a single interior style. Instead, warm walnut, terracotta, stainless steel, Peranakan references and objects accumulated over seven years sit comfortably alongside one another.
Like a good meal, everything has its place, even if the combination is not immediately obvious.
The couple first met while interning at Stellar at 1-Altitude and have since worked at restaurants including VUE, Cloudstreet, Meta and Seroja. With their days spent in fast-paced professional kitchens, home needed to offer something different.
“We knew we wanted a home filled with natural sunlight and warm walnut tones,” they share.
For Ian, that warmth recalls the teak furniture he grew up around, from the family dining table to lounge chairs and the TV console. Nicolette’s childhood home, meanwhile, was bright and sunlit, filled with Peranakan antiques collected by her mother.
Outside their current home, a park offered another cue. Rather than separating the apartment from its surroundings, the couple wanted the greenery beyond the windows to feel like an extension of the interiors, bringing a sense of calm after long days in the kitchen.
Collected, not styled
Rather than filling the home with built-ins, Ian and Nicolette deliberately kept permanent carpentry to a minimum and sourced much of their furniture from independent suppliers. It gave them the freedom to choose pieces gradually, particularly as they were planning their wedding at the same time.
Among their favourites is a Vitsoe shelving system from Haack Haus, which holds an assortment of wine bottles, cookbooks and personal objects alongside their altar. Its modular design means the arrangement can evolve with them rather than remain fixed.
Elsewhere, references to familiar Singapore homes appear in quieter ways. Breeze blocks separating the kitchen from the service yard nod to traditional Peranakan houses, while kopitiam tiles at the balcony, suggested by Kai, introduce another nostalgic detail.
The personal layers go even deeper. Some of the objects scattered throughout the apartment were originally used at the couple’s wedding; others were collected over their seven years together.
The result feels less decorated than accumulated, almost like a living timeline of their relationship.
The heart of the home
Unsurprisingly for two chefs, the dining area sits at the centre of it all.
A generous 2.1-metre walnut dining table anchors the space and can accommodate as many as 12 guests. Since moving in six months ago, the couple have already filled it with gatherings revolving around food, wine and sake, as well as drinks such as sato from Thailand.
“At home, we naturally gravitate towards Asian cuisines,” they say, with Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Thai flavours regularly making their way onto the table.
For two people whose lives revolve around food, the dining space was never going to be simply somewhere to eat. It needed to be somewhere friends could gather and meals could stretch comfortably into the evening.
A little warmth, a little tension
Colour enters the home confidently but never gratuitously. Terracotta tiles in the foyer were one of the bolder decisions, particularly for Nicolette, who usually gravitates towards neutrals.
What changed her mind was the material’s ability to develop a patina over time. Rather than remaining pristine, the terracotta would age alongside the home.
A rust-coloured carpet in the living room continues this warmth further into the apartment, visually connecting the two spaces while adding another layer of texture.
Then comes the material you might expect to find in a professional kitchen rather than a cosy home: stainless steel.
It began with the kitchen backsplash. “Occupational hazard,” the couple joke. Soon, the material started appearing everywhere. Given the choice of kitchen equipment, they invariably picked the stainless steel version. Then came shelving, vases, frames and trinket trays.
Against all the walnut and terracotta, its cooler industrial finish provides an unexpected counterpoint, catching the strong afternoon sunlight while keeping the warmer materials from becoming overly rustic.
It is precisely these contrasts that give the home its character.
“Sometimes, a little warmth, visual tension, or even a touch of chaos is exactly what makes a space feel personal and lived-in rather than like a perfect showroom,” they say.
Room to grow
Creating an eclectic home, however, comes with its own temptation: the feeling that there is always something else to add.
Social media has made that particularly difficult. Ian and Nicolette admit to occasionally experiencing FOMO when they see other beautifully styled homes and interesting new finds, but they try to resist buying simply for the sake of filling a space.
Instead, they wait for objects they genuinely need or connect with.
In reality, their home changes less frequently than its eclectic appearance might suggest. That is intentional. They would rather have objects become part of everyday life than exist purely for display.
There will inevitably be additions. The couple are already considering reconfiguring their Vitsoe shelving with Haack Haus, and they suspect more ceramics, books and stainless steel objects will find their way home with them eventually.
But perhaps that is exactly how this home should continue to evolve: not according to a predetermined theme or whatever happens to be trending, but through the lives of the two people living in it.
After all, “whatever the both of you like” has worked rather well so far.
