A Fashionable Life: Inside Aashna Singh’s Whimsical, Plant-Filled Walk-up Apartment
Nestled in an old-school neighbourhood, Singh’s apartment is a hidden treasure that matches her style and professional brands perfectly.
Singh has an eclectic mix of artworks, including a print of ‘Woman Reading’ by Fernando Botero, and an illustration by tattooist Heleena Mistry. Here, seated on an phulkari dupatta (traditional embroidered scarf) from Amritsar, she wears a vintage knitted top and cotton pants, with Celestial Hoops and Shankh arm cuff from her own jewellery brand, Olio
There is something inherently romantic about walk-up apartments. Perhaps it’s because they demand more effort and care to put together. The climb to reach their front door is a procession unto itself. Each interior design item must be chosen carefully to survive the journey upstairs. When done right, a walk-up apartment should feel like a discovery. And Aashna Singh and Dhruv Sahgal’s home certainly is one.
Located opposite an abandoned Taoist temple in an old school Farrer Park neighbourhood populated by landed houses and low-rise private condominiums, it paints a quaint, unassuming picture from the outside. But climb the building’s three flights of stairs, and you’ll arrive at an airy, sun-drenched oasis lovingly decked out with biophilic elements and vintage furniture.
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The lightwell allows natural light to bathe the interior
For Singh, 35, and Sahgal, 36, it was love at first sight when they viewed the apartment in June. “We found it after more than 20 viewings—did you know that there is this website called welovewalkups.com?” Singh shares. The 1,200sq ft unit has a peculiar layout: At the centre of the floor plan is a large air well lined with tall windows that let the breeze in and bathe the space with natural light. The colours are borrowed from Santorini’s palette: white ceiling and walls, cobalt blue windows, and powder blue decorative tiles. The existing furnishing takes cues from seaside resorts, featuring textured items like woven lampshades and a chandelier made with naked bulbs and tree branches.
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Singh wears a Pegasus block-printed mini wrap dress from Jodi, and jewellery from Olio jewellery
Placed on either end of the floorplan’s north-south axis are the bedrooms. Generously sized, with windows that span their entire facade and an attached bathroom each, the two bedrooms can operate as independent studios. Both Singh and Sahgal work mostly from home. She is the co-owner and marketing brain behind a jewellery brand named Olio, while he works for a local 3D-printing start-up. “We had our own workspace in our old place in Robertson Quay, but we survived the pandemic with one bedroom. So we’d been yearning to have our own spaces,” shares Singh.
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Sofas demarcate her husband’s studio: an Ikea one with a custom blue cover, a vintage mid-century find, and a convertible green velvet custom creation with a moveable backrest
Thus born the idea to turn the unusual layout into his and hers living quarters. Singh’s studio comprises her workspace and the master bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe that leads to the en-suite bathroom. Sahgal’s studio, on the other hand, is zoned into a home office with an open wardrobe on one end and a large TV lounge on another, with three sofas demarcating the areas. When they’re not occupied with work, they spend quality time in the open kitchen adjacent to Singh’s studio.
The Qilin figurine on the vintage sideboard was part of a pair she and a friend found discarded in the neighbourhood—they decided to keep one each
Singh is a fan of handmade and vintage furniture. “My favourite hunting spots? Tan Boon Liat building and Carousell—there are so many great finds there!” she says. These include an antique hand-painted folding screen that separates her studio and a plywood chair with a horsehair finish in the lounge adjacent to Sahgal’s quarter. Here also sits a mid-century modern armchair, and a timber-and-resin coffee table from Journey East, and a palm tree brass standing lamp from Ipse Ipsa Ipsum—yes, the one of Crazy Rich Asians fame. The smaller decorative items, meanwhile, came from all over the world. The TV lounge’s hand-painted tiger figurine is from a craft bazaar in New Delhi; the corridor wall’s decorative masks are from Tibet; and the lounge’s carved bull horn totem is from an antique store in Tokyo.
The sitting area leading to the rooftop staircase is filled with greenery, and flora and fauna designs
The couple are not the apartment’s only living dwellers. They also share the space with many plants, ranging from cute, palm-sized potted pink caladium to a towering dracaena in an oversized planter that grazes the ceiling. The plants thrive indoors, most notably the tabletop potted pothos in her studio, which has grown all over the wall. Asked if plant parenting was a result of the pandemic, Singh laughs. “I had lived in a landed house all my life before I moved to Singapore five years ago. The plants remind me of my family garden in New Delhi.” Paired with the sweeping view of the estate and various flora and fauna motifs in the interior, these plants have turned the house into a biophilic oasis.
Singh wears Anokhi pants and woven H&M sandals and pairs Olio’s Ghungroo earrings and Amulet necklace, worn as a bracelet
It is no wonder that the home was chosen for Olio’s first international pop-up event in September. Singh founded the brand in 2015 in New Delhi with jewellery designer Sneha Saksena, who is now based in Poland. Handmade in Jaipur and drawing inspiration from South Asian history, Olio’s pieces have a distinctly nostalgic aesthetic with a touch of whimsy—an apt descriptor for Singh’s own fashion style. She mixes old and new, vintage and high street, pieces from her own brand with fellow independent designers to create fresh, fun results. Think of a cotton saree with a reworked varsity crop top and breezy block print dress layered with Olio’s deep gold pieces.
Olio Stories jewellery pieces, including the Bichhoo haath phool—a hand harness in a scorpion design, on decorative trays from a Dastkar craft bazaar
Singapore has cleaned out most of Olio’s stock, so it might be a while before we catch Singh and her unique jewellery style in full display at her home pop-up again. But one thing’s for sure: the walk-up apartment is a hidden treasure in more ways than one.
The striking hand embroidered photograph was a gift from a friend
Photographed by Gan
Styled by Gracia Phang
Makeup: Rina Sim using Shiseido
Hair: Grego using Keune Haircosmetics
Stylist’s Assistant: Larissa Wong