Decorated in splashes of green, with lots of greenery around the home, Lingyi and Marvin’s cosy flat in Telok Blangah is the exact description of their Instagram handle – @ourseaofgreen. More than that, the couple’s 4-room resale flat also overlooks the verdant Telok Blangah Hill Park.

The bedroom overlooks Telok Blangah Hill, as does much of the house

“My previous home used to be in the vicinity of the MacRitchie Reservoir and as we both appreciate greenery, Marvin and I were drawn to the idea of living close to nature,” 32-year-old Lingyi explains. “We quickly fell in love with this current location. We enjoy strolling through Telok Blangah Hill Park and visiting the Gillman Barracks galleries over the weekends.”

Bringing Nature Indoors

Lingyi and Marvin’s plant collection

Being nature lovers, the couple wanted to include greenery in their home. “Our collection has grown over the past months and we’re loving how our home has become an urban sanctuary that we can relax in,” Lingyi says.

For aspiring plant-parents, the couple recommends picking plants according to the flat’s lighting condition. “As plants such as cacti and monstera don’t require much light, they’re perfect for homes with low-light. All plants will have to adjust to their new environment, so don’t be deterred if they aren’t doing too well when you first bring them home. When we brought our monstera home, it had just 3 leaves in the first two weeks. Now, it’s thriving with over 20 leaves!”

Waste Not, Want Not

As advocates of sustainable living, Lingyi and Marvin chose to retain as much as the original interiors of their resale flat as possible, including all wooden doors and the parquet flooring in the bedrooms. In the living room, the couple also opted for concrete screed, a more natural material, as opposed to vinyl flooring.

The study room, featuring wooden parquet flooring from the previous owner

Instead of buying their furniture first-hand, they also managed to source for several well-made and beautiful pre-loved furniture from Carousell, including their vintage-inspired TV console.

Rustic Vintage Vibes

When designing their home, Lingyi and Marvin regularly browsed sites such as Pinterest for vintage-inspired interiors and put their ideas on a shared board for discussion. They also presented a deck of visual references to potential interior designers.

“It’s important that they understand our needs. Portfolio aside, we were looking for an interior designer with whom we can communicate well. We’re really happy to have worked with Monocot Studios as they really brought our rustic vintage concept to life,” the couple says.

Bringing out the vintage vibes with mosaic tiles

“We’re really happy with our home,” the couple smiles. “All the hard work was definitely worth it.”