Pristine Homes is a blog series dedicated to celebrating unique home decor ideas and interior designs that Singapore has to offer. Living in a land scarce country, Singaporeans have to think out of the box and be creative about how to best utilize their hdb interior design to enhance their living spaces. We will be featuring some of the best instagrams for home decor in Singapore and diving into conversations about how they view home fragrances as an essential part of their home decor.
Have you ever wondered how you can infuse elements of the coastal seas into a high-rise apartment? We were as curious and intrigued when we heard about the inspiration behind this apartment’s interior design.
For the ocean lovers, you are in for a treat as we discuss the design inspirations behind this sea dweller’s paradise:
Can you tell us abit more about yourselves? (e.g. what do you do for fun or to relax?)
Hi! I’m Mareenah, a mother of (almost) two and I run a fashion label and boutique Maqayla. I realise that since I work from home on most days, I seek comfort in winding down at the end of the day and watching a tv series to relax.
Describe to us your home decor style (and your home inspirations)
We've always had a soft spot for the coast. Some of the fondest memories are of family holidays in Australia and our honeymoon spent at the beach in Maldives. Those times had a big impact on our inspiration for our dream home. When designing our home, we were looking for a perfect balance between modern and coastal and played around with pure, clean tones - since it's easy to add a touch of colour whenever we feel like sprucing things up. I would say a modern coastal home would be what is best to describe our space.
How did you come up with the inspirations before your renovation? How did you pitch to your ID your dream house?
We didn’t hire an ID, so we pretty much played with the ideas in our heads before solidifying the colours and builds to our contractor. I did plenty of scrolling on Pinterest and watching home interior shows like “Dream Home Makeover” and “Three Birds Renovation” to figure what would best suit our daily lives in terms of layout and find out what styles or themes we really like to live in on a daily basis.
Which is your favourite area of your home and why?
It would definitely be the living room as it’s the space where our little family spends time the most! Whether it’s eating, playing, lounging or watching tv, we are there on most hours of the day. It’s also located right in the middle of the house and is connected to the other spaces of our home like the kitchen, dining and even the rooms.
How do you style your home, and what do you look out for when you buy home decor pieces?
Simplicity is always the best for me. I’ve never liked clutters so I could be rather strategic when it comes to styling. I also prefer bigger statement decor pieces to fill a space rather than many small ones. Items like trays are one of my favourite items to purchase as they ground as the base of other decor pieces.
When it comes to scents, what are some of your favourites?
I love refreshing scents especially of those that remind me of a good memory of a place. Especially after a long day, winding down with a scent that is able to create an ambience to simply relax and make me feel calm is ideal.
Tell us what you like about Pristine? (any particular scents or aesthetic)
I love the aesthetics of the items from the candle warmers, to the scented candles to the wax melts and reed diffusers which is great to incorporate as part of my home decor, yet be a useful and functional item as well. I enjoy mixing scents with the wax melts and as for the reed diffusers, my favourites would be Maldives Villa and Sakura.
Tell us how you use Pristine (e.g. which scents/products are better for which rooms)
A scent is much needed at the entryway as it welcomes us home in such a calm manner. I usually use a reed diffuser here since only a flip is needed to refresh a scent at any point of the day. A candle with its warmer is perfect to be placed at the bedside table to wind down for the day, to relax before heading to bed and perhaps read a book or two.
For more minimalist interior design inspiration, do head on to Mareenah's instagram page.