Hidden treasures in home of Olio jewellery brand co-owner Aashna Singh

This article first appeared in Harper’s Bazaar Singapore, the leading fashion glossy on the best of style, beauty, design, travel and the arts. Go to harpersbazaar.com.sg and follow @harpersbazaarsg on Instagram; harpersbazaarsingapore on Facebook. The November 2023 issue is out on newsstands now.

SINGAPORE – There is something inherently romantic about walk-up apartments.

Perhaps it is because they demand more effort and care to put together. The climb to reach their front door is a procession unto itself. Each item of decor must be chosen carefully to survive the journey upstairs.

When done right, a walk-up apartment should feel like a discovery. And Ms Aashna Singh and Mr Dhruv Sahgal’s home certainly is one.

Located opposite an abandoned temple in a Farrer Park neighbourhood populated by landed houses and low-rise private condominiums, it looks quaint and unassuming from the outside. But climb the building’s three flights of stairs and you will arrive at an airy, sun-drenched oasis lovingly decked out with biophilic elements and vintage furniture.

The sitting area leading to the rooftop staircase is filled with greenery, and flora and fauna designs. PHOTO: GAN; STYLING: GRACIA PHANG

For Ms Singh, 35, and Mr Sahgal, 36, it was love at first sight when they viewed the apartment in June. “We found it after more than 20 viewings,” says Ms Singh, co-founder of jewellery brand Olio.

Occupying the entire top floor of the building, the 1,200 sq 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 the palette of Santorini, Greece: white ceiling and walls, cobalt-blue windows and powder-blue decorative tiles.

The colours in Ms Aashna Singh’s home are borrowed from the palette of Santorini, Greece: white ceiling and walls, cobalt blue windows, and powder blue decorative tiles. PHOTO: GAN; STYLING: GRACIA PHANG

The existing furnishings take cues from seaside resorts, with textured items such as woven lampshades and a chandelier made with naked bulbs and tree branches.

Placed on each end of the floor plan’s north-south axis are the bedrooms. Generously sized, with windows that span their facade and an attached bathroom each, the two bedrooms can operate as independent studios.

Both Ms Singh and Mr Sahgal work mostly from home. She is the co-owner and marketing brain behind 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,” says Ms Singh.

Thus the idea was born to turn the unusual layout into his-and-hers living quarters.

Ms Singh’s studio comprises her workspace and the master bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe that leads to the en-suite bathroom. Mr Sahgal’s studio, on the other hand, is zoned into a home office with an open wardrobe on one end and a large television lounge on another, with three sofas demarcating the areas.

Sofas demarcate Mr Dhruv Sahgal’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. PHOTO: GAN; STYLING: GRACIA PHANG

When they are not occupied with work, they spend quality time in the open kitchen adjacent to Ms Singh’s studio.

Ms 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 and a plywood chair with a horsehair finish in the lounge adjacent to Mr Sahgal’s quarters.

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 (2018) fame.

The smaller decorative items, meanwhile, come 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 bullhorn totem is from an antique store in Tokyo.

The Qilin figurine on the vintage sideboard was part of a pair Ms Singh and a friend found discarded in the neighbourhood — they decided to keep one each. PHOTO: GAN; STYLING: GRACIA PHANG

The couple are not the apartment’s only living dwellers.

They share the space with many plants, ranging from a cute, palm-size potted pink caladium to a towering dracaena that grazes the ceiling. The plants thrive indoors, most notably the potted pothos in Ms Singh’s studio, which has grown all over the wall.

Asked if plant parenting was a result of the pandemic, she laughs and says: “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’s 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 place into a biophilic oasis.

It is no wonder that the home was chosen for Olio’s first international pop-up event in September.

Olio Stories jewellery pieces, including the Bichhoo haath phool — a hand harness in a scorpion design — on decorative trays from a Dastkar craft bazaar. PHOTO: GAN; STYLING: GRACIA PHANG

Ms 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 Ms 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. For instance, a cotton sari, a reworked varsity crop top and a breezy block print dress are layered with Olio’s deep gold pieces.

Most of Olio’s stock in Singapore has sold out, so it might be a while before Ms Singh and her unique jewellery style are displayed at her home pop-up again.

But one thing is for sure: The walk-up apartment is a hidden treasure in more ways than one.