Home Is The Best Place To Be

Meet Melly - avid Instagrammer and film photographer, and DIY enthusiast. She loves handcrafting home decor items and is working towards turning it into a livelihood.

A fellow Singaporean, she recently got married to her husband, Ben, and they are just about to move into their first, new home! We catch up with Melly as she plans her new home, and find out what it is like to style a house and dress it up. Check out her top Naiise picks here.

1. Hello Melly! Tell us more about yourself and what you do.

Hi Naiise! Well I keep busy running my Etsy shop, where I sell my handcrafted goods like hanging mobiles and pom pom garlands. In my free time, I take pictures, enjoy a good latte, try to be close to nature and end the night, with a book and my cat, Fatboy, next to me.

2. What is Greenlaundry about?

You can say it is an extension of me.

There was the blog, first and foremost. Where I post my pictures taken on film, my travels, my day-to-day life. I learnt pretty quickly the joys of sharing content with like-minded folks because I take so much from the Internet as well. And I really enjoy the process of researching anything and everything I’m interested in, so I do that, try out said interesting thing and document my experience my way. It’s the same approach with my Instagram account, and the plus is I get to connect with so many people via Instagram, I love it.

Then there is my shop, which embodies my pursue of the simple, understated aesthetic. Alongside that, it is honest work that I’m proud to produce.

3. So we heard you’re moving house real soon! So having you curate this collection couldn’t be more apt. How would you describe your ideal home? Are there any home décor or home accessory items that you must have in your new house?

My husband and I both work from home, he builds web apps and I make my handcrafted stuff. So our ideal home has to be a comfortable and functional space as we spend so much time in it. It might not have to be spacious but the feeling of spaciousness is important too.

For me, beautiful shelving in the form of the String system was something I had my eye on. Also slowly collecting handmade ceramic cups and small plates in place of mass-manufactured ones.

4. Thank you for curating this collection for us! What are your top three picks from this collection, and why?

The Confetti Cup by Weekend Worker is a favourite, it makes me happy just looking at it. I’m impressed by the Snake Wardrobe because I’ve been on the look out for a “clothes-rack-solution” for our guest room and this one is unconventional yet has simplicity. I have a weakness for wire baskets so I’m highly coveting the Wally Baskets from Galanga Living. I prefer baskets over boxes – not for everything – but whenever I can, baskets get first choice. It gives off a more homely feel for me.

5. Lastly, any tips for decorating or furnishing a home? (:

For furniture, I’d say buy pieces you would love for a long time. A true story, my husband and I fell in love with a TV console we saw at Pomelo. I never knew it was possible to like a TV console, much less love one. Of course, love came with a pretty hefty price tag. We would discuss buying it every now and then, or to settle for something else. In the end, we knew we’d buy it when one of us said it will come along with us to our next home and the next anyway. Right then, the price no longer was an issue when we were thinking long term.

For decorating, I’m going with the less is more approach. Decorating is very personal so it’s hard to say, but generally I think go with what makes you smile. If you’re like me, living with someone, you hope you can count on that someone to tell you when you’ve gone too far!

I have to mention using Pinterest, it is a such a good tool to gather a visual mood board and share it with your partner/ID/contractor!