Stepping into Lauren and Lloyd’s home transports you to a different time and place. The floor to ceiling shelves are filled with books and nostalgia. The combination of cement floors, dark, rich wood, and bold, colourful paintings, make it both warm and cool, sparse and filled at the same time. It is an artful balance that is perfectly achieved to showcase their laidback, charming and quirky personalities. 
“We're both civil servants. We paint occasionally, have Games Nights twice a month and listen to mainly jazz lo-fi music.” 
“We moved in right before circuit breaker started - 24 hours, to be exact. That makes it about 7 months now.”
“Before we moved in, this flat was a 4 room. It's a 1-roomer now, so that gives you an idea of how much reconfiguration took place. We knocked down all the walls (save for the structural walls), and tore out everything else. We opened up our space to let in more light, but also put up bifold doors so we could hole ourselves up in smaller areas if we wanted to. This has come in very handy, especially because we're working from home now.”
“I would hate to say it but in retrospect, ‘midcentury modern’ is probably the closest approximation of the aesthetics, because of all the dark wood and rich hues in our home.”
“I didn't have any house-related inspiration at that point in time, but I did imagine it to be something out of a Matisse painting- a little bit all over the place, stuffed to the brim with knick-knacks, and unrestrained with its colours.”
“Evoking nostalgia is one of our top priorities when choosing items for our home. I think it’s nice when objects have a certain indefinable quality, something a little bit outdated, or timeless or even wonky.”
“The process of styling our home was very iterative. We didn’t have a vision of how we wanted things to turn out- no moodboard, no render. We just had a blank canvas of wood and cement. Over the 3 months in lockdown, we spent a lot of time ordering random stuff online, seeing where and how it could fit the space, and then changing it out when we felt like it.”
“We both have a bit of a hoarding mentality, so we needed our space to be able to accommodate that. That's why we never bothered with a Minimalist approach. We also have bits and pieces of our childhood everywhere- we brought all our books and knick knacks over.”
“One of our favourite pieces is Lloyd's New Yorker print, which he purchased when he was studying overseas. It's very comforting to look at, which is why it currently occupies a central spot in our shelf. ”
“The place we got more than half our stuff from was IKEA. It can't be helped- it's reasonably priced, and they have a really wide selection. Everything from lights to chairs, to our toilet sink and cabinets were from IKEA.”
“I’ve learnt to cook since moving into our own space! That's something I'm very proud of.”
“Our daily morning ritual is breakfast with eggs and a lot of sunlight, which makes starting the day a better experience. This is when I'm extra happy about having less walls in the house.”
“A decent Happy Hour definitely helps with separating work from home as we WFH. Walks before dinner helps too, just to give you some sort of break in the flow of things.”
“Our bedtime routine consists of music and TV. We also got a projector in our bedroom recently, which has seriously enhanced the pre-bedtime experience. We watch a lot of TV now. The last thing i watched was an anime on Netflix called Blood of Zeus. Don't judge- it's got a 100% on rotten tomatoes.”
“Of course, SOJAO's sheets have been the absolute best. I'll be honest here; they're incredibly plush and make us both feel like a couple of premium burritos.”
Lauren and Lloyd's bed is dressed in a Mix & Match Sheet Set in White and Autumn, individual Single Duvet Covers in Forest and Autumn, and an additional Forest Pillow Case Pair.
“We’re looking forward to more small joys in life next year - more days working from home, more quiet nights, more discoveries on quality household appliances.”
“Home is wherever you choose to make it; a place you build around your habits. Once you fill a space with things and people you love, it just starts to feel like a place you should return to.”
