A standout figure in Singapore’s fashion and creative scene, Grace Ciao puts her spin on fashion illustration, combining watercolour paintings with flower petals and other mediums to create ‘Bloom Belles’. Her unique skill and elegant linework has led her to work with a laundry list of high-profile clientele such as Dior, Omega, The Ritz Carlton, and more, since the founding of her studio in 2013.
The fashion illustrator’s apartment space reflects her nature-inspired and sophisticated style, featuring humble materials and a blend of natural and artificial light throughout the space. Here, Grace lets us in on how a home can be both classy and luxurious.
The Isa V3's customisable features serve as accents within Grace's home.
Tell us about your home renovation journey.
The entire renovation took about five months – two months of planning and about three months of actual renovation work. We gave our Interior Designer an open brief – we’d like for our home to have a modern and dark theme. We showed him some images from Pinterest that we like and fully trusted his craft and expertise. We love how our home turned out and have been getting a lot of compliments from our friends and family who came to visit.
Is lighting important in your everyday life?
Yes, it is! A home is a place of comfort. Lighting, both colour and intensity, can really affect one’s mood.
For certain parts of our house, such as the living room and bathrooms, we used lights that are cosy and inviting, so that we’d instantly feel at ease. For our work areas, we like it to be a lot brighter so we could be more productive.
A dimensional space, crafted with the Isa V3's illumination.
Favourite product from Sol Luminaire?
I love the Isa V3 lights. The gold accent has a very classy and luxurious appearance. The lights are dimmable for ambience creation, allowing me to adjust the intensity to my preference.
What is your favourite area or feature in your home?
Probably our open kitchen concept because it looks very inviting. It’s also large enough to entertain.
Grace Ciao's kitchen is illuminated by the innovative Isa V3.
Beyond incorporating sustainable practices in your art, how have you been able to incorporate sustainability in your lifestyle? Were you able to utilise it in your interior design process?
We try to go for quality materials and products as much as possible, so as to avoid having to discard anything too often. For our lights, we chose LED instead of incandescent lighting as it’s proven to last longer. We also use water-saving showerheads.
Describe your home in 3 words
Modern, cosy, sophisticated
Complete this sentence “Home is a place…
Home is a place to nourish your mind, body and soul.
