Going Green: How to incorporate plants into your home decor

FOR AS LONG as he can remember, Jonathan Choe has always loved plants. He jokes that his mother got him interested because she made him take care of her plants that would otherwise die in her hands. "I've kept plants since I was 12," says Mr Choe, now 30, an architectural designer with architecture firm, Woha.

His latest work project is Design Orchard, a new shopping spot which houses local brands. Design Orchard is eye-catching not only because of its off-form concrete structural walls, with circular openings to let in light, ventilation and views of shop fronts, but also for the lush greenery on the public rooftop amphitheatre. When the trees are mature, they will provide shade and shelter from the sun, making the amphitheatre a comfortable place to sit. "The planting is a mix of local species and low-maintenance species that will grow into a lush and wild tropical hilltop park," says Mr Choe.

At the firm, Mr Choe is part of a team that manages a rooftop vegetable farm at their office building. He confesses that his work table is also overrun with plants. So it comes as no surprise that his apartment in Geylang is also filled with greenery. In fact, his home is possibly the greenest apartment in the entire development.

Having plenty of space was one of his considerations when he was house hunting. "I didn't want to live in a box, having to go downstairs if I want some outdoor space," he says.

So he intentionally bought an apartment with an outdoor area. At 1,000 sq ft, his unit isn't big. The kitchen is small with just enough space to fit in a washer/dryer. The living room has been turned into a study, while the guest room became a TV room.

Since the apartment is compact, Mr Choe found ways to make it feel more spacious. For example, the work tables and shelves which are pushed against the walls, are of the same height both indoors and outdoors. When the balcony doors are pushed aside, the space appears longer.

Other ways to create an illusion of space include doing away with curtains or blinds, and also painting the walls a similar shade to the sliding door frames, so everything looks more seamless.

Thankfully, because this is a loft unit, the double-height ceiling makes the apartment appear bigger.

Mr Choe's bedroom is in the loft, and he also has a roof terrace. Both the bedrooms come with balconies. Naturally, all the outdoor space has been overtaken by plants.

Most of the potted plants in the balconies are on wheels, so that they are easier to move around, depending on how much sunlight the space gets during the year. A large clay pot, filled with aquatic plants, gets a special spot next to Mr Choe's bed as it has always been his dream to fall asleep and wake up to the sound of water.

He also built a rectangular pond on the roof terrace, filling it with aquatic plants and small fish, such as swordtails and gouramis. "The water helps to cool the roof terrace," he explains.

On the opposite end of the roof terrace, he has salvaged old pieces of timber and with a slab of concrete, he created a sink and cupboard, which come in handy when he does his gardening.

Mr Choe grows a variety of plants, from creepers and herbs such as basil and mint, to ferns and trees such as the frangipani, red palm and moringa. On cool days, he is up here for meals, and sometimes even has Korean barbecue at his specially constructed table, which has a built-in grill.

He spends his free time tending to his plants, often rearranging them, as factors such as the wind and sun affect their growth. "I find gardening quite cathartic, planting and trimming and moving things around and then watching to see whether they thrive or even start to fade," he says. Even after years of growing plants, "it is still pretty much trial and error."

Mr Choe can't imagine life without his plants. "Living with plants is interesting because they are always changing and reacting to different conditions," he says. "In my home, they work to temper the environment, reduce heat and noise, create privacy and oxygen, beyond just being aesthetically pleasing."