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option. Metallics go well with one
another, as they do with other neutrals,
and pieces like this are becoming a
signature part of my business, Cocoon
Styling.
How did you get into the home-
styling business?
My first home project in Singapore was
for my own landlords, a local couple
who were relocating to Shanghai. When
I looked at the big bungalow off Sixth
Avenue, I fell in love with it. But it required
extensive renovation; so I offered to
manage the renovation for the owners,
and they were extremely happy with the
outcome.
That flowed naturally into doing interior
and exterior styling projects for friends,
which I did on an informal basis for the
next five years, while Sophie was still
young and needed most of my attention.
Rebuilding a villa in Seminyak, Bali
from scratch was my next project. That
was a steep learning curve: I’d been to
Bali many times, but knowing where to
buy a kaftan is a far cry from sourcing
tiles and bathtubs! Along with having our
own villa there, and having made all the
necessary contacts, that led on to other
private villa jobs, to the Legian Hotel and
to my project-managing the landscaping
and some of the interior refurbishment
at La Residence d’Angkor in SiemReap.
I launched Cocoon Styling two years
ago.
What’s behind the name Cocoon
Styling?
It struck me that newly arrived expats,
in par ticular, really need some
“cocooning”, by which I mean help in