How a former art teacher makes a living painting murals in strangers' homes in one of the world's most expensive cities

And they're all bits and pieces of her work — Toh is a 31-year-old interior stylist in Singapore who specializes in botanical mural art.

Despite her background in the fine arts, she wasn't expecting to start her own interior art and styling firm with her husband, Vincent. He works in the fintech industry, but comes from a family that runs a tiling and contracting business in Malaysia.

Toh had a full-time job as an art educator in a local secondary school, but the pandemic ended up creating opportunities for her to venture into a new field. 

"While everyone was complaining about not being able to go out, for me it was great because people were staying at home and they started to care more about their space," Toh told Insider.

"It was a botanical painting — no surprise — and I told myself that when I got my own house I would definitely do it again, but on a larger scale," Toh said.

When Toh and her husband moved in together, the time that she was forced to spend at home due to the pandemic offered her a chance to pick up her brush and decorate their home.

Singapore — tied with New York — tops the list of most expensive cities in the world to live in. Married Singaporean couples like the Tohs can take advantage of public housing estates subsidized by the government. 

The couple's home in Tampines, an area in eastern Singapore, was also the first interior styling project that both of them took on.

"We focused a lot on the furnishings. We took a lot of pride in sourcing and putting everything together to make sure it looked cohesive," Toh said. "That was the first time we actually stepped into the interior styling and design world."

"I would say that most interior designers in Singapore would hand over the keys to the house once the renovation works are done," Toh said. "But for us, we accompany our clients even after they have moved in, which is when we come in to style their house."

Styling involves not just sourcing new furniture, but also coordinating the items that clients already have to create a space that reflects who they are, she said.

"People do come with decorative items or memorabilia that they have from their travels or previous homes, and we highly encourage our clients to continue using them rather than buying new pieces," she said.

Her husband assists her with projects on an ad-hoc basis, and mostly focuses on the accounting, logistical, and technical aspects of running their interior styling firm, Toh added.

The initial motivation for creating the account was to share photos of their home with others who are in the online home and decor community, Toh said.

"It wasn't even meant to share information or anything like that," she said. But when the pandemic hit, people became more interested in home decor and started to ask her for advice online.

"We also had more time, so we started sharing tips on where you can buy things from, or how to care for and maintain certain types of items," she added.

Before they knew it, brands started reaching out for collaborations and photoshoots at their home — and the couple ended up getting requests for interior styling services and mural commissions.

"We accepted our very first project as a favor, and we didn't even really charge for it either," Toh said. "We started to gain a few more opportunities from there, and I decided I had to make a choice between my educator job and this."

Toh typically charges using a per-square-meter rate for her murals, which ranges between 300 to 400 Singapore dollars, or between $225 to $300. It all depends on the complexity of the design and how filled the space is, Toh said.

"If the client is looking for something that's a little bit more spaced out or simpler, with more abstract shapes, those are technically easier to create, so they will fall on the lower end of the range," she said. 

For instance, a floor-to-ceiling mural that's two to three meters in length can cost between 1,500 to 3,000 Singapore dollars, according to her website. A mural of this size can take between 10 to 14 hours — about a day or two — to complete.

Her murals typically consist of flora and fauna, although she occasionally does take on commissions of a different style, like line art.

Clients need to provide her with photo references of the kind of mural they have in mind, as well as a photo and the dimensions of the wall that the mural is going to be on, Toh said.

"In cases where they're not sure what they want, I'll make suggestions," Toh said. "Sometimes I'll try to relate the design to their personal experiences, such as using flowers from their wedding bouquet."

In fact, Toh recommends murals be accompanied by furniture.

"For example, if you have your TV against the wall, you can design your mural in a way that the plants are growing out from behind it," Toh said. 

In her own house, Toh has a rose mural on her corridor wall that is perfectly framed by the door when viewed from the main bedroom.

"Everything in a mural is quite purposefully composed," she added.

Color blocks are a simple way of incorporating bold colors into a home, Toh said. And it's not just about the color — placement matters too.

"If you paint all four walls with colors like electric blue or forest green, it does look a bit heavy," Toh said. "But if you focus the painting in a corner of the wall or with a geometric shape that occupies a part of the ceiling and spills down to the wall, it'll actually create visual interest."

But at the end of the day, every home is a work-in-progress and there's no need to worry about not being able to undo design decisions, Toh added: "It takes effort, but you can always change things up."