Taking centre stage in the dining room, the first artwork that visitors would see is what looks like a muddled piece of calligraphy, titled Wishing We Last Forever by Lim Tze Peng, Singapore’s oldest artist.

Over in the living room, there hangs a painting of a lion attacking a horse and its horseman, a piece by Indonesian graphic artist Uji Handoko (pictured).

“Having pieces that show movement is a way to bring life to space,” says Hartono.

Besides running Metis Art,  Hartono is also the founder of Set in Stone Gallery, which offers fossils and mineral pieces acquired from around the world. A trilobite given to him when he was five and visits to the Natural History Museum in London sparked his lifelong interest in fossils.

Apart from contemporary artworks, visitors have the opportunity to see natural history up close such as that of fossilised seashells (pictured) that are five million years old, and wall art of a fossilised leaf with fish found in Wyoming, that is said to be 52 million years old.

The artworks on the second floor have been chosen by Chua, a mix of emerging artists that she likes to support and work with. Among them is What is the Current That Presents a Behaved Waist by Stephanie Jane Burt.

Eye-catching pieces include what appears like wallpaper but is actually an artwork by Scottish/Danish artist Edward Clydesdale Thomson (pictured); and an acrylic piece by Filipino artist Kristoffer Ardeña complete with a matching rug on the floor. Chua shares that no one has mistakenly wiped their feet on the rug.

It is in the couple’s study, where modern art and natural history come together. On the wall is a piece by Singaporean artist Genevieve Chua created using ultrasound technology that hangs above a shelf filled with fossils of dragonflies and mineral slabs.

The couple shows their support not only for local artists but other homegrown brands as well. For example, they have picked furniture pieces from Roger & Sons and Nathan Yong, and dot their space with dried floral arrangements from This Humid House and decorative vessels from Pinch Ceramics.

The colour palette for the furnishing is kept neutral so as to not steal the attention from the artworks. This detail is seen in the rugs too, chosen to match the colours and patterns of the fossils.

Chua says that to keep artworks from fading it is best to keep them away from direct sunlight. They do have the air conditioning on most of the time, but generally, the artworks fare well in Singapore’s humid conditions. “The fossils have no problems with heat and humidity,” adds Hartono.

Part of Chua’s role is also to help find artworks for their home, sourcing for the pieces after learning about their tastes. “But you can never go wrong with a piece that you immediately like,” she says.

A version of this article first appeared in The Business Times