Raising the roof

As Jane Straley prepares for an event on the roof of her 2,400 sq ft apartment in Repulse Bay, what's usually indoors has been moved outdoors.

Straley has transformed the area using not just garden furniture but items usually more suited to the living room, such as wool rugs and works of art. The effect is dramatic.

Straley, who works for a Cambodian children's charity after many years in the clothing trade, and husband Phillip, who is a partner in a management consulting company, are having a 'pre-scaffolding' party for 60 guests before contractors start renovating the exterior of the apartment block, which will obscure the view for a while.

Dominating the roof area is a painting by artist Guo Zuchang that depicts a group of gamblers. Says Straley: 'We love this painting but don't want to hang it in the apartment at the moment so we bring it out here for special occasions and keep it in a storage area next to the kitchen the rest of the time.'

Its vibrant tones are echoed in the boldly patterned rug from Istanbul, Turkey. Here there are also a chocolate-coloured leather sofa and a pair of antique Chinese plant pot stands. You have to wonder at the wisdom of exposing such items to Hong Kong's heat and humidity, but Straley defends her decision. 'Before we married, Phillip had bought a beautiful rug from Singapore and I had about six from places such as Cairo and Istanbul that I bought while travelling for my job in the fashion industry. Even though they didn't go with the style of our home, we didn't want to part with them so we kept them in storage for years. It's a shame to keep them hidden and this is a good way of using them.'

As for the plant stands, she says: 'They are 70 years old. They didn't have air-conditioning then and they survived. They've been up here since last September and we've had them for 10 years. I think they look better as they've aged.'