'We rented our flat in Chung Hom Kok last October, attracted by the large rooftop, but it was rather unsightly,' says Peto Foong Henderson.

'In the middle of the rooftop were three large, rusty pipes - a real eyesore. The floor was blotchy and despite thorough cleaning, we couldn't get rid of the stains. The paint on the walls was peeling off, even though the landlord claimed to have whitewashed them. There were only six lights, which made the rooftop look rather gloomy at night. Yet I had an idea of how to turn it into le jardin.'

Henderson, an editor, wanted to turn the rooftop into a garden that made the most of the views of Chung Hom Kok beach, Ocean Park and, on clear days, Regalia Bay in Stanley and Lamma.

'The first thing we did was hide the ugly pipes. I got a contractor to come and measure the height and make a bar top to cover it. It was made of wood so it had the rustic look I wanted. I bought six bar stools and now the first thing our guests do is perch on the stools while they have their cocktails and drink in the sunset. Next was hiding the blotchy floor. I went to Beauty Floor in Wan Chai and ordered wood decking, which looks fantastic.

'To create a garden effect, I went to Sai Kung and ordered lots of tall plants and bags of stones and pebbles, which I lined up beside the decking on either side of the wall. I bought some logs and bougainvillea plants that would creep up the rattan trellis to hide the cracks. I also installed some outdoor lights so it would look atmospheric at night.

'Then came the piece de resistance. I had always wanted a herb garden and was determined to enjoy pesto sauce made with home-grown organic basil. We built a simple greenhouse with a perspex roof and planted herbs in wine cases recycled from the Hong Kong Country Club. The wine cases are excellent because they allow moisture to flow through. The perspex allows sunlight in and the wall on one side blocks out wind.

'Initially, I just wanted to cover the ugly pipes by building a bar table on top. But after seeing the results, I had to go the whole hog. I'm very happy sitting up on my rooftop and all our guests love to eat outside.'

Renovators Angela and Mark Mowday had plans for a spectacular kitchen in their Shek Kong home, but even though the space was enormous, it had only two tiny windows. Natural light was sorely lacking, and enlarging the windows would only make worse an ugly view of their neighbour's wall. The Mowdays overcame both problems with a clever design solution.

Taking inspiration from a Japanese-style screen, Angela designed a light wall that's aesthetically appealing and functional. The first step was to fill in the existing windows and paint the whole wall white. Twenty-four fluorescent light tubes were then installed in a vertical pattern. The couple's building contractor made a wooden frame fashioned as a series of squares, which were painted black. Sheets of perspex were then slotted into the frame.

The frame is moveable on a sliding track for easy access to the fluorescent tubes. The wiring plan allows some or all of the tubes to be illuminated, enabling the couple to control the amount of light. It gives a wow factor to the Mowdays' kitchen, drawing guests towards the light. 'At the end of an evening, we'll turn the lights down for a wonderfully restful effect,' says Angela.

Air-conditioning units are the bane of residential design. We all need them, and most prefer individual units in various rooms rather than a ducted system for greater control. 'Often these units are stuck on the wall without design being considered - and let's face it, they're quite ugly to look at,' says Roddy Murray, owner and principal designer at RJ Murray Design.

'Some companies have attempted to add design elements by introducing new colours, and LG has tried a flat-panel look. There has been some improvement, but it's still an object on the wall that doesn't look particularly nice. I try to conceal air-con units or make it look like they have disappeared.

'Indoor units can be installed in a false ceiling if you have the roof height, or high up on a wall, with the cool air ducted through two linear diffusers. These look like two black lines running along the wall, and they come in varying sizes, although 100mm is normal. If you don't have the height, an adjoining room might provide a place to hide the unit, especially if it's a bedroom and it can go in the top of a wardrobe space.

'If you don't have space physically to hide the unit, you can make it visually disappear by building cabinets or shelving around it. Cabinetry and mirrors can also be used to conceal a building's structural elements. In one of the duplexes I did there was an ugly column that had to stay. We built a cabinet with a mirrored finish and continued the mirroring from the cabinet to the column to the wall. A cabinet on its own can draw attention to an object, but in this case the continuity of materials provided an effective disguise. Sometimes, the cheapest and simplest solutions can work best.'