Extreme makeover
Six months after handing over their keys to an interior designer, a couple were in for a big surprise
When Joseph Chang took on the renovation of Manden and Jennifer Fong’s apartment in Mid-Levels, it was a case of reality mimicking reality television. Although the couple had given the designer a few clues as to their tastes and needs, Chang had carte blanche to execute a makeover that included everything from demolishing walls to picking the wine glasses and photo frames.
“The apartment had been left to me and my wife by my father when he died three years ago,” says Manden, an investor by profession. “We gave Joseph an idea of what we wanted – for example, we like Victorian and old French styles – but he was the creative one and he did everything. We left the flat in November and didn’t come back to see it until it had been finished, in May. We put some of our old furniture in storage, sold the antiques and asked Joseph to buy everything new.”
Under Manden’s father’s residency, the 3,500 sq ft flat had been a series of small rooms. Chang knocked down all the interior walls and started over. The renovated flat now has two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, plus a study, a piano room and a guest bathroom.