IF A HOME IS A reflection of your character, then by extension, a home should also be a reflection of your profession. In which case, one glance at Eva Mak's wild Whampoa Garden home, and you would be forgiven for assuming she was a fashion designer, pop star, stylist or such like. Civil servant would rank far down the guess list. But civil servant she is - a government engineer to be exact - and unsurprisingly, Mak's colleagues can't quite get their left-hemisphere leaning heads round her funky new pad. 'They've never seen anything like it and think it looks like a bar,' laughs the amiable 29-year-old. 'They say it's not welcoming as there are no comfortable chairs to sit on and it's ka kong say bik [a Cantonese proverb meaning 'so poor you only have four walls'].' But the padded-cell effect was intentional: 'I wanted a minimal, modern-retro look,' explains Mak. 'Kind of Space Odyssey 2001 meets Marc Newson. I like it because it's not a common look but it's easy to merge into a modern interior.' As well as futuristic aesthetics, Mak wanted her 788-square-foot flat to feel as spacious and to house as much storage space as possible. 'I'm not a tidy person but I wanted a clean look, so I needed doors to hide everything behind.' Although Mak had no problem in visualising exactly what she wanted, she needed a professional who could transform her unorthodox ideas into reality. Finding that person proved harder than expected: 'I went to see lots of designers, telling them I wanted modern retro, but when some of them actually asked me to explain what modern retro was, I knew they weren't for me. 'I didn't want retro which is all brown and ancient but modern retro which is more space age and pop art. 'Then I met May Wan and we bingoed immediately. She got really excited about the project and knew exactly what I was looking for.' To solve her storage brief, Wan (tel: 9213 0003) clad one entire length of the living space with cupboards and then, to create the white-cell effect, attached push-latch mechanisms to the cupboard doors and removed all the skirting, door frames and handles. Now when the doors to the kitchen, guest loo and master bedroom are closed, all you see are white walls. This also serves to make the room appear larger. For a space-age effect, large holes were cut out of a dropped false ceiling and three smaller ones cut out from the wall, reminiscent of Newson's Pod bar in Tokyo. Fluorescent lighting was installed around the rims to highlight the holes to which pink fun-fur discs were added. Background colour is more liberally applied in the rest of the flat, a prime example being the kitchen in citrus-bright orange, lime and lemon. 'I read in a book somewhere that yellow and orange are good for your appetite.' The guest loo meanwhile is in sunshine yellow, the lounge area of the master bedroom a calamine-lotion pink and the master bathroom tiled in blue mosaic. Once the basics were in place, Mak could have fun and start shopping for her 'dream furniture'. This includes classic pieces by Eero Aarnio and Tom Dixon, complemented by bright accessories that would look right at home on an Austin Powers film set: faux-leather bean bags, retro phones, lava lamps and plastic pill-shaped clocks. However, just when you think the decor is bordering on being too self-consciously trendy, a witty accessory (such as a nose-shaped loo-roll dispenser where tissue is pulled out of the nostrils) makes you realise Mak doesn't take her flat too seriously. 'It's wonderful to live in,' says Mak. 'Like a dream world and great to come home to as it's so different from my office ? I guess there's a chance I might tire of it when I'm older, but design icons don't date, so I think I'll be OK.' 1: The acid-bright kitchen cabinets were custom-designed by Eva Mak and her designer May Wan and matching ceramic tiles were sourced along Lockhart Road in Wan Chai. The lampshade is by Hung A, an old Hong Kong plastics manufacturer whose products are enjoying a resurgence in popularity (from $200 at Morn in SoHo, tel: 2869 7021). 2: In the guest loo, Wan installed a glass sink (about $2,500 including mixer tap from Lockhart Road, Wan Chai) on a custom-designed plywood unit finished in silver laminate. Mak jazzed it up with a simple layer of fuchsia fun fur bought in Shamshuipo ('It just slips off so I can throw it in the laundry'.) 3: The master bedroom conceals masses of storage space - in the bed base, behind the bed and in three floor-to-ceiling pull-out wardrobes (unseen). The bedlinen is from Ikea and the 1969 ABS Componibili storage unit is by Kartell ( www.kartell.it ; $1,400 from William Artists in Causeway Bay, tel: 2870 2277). 4: Mak knocked through an awkward-shaped second bedroom to create a lounge area in her master bedroom. The Koyuku sofa, draped in retro fabric from Morn, is from Tint+ in Causeway Bay (tel: 2573 5757; www.tint.com.hk ) while the psychedelic picture was inspired by a greeting card (see Owner recommends). 5: The master bathroom was clad in blue and white mosaic tiles with a pink acrylic porthole inserted into the door. 6: Mak nestling into her reproduction Eero Aarnio fibreglass 1966 Ball Chair by Adelta ( www.adelta.de ) next to a fibreglass Billiard Ball stool ($39,999 and $1,999 respectively from Aluminium, tel: 2546 5904). The relief patterned walls hide myriad cupboards plus doors to the kitchen on the left and the guest loo and AV cabinets on the right. Owner recommends Custom carpet If you're looking for a rug to suit a decor as unique as Mak's, it may be easier to have one custom-made. The circular rug (picture 6) was created by Customade in Kwun Tong for $2,000 (tel: 2763 9189). 'Originally I went to Tai Ping but they were quoting $4,000,' she says (tel: 2522 7138; www.taipingcarpets.com ). Light relief Mak wanted white walls in the living room but was worried it might look dull. Her designer therefore created a Verner Panton-style pattern by pasting circles cut from plywood plus the resultant reliefs on to the walls and then spray painting the whole design. Affordable art If you can't afford paintings, but don't want to go down the studentish poster route, a cheaper alternative is to blow up a postcard and have it wrapped around a frame. Mak's psychedelic image (picture 4) cost $1,000 to enlarge at a printing company which has since closed. Ma King Kee in Central can produce 112cm by 84cm colour enlargements for $900 (tel: 2544 2393). Switched on Even the light switches get the modern-retro treatment (pictures 4 and 5). Mak bought a selection of $30 plastic switch plates with oversized, semi-circular touch pads from an electrical store in Yuen Long. She mixed up the components for a multicoloured look.