Susan sources womenswear for a leading department store and her eye for unique colour combinations and experience with tactile fabrics set the tone for the project. 'I really admire her taste,' says Ma. 'And I learned a lot during this job. She opened my eyes to new ways of mixing colour and texture.'

A woven chocolate leather day bed is coupled with a B&B Italia sofa in an interesting mustard-olive textured linen-mix, against a backdrop of iridescent grey linen-metal-mix curtains. Thoughtfully positioned accessories include a Venetian mirror and cow skin rug. Upstairs, a smoky grey fake suede slipper chair is juxtaposed with an aubergine crushed velvet chest and petrol-coloured drapes against a taupe Venetian stucco wall feature.

'They're really into dark colours,' says Ma 'which is quite original at the moment, when everyone else seems to be obsessed with light and glass and stainless steel. It was also quite brave of them to go for such dark shades when this house was dark to begin with, but it works. Rather than try and lighten everything up, they have kind of embraced the darkness.'

That said, efforts were made to counteract the lack of natural light. A wall between the study and living area was replaced with glass to harness light from the front of the house. Aluminium-framed bay windows were enlarged and simplified to create big picture windows and a glass conservatory was created where a terrace used to be. The stairwell was knocked through and structural cables strung up as a balustrade, which visually accentuated the height of the ceiling. 'Not very child-friendly though,' laughs Ma.

When choosing the upstairs floor plan, the pitter-patter of little feet was equally far from their minds. The four-bedroom warren was opened out to create one master bedroom linked to an TV den and walk-in-wardrobe.

Susan obviously wears the trousers in this relationship ... and the tops ... and the dresses... The 'wardrobe' storing Susan's jaw-dropping collection of clothes and accessories (Andrew has been allocated a cupboard off the bathroom) is as large as the master bedroom. 'Because I'm in the industry, of course I love fashion and I love buying clothes. And travelling allows me to shop around the world,' says Susan. It's more of a dressing room than walk-in-wardrobe, with two walls lined with floor-to-ceiling cupboards and filled with rail upon rail of garments, protected in cellophane and neatly segregated into clothing categories. 'With my job, I deal a lot with how clothes are arranged and the best ways to display them ...'

There is little furniture in the dressing chamber, just an antique 19th-century Italian vanity table in front of a wall covered in raw cork where Susan pins inspirational magazine clippings.

The dining room is as well conceived as Susan's wardrobe. A wall in the dining area has been turned into a cupboard and contains floor-to-ceiling shelves holding crockery, glassware and serving accessories as beautifully arranged as the home section at Lane Crawford. 'It's tidy because we haven't had a chance to use it yet.'

Since moving in a few weeks ago, most of their spare time has been spent in the conservatory, their favourite spot. Rather than fill it with dining furniture, the Wongs opted for two daybeds, giving the space the feeling of an indulgent resort. 'It's nice to have a space connected to the outdoors where we can relax after a hard day's work, and read at weekends. Sometimes it almost feels like we're on holiday.'

1. Andrew and Susan Wong's duplex home makes for a pretty picture when lit up at night. Subtle footlights set into the teakwood deck and a strategically placed spotlight above the conservatory door also softly illuminate the garden.

3. A solid Indonesian teak wall and platform running down one edge of the garden features a glass canopy, which provides cover from the rain when moving between the garage and house. A bench was also installed to overlook the goldfish pond.

5. A wall in the dining area was fitted with floor-to-ceiling walnut veneer cupboards which store a wine fridge and the Wongs' huge collection of glassware, crockery and serving accoutrements. Yung and Ma made the dining chairs from velvet from Mercer House (Wilson house, 19 Wyndham Street, Central, tel: 2524 1866); the aluminium Turciu Soffitto ceiling light (from $9,224) is by Catellani & Smith at Desideri; and the cowhide (around $5,500) is from MCV Asia (5/F Capitol Plaza, 2 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, tel: 2189 7068).

6. The wall between study and living area was replaced with walnut veneer and stainless-steel shelving with glass inserts to harness the light. The leather Gacy armchair ($47,000) is by Promemoria at Magazzini Vivace (Unit 902-3 Horizon Plaza, 2 Lee Wing Street, Ap Lei Chau, tel: 2950 4026) while the linen-mix Charles sofa is by B&B Italia at Desideri.

TRIED & TESTED

Tinted love

Smoked glass has been used repeatedly in the Wong home. 'A lot of people ask us for mirrored walls, but we find it can look a bit gaudy,' says Ma. 'Tinted glass is less reflective than mirrored glass, and the effect is quite wallpaper-ish - trendy but elegant.'

The stairwell is lined with smoked glass, cut into varying-sized rectangles, and mounted to create a 1960s-style tiled effect. In the bedroom, a portion of the transparent glass wall dividing the bathroom and bedroom is covered in a sheet of smoked glass, which provides privacy by blocking a view of the toilet. A reflective mirror was also positioned behind it. A smoked- glass wash basin completes the look and is more unusual than the ubiquitous clear glass basin. Smoked glass is available from Chit Shing Contracting for about $65 a square foot (38 Mei Kwong Street, To Kwa Wan, tel: 2362 7309).