One couple achieved their vision of a European-style home by combining two Sheung Wan apartments.
Yip Hoi-yee and Stanley Li have created a little slice of Europe in their bijou apartment, tucked down a narrow Sheung Wan backstreet. Formerly two 400 sq ft units on the third and fourth floor of a charming walkup, the apartments were converted into a duplex, with a rooftop, creating a cool retreat on a hot summer's day.
Inside, pale shades of minty green, white and blue combine with classic louvred shutters, decorative ironwork balconies and elegant furnishings in a manner that is comfortable but stylish. And it is all the more impressive when you consider the compact space, which threw up a variety of challenges during the renovation.
Yip and Li were armed with fixed criteria when they began hunting for a new home: they wanted two levels and a roof, it had to be in a quiet part of town and it needed to have privacy. 'We chose this building because it had one unit per floor,' says Yip. 'Luckily, two units were available at the same time and they both had the same owner so that made life easier.'
Although design aware, Yip experienced a conundrum familiar to many who renovate their own home. 'I knew what I liked but I didn't have an objective view because I'm not a professional designer,' she says. 'When I looked through magazines I liked so many different things but when it came to putting it all together, I thought, 'Oh no, now what do I do?''