Against a gleaming white backdrop, a couple created a holiday-home vibe while remaining true to their Scandinavian roots. Bright, white and filled with light, this sunny beachside house cleverly combines fresh Scandinavian style and functional living. Home to Dutch-Chinese designer Ree-Yong Yuen, her Swedish husband, Peter, and their three-year-old daughter, Nikki, the 3,000 sq ft space in Discovery Bay is the kind of place where every day feels like a holiday. 'We went on holiday a few months ago then asked ourselves why we went away when we have all this here,' says Yuen. It's easy to understand her point of view. On a sunny, blue-sky day, the house - with terraces on every level, a garden to the side, a private pool below and a beach to the fore - appears infinitely more appealing than any crowded Asian resort. But life wasn't always like this. The family moved here 18 months ago after five years in Mid-Levels. 'It was OK at first and then came Nikki and the dog [Coco] and the cat [Molly]. Also, Peter was used to Sweden and big spaces so we found we couldn't live in a small flat any more,' says Yuen. And so the hunt began in Discovery Bay. They looked at many places and at first rejected what was to become their home because of its dingy, dark wood-filled decor. However, luck and an accommodating landlord were on their side. 'The owner agreed to renovate it according to our taste as long as we stuck to a budget and handled the renovations ourselves. That was fine by us,' Yuen says. Out went the dark-wood balustrades, which divided the living area and lined the stairs. They were replaced by plates of glass, which allowed uninterrupted views through the living space to the terrace and trees below. The off-white walls also had to go. 'Painting the walls white made a huge difference. Now the space looks so open,' says Yuen. With the entrance at the rear, the house flows downwards on a slope, with views over the woods and the sea to the fore. The kitchen and dining area are on the entry level, with the living room half a level down. On the floor below are the bedrooms, with the pool and a covered seating area in the 'basement'. During the renovations, the couple paid lots of attention to the cooking area, which was a pokey galley kitchen. They opened it up, removing the maid's quarters to create more space, and added a skylight to brighten it further. Yuen dedicated one light-filled corner of the kitchen to Coco and Molly, installing her range of contemporary pet furniture (see Tried & Tested). She also asked the contractor to build in as much storage space as possible and clad the walls with slim white industrial-style tiles. Yuen admits their choice of a white palette harks back to her and her husband's Scandinavian roots. In the living area, she has continued the theme by adding simple, white functional furniture (a coffee table, bookshelves and a sideboard) from Ikea and combining them with more expensive pieces, such as an Arco lamp, a Frighetto sofa and contemporary Chinese artwork. Splashes of sunny yellow and vibrant orange in the form of soft furnishings add energy to the space. While budget constraints precluded extensive renovations to the poolside sitting area, Yuen has managed to create a stylish, holiday vibe by using rattan sofas with water-resistant mock suede upholstery, refinishing the outside shower with concrete walls and floor and hanging bamboo hoop curtains to protect the seating zone from local wildlife (essential at night, when bats swoop). But if asked to name her favourite part of the house, Yuen's thoughts turn back upstairs. 'It's probably the kitchen because I like eating and Peter likes cooking. It's a nice kitchen to just hang around in.' 1 In the covered sitting area adjacent to the pool is a rattan L-shaped sofa (HK$18,000) from C.I.C. Rattan Furniture (72 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, tel: 2528 6903). It was re-covered with water-resistant mock suede (HK$2,000) from New Bedford Interiors (67 Queen's Road East, tel: 2520 0330). The pair of birdcages cost HK$1,000, also from C.I.C. Rattan. The dragon-boat paddles were collected from a nearby beach (they had been discarded). Continuing the poolside theme are black and white rubber rings from Granit (NK Stockholm, Hamngatan 18, Stockholm, Sweden, tel: 468 762 80 60; www.granit.com ) and a pink polka-dot rubber ring from HEMA (Frankemaheerd 2, 1102 Amsterdam, Netherlands, tel: 20 311 4411; www.hema.nl ). The bamboo hoop curtains (HK$129 a piece), the black chair in the foreground (HK$200) and the small white side-table (HK$150) are from Ikea (basement, Park Lane Hotel, 310 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, tel: 3125 0888; www. ikea.com.hk). 2 Nikki's room is bright and cheerful. An old Ikea sofa has been jazzed up with a trio of hot-pink circular chalkboards from a shop sinced closed and some colourful cushions from Inside (shop 231, Prince's Building, Central, tel: 2537 6298; www.inside.com.hk ). Ree-Yong Yuen had the purple curtains made in Shenzhen for HK$400. 3 Once a small galley, the kitchen was extended to make a spacious, light-filled room complete with a skylight. Keeping with the white theme, Yuen worked with her contractor, who built lots of storage units as well as a big opaque glass cupboard (to the left), which is used to store electrical and kitchen equipment. A central island, topped with Corian, is a handy work space and the floor is laid with slate tiles sourced on the mainland. A laughing Buddha, about HK$500 from Indigo Living (6/F, Horizon Plaza, 2 Lee Wing Street, Ap Lei Chau, tel: 2555 0540; www.indigo-living.com ), sits on top of one of the units. 4 Splashes of colour brighten up the pale palette in the living room. An Arco lamp (HK$13,000 from Flos, shop A, Winway Building, 50 Wellington Street, Central, tel: 2801 7608; www.flos.com ) arches over the Frighetto sofa, which cost HK$50,000 from a store since closed. The bookcases (HK$449 a piece) and the coffee table (HK$350) are from Ikea. The painting, by Pang Yong Jie, was bought from the artist in Beijing. 5 The white walls continue in the light-filled master bedroom, which is afforded privacy by sheer roller blinds. Above the bed is another painting by Pang. The Gunghult woven wicker chair, by James Irvine for Ikea, cost HK$1,295. The grey throw on the bed is from Inside. 6 In the dining room is a Superellipse table by Bruno Mathsson and Piet Hein, produced by Fritz Hansen and purchased at Aluminium (19 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, tel: 2546 5904; www.hk-aluminium.com ). The Arne Jacobsen Series 7 chairs (HK$2,500 each) were also bought from Aluminum. The painting of irises is by Swede Barbro Linjer. The Grand-Cru glassware is by Danish design company Rosendahl and the yellow tray is from Ikea. 7 To add contemporary style to a basic poolside bathroom, Yuen asked her contractor to coat the walls and floor with concrete. Yuen dressed up the existing pedestal sink with a pail and a simple mirror. A wooden latticework box on the wall provides storage. tried & tested pet project It's always a challenge to incorporate pets' practical needs into a design. Ree-Yong Yuen decided to give her pets a dedicated corner of the kitchen for feeding and sleeping. She finished one wall in hard-wearing concrete for this purpose. Unimpressed by the range of pet products on the market, she designed a chic collection of pet furniture and accessories. The sleek artificial-leather dog feeding table (HK$895, including two ceramic bowls), cat feeding tray (HK$399), cat 'condo' (HK$1,399; three pieces, including a box for toys, a bed box and a litter tray) and cat scratch bar holder (HK$299) are available through www.reeyong.com or from Addiction (15 Gough Street, Central, tel: 2581 2779). Styling Esther van Wijck