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Picture perfect

Suji Owen

Behold the dramatic and eclectic home of Michelle Koller and Geoff Fuller, the husband-and-wife team behind home furnishing store Tequila Kola. With 18 years of homeware buying experience and a career in fashion design before that, Koller has undertaken a confident redesign of their 2,800 sq ft Parkview apartment - for the second time.

Where Koller's 2005 renovation, also featured in Post Magazine, was a celebration of colour and ethnic craftsmanship, this incarnation is a more personal affair.

Photographs and photography-based art set the tone, with several montages paying homage to Koller's native New York. Also prominently featured are hand-tinted portraits of stars of the silver screen from the 1960s and 70s, mostly works by Koller's father, Robert Koller, an award-winning photographer.

'James Dean, Marilyn, the Rat Pack - that whole look has made a renaissance recently,' says Koller. It's clear that some of her decorating choices took their cue from that era. Two sofas in white vintage leather define the formal living area and are bedecked with black and white faux-fur throws and houndstooth accent cushions. The dining area gleams with three chandeliers, a wall of mirror tiles and a large artwork featuring iconic Italian actress Sophia Loren.

The mirrored wall proved to be the most transforming feature of the apartment's new look.

'Before, that wall was a deep mustard colour and we found that it often made the room feel quite dark during the day. The mirrored wall adds so much more light and makes the place feel more open, especially when the doors to the balcony are open,' says Koller.

The apartment is surrounded by greenery and mountain views but Koller 'really wanted to bring lots of

foliage into the house. I love growing walls - it's kind of a New York thing - and that's what I originally wanted but I couldn't find a way to make it practical inside.'

She opted instead for ferns and potted plants displayed at various heights throughout the main living areas.

Koller had a colour palette in mind. 'I wanted the drama of black and white. In fashion, I've always loved the juxtaposition of the two colours. I also love red, so I mixed a little of it in for contrast,' she says. 'But then I also wanted purple and green, which are kind of opposites too.'

There's a deep-pile purple carpet in the family room, where there is a green daybed decorated with silk brocade cushions that be turned into a bed for guests and there are bi-fold doors that close the room off from the living area. Plush fabrics and bold monochromatic patterns lend an elegant boudoir atmosphere to the cosy space. A wall decal of Marilyn Monroe rounds out the look.

'I'm sure some people would make everything retro in an apartment like this but I don't think you have to. I like the extremes in decorating,' says Koller. So along with the New York-style retro glamour are a few Asian accents: a pair of pagoda-shaped birdcages housing red candles, an Indian cabinet inlaid with bone, a large wall-mounted disc of intricately carved teak. Standing out for their sheer rusticity are a dining and coffee table made from unpolished pine salvaged from Scottish distilleries.

Tequila Kola's tagline is 'no room for the ordinary', a sentiment that seems to reverberate around Koller's home and extend to other aspects of the couple's life.

'It's true that when we entertain we like to do something dramatic, whether it's fancy dress or a murder-mystery party. We don't really have people just coming over in their jeans,' laughs Koller.

1 Natural materials and potted plants add another dimension to the dramatic black and white accents employed throughout the main living area. A white vintage leather sectional sofa (HK$49,980 from Tequila Kola - 1/F, Horizon Plaza, 2 Lee Wing Street, Ap Lei Chau, tel: 2877 3295; www.tequilakola.com - as are all other furnishings unless otherwise stated) is arranged around a solid pine coffee table (HK$12,980) on cast-iron wheels - an important design detail for the Koller-Fuller family, who often clear the area to play rowdy Wii games. Like the coffee table, the dining table (HK$19,980) is made from pine recycled from defunct Scottish distilleries. The dining chairs, upholstered in the same vintage leather as the sofas, cost HK$3,280 each. Three antique chandeliers (costing from HK$9,000) hang from wires wrapped in coils of natural rope. At the entrance to the apartment is another light (HK$6,980), with long trains of sparkling black beads. A wall of diagonally mounted mirrored tiles (HK$29,000 from Po Sang Glass and Framing, 61 Wellington Street, Central, tel: 2523 1374) adds to the glitz, reflecting light into the room. White and black silk carpets (HK$130 a square foot) also brighten the space.

2 A retro-style lounge chair and stool in red velvet (HK$13,980) accompanied by an artwork entitled Smoking Lips in the same scarlet hue (HK$4,900) anchor one area of the living space. Black and white accents include a cowhide trunk (HK$6,980) and a striped silk rug (HK$130 a square foot). Glass bi-fold doors open on to a large balcony decked with plantation teak, sourced from Tequila Kola at HK$70 a square foot. A birdcage lampshade (HK$1,980) and an antique wood carving (HK$8,000) contribute to the tropical atmosphere fostered by various plants. The synthetic rattan table and chair set cost HK$6,900.

3 Black and white also feature in the family room but with a more feminine flamboyance. Striking floral wallpaper by the Designers Guild (www.designersguild.com), supplied by Tequila Kola for HK$540 a roll, is teamed with a window blind (HK$1,900) in a regal flock print. A pair of tall black cabinets (HK$10,880) face a daybed upholstered in chartreuse green (HK$15,000) and laden with cushions in plush fabrics. A black faux-mink armchair (HK$10,980) and white faux-fox-fur throw (HK$1,980) add to the soft and intimate atmosphere, as does the large purple silk carpet (HK$130 a square foot). An embossed metal side table (HK$2,980) and a bone-inlay bedside cabinet (HK$3,980) add Indian accents. An art deco fan (HK$1,400) from Alan Engineering (tel: 2887 6638; e-mail alanenco@netvigator .com) completes the layout. The Marilyn Monroe wall decal was picked up for about HK$988 during a trip to Paris.

4 Glitz and glamour are no less apparent in the master bathroom, where glittering tiles bought several years ago from Mosaic Tiles Building Materials (shop 1, Sunshine Plaza, 353 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2116 3002) form the backdrop to a pair of oval Duravit washbasins designed by Philippe Starck, sourced from Sunny Bathrooms (345 Lockhart Road, tel: 2575 0200) for HK$2,900 each. Vanity mirrors adapted from black lacquer picture frames (HK$3,650 each) are accented with black and chequered silk bathmats (HK$130 a square foot) and Roman blinds made with black lace (HK$1,200). The Egyptian pendant lamps cost HK$1,275 each.

5 Koller's treasured collection of her father's film star magazine covers has been remounted and framed in red and black by Po Sang Glass and Framing to take pride of place in the corridor leading to the bedrooms. Sixties-style capiz shell lamps (HK$2,980) and a wall of ribbed reclaimed teak hint at the heyday era of the stars, images of which include Sophia Loren, Faye Dunaway, Jane Fonda, Clint Eastwood and Roger Moore. Fittingly, a painting of Lakshmi, the Indian goddess of wealth and beauty, looks calmly on and a black and white striped rug (HK$130 a square foot) draws the eye to the entrance of daughter Jacqueline's room and its shocking-pink doorway curtain.

6 The walnut king-sized bed (HK$12,980) is the main draw of the master bedroom, which owner Michelle Koller dubs 'the kitchen of the house' because the family always seems to congregate here. The bed is a popular place for reading, as is the chenille chaise longue (HK$12,900), with soft lighting provided by antique crystal chandeliers sourced from Europe (large HK$14,000, small HK$9,000). A portrait of Monroe and other touches, such as the vase of black and white feathers atop a set of mirror tables (HK$6,250) and a silky shag pile rug (HK$110 a square foot), lend an air of movie-star glamour.

7 In the kitchen, a mosaic wall and floor from Sunny Bathrooms create the backdrop to white cabinetry and a rounded stainless-steel countertop, while there are a number of accents in zesty orange to draw the eye. A photograph entitled The Gates, of an art installation in New York's Central Park featuring huge orange gates by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, provides colour, as do an orange retro bar stool (HK$1,280) and ceramic vases, which cost from HK$150 to HK$400. The wall clock was HK$2,900 from The Panhandler (3/F, Prince's Building, Central, tel: 2523 1672).

Tried + tested

Separate solution

In an open-plan apartment, how do you hold wild parties without waking the children? Owner Michelle Koller designed a full-height ribbed teak door to close off the private areas of her home when entertaining. When not in use, the door can be pushed back into the corridor wall, from which it is indistinguishable, making the most of the apartment's open aspect.

Styling David Roden

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