Mirror effect

The Gianani family is proof that living in a rented apartment in Hong Kong doesn’t have to mean compromising on personal style. Twentyfour- year-old brand strategist Hanisha Gianani, who lives with her parents in their 36th floor, harbourview Tsim Sha Tsui apartment, transformed their new home into a modern haven – in just one month.

“It was a bit rushed,” Gianani says, laughing. “The apartment is just 1,380 sq ft and its three bedrooms are quite small, so I knew the most important thing was to maximise every inch from a functional and stylistic point of view. We like modern design and luckily those sorts of clean, simple lines work well within a tight context.”

Gianani’s design solution to making a compact space both comfortable and pleasing to the eye was to introduce a neutral palette of cream, white and grey. She threw in bright splashes of colour with cushions and silk throws, and, for character, added distinctive objets and furnishings such as a retro-looking, white-leather Half Moon swivel chair by Kare Design.

Another design trick was the use of furnishings with reflective or transparent surfaces. “I found several perspex and mirrored items that work well in the tight space, especially since we get a lot of sunlight.”

Those fixtures include a compact mirrored cocktail bar in the living room that, says Gianani, “is more like a sculpture”. Custom-made cupboards and a bespoke dressing table in the master bedroom reduce wasted space and help to avoid a cluttered look, she adds.