Magic touch

Text Charmaine Chan / Styling David Roden / Photography John Butlin

Sometimes it's the finishing touches to a home that make or break a design. That was the case for Reema Mulchand. After spending almost a year renovating her family's 2,400 sq ft, seaview Pok Fu Lam apartment, she needed help pulling the disparate elements together to create a pleasing whole.

"I was so exhausted," she says of the project to modernise the former government apartment she and her husband, Rajesh, bought in 2012. "I was like, 'Somebody just come and help me!'"

That somebody turned out to be none other than Post Magazine stylist David Roden, who not only assisted in finding furniture, soft furnishings and art, but also managed to turn what was becoming a bugbear into an enjoyable experience. Over three months the pair went on twice-weekly shopping dates. "It was so much fun," Mulchand says.

Their collaboration is palpable on the day of the photo shoot, with Roden anxiously awaiting the arrival of a carpet he designed for the couple's master bedroom and Mulchand proudly showing off her own purchases as well as items they decided on together. For the new home, which features white walls (something she yearned for after the yellow, country feel of her previous flat), pieces were selected to give it a vague beachy vibe, albeit with touches of modern glamour.

Items such as the Moroso coffee tables in the living area were the personal choice of Mulchand, as were the "Tiffany blue" walls of the master en-suite bathroom and slightly rough marble-look floor tiles, selected with her father in mind because the shiny alternative can be slippery. Then there were the items bought and made overseas that were chosen for their craftsmanship or because of lower prices compared with those in Hong Kong.