East really does meet West in Hong Kong family home, where British and Chinese styles unite

As clichéd as it may sound, “East meets West” perfectly sums up both Nicola Shaw and the Happy Valley flat she shares with her husband, Martin, and their two young children. Shaw, whose mother is Chinese and father English, grew up in Hong Kong and went to school in Britain. She met and married Martin in London, then moved with him to Beijing and Shanghai, before finally returning to Hong Kong. While searching for somewhere to buy, the couple rented a flat in a block adjacent to their current home.

“The apartment had been on the market for a long time and was very run-down,” recalls Martin, a marketing professional. “It had peach and avocado-green bathrooms, bars on the windows and a tiny kitchen. However, as the flat is in an old colonial block, which dates back to 1967, it was well built with high ceilings.”

The couple viewed the 1,250 sq ft flat with interior designer Nirender Lehar, of Leehar Home, and it was his enthusiasm for the unit that, they say, helped to seal the deal.

“My idea was to make the flat feel half Chinese and half English,” says Shaw. “I wanted it to be practical, with a lot of storage, but also somewhere we would enjoy living, a space that would reflect our personalities. For example, in true Chinese fashion, I love bling and, as I used to be a diamond grader in London’s Hatton Garden [the centre of the British diamond trade], I wanted a luxurious touch.”

Armed with these initial ideas, Lehar created a 3D model on screen that gave the couple options and allowed them to pick favourites (doors, for example).

However, compromises had to be made. The sizes of the three bedrooms, one of which is now a playroom, had to be reduced to donate space to the living areas, bath­rooms and kitchen, and Shaw’s desire for a walk-in larder had to be modified to an almost-walk-in corner cupboard.