How feng shui transformed Hong Kong artist’s home into a creative haven she shares with her husband
The split-level, 3,200 sq ft villa in Clear Water Bay has six bedrooms, one of which has been turned into a studio for corporate executive turned artist Kate Padget-Koh
Every artist needs a creative bolt-hole and Kate Padget-Koh, who gave up corporate life to paint full time, is lucky enough to have one in her Clear Water Bay home. In a redesign three years ago, Padget-Koh, a fashion consultant and a former executive vice-president at trading group Li & Fung, transformed one of six bedrooms in her split-level, 3,200 sq ft villa into a studio.
“I had initially earmarked a bedroom on the floor below for my studio but a feng shui consultant told me it wasn’t the right space for me, so my husband, John, now uses it as his study,” says Padget-Koh, who is originally from Britain but has lived in Hong Kong for more than two decades. “She also told me to sit with my back to the view, which went against the grain because I love looking out onto nature. Yet when I did as she said, it was amazing how easily my work flowed.”
Her distinctive paintings, featuring strong, goddess-like women, bring bursts of colour and life to every room – even the three bathrooms, where they hang in the form of printed silk kimonos. However, most of the artwork is on display only because Padget-Koh hasn’t taken it down since she held an in-house exhibition two years ago.
“Once it was hanging, it looked and felt good. It fits with the character of the house,” she says. “I also have work by street artists and a lot of religious elements, although I’m not religious.”
Changing the function of certain rooms was part of a renovation process that the couple embarked on in 2016, 11 years after the house’s initial refurbishment. As well as the studio, the five other rooms now serve as master and guest bedrooms, a walk-in wardrobe, domestic-helper accommodation and a study.