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.
For both renovations, they enlisted architect Edward Billson, of MAP. Because the couple knew exactly what they wanted, however, Billson left much of the work in the hands of contractor Freely Fung, of Chung Shun Construction and Engineering. Happy with the overall layout of the house, the couple made only one tweak: an extra wall, on the lowest floor so the front door no longer opens directly into the living space.
With an “in for a penny, in for a pound” mindset, however, they decided also to update the house’s style. A handsome, fitted kitchen from Bulthaup provided a dramatic transformation, with dark, warm hues replacing the previous combination of blond-wood cabinetry and silver mosaics. They also changed the flooring and colour scheme.
There are colour accents throughout the house but most striking is the pale gold metallic finish in the master bedroom, dining room and beside the stairs. This was hand-painted onto the walls for a delicate, textured look.
Padget-Koh also hankered for large trees to give depth to the greenery and to create a fitting view through the new floor-to-ceiling windows.
“I’m a farmer’s daughter so I need a lot of green,” she says. “It was a real upheaval taking out the pool and paving and putting in trees, but we now have so many more birds and butterflies. The large windows bring the outdoors in and I sometimes feel as though I’m sitting right in the jungle. It is very therapeutic.”
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