It has jaw-dropping 180-degree views over Repulse Bay on one side, and Tai Tam Country Park on the other. Fortunately, the flat had never been lived in and there was no need to revamp the interiors – apart from staining the floor black to create a strong impression without detracting from the family’s art.

Inside hotel designer Bill Bensley’s exotic Bangkok home

“We decorated the apartment ourselves because we wanted to put our own style on our home rather than letting someone choose for us. I am not an interior designer but I just follow my artistic instincts,” says Larpin. “My husband is a natural at interior design so it’s quite easy to decorate a home when he’s around.”

The apartment’s style revolves around the Larpins’ modern art collection. Bold, vivid, statement-making pieces adorn almost every wall and draw the eye away from the stunning scenery outside the angled picture windows. Many of the pieces are by artists who are also friends.

“My art frames my home; it is chic, contemporary and comfortable,” says Larpin, who was born and raised in Romania during the communist era. “I put a higher priority on art than furniture. Since it is very colourful, the furniture needed to be clean and plain. As long as the furniture was in harmony with the art, it was fine.”

It also needed to be sufficiently understated so as not to compete with the Larpins’ eclectic collection of skulls, which infuse the flat with an edgy vibe. There are jewel-encrusted skulls in the powder room and on Larpin’s desk. Silver skull-shaped tables flank the master bed; rictus grins smile from windowsills and headboards.

“I love skulls and Christian is almost more crazy about them than I am,” she says. “My personal style always influences both my home and my jewellery brand so there’s always an overlap. If you look around my home, you can see all my favourite things like the skulls and you also find them in my jewellery line, such as a pair of skull earrings that Lady Gaga wore.”

Larpin says her hectic travel schedule, pre-pandemic, means her home needs to be family-oriented, serene, comfortable and offer design inspiration.

“We own many well-decorated vacation houses in Vietnam, Thailand and Greece, where I feel 100 per cent at home, but this apartment is different from all of them and it is my favourite place. It is special.”

Corridor The painting on the left is by Pfund and the one on the right by Clerc, both of whom are friends of the Larpin family.

Portrait Larpin, owner and creative director of jewellery brand Stéfère, manages to be in two places at once – in her villa in Mykonos as well as in her living room in Hong Kong.

Master bathroom The Larpins’ en-suite bathroom was fitted out by the developer before they bought the apartment.

Study Larpin says she gets design ideas while on holiday so a study area overlooking Repulse Bay beach, which transports her to exotic climes, is a great place for inspiration. The skulls came from various sources over the years and the reading light was purchased from Lane Crawford.

Guest bathroom The artworks are by Pfund and the skulls are part of the Larpins’ collection.

Tried + tested

Art decor Corina Larpin transformed an uninspiring cupboard at the end of a corridor into an arresting focal point by attaching one half of a painting, by Roger Pfund, firmly to the left-hand door. The other side of the artwork looks fixed when the doors are closed but is able to swing gently back when full access to the interior is required.