On the top floor of a 100-year old, three-storey tenement in Kennedy Town, Singaporean Poh Hiang Tan couldn’t see the proverbial wood for the trees. Years of working in finance combined with her high-energy hobby of marathoning across the globe allowed little time for organising her two-bedroom home. “I was just too busy. I would put things into boxes or bags and then pile them on top of more boxes and bags,” says Tan. Over a decade, the 1,100 sq ft apartment’s beautiful olde-worlde Chinese features – ceramic tiled floors, cracked-ice patterned windows, wooden archways and classic rosewood furniture – became camouflaged by a sea of cardboard, shopping bags, exercise equipment and clothes hangers, and then coronavirus came along. Grounded and working mainly from home, Tan sank into despondency when the sheer amount of clutter became apparent. It was time to call in an expert. Brazilian Flavia Markovits came to the rescue with her no-nonsense approach to styling homes. While Markovits has seen Marie Kondo’s Netflix series, she doesn’t go in for the hugging, thanking and saying goodbye to unwanted items. “I am more hands-on,” she says. “I get in and do the job.” Markovits also works on the overall aesthetic – think Kondo but with interior design kudos. Inside an artist’s Hong Kong home, items are curated not cluttered The paring-back project began in the main bedroom, with its balcony opening onto protected pine trees and birdsong. Pointing to the heavy wooden wardrobe, among a number of items that came with the apartment, Markovits says, “I completely changed the layout of the bedroom furniture as the way the bed and wardrobe were positioned before didn’t leave much space – and there was clutter everywhere.” With large pieces of furniture impossible to carry through the building’s narrow stairwell, having to be hauled up and in through the balcony instead, replacing bulky items of furniture was out of the question, but Tan was in dire need of storage. As a solution, Markovits added extra drawers to the inside of the wardrobe, threw in some attractive baskets, and replaced the bed with one that had space for Tan to store her shoes. “I also taught Poh how to fold properly,” says Markovits, revealing a perfectly aligned rainbow of T-shirts in the bottom drawer. Designing a conducive workspace was next on the agenda and a clear-out of the dining area revealed the perfect gap, an overlooked area flooded with sunshine from the skylight above. The space was cleared of boxed-up excess (donated two bags at a time to the Salvation Army) and a desk was pulled from the second bedroom (belonging to Tan’s domestic helper, Lena) and positioned under a row of coat hooks displaying Tan’s many athletics medals. Elsewhere, the dining table chairs were replaced, display shelves added, artwork raised to make better use of the ceiling height, and storage added in the form of two rattan chests, symmetrically positioned either side of the landlord’s rosewood sideboard. Separated from the dining room by a magnificent wooden archway, adorned with carved Chinese couplets, the living area was updated with streamlined curtains and a Shanghai Deco-style club chair. Hundreds of books – another passion of Tan’s – were packed away or colour-coordinated into the dining room bookcase. Clear of stuff, the room’s most striking original feature, a beautiful wooden wall panel of Chinese calligraphy, is now impossible to miss. The kitchen and bathroom were given the Markovits treatment, too, with nooks and niches rethought to uncover untapped storage space. “My last project was a new place, empty of furniture, but here I had to work with what I had. The only things I changed were the bed and the dining chairs, as well as adding storage. The heavy work was to declutter and throw away everything that Poh had accumulated over 10 years in this home. It was a lot – and it all had to be carried downstairs – but after Poh saw how beautiful the flat was and how organised it was, she’s been maintaining it for months.” Entrance The skylight, which floods the entrance with light, determined where Tan would work. Sharing the space with her dogs, Happy and Cashie, is a desk from Indigo Living bought many years ago. The table lamp (HK$399) is wireless and came from Ikea , as did the wall rack (HK$259.80) for the medals. The wall-mounted planters were from a shop that has since closed. Living room The sofa was purchased from Ikea a few years ago. The bench (from G.O.D ); sideboard, standing lamp and coffee table (all from Indigo Living); and ceramic stool ( Taobao ) were also bought years ago. The second-hand Shanghai Deco-style club chair (HK$1,600/US$206) came from Carousell . The rattan boxes (HK$280 each) were from Muji . The small white vases (HK$147 each) and rattan square tray (HK$357) were from TREE . The rosewood side tables belong to the landlord. The table lamps, which have been with tenant Poh Hiang Tan for years, were given a new lease of life with Ikea shades (HK$100 each). Dining area Through the wooden archway, bearing Chinese couplets, is the dining area, to the left of which is the entrance. The rosewood sideboard and bookcase belong to the landlord. The rug (HK$2,490) was from Ikea. The rattan chests (HK$2,430 for two) were from Yue Kee Rattan Factory . The green vase (HK$237) and white vase (HK$267) were from TREE. Dining area The wooden wall display shelves (HK$150 each) were from Taobao. The dining table chairs, also from Taobao, cost HK$2,000 a piece. The dining table was purchased from Indigo Living more than a decade ago. The hand-painted silk screen was also purchased many years ago, from Altfield Gallery . Kitchen The bamboo bowl (HK$129.90), metal fruit basket (HK$79.90), plant pots (HK$79.60 for four) and metal spice rack (HK$199.60 for four) were from Ikea. Main bedroom Tan found the sideboard (HK$500) through AsiaXpat years ago. The queen-size bed with storage (HK$2,990) and reading lamp (HK$369 for a pair) were from Ikea. Markovits ordered the floral artwork (HK$1,590) above the bed from Staunton and Henry . Bathroom The soap dispenser (HK$159) and toothbrush holders (HK$198 for two) were from Zara Home . The rattan mirror (HK$249.90) was from Ikea. The lidded rattan box (HK$360 for two) was from Muji. Tried + tested Going for gold Don’t get stuck on the idea that homeware items only have one specific use; the coat hooks used to hang medals are a creative way to display a collection. “I love to repurpose items,” says interior designer Flavia Markovits . “I usually make bed and sofa throws out of scarfs. Even my marble candleholders have become plant pots and napkin holders.”