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The meticulous renovation by Wesley Liu of a Happy Valley, Hong Kong flat saw awkward angles arced and an artistic homeowner’s needs met to create an elegant, soft-edged home. Photo: Wesley Liu and Dick Liu

Everything in its place: form follows function, with elegant curves and made-to-measure storage, in a Hong Kong apartment for couple and their dogs

  • It took a couple two years to design and move into their flat. They wanted ‘everything to have its own place’ and to make the most of the light and view
  • They asked interior designer Wesley Liu to help them turn the 1,500 sq ft space in Happy Valley into a home with aesthetic and practical appeal

Scottish-born inventor Alexander Graham Bell once said that preparation is the key to success, and business owner Theodore Lam and his wife, Amy, would agree.

Aided by award-winning interior designer Wesley Liu Yik-kuen, they took a year to plan the design concept for their Happy Valley flat and another year to implement it, eventually moving into their new home about a year ago.

The Hong Kong couple bought the 1,500 sq ft (139 square metre) apartment with an existing tenancy and reclaimed it for themselves once the lease had ended. It was almost 20 years old and ripe for renovation. Liu stripped the flat to its bare bones but stuck predominantly to the original floor plan.

The nature of certain rooms changed, however, with two of the three bedrooms becoming an art-room-cum-study for Theodore and a separate home office for Amy. “Covid and the home-office trend led us to create individual study spaces, which means privacy for each of us,” says Theodore.

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The only wall Liu moved was the one dividing the guest bathroom from the dining/living room; he pushed it back to give extra space to the more frequently used communal area.

Repositioning the wall meant the dining room now featured a couple of awkward corners, which Liu felt jutted out unattractively. He hid the unsightly angles by transforming them into elegant curves and built two arched entrances without frames or doors leading to the corridor and kitchen, respectively.

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Liu drew further attention to the soft shape of the walls by using furniture with rounded corners as well as a dramatic circular light above the oval dining table.

This theme extends into the living room and en suite main bedroom in the form of semicircular, wall-mounted cabinets. “The arches and curves of the dining room have become the features I like best in my home,” says Theodore.

Mapping out storage took considerable time. Although the Lams left the aesthetics to Liu, they were particular about their practical needs.

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The couple wanted their home to be highly functional and they worked out exactly how much storage they had hitherto used in terms of square footage and volume in cubic metres and what they required in their new home. They also calculated precise dimensions for built-in wardrobes, cabinets, drawers and shelving.

“Theodore and Amy didn’t have a specific design style in mind but they knew they wanted everything to have its own place,” says Liu. “Theodore is a talented artist in his spare time and wanted everything in his study made to measure for his Chinese paintings.

“He knows exactly what paper sizes he prefers to work with, for example, so we designed a wall unit with drawers made exactly to accommodate it all.”

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Liu designed the back wall for sizing artwork (see Tried + tested below) and built a hatch into the wall opposite the guest bathroom. When Theodore has finished painting, he passes dirty palettes and brushes through the hatch for easy transfer across the narrow corridor and into the bathroom for cleaning.

The square opening also echoes the shape of the window and allows a degree of natural light to illuminate the passageway.

Because the Lams have two dogs, they decided to forgo fancy designer furniture in favour of more practical items, such as leather sofas that can be cleaned easily, and have no carpets or rugs.

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Since they wanted to make the most of the natural daylight and the urban views, the couple decided against curtains in the living room too. With this lack of soft furnishings, Liu felt the acoustic comfort of the apartment might be compromised and hit on the idea of using acoustic wallpaper – instead of his original idea for a stucco finish – to prevent the larger spaces from sounding echoey.

“Acoustic wallpaper doesn’t soundproof a room but it helps to absorb sound and control echo, especially in spaces that don’t have rugs or curtains,” says Liu. “It definitely makes a difference and we chose geometric wallpapers that also looked interesting and added texture.”

When decorating the flat, the main challenge, says Theodore, was balancing the budget with desire but in the end the couple’s aspirations for a practical and comfortable home with aesthetic appeal and impeccable storage were more than met.

Photo: Wesley Liu and Dick Liu

Dining room

The dining room features a traditional Chinese painting by He Baili – bought through Christie’s (christies.com) – which sits above a custom-made sideboard designed by Wesley Liu ([email protected]).

The bowls by an unknown Taiwanese artist and the teapot from Japan were sourced by Liu. The wooden vase, by Fritz Hansen, came from Colourliving (colourliving.com).

The Cameo oval dining table was from Calligaris (calligaris.com) and the Series 7 chairs were by Fritz Hansen (fritzhansen.com). The kitchen was designed and installed by Mplus Contracting (mplusdesign.com.hk).

Photo: Wesley Liu and Dick Liu

Living room

The leather sofa with built-in reading light and table came from Giormani (giormani.com) as did the yellow and cream footstools. The Arte acoustic wallpaper came from Tat Ming Wallpaper and the audiovisual unit was custom made by Liu.

Illumination is provided by track lighting from Master Resource Lighting (masterresourcelighting.com) and a Light Stick, by Catellani & Smith, in the corner. The flooring was from Equal (equalhk.com).

Photo: Wesley Liu and Dick Liu

Dining room

A dramatic pendant light, by Catellani & Smith, is complemented by a painting titled Wanjuru Water Dance from the Nature’s Dance Collection by George Hall (georgehallart.com).

Photo: Wesley Liu and Dick Liu

Main bedroom

The bed came from Beyond Sleep (beyondsleep.com.hk). The semicircular cabinets were custom made by Liu, who also sourced the cushions from Japan and the vase from South Korea. The Arte acoustic wallpaper and curtains came from Tat Ming Wallpaper.

Photo: Wesley Liu and Dick Liu
Photo: Wesley Liu and Dick Liu

Study

A nifty hatch links the art room with a bathroom via the corridor, letting natural daylight into the latter and facilitating the transfer of painting tools for washing. The desk was custom designed and made by Liu and the Cosm chair was from Herman Miller (hermanmiller.com).

Photo: Wesley Liu and Dick Liu

Second Study

The desk and shelving (unseen) in Amy Lam’s study were custom made by Liu.

The small acrylic painting is Iridescent Sky 12 (2022), by Joseph Villanueva (artfinder.com). The framed piece beside it is wallpaper, from Tat Ming Wallpaper (tatming.com). The peach wallpaper also came from Tat Ming Wallpaper.

Photo: Wesley Liu and Dick Liu

Tried + tested

Wesley Liu custom made illustrated, grid-patterned panels and covered them in magnetic glass from DSA Glass (dsaglass.com). This enables Theodore Lam to “hang” draft artwork easily and work out sizing and framing. The shelving unit was also custom made by Liu.

The bird artwork was by Ming dynasty artist Lan Ying (circa 1585-1664), bought through auction house Christie’s.

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