Source:
https://scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/design-interiors/article/3031593/how-brazilian-designer-turned-her-hong
Post Magazine/ Design & Interiors

How a Brazilian designer turned her Hong Kong flat into a home away from home

Former flight attendant Flavia Markovits decided to pay homage to her roots by adding a laid-back, beachy vibe to her Tung Chung flat

Flavia Markovits describes the design of her Tung Chung home as ‘modern bohemian’. Photography and video: John Butlin. Styling: Flavia Markovits. Photo assistant: Timothy Tsang

You can take Flavia Markovits out of Rio de Janeiro but you can’t take the Brazilian city out of her. Even if her address is now Tung Chung.

There, in a rented, 900 sq ft flat minutes from Hong Kong International Airport, the newly minted Brazilian interior designer has created for herself, her pilot husband and their 11-year-old daughter rooms that are warm but chilled and, in her words, modern bohemian: natural fibres, relaxed shapes and neutral hues help layer a look that mixes design genres.

“My previous homes were full of colour,” the former primary school teacher and flight attendant says, describing how she had decorated a flat in Macau, where the couple lived for seven years after leaving Brazil in 2006. “But I got sick of it after a short time, so I decided if I wanted something to last it must calm me down.”

The family’s latest acquisition for their three-bedroom flat hews to the scheme. “A Brazilian house is not complete without a hammock,” she says, displaying a capacious, tasselled cotton sling that hangs from hooks on opposite walls of the living room. “I had wanted to buy one for years and it was love at first sight.”

Mindful of their relatively tight space, however, Markovits has kept her family’s possessions under control (“The secret is to declutter whenever possible”). And she has achieved consistency throughout to help the flow.

Repetition – of textures, colours and accessories – helps. That is why display cubicles, Moroccan cushions and small shelves that show off favourite photographs, books and objets can be found in all the rooms. And amid the rustic wood and earthy hues are flashes of blue – in a peace sign, the covers of illustrated books and a picture of the sea that whisks you to destinations warm and sandy.

“I’m attached to my taste,” Markovits says matter-of-factly, acknowledging, however, that she has been influ­enced by Annabell Kutucu. The Berlin-based designer’s contemporary residential and hospitality projects all possess the snug stillness palpable in the Tung Chung unit.

Markovits is also committed to adapting, rather than discarding, pieces: legs have been truncated on a console to turn it into a balcony bench and completely removed from metal sideboards so they now rest comfortably on bay window seats, occupying otherwise-wasted recesses.

Knowing how to bring out the best in spaces is a talent Markovits says she has always had, although several years ago she went back to school to hone her skills. The nine-month course she completed in 2017 at Hong Kong’s Insight School of Interior Design taught her how to draw perspec­tive and use software programs such as AutoCAD and SketchUp, among other things.

I’ve proved it’s possible to have comfortable, beautiful and functional spaces [in a rental flat] Flavia Markovits, interior designer

“I’ve always had a notion of space,” Markovits says, point­ing to the layout in daughter Manuela’s bedroom. “If you go into most children’s bedrooms they’ll have a bed, a small cabinet and a teeny-tiny study table. I said, ‘No, I don’t want that.’”

Manuela’s room, with touches of blush, includes the usual pieces of furniture plus a roomy desk and a piano. In here, too, are display units, for books and keepsakes.

In a standard rental flat in which two out of three bed­rooms are small, Markovits recognises the difficulty in creat­ing a dream home. But she says, “I’ve proved it’s possible to have comfortable, beautiful and functional spaces.”


Photo: John Butlin
Photo: John Butlin

Living room Etsy purchases, such as handmade hemp cushions (HK$240/US$30 each) from Turkey and an antique Moroccan rug (HK$5,600), are combined with a white sofa (HK$9,900) and metal television cabinets (HK$850 each) from Ikea; plus a teak coffee table (HK$5,900), armchair (HK$7,180) and wall-hung display cubicles (HK$595 each) from Tree.

The ottoman (HK$1,200) came from Zara Home and the floor lamp (HK$1,360) from Inside. The woven bowls were picked up in Bali, Indonesia, years ago, as were most of the candleholders, which were found in Beijing.

Photo: John Butlin
Photo: John Butlin

Dining area Near the entrance, the cosy dining area features a tulip-style table and “wishbone” dining chairs that came from a shop in Macau that no longer exists. The teak shelving units (HK$8,365 each) were from Tree and the wall hanging (HK$2,120), handmade in Bangladesh, came from The Dharma Door.

The sheepskin rugs on the chairs were HK$1,000 each from Marc James (16/F, Horizon Plaza, 2 Lee Wing Street, Ap Lei Chau, tel: 2517 2000). The cowhide rug (HK$5,200) was from Zara Home.

Photo: John Butlin
Photo: John Butlin

Dining area detail The American walnut-and-lacquer credenza cost HK$10,895 from Organic Modernism. Above it is a print from Trowbridge Gallery that was bought from HD Buttercup. The ceramic plant pots (HK$76 for small, HK$156 for large) and basket came from Tree. The ladder came from a shop in Macau that has since closed.

Photo: John Butlin
Photo: John Butlin

Study A legless metal cabinet from Ikea sits on a bay-window ledge. The American walnut desk (HK$5,500) was from Woodmark and the chair came from a shop that has since closed. The Umbra multi-photo frame (HK$480) was from Homeless.

Photo: John Butlin
Photo: John Butlin

Main bedroom Setting the tone in the bedroom is a hand-carved Indian headboard bought from a shop that has since closed. In the bay window are an elm wood bench bought from Macau years ago, under which is a custom-made shoe cabinet. The black metal lamps came from White Contemporary Homewares a long time ago.

The Indian cotton bedcover (HK$1,600) came from Inside, as did the linen shades (HK$450). The wooden mirror (HK$1,000) was picked up in Zhongshan, in Guangdong province, years ago. The stools used as bedside tables came from a shop at the Zhongshan Antique Furniture Market a long time ago. The “wishbone” chair is the same as in the dining room.

Photo: John Butlin
Photo: John Butlin

Daughter’s room Manuela’s compact room accommodates a desk (HK$490) that was a display item in Francfranc and is teamed with a set of metal drawers (HK$1,800) from the same shop. The pink fibreglass chair (HK$1,560) came from Tree and the Bauhaus mushroom table lamp was from a shop that has since closed. The Umbra Luna photo frame (HK$325) was from Homeless and the three houses in oak (HK$1,580) came from Homeless.


Tried + tested

Photo: John Butlin
Photo: John Butlin

Hang loose Attached to hooks on opposite walls, this Brazilian hammock is allowed to hang loosely, the way it should, to allow its occupant to lie comfortably at an angle. Pitching it with too little slack might damage the walls and cause the hammock to feel too constricted. Flavia Markovits (tel: 5661 5791) bought her cotton hammock for HK$600 from Tok&Stok.