A Brazilian interiors stylist brings Bali into the picture for her simply luxurious Hong Kong family home
- Much of the charm of interiors stylist Flavia Markovits’ family home in Discovery Bay comes from her styling
- Her family needed convincing because of the flat’s size, but Markovits immediately recognised its potential and made it work
As an interiors stylist, Flavia Markovits knows a good layout when she sees one. And with her family’s 780 sq ft (72 square metre) flat in Discovery Bay, she struck gold.
The previous owner, architect Georges Hung, had gutted the three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit on the first floor of a tower block to open up the space. He merged the third bedroom and a corridor into the kitchen and living room to create a large open-plan space. And instead of keeping two bathrooms, he turned one into a study and had two bedrooms share the former en suite between them.
While Markovits recognised its potential immediately, the rest of the family – husband Alex, who is a pilot, and 12-year-old daughter, Manuela – used to living in a larger property, took some convincing.
“Flavia said, ‘Trust me,’” Alex says. So he did. Fortunately, he adds, “I really liked the flat once it was empty and we could see the space.”
It wasn’t just the open layout that attracted Markovits.
“I loved the aesthetic of the flat; I loved all the wood,” she says. “We have a mountain view on one side and we can see the sea on the other. Georges worked wisely on the changes of the floor plan to maximise the space, airflow and natural light. And because it’s on the first floor, and there’s no one below us, it feels more like a house than a flat.”