How a Hong Kong apartment’s Scandinavian furniture and warm woods really pop against its neutral colour palette in complete redesign

As the owner of Hong Kong-based furniture store Emoh and its own-brand Moodby, Karen Lau Ka-wang is no slouch when it comes to interior design. Yet she credits a tip picked up on a gap-year course at the Hong Kong School of Design for the success of her recent renovation of this 700 sq ft (65 sq m) garden flat in Clear Water Bay in the New Territories.

“I’m not a design professional, but design is my passion,” says Lau, whose degree is in finance. “I wanted to highlight the kitchen and the furniture – to let the wood grain really pop – so I needed a neutral background, not more wood. It really helped to know this design principle.

“There are so many lovely things out there that it’s hard to know when to stop, but elimination is the secret to good design. I’d love a walnut floor, but it would have been too much.”

Lau bought the two-bedroom flat in 2020 for its large, private garden, with its collection of 10-year-old fruit trees, green view and plenty of space for dogs Molly and Milo. “You can hardly see any buildings. I knew I could do whatever I wanted with the flat, but I couldn’t change the location,” she says.

The flat itself was “horrible”, she recalls, with everything seemingly in the wrong place. “It was really dark, with a tiny, narrow living room, enclosed kitchen and lots of brown doors. The study and dining room were in the back, where my bedroom is now. I wanted it to be bright and open, with a kitchen island – I did about 20 layouts before deciding on this one.”

Key to introducing more light was to replace the entire wall to the garden with sliding glass doors, and extend the dining room window down to floor level. The sliding doors create a corridor of light along the front of the flat, from the entrance, past the living space to the guest bedroom.