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Why a design duo’s family home celebrates imperfection, memory and grandma’s ceramics
As young parents, the founders of Hong Kong interior design studio Lim + Lu have experienced a shift in outlook and style
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In the decade since starting their interior design studio, Vincent Lim Chin-hwa and Elaine Manzi Lu, partners in business and in life, have evolved personally and professionally.
Mostly, says Lim, they’ve come to understand that homes adapt and change, just as their occupants do. Which is why their Happy Valley flat, which they completed last year as Lim + Lu, and as parents of two young girls, stands in stark contrast to their first home, as newlyweds.
“As young designers starting out, we thought residential spaces should always be pristine and manicured,” he says. “We’ve since realised that, especially in a home with kids, people don’t live like that.
“Over time, you’re bound to get battle scars – marks on the wall, scuffs around the edges – and I’ve come to see the beauty in these markers of family life. So, if your child wants to put up glow-in-the-dark stickers, let it be – let the walls grow with you. Don’t fill every space from the get-go, because the shelves you start with will become more populated.”
Their 1,400 sq ft three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment embodies this philosophy. Aged six and four, their daughters had a say in the design decisions, notably in selecting wallpaper for their bedrooms and tiles (pink) for their bathroom.
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