“The feng shui consultant advised us to swap the position of the bed and the desk but otherwise said the apartment had a very good flow of energy,” she recalls. “Peggy had moved the bathroom next to the kitchen, which worked well not just from the design but also the feng shui perspective, as the consultant said that area was the worst place in the flat so the toilet would flush away all the bad energy.”

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The couple had bought the flat during the pandemic so working from home had become the norm for both of them. Bels installed framed glass bifold doors between the living and bedroom/study area so they could each have a degree of privacy without losing the spatial flow. They also liked the idea of being able to see all three windows and the view as soon as they walked through the front door – a feature that a solid wall would prohibit.

“My partner is a football fan so it also meant he could watch matches on the projector screen in the living area while I worked on the other side,” says Hui, with a laugh.

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While sport is his passion, reading is hers and although there are far worse habits than collecting books, it’s not an ideal hobby when storage space is an issue. Taking a leaf out of Japanese decluttering expert Marie Kondo’s book, Hui managed to whittle down her collection by about a third.

“Books are important to me but I used to be very irresponsible about buying them. If I saw one I liked, I’d buy it,” she says. “I had to do some serious downsizing, which was painful but necessary.”

She still had a substantial collection and the question was how to display it without making the apartment look messy. Bels sourced modular shelves, with brackets at different angles, which she mounted in the dining area.

It solved the display issue as well as added colour and character to the room but still wasn’t sufficient to house all of Hui’s books. In addition to more built-in shelves in the bedroom and near the desk, Bels designed a marble kitchen island, with cupboards and a washing machine on one side and more bookshelves on the other.

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“I initially didn’t like the idea of marble because I associated it with tombstones,” says Hui. “Luckily, Peggy found a beautiful, richly veined type – you can almost see images in it – and it has become a much-loved feature of our home.”

Bels designed the island with one rounded end, and Wiart created a paper model of it to show its dimensions to the couple before they embarked on the actual piece.

“It had to be perfect – not too big or too thin and with enough space to walk around. It is made out of different pieces of marble so it was also important that the veins aligned, particularly around the curved side,” says Wiart.

Another important aspect of the design concept was storage space. Bels created a hydraulic bed with space beneath the mattress and a hollow platform under the bed itself. Its curved edge echoes the shape of the kitchen island and subtly delineates the sleeping area from the rest of the flat.

“Everything fits in and we even have space by the mirrored wardrobes to practise yoga,” says Hui. “It is a small apartment but seems much larger and we are now tidier than we were to keep the calm, uncluttered look and feel we have come to enjoy.”

Living room

Framed glass bifold doors divide the living area from the bedroom. The sofa came from Tree (tree.com.hk) and the vintage coffee table was from Lumeun Home (8/F, Kwai Bo Building, 40 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Wong Chuk Hang, tel: 9868 5258). The Epson laser projector was from GB Audio (6/F, Block E, Ka Ming Factory Building, 688 Castle Peak Road, Lai Chi Kok, tel: 6088 9871).

The oak-engineered flooring throughout the flat was supplied by Gobo Interiors (243 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, tel: 2511 9908) and treated with Osmo oil (osmo.com.hk).

Dining area

A design statement as well as a display solution, the Ptolomeo Wall bookshelves in the dining area were from Ciat Design (ciatdesign.com). The dining table, chairs and bench all came from Tree.

Kitchen

Designed by Peggy Bels (peggybels.com), the kitchen island with bookshelves is made out of Breccia Stazzema marble from Sing Fai Marble (242 Lockhart Rd, Wan Chai, tel: 2511 8375). The antique glass, which conceals the cooker hood, was from Glass Label (glasslabel.com.hk). The cabinets in fumed eucalyptus wood veneer were also designed by Bels.

Bedroom

The bed with remote-controlled hydraulic hinges was designed by Bels’ contractor and the bedside lamp was bought from Ranor Lighting Design on Etsy (etsy.com). The fumed eucalyptus wood veneer bookshelves and the platform storage beneath the bed were designed by Bels. The artwork was bought on a trip to Tibet.

Study

The fumed eucalyptus wood veneer desk, designed by Bels, makes the most of a bay window. The chair came from Tree.

Bathroom

The geometric tiles on the floor of the shower stall were from Fei Concept (165 Lockhart Road, tel: 2153 3288) and the Marmara marble sink was from Sing Fai Marble. The Champagne shower hose and mixer tap were from Meir (meir.com.au).

Tried + tested

Reflect action The most obvious place for a bathroom mirror – above the sink – was already occupied by a window. Rather than blocking that, Peggy Bels installed blinds and a flat metal rod in front of them. To this, she attached a mirror that swivels to allow window access as well as letting the user vary his or her position.