Custom furniture, vintage finds: rented flats in Hong Kong do not have to be boring or bland – with a light touch you can change the vibe
- Two rented Hong Kong homes have been completely redecorated with custom-made or restored vintage furniture and clever use of artwork and wallpaper
- ‘It’s entirely possible to inject a bland, boring space with personality, even if you aren’t allowed to make any major changes,’ an interior designer says
Just because you are a tenant does not mean you should live with a landlord’s idea of home decor. So say designers working to personalise spaces within lease parameters, as increasing numbers of would-be buyers sign rental contracts while waiting to see what befalls the Hong Kong property market.
“It’s entirely possible to inject a bland, boring space with personality, even if you aren’t allowed to make any major changes like tearing down walls or updating bathrooms,” says Britta Butler, design director at B Squared Design, a quarter of whose clients are renters.
Simple tricks such as curating artwork and accessories, and choosing complementary colours, patterns and textures, can make all the difference.
Alexis Dupont, of Alexis Dupont Interiors, agrees that even a light touch of a designer can change the vibe of a rental.
We usually go big in living rooms as it creates bigger spaces visually
Cost-effective upgrades might include bringing wardrobe doors up to date (think wood and rattan or fabric), or simply dressing up a powder room with a mirror and fresh accessories.
“With rentals, I always tell clients to invest a little more in the curtains,” he says. “Having beautiful fabrics that are well made makes a world of difference.”
In the case of one newly arrived Swiss expat, who had landed with few possessions, Dupont was given free rein to redecorate his rented 1,300 sq ft (120 square metre), two-bedroom, two-bathroom Mid-Levels penthouse on Hong Kong Island.
The starting point was transforming a blunt corner of a rectangular living room into a sophisticated dining area.
“If I’d put a regular table and chairs set in there it would have looked like just another rental,” Dupont says.
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Instead, he designed a plush mohair banquette (built in, but easily removable so the walls can be restored) and teamed it with a bespoke marble table of harmonious scale and four vintage dining chairs.
Not only does this give the client an elegant dining nook for eight, the banquette also doubles as a handy work-from-home office.
To optimise city views from the living area, Dupont put together a suite of low-profile furniture pieces, either custom made or restored vintage finds, dressing the scene with plants, art and objets. Just beyond, outdoor living beckons on the terrace styled as a European courtyard.
The designer’s professional sensibilities also made much of a curved section of the entry that, left bare, appeared quite odd.
“We had few options,” Dupont says. “This corner wasn’t wide enough for a work desk, and a shoe cabinet would have been functional but ugly,” he says. Yet if they had ignored it, the corner would have looked “weird” compared with the rest of the flat.
The solution was the creation of an art wall-cum-bar, turning a nondescript entrance into an eye-catching feature.
Dining area
The banquette, upholstered in Pierre Frey mohair from Altfield (altfield.com.hk), and square marble table, designed by Alexis Dupont (alexisdupont.com), are paired with four vintage dining chairs by George Nakashima (nakashimawoodworkers.com).
The Lampe de Marseille wall lamp, designed by Le Corbusier, is available at Finnish Design Shop (finnishdesignshop.com), and the Angelo Lelii ceiling lamp can be sourced through 1stdibs (1stdibs.com).
The ceramic lamp in the corner was picked up at a street market in Hong Kong. The main artwork is an ink by Korean artist Lee Bae, from Perrotin gallery (perrotin.com). The two smaller pieces, from Sprüth Magers (spruethmagers.com), are by Finnish-born artist Henni Alftan.
Terrace
Styled as a European courtyard, the terrace features two vintage terracotta urns sourced through 1stdibs and a blue-and-white Chinese ceramic drum stool found in Cat Street, Sheung Wan. The outdoor teak furniture was custom designed by Dupont and upholstered with Sunbrella fabric (sunbrella.com).
Living area
White linen, low-line sofas designed by Dupont, with cushions from Altfield, are teamed with two vintage Pierre Jeanneret armchairs. The burnt-wood side table between the armchairs came from Liaigre (studioliaigre.com).
Dupont designed the wool-and-silk rug (“we usually go big in living rooms as it creates bigger spaces visually”) and the low coffee table, which was made from one block of travertine. The window-seat cushions were made with Dedar fabric from Veranda (veranda.com.hk).
Among the various objets d’art is a Menu brass candelabra from Wool Studio (woolstudio.co). The tapestry on the wall came from Les Puces du Canal flea market in Lyon, France.
They are planting ‘deeper roots’
For Butler, a recent remodel for an American expat family in Clear Water Bay, in the New Territories, illustrates the win-win benefits of working with the landlord.
Michael and Elizabeth Thomas, both executives in the energy industry, had rented various homes since moving to Hong Kong in 2007. In early 2022, with their third son on the way, the couple signed a lease on a 2,000 sq ft, four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in a 1960s building.
The family was fortunate that the landlord agreed to update the kitchen and bathrooms before they moved in, allowing them a say on the design, materials and colours.
“We really wanted to live here [for a] long time, so we asked if we could make a few improvements of our own,” says Elizabeth.
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At the couple’s expense, a dishwasher and an oven big enough to fit a turkey were installed, both appliances able to move with them when they leave.
Some things they were “stuck with” – such as mismatched flooring. Butler’s designer eye compensated with judicious use of rugs. “We custom made much of the furniture in a scale appropriate for the space – the sofa, coffee table, home office desk, the older boys’ bunk bed, and a large storage-cum-bar unit at the front entry,” Butler says.
The white walls were painted or wallpapered, new curtains hung and light fittings installed. But what pleases the couple most had much to do with their existing possessions.
“We had artworks and photos collected over the years that held fond memories for us, but weren’t being properly displayed,” Elizabeth says.
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Butler put together and reframed the collection to form meaningful art walls around the home. One pays homage to Hong Kong; another to their travels in mainland China.
The couple’s Egyptian experience lives on in the living room, and in their bedroom there is a gallery recalling family occasions.
The main bedroom was designed around a California king-size bed brought from the United States and paired with solid maple bedside tables painted white at Butler’s suggestion. Behind the bed, a bold floral-print wallpaper transforms the room.
Personalising their home-for-now allowed Butler’s clients “to plant deeper roots in Hong Kong”.
She cautions, however, that all updates should be compliant with the building’s regulations and the landlord’s rules – an important consideration to ensure tenants do not incur further costs, or worse, later on.
Living room
The Egyptian art wall displays three David Roberts lithographs from art.com. The custom timber console and Robiff standard lamp were from Decor8. The three indoor/outdoor pouffes and Odyle rug by Safavieh all came from Bed Bath & Beyond (bedbathandbeyond.com).
The plants and pots inside and out were from Keren’s Garden (kerensgarden.com). The Steinway grand piano was bought by Michael Thomas from M. Steinert & Sons (msteinert.com) in the early 1990s and has travelled with him from the US to New Zealand and Hong Kong.
All the balcony furniture came from Hong Kong Rooftop Party (hongkongrooftopparty.com).
Dining room
A bespoke wall unit-cum-bar in oak and marble designed by Butler was custom made by Burnt Oringe (burntoringe-intl.com). The table from Tree (tree.com.hk), brought from the family’s previous flat, is paired with new dining chairs from Artura Ficus (arturaficus.com) on a rug from Overstock, now Bed Bath & Beyond.
For uniformity, the artworks, collected over the years by the client, were matted and reframed by Wong’s Art (59 Stanley Main Street, Stanley, tel: 2813 0881). The Jason Miller chandelier came from Staunton & Henry (stauntonandhenry.com).
Main bedroom
The California king-size bed moved with Michael and Elizabeth Thomas from the US. The couple’s previously owned maple bedside tables were painted white at the suggestion of Britta Butler, of B Squared Design (bsquareddesignhk.com), with lamps from Sum Ngai Brass Ware (sumngaibrass.com).
The overhead Aires fan came from Decor8 (decor8.com.hk). The Floret wallpaper was from Graham & Brown (grahambrown.com).
Baby’s room
The nursery is decorated with Animahal Turmeric wallpaper from Graham & Brown, a textured rug from Zara Home (zarahome.com), a Stokke cot (bought years earlier); a Babyletto swivel chair and ottoman from Baby Central (babycentral.com.hk) and a storage unit from Ikea (ikea.com.hk). The cane basket was a gift from the couple’s maternity nurse.
