How rundown Hong Kong Island flat became fun and funky bolthole

When interior designer, gallery owner and landlord Debbie Pun, of Debbie Deco, went to view the 670 sq ft apartment she would eventually purchase in Sai Ying Pun, she wasn't entirely convinced of its potential.

"When I bought the place about 10 years ago, I had only student accommodation in mind, because it is near Hong Kong University," she says.

"I didn't realise the area, which at the time was not on anyone's radar, would eventually be gentrified and the MTR would go in across the road. I own several apartments and this was the one I hated the most to begin with but I always loved the tree which grows right outside it."

Pun rented the then-three-bedroom apartment out to university students for seven years. However, last year she decided to renovate, after hearing from former tenant and friend Sarah Yoon, who had returned to Hong Kong from her native Korea and was looking for somewhere to live.

"Sarah saw the floor plan and really liked the sound of the apartment so that gave me the incentive to do something with it," says Pun. "It was by then very rundown inside."

Gutting the flat allowed a new layout that increased the sense of space. The three pokey bedrooms became one and in place of several cramped communal rooms, Pun created a single open-plan living, dining and kitchen area.