Inside a French designer’s Hong Kong home that tells the story of her life

Buying furniture should be less about function and more an opportunity to add meaning and character to your everyday environment, according to Delphine Lernoud, founder of Hong Kong interior lifestyle store Lumeun Home.

“Handcrafted furniture is something that belongs to the heritage of a country and each object has its own story,” she says. “It’s also a souvenir of your travels or a memento of the time you bought it – it’s a piece of yourself. I would never buy something just to be practical.”

The sentiment is clearly expressed in Lernoud’s rented 1,800 sq ft duplex in a low-rise block of flats in Stanley, where she has lived for four years with her husband, who works in the fashion industry, and their two children, Chloe, 13, and Louis, 11.

The high ceilings and bright interior of the 23-year-old block create an ideal stage for a mixture of vintage Asian and mid-century European pieces, liberally sprinkled with the family’s treasures, items collected since before Lernoud, who is from France, came to the region almost 20 years ago. Having previously lived in Hong Kong, she also spent time in Wuhan and Shanghai (where her children were born) before returning to the SAR in 2010.

“All of my designer pieces I’ve had for a long time,” she says. “I don’t change what I like very easily so I’m not one for constant redecoration. But if you buy something only for its function and it doesn’t mean anything to you, you probably will feel like you need to change it all the time.”

Overconsumption is a major concern for Lernoud, who left a long career in the perfume industry due to its waste and pollution practices.