Hong Kong is ranked as one of the costly actual property markets on the planet. Over time, this truth has translated to many Hong Kongers having to adapt to smaller dwelling areas which may be extra reasonably priced however are sometimes outdated or lower than ideally suited by way of their structure and performance.
And as any designer will let you know, awkward layouts are a problem (learn: ache) to cope with. Daphney Ho, a neighborhood self-taught inside designer who’s the top of F.A.L. Works, managed to beat the idiosyncrasies of her 516-square-foot (48-square-meter) condo in Kwun Tong, an iconic industrial space in Kowloon that has been reworked right into a enterprise district. In redesigning this small condo for herself and her husband, Ho has succeeded in creating an area that now feels each trendy but natural, sensible, and versatile. We get a tour of how Ho provides a breath of recent air to a as soon as dim and outdated condo by way of By no means Too Small:
Ho explains that this condo dates again at the very least 30 years and had not been renovated for the reason that earlier proprietor moved in within the Nineties. When she and her husband bought the property, it felt gloomy and run-down. However Ho knew that the two-bedroom condo had potential, regardless of its bizarre diamond-shaped structure, and was a well-located condo as a part of a non-public housing property:
“The property was constructed to provide residency for the rising inhabitants in Hong Kong. It’s typical that these personal property embrace leisure membership homes, procuring centres, supermarkets and eating places. It supplies the whole lot a household must reside right here.”
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Ho took the minimalist strategy in overhauling the area, opting so as to add curves and arches to mitigate the cumbersome, angular structure. She additionally selected lighter-toned supplies that will assist brighten the quarters, and swapped out swinging doorways for sliding ones that will assist save area.
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To begin, Ho demolished the wall between the principle bed room and toilet to extend the scale of the toilet and rearranged the ground plan to separate the toilet in order that the bathroom and bathe had been separate from the sink. That transfer was impressed by the Japanese strategy to rest room design, which is arguably extra sanitary and cost-effective as a result of multiple particular person can use the identical rest room for various issues.
One enters the condo right into a small open alcove area of types. It is outlined by a change in flooring elevation; after taking off one’s footwear and utilizing the versatile pegboard to hold one’s coat, one then steps up onto a platform that serves to delineate the principle dwelling space. A lot of the condo’s partitions and ceilings are lined with shikkui, an ecological, non-toxic lime plaster that’s made with hydrated lime, hemp fiber, and seaweed glue and is utilized in Japan.
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The entry space can be the place to retailer one’s footwear, as seen on this shoe cabinet that truly types a part of the couch in the lounge.
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In the lounge space, there’s a giant custom-made sofa. Its sizeable depth implies that it will possibly function a daybed or an additional place for an in a single day visitor. Storage drawers are additionally cleverly tucked beneath, making it a multifunctional piece.
Behind the couch is a built-in area of interest for displaying objects, which Ho designed to cover an current beam that caught out.
The bay window—a kind of iconic options of Hong Kong flats—has been remade as a spot for houseplants to sit down. That ledge now continues virtually seamlessly to kind a floating storage beneath the wall-mounted tv, clad with rattan-style cupboard doorways that appear to be widespread these days. With out the legs, the storage unit seems to be lighter and frees up extra flooring area.
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The eating nook is designed as a welcoming area that does not take up an excessive amount of flooring space, due to its curved upholstered bench with hidden storage, spherical desk, and a few foldable chairs for friends. There’s a mixture of open and closed storage to stability accessibility and decreasing muddle. A rattan-faced snack cupboard occupies one nook, offering a spot to retailer a water jug and teas.
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The kitchen is kind of small and has an odd, pentagonal form which Ho stored. Nevertheless, she manages to maximise the counter area by including overhead cupboards and by including a intelligent vertical pull-out cupboard for lengthy objects like brooms and mops.
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Again into the principle dwelling space and previous the arched doorway, now we have two rooms and a beneficiant rest room on the opposite facet of the condo. The 2 rooms are hidden behind three sliding doorways with fluted paneling, which helps disguise the gaps between them.
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The master suite is giant sufficient solely to suit a mattress. Ho purposely made the bed room smaller to make more room for the Japanese-inspired rest room. There’s extra space for storing hidden beneath the mattress’s raised platform.
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The lavatory is the true gem on this scheme; with its pale materials palette and strategically positioned lighting, it feels so luxurious and enormous—large enough for extra space for storing hid between these sliding doorways.
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The separation of dry and moist areas is essential right here: by placing the bathroom and bathe in their very own enclosed rooms, multiple particular person can use this space concurrently. Right here is the bathroom room.
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The bathe room evokes a Japanese-style bathtub, right down to the sturdy aomori hiba wooden protecting the bathtub rims and flooring. Like a standard Japanese bathtub, the bathe is outdoors of the bath, because the {custom} is to rinse off earlier than moving into the soaking tub in order that one isn’t marinating in a single’s dust within the bathtub.
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Lastly, the additional room is utilized by the couple as a house workplace and dressing room, although possible it is versatile sufficient to be transformed into different makes use of if mandatory.
As this intelligent renovation challenge exhibits, even small and awkward layouts in older flats will be tackled gracefully to create a totally new area that serves its inhabitants effectively. To see extra, go to F.A.L. Works.