Residential Renovation: 星河明居

In recent years, Hong Kong has seen a wave of immigrants, with many people choosing to make major home improvements while staying in Hong Kong. The owners of Xinghe Mingju are a family of three. In recent years, because their daughter has immigrated abroad, only the couple lives in the house. Because of this, they hope to redesign the home.

The overall home style is mainly Japanese, focusing on a simple, natural and harmonious atmosphere. Wood and gray have become the main colors, which not only create a warm and peaceful feeling, but also show a modern design sense.

The couple has different work and rest times. In order to meet this need, they proposed a design requirement for one person and one room, allowing them to have greater freedom in their work and rest time and have more private space. In addition, the daughter’s room is still retained in the new design, allowing her to have her own resting space when she goes home to visit relatives.

The biggest feature of this design project is the three connected rooms, which are separated by sliding doors. Taking into account privacy and living quality, soundproof panels are used between the daughter's and parents' rooms so that they do not interfere with each other when they rest in their respective rooms. In addition, all sliding doors between rooms can be opened to create one large space. When the door is closed, there are three private spaces, which can be freely matched to form a two-bedroom space, one large and one small. This design makes the living space more open and flexible, and the couple can change the room layout at any time according to actual needs.

The couple also has a little habit of watching TV on the sofa and eating at the same time. Therefore, in order to cater to the needs of the couple, the designer specially set up small coffee tables on both sides of the sofa to facilitate the couple to enjoy a relaxing dining experience. Even so, the dining room has a movable dining table that can be used when entertaining guests or celebrating special occasions. The removable dining table makes it easy to free up space in the living room, giving the wife plenty of space to do yoga or other stretching exercises.

After this renovation, the couple hopes there will be no major changes in the future. Therefore, the materials used in the home are carefully selected and relatively durable. For example, moisture-proof and anti-corrosion ecological boards are used for the walls, the use of paint is reduced, and the walls are sealed with imitation stone. Some walls in the home are more likely to be inadvertently scratched, and the couple also hopes that the new design can help avoid scratches on the walls. Initially, the plan was to treat it with art paint, which, although thicker than regular paint, makes it harder to repair scratches or dents. Finally, after discussions with the designer, a more durable ecological board material was chosen to ensure that the home would remain tidy and intact over a long period of use.

The home renovation of Xinghe Mingju created a living environment full of convenience and beauty for the couple, including re-planning the room layout and selecting more durable materials to ensure that the new design can meet the daily needs of the residents while maintaining the flexibility of the space.