UNItED PaSSIONS
Simon Chong demonstrates that a beautiful aesthetic is possible, even with three young children in the picture
設計師Simon Chong證明即使家住三名孩子也可享動人家園
The main bedroom is muted in terms of its use of colour – a splash was recently added in the form of a new artwork above the bed – while the bathroom and dressing room have been deliberately kept separate from the bedroom, rather than the typical en-suite arrangement. This division means that Kim’s husband, who travels a great deal for work, can get up and prepare to depart without disturbing anyone else in the house.
Another characteristic feature of the home: there’s almost no built-in furniture in the house. Kim says she prefers to use cupboards, storage units and cabinets that are all individual pieces and often custom-made. As with other elements in the house, this could be read as quite an oldfashioned gesture, but her take on it feels extremely contemporary. One of the loveliest examples of this is the drinks cabinet in the dining area. Covered with a shagreen-textured vinyl decorated with a circular nail-head pattern, it’s filled with beautiful glassware – as well as all the essentials for everything from cocktails to post-dinner digestifs.
Listening to Kim talk about her history as an interior designer and the way she went about creating her own space, the description that comes to mind is "investigator decorator"; her visual style is largely the product of meticulous research. Kim methodically tracked down all sorts of items she had envisioned as perfect for her home, ranging from old terrazzo-tile presses to wallpapers, and from unique artworks to custom-made furniture. The combination of such a careful, thoughtful approach combined with an innate sense of colour that reflects so much confidence might be remarkable, but that just adds to the pleasure its end result affords. //
睡房連同Kim的小型家用辦公室均建上層，後者以Designers Guild的清新綠色漸變牆紙裝飾。一樓房間相通的走廊裝飾成悠閒風格，共享美麗的Durbanville山巒美景。
主睡房以暗啞色澤為主，床上新藝術品正好為空間注入一抹色彩，浴室和更衣室則刻意跟睡房隔開，而非採用常見的套房式設計。如此一來就方便Kim經常遠行的丈夫盡情執拾行裝，不用擔心打擾房中安睡的家人。
家居另一特點就是幾乎不設任何嵌入式傢具。Kim表示自己喜愛使用獨立式櫥櫃、儲物元件和櫃，大部分均為特製設計。跟家中其他裝飾對比，這或許聽起來不算新穎，但她的演繹方式卻是如此與別不同。飯廳放了一個可愛精緻的酒櫃，帶珠皮質感，並以乙烯基塑料裝飾和渾圓圖紋，存放著多款美麗玻璃用品，以及調製雞尾酒和飯後美飲的必要用具。
聽過Kim訴說任室內設計師的歷史過程，還有設計自家天地的經過後，頃刻聯想到「調查裝飾師」一詞；她的視覺風格就是出於大量研究的成果。Kim有技巧地物色各項能完美貼合她家的作品，從古老水磨石磚、牆紙，以至獨特藝術品和特製傢具也包括在內。仔細全面的方向再加上精緻恰當的用色反映出設計者的自信與活力，製成品更是如此悅目出眾，教人欣喜。//