MONOCHROMATIC EFFECTS
K&A was originally established in 1988, and twenty years later was rebranded as Taste Interior Design. Including over 20 interior designers, draftsmen, project consultants and an administrative team, the Taste family also has a network of over 200 talented contractors. With over 300 projects under their belt and three decades' worth of services, including interior design and furniture and product sourcing, the company aims to provide tasteful living spaces to the modern city dweller.
Prior to winning the ‘REA Interior Design Award 2018', Taste has already been awarded and publicised, including for the Dominant Interior Designers 2017 awards. Nevertheless, they are honoured for the recognition and encouragement, especially since this award has proved to be higher profile in amount of media coverage and reaching new audiences.
The winning project was for a two-bedroom unit in Tai Kok Tsui's Hampton Place. The clients are a young married couple, who have a son and daughter and a pet dog. As with most clients their age, they had requested a modern design. Because they had a hobby of collecting decorative items, have a rather large number of bits and bobs, and because the female client has an extensive wardrobe, storage space was a vital part of their required home design. It was then Taste Interior Design's Director Lo Ng and Senior Designer Manager Jack So's challenge to strike a balance between design and functionality.
In order to prevent affecting the spacious feeling and design style, the unit featured closet spaces that are built-in and thus ‘hidden', and was also done in a monochromatic palette—simple black and white. Such choices ensured the seamless blending of simplicity and elegance within the living space. The dimensions for the master bedroom and children's bedroom were smaller than usual; once the basic furniture had been placed within, there wasn't much space left for moving around, let alone storage. As such, the master bedroom was fully refitted with storage units, including a big sunken wardrobe, and a small area of the neighbouring room was repurposed to become a storage space. The children's room was arguably even more personalised, with a combination bed unit and a bed connected to a bay window, making the most of every available inch.
Design Director Lo Ng has always thought that good interior design should always
make use of existing lines and shapes, natural materials and textures, and colours with lighting, to achieve a pleasing visual effect. He recounts the time when a previous client, who was an aficionado of Asian solid wood furniture, had to sacrifice several pieces of perfectly functional furniture in a major renovation. Ng then repurposed some of these pieces, such as converting a large coffee table into part of the bed in the master bedroom; needless to say, the client was very pleased with how some of his beloved collection could be salvaged.
Ng also predicts that instead of designs simply looking aesthetically pleasing, the future of interiors lies in smart homes, furniture engineering, and designing software programmes. He insists it is important for both current and prospective designers to keep in mind that they are the link between people and spaces. “Aside from being perfectionists, designers should also go out of their way to understand user experience, so that these can translate into the work and go into creating more wholesome living environments people will enjoy.”