A Matter of Balance
When Wesley Liu, lead designer at Pplusp Designers, designed his own home, he created harmony with a number of different elements.
When Wesley Liu, lead designer at Pplusp Designers, designed his own home, he created harmony with a number of different elements. Pplusp Designers創意總監廖奕權為自己
設計家居時，講求不同元素的和諧。
Being a good interior designer is a bit of a balancing act—there's your own design style to maintain, but also the wishes of the client to consider. But what about designing one's own home? Wesley Liu, lead designer at interior design firm Pplusp Designers, endeavoured to create a home that was uniquely ‘him', which also cleverly made use of materials from previous projects. The result was a family home that balanced the classic with the abstract; a minimalist palette with pops of statement shades and elements that would last over time with definitive pieces. “I wanted to maximise the reusing of my collectibles for the interior, such as the sewing machine under the table and the antique light switches,” said Liu.
The Mei Foo home, which took a mere five months to complete, is characterised by white walls and wooden floors that don't distract from the views of mountains and the greenery beyond. However, while the dominant colour palette and aesthetic might be minimalist, the overall effect is anything but ordinary. This is mostly thanks to Liu's ingenious use of texture and statement elements. Shades of blue, purple and yellow weave throughout the home, tying the various spaces together and adding points of visual interest, whether it be the quilted navy blue sofa in the living room, the striped feature wall in the dining room, or even the delicate blue details on the kitchen tiles.
“Off white and natural oak were the main focus of the apartment,” elaborated Liu. “The striking multicoloured wall is random and can be changed easily. It's more like a canvas painting than a feature wall.” Certain corners of the abode also layer prints, patterns and textures; an intricate screen is paired with a heavy rug in the living room, for instance. Even the simple white or wooden furnishings possess geometric touches: the zig-zag reliefs on the backs of the dining room chairs and the criss-crossed bases of the stools in the kitchen—liu's favourite space in the apartment.
Most areas in the apartment are spacious and perfect for entertaining, from the long table in the dining room to the communal kitchen island made of Corian, which opens out into the living room flanked with a drinks trolley. The spaces accommodate Liu's predilection for cooking and nights drinking with friends, but the other rooms, such as the study, also take into account his intensive work life during the week.
When it comes down to it, the most outstanding aspect of Liu's home is the touches of personality that run throughout—personal touches that are as emblematic of Pplusp as they are of Liu's personal style. “At Pplusp, we always like to add a bit of humour in the design,” Liu said. “If you look at the wash basin in the master bathroom and the wardrobe in the master bedroom, you'll know what I mean.” Said wash basin and wardrobe are a quirky tin-paint-effect sink and a bespoke white wardrobe that's a modern take on the traditional herbal cabinets you can find in Chinese apothecaries. “[The home] is definitely Pplusp's style,” Liu conluded. “The layout arrangement, colour scheme—all the details are so typical of Pplusp.”