T
his five-storey home with clean lines, cream hues, and
open, airy spaces with floor-to-ceiling windows, is home
for jewellery designer Catherine Preston, her husband
and three children. “We are originally from the UK, but
my husband and I left in 1994 to go and live in Kuala Lumpur,
and haven’t really lived back there since then,” Catherine
says. Having lived in France, Chicago and Singapore, where
their three children were born, Catherine is one of those well-
travelled people who works well with change and understands
the importance of being at ease in a new living space.
Still relatively new to Hong Kong, Catherine’s way of
getting to know the city is to explore the vast array of places in
search of treasures for her home. “I am a great fan of Tree in Ap
Lei Chau, but I also really love the fact that it is so easy to find
skilled craftsmen here who can build anything to your specific
design [which makes it] relatively easy and not too expensive to
have things custom-made,” she says.
Catherine explains her design style as tending towards
simplicity. “I am drawn to soft, muted colours and clean lines
with very little in the way of fuss and frills. I always try and bring a
little bit of the outside in, so having large, light spaces and doors
that open onto an outside space are very attractive to me,” she
says. Catherine loves the light, airy and casual yet stylish feel of
the Hamptons, but also has an appreciation of the balanced
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