On its facade, Glory Heights – located on a quiet stretch of Lyttelton Road – seems typical of the residences in the surrounding Mid-Levels area. Towering 37 storeys high, the building’s earthy exterior is unadorned save for the familiar sight of repeating windows and air conditioners.

“When we first came to inspect the property, my husband couldn’t see the appeal at all. We felt it was quite dated,” says Shana Buchanan, the Australian founder of decor and design retailer iDecorate. Undeterred, Buchanan elected to make the first floor of Glory Heights her home, extensively refurbishing a 1,800sq.ft flat. Her approach has yielded a reinvigorated interior space: one that fuses contemporary design elements with the spirit of Antipodean living.

Given its proximity to ground level, Buchanan’s apartment features a wraparound terrace. Measuring 1,000sq.ft – positively palatial for space-starved Hong Kong – its curvature allows planters to be placed outside the majority of the home’s windows, evoking the feeling of an airy open-plan residence. A long-time Sydneysider, Buchanan wanted a relaxing sensory experience akin to the sunny city’s traditional house-and-yard landscapes.

“The ability to situate planters next to the windows, particularly adjacent to the master bedroom, makes you feel like you’re living in a freestanding home with its own backyard,” she says.

More greenery flanks the terrace’s central balcony, doubling as invaluable shade for up to 50 guests who can relax on a range of custom-made outdoor furniture.

Natural light comes flooding through the panelled glass doors that connect the terrace and dining room – the latter space designed with informal hospitality in mind. An interest in restaurant interiors inspired Buchanan to incorporate the joys of communal dining into her home.

“Whenever my husband and I go out for dinner, we fight for seating at benches or banquettes. Because they accommodate a variety of resting postures they’re more comfortable, and for couples or close friends, they generate an air of intimacy.”

Buchanan’s ode to the banquette takes the form of custom-made seating, upholstered over a brass base that references gold accents featured in five surrounding dining chairs. These pieces – inspired by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen’s designs – embody a process whereby mid-century furnishings are modernised using industrial materials.

Interior designers often combine metallic materials and vibrant colours in order to achieve spatial contrast. To this, Buchanan adds the element of scale. The living room configuration is familiar, freshened by the interplay between contrast and scale – a reflective silver television cabinet here, an oversized rug in powder blue there and small humanising details (like the Graydon Carterpenned Tom Ford compendium) everywhere.

“These rectangular floor plans are a little bit awkward,” says Buchanan. “I’ve almost compartmentalised the room by putting the large sofa and steel cabinet in one corner.”

An interesting by-product of this relational placement is the subtle gridding of the living room, with areas adjoining vestibules assuming their own identity. Buchanan has taken particular care to personalise the intersection between the dining and living rooms, creating a passageway with rich visual appeal. Lacquered stools, modernist and concave, are centred around an elevated side table – the latter echoing chinoiserie decorations popular in the 19th century.

“I wanted to shy away from copying specific design schools. I’m more interested in seeing how historical visuals fuse with contemporary shapes,” says Buchanan.

A corridor intersecting the living room adjoins the rest of the property, including the master bedroom and home office. Due to iDecorate’s substantial online business, Buchanan often works from home, refreshing her digital output with more tactile inspirations.

“Though much of my business is digital and we’re in the middle of the Instagram era, it’s difficult to be inspired – particularly in home interiors – by merely looking online.” To this end, a latticework mood board and monochrome photography are affixed to the walls for some added creative stimuli.

Buchanan’s home is an adroit reflection of personalised style. Though full of educated design cues, the space remains an exercise in clear self-expression: balancing multi-disciplinary creative influences from fashion to architecture. How did she do it? “Honestly?” she says. “Buy pieces that you love and just go for it.”

Text: Randalph Lai
Images: Gigi Ip, Isaac Yu