That Flat: Inside the Hong Kong Home of Cecilie Larsen, Interior Designer.
With an eye for simple, Scandinavian-style décor, and a focus on homely hygge traditions, Cecilie lets us in on her secret to crafting a meaningful and functional space as well as some amazing DIY projects she’s taken on since living on Lamma.
Tell us about your background and where you’re from.
I’m Danish born and bred, and have been living in Hong Kong for almost five years. I grew up in the countryside of Jutland, in a derelict farmhouse that my parents had renovated. The house not only had a massive garden, but was also next to a huge forest. We had views over fields where we kept our horses. We also had a colossal garage where you could always find my father. My dad is a super dad, that basically can build anything you can dream of. I spent hours in the garage with my dad creating stuff or helping him with his old American cars, which was his big passion. He always helped me see possibilities in things and how to create stuff out of raw materials or even how to build with all our Lego bricks.
We spent lots of time outdoors and had tree houses, zip lines going over the field and my dad even built a little car using the motor from a tractor grass cutter. My mum is an amazing woman with “green” fingers and always the ability to create what we call “hygge”. She is super creative and always sewed our clothing, created art and went exploring in the nature with us. With all the space one can imagine and a super creative family, I’ll admit I’ve had a pretty awesome upbringing and a wonderful place to grow up.
Where do you live and why/how did you choose this flat as your Hong Kong home?
I live on Lamma Island now and moved here a year ago after experiencing a number of other locations on Hong Kong Island. I was attracted to the space because of the amount of natural light, the big living space, all the greenery right outside the window, the big terraces on each side and the garden next to the terrace where I grow lots of delicious organic vegetables and fruits with our neighbour. I wanted to be closer to nature and have the opportunity to sit outside while I’m home, and this apartment gave me all the options with movable partitions windows on each side of the house so the terrace is basically an extension of the living area.
Where have you taken inspiration? Did you initially have a theme in mind?
My inspiration definitely comes from nature and my home country; I love being surrounded by greenery and natural materials, which for me create a relaxed atmosphere. My roots are Danish and I love the Scandinavian simplicity that is also very modern, cosy and comfortable since we love our “hygge” traditions when we are home. I enjoy the touch and feel of natural materials and exploring how something is made, which also is the reason why many of our furniture and art pieces are home made. Like most people, when I am home I just want to relax and not be distracted by too much stuff around me so the simple Scandinavian style came very naturally.
Read the article here.