This 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.
“I am a great collector of objects and like to have them around me, as most of them were acquired whist travelling and so have a story or a great memory behind them.”
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 elegance of Scandinavian design. There are striking pieces of artwork decorating the white walls, painted by her mother-in-law, who is an artist in England.
What Catherine is known for professionally is sourcing beautiful semi-precious stones and creating unique jewellery for her clients, but one of her other loves is ceramics. “People who know me well know that I have a real passion for ceramics and I have therefore been given some beautiful pieces along the way, and they act as a constant reminder of friends and loved ones,” she says. At her home, there are many ceramics in different sizes and shapes. “I don’t think there is any one thing I would never part with, but I am a great collector of objects and like to have them around me, as most of them were acquired whist travelling and so have a story or a great memory behind them.”
The beauty of this home is that everyone has space to do their own thing. There are terraces that flow off the dining and living room, with a roof-top that has views of the mountains and the ocean. Catherine’s favourite space is the living room. “On a sunny day, with the light pouring in, and an almost uninterrupted view out to the ocean, it is a great place to sit,” she says. By furnishing each room with keepsakes and heirlooms, Catherine has created a charming and cosy home for a family who are constantly on the move.
