After putting out offers which eventually didn’t work out in a few other spots, it was meant to be that Matchali co-founder Cara Li’s cozy place in Happy Valley would end up being a spitting image version of her former New York home. Some would call it a stroke of luck that she discovered this charming Happy Valley flat and then ended up moving here last year. The chic apartment features rare design elements one would not be able to find so easily in a typical home. Think: floor-to-ceiling windows with lots of natural light coming in, a spacious open kitchen, a tile bathroom which she’s turned into an Onsen and a rooftop. With pastimes that involve cooking, music and working out, this is the perfect spot for Cara to unwind.
The living room with floor-to-ceiling windows
Photo: Natalie Dunn
“I didn’t design this apartment. It’s very similar to the apartment that I was living in New York. It has a really similar layout, in terms of the open kitchen and a very open living-style, which I love,” says Cara. “I was lucky that I didn’t have to do any renovations or anything, it was a great find. Half of what you see is from New York. The other half of the room is from Hong Kong and from one of my favourite stores called Studio Wool. I really love Athena Calderone and I love Wabi-sabi style so I like very minimal and earthy-neutral colours. I like natural materials like wood and I’d like to be able to live with the colours and nothing too crazy.”
As the co-founder of Hong Kong-based cult café Matchali, along with Li’s cousin and business partner, Laura, it’s evident that the successful Japanese tea concept has influenced Cara’s contemporary living space and design taste. Li’s home and Matchali are both modern-looking, uncluttered and themed around subtle earthy tones.
“I’d say the way Laura and I, the way we approach our work, is very similar to the way we approach things at home,” says Cara. “The way we’ve designed our store – it’s very neutral and very calming. I’d say that my work is my second home, so there are a lot of similarities. We actually designed our work to be somewhere where we would want to spend all of our time. Axel Vervoordt, the interior designer and architect, has a book called Living with Light and it’s very much about letting each space just have it’s own kind of presence. I don’t like a lot of clutter but I wouldn’t say my style is minimal, it’s the balance between too much and too little.”
Apart from collecting Bon Appétit magazines and cookbooks, Li purchased a classic record player when she moved back to Hong Kong and then was given a priceless record collection from her father, Alain Li. However, the pieces that are the closest to Cara’s heart originate from Japan.
The bedroom is adorned with cream-coloured walls and a chandelier
Photo: Natalie Dunn
“Everything is pretty much centered around tea. I have a lot of tea bowls and ceramic mugs that I’ve picked up in Japan,” says Cara. “I’m very obsessed with ceramics. When we were researching our business, Matchali, we went over to Kyoto and met this very nice gentleman. He taught us so much about the craft and he also gifted us some of his ceramics. I have two of the tea chawans that are from him. We were using them in our store and they both broke but we have since repaired them. There’s an art in Japan that’s called Kintsugi, and it means that something is still beautiful even though it’s broken. I got so much pleasure out of fixing it and it still sits there on the shelf with its cracks but it’s super glued back together.”
So what’s next for this thriving 30-year-old entrepreneur? “I found my business in late 2019 so 2020 was such a busy year for me so to not be out too much was a good thing,” says Cara. “I’m trying to look at the bright side.”
Photographer: Natalie Dunn
Editor
Vogue Hong Kong
