Covid-19 has given Hong Kong interior designer Candice Chan perspective – how her Cartier Tank luxury watch keeps the busy mother-of-three on schedule
J Candice Interior Architects’ recent jobs include the famous Mandarin Oriental cake shop, the buildout of the Radisson Hotel in Guangzhou and Michelin-starred restaurants at Cotai’s Grand Lisboa Palace in Macau
Design is very much an art form, but balancing creativity, deadline constraints and client expectations can be hard to master.
Besides juggling all the elements of her interior design work, Candice Chan, founder of J Candice Interior Architects, is also a mother of three. Her balancing act is worthy of a spotlight on the Cirque du Soleil stage, and there aren’t many moments in the day she can truly call her own.
“To be honest, being an interior designer and a mother of three young children, it is very difficult to find me-time,” says Chan, for whom days lazing by the pool are long gone. But that’s quite all right by her; she divides her week in order to devote herself to the two most important roles in her life.
“Most of my weekdays are either spent at the studio or meeting clients at construction sites. On the weekends, 100 per cent of my time is dedicated to my family and kids.”
Leading a busy life requires immaculate attention to detail, not to mention a strict schedule. This is especially true for Chan’s line of work, where deadlines are not mere suggestions, and she credits her success to being able to see the bigger picture.
In design, you can come up with a thousand different ideas, but deciding on the right one within a tight time frame all comes down to trusting yourself and following through
“I think being organised – being able to see the big picture and plan ahead – is extremely important when working on tight deadlines. The turnaround time for commercial spaces in Hong Kong is about four to six months, including design, drawings and construction.