“The light around four o’clock is fabulous, and the sunsets are breathtaking,” she says.

The couple, who designed and project-managed the four-month renovation, divide their time between Hong Kong, where they run their businesses, and their house in Tuscany, Italy, where they are landscaping and building a sculpture garden.

“We have stunning views over the white marble mountains of Carrara,” Pickett says. “It’s very calm and peaceful, and a wonderful contrast to Hong Kong and the high-octane energy of the seven million people here.”

Art helped connect the couple: Pickett and Bourieau met during a sculpture sourcing trip in Italy.

“He was covered head to toe in white marble dust from sculpting three tonnes of marble for a huge project he was working on for the Vatican,” says Pickett. “It was very romantic.”

Bourieau’s pieces are among the artworks in the Hong Kong flat, which Pickett describes as having been “hideously ugly” when they found it.

“The decor clearly hadn’t been changed since the building’s completion in the late 80s,” she says. “There were low false ceilings, lots of small subdivided rooms and no natural light as the walls of the main room along the windows blocked any light coming through. We started from scratch, knocking down the walls, removing the false ceilings and reconfiguring the entrance so as to display art and sculpture.”

They had only one heated row while renovating the apartment, she says, and it centred on the windows.

Bourieau wanted to replace the black metal-grid windows with large panes of glass that would make the most of the view and light. But because the existing window opening couldn’t be altered, Pickett wondered if it was worth the hassle.

“It was one of the largest renovation costs and involved getting approval from the Buildings Department before we could commence,” Pickett says.

Now, however, she admits her partner was right: “It’s made a world of difference.”

The light that pours through the windows illuminates the open-plan flat, with its large living and dining room, spacious ensuite bedroom, ample storage space and small but perfectly formed kitchen.

“It is compact but great to work in,” she says. “We planned it so everything is easily accessible.”

“It’s functional art,” says Pickett. “The fixed drawers don’t open and close, so take up very little space and are so useful for just popping things in and out.”

The many sculptures migrate around the home.

“You should be able to touch them and move them about,” says Pickett. “I use one sculpture as a door stop, and a model of one of Polo’s sculptures is hung on the bedroom door.”

Her slice of heaven, however, comes in the shape of a big bubble chair that hangs in a corner of the living area.

“I love to sit there and read, with my feet up on my footstool, watch the sunset and listen to the early morning birdsong.”

Given a second chance, would they change anything?

“No,” she insists. “Although the Lamma ferries are very noisy when it’s foggy.”

Bedroom The Eames DAW chair (plastic, HK$5,000; fibreglass, HK$7,200) was from Aluminium. A pair of hand-carved marble sculptures, Plus & Minus, by Polo, sits on one bedside table, and a David Williams-Ellis figure sculpture and a small wooden sculpture, by Alison Crowther, rest on the other. The pendant lights are by Annette Boissevain and the artwork over the bed is by Gerard Bookle.

Bathroom A sculpture by Irene Lau Kwai-ying hangs on the wall. The ladder and stool were picked up years ago in Hong Kong.

In the kitchen, this camphorwood drawer case, designed by Polo specifically for a small space, stores keepsakes, herbs, condiments and kitchen gadgets. The permanently open drawers provide easy access.