This article first appeared in Harper’s Bazaar Singapore, the leading fashion glossy on the best of style, beauty, design, travel and the arts. Go to harpersbazaar.com.sg and follow @harpersbazaarsg on Instagram; harpersbazaarsingapore on Facebook. The March 2023 issue is out on newsstands now.

SINGAPORE – When Mrs Kisa Harrison gave birth to her son five years ago, she knew the family would eventually need to find a new home.

At that time, they were living in a three-bedroom apartment at High Street Centre – in the same building as the office and showroom of luxury furniture label Christopher Guy.

The company was founded by her late husband, British furniture design master Christopher Guy Harrison. When he died from cancer in 2020, Mrs Harrison, now 34, took over the reins.

The brand is known for its contemporary, elegant furniture – featured in movies such as Casino Royale (2006) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006) – as well as the patented Chris-X (pronounced as Chris Cross) furniture-leg design, inspired by a ballerina’s pose.

“I like living in a high-rise apartment building,” says Shanghai-born Mrs Harrison. “But it was difficult with a toddler. He was at the age when he had started crawling and was attempting to climb everything. I felt that we needed to move to a home that would allow him to do that without it being dangerous.”

It did not take long for the family to find a new place to live: a ground-floor apartment in a luxury condominium complex a stone’s throw from Orchard Road. “I liked that the location is very central, and yet the estate itself is pretty quiet and peaceful,” Mrs Harrison says.

Unsurprisingly, stepping into the apartment is like walking into a contemporary furniture showroom.

With a chic base palette of cream, wood and white – accented with pops of colour in the form of standalone furniture and artworks – the 3,600 sq ft, four-bedroom apartment is tastefully furnished with Christopher Guy furniture.

“It was definitely a plus that we have our own furniture design company,” says the soft-spoken Mrs Harrison. “Because we do decorative pieces as well, it was easy to turn the space into a cosy home.”

There are two entrances to the home – the main entrance and a private lift that leads to the basement carpark and opens into the living room.

Separating these from the rest of the apartment is a three-panel floor screen, which not only provides some privacy, but also creates an informal foyer.

The living room itself is spacious and bright, thanks to the sliding glass doors that open to an L-shaped outdoor courtyard.

A large coffee table sits in the centre of the room, which is furnished with a plush four-seater cream-coloured sofa, standalone armchairs in plum and one of Mrs Harrison’s favourite pieces – a high-backed chair called the Le Jardin, which features camellias carved out of solid mahogany.

“I love the detailed carving of the flowers, as it shows the artisanal craftsmanship of Christopher Guy,” she says.

Most of the brand’s furniture pieces are manufactured or handcrafted by trained artisans in the company’s workshop in central Java, Indonesia.

Outside, Mrs Harrison has turned one of the outdoor courtyards into a vertical garden, with a feature wall of plants and flowers she designed herself. She says: “The area is rather small, so I settled for a vertical plant wall, which I think works better for the space.”

The courtyard is still wide enough for her to place a life-size polar bear sculpture. It is a reproduction of the famous Polar Bear sculpture by French artist Francois Pompon, which is on display at the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Dijon, France.

The resin sculpture has been the star of many a family photo, especially during the festive season.

Last Christmas, she recalls, they moved the bear inside and placed it by the Christmas tree for a white Yuletide vibe.

“The courtyard is sheltered, so my son plays here as well. He likes to be outdoors, while I am more of a homebody and like staying in,” she says.

The dining area – flanked by an open-concept kitchen on one side and an informal lounge on the other – is where she spends most of her time when she is home.

Pointing to a limited-edition work of preserved Amazonian butterflies by renowned American visual artist Christopher Marley on the wall of the lounge, she says: “I saw this in an exhibition a couple of years ago and bought it at an auction. There are only 10 pieces of this in the world.”

She adds that she loves butterflies “because they are fragile and very beautiful, but also symbolise transformation” – something which she has gone through in the two years since her husband’s death.

Mrs Harrison usually starts her day at about 7.30am, when her son wakes. Mother and son have breakfast together before the boy heads to school and she to work.

There is no television set in the apartment. Instead, Mrs Harrison reads to her son or does puzzles with him. When her son goes to bed, her “me time” begins. “I like to just chill and listen to music while I decompress from a long day at work and attending events,” she says.

She also likes spending time in the lounge, sometimes flipping through books to find inspiration for the brand’s next collection.

“There are many things to think about, you know?” she says. “Sometimes, when I feel a bit lost, like when you’re looking for a light switch in the dark, that is when I know I need my ‘me time’ to recalibrate. Once you find that switch, you are motivated again because everything becomes clear.”

One of the things she enjoys doing in her free time is making her own candles, which she fashions out of empty wine bottles.

“I have a collection of good wine bottles, and some are rare and vintage. When they’re empty, I get the tops cut off and smoothened, then pour in the candle wax. They make great gifts for my friends.”

Her love of wines began when she lived in Dijon about 15 years ago. “It is not far from the city of Burgundy, where I was introduced to wine,” she says.

While she enjoys other vintages, her preference is still Burgundy wines, with her favourites coming from Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, an estate in Burgundy known for producing some of the world’s most expensive wines, which have a distinctive taste and intense aroma.

Mrs Harrison’s master bedroom is anchored by a king-size bed frame from Christopher Guy.

Called the No. 5 Nuit, the headboard design – a pattern featuring interlocking upholstered panels mounted in wooden frames – was inspired by a mirror that her husband had designed for a Chanel No. 5 fragrance commercial.

It is not surprising, then, that the French luxury house is one of Mrs Harrison’s favourite brands.

While she also likes brands such as Solace London, Oscar de la Renta, Hermes and Balmain, Chanel is her go-to label, especially for work attire, because “its classic designs are both contemporary and timeless”.

But she also enjoys discovering emerging brands, like Australian label Common Hours, and is good friends with the designer and founder Amber Symond.

One of her favourite pieces from the label, and her latest purchase, is a chartreuse kimono-style overcoat. “It is like a piece of art and her designs are always a conversation starter. I can imagine myself wearing this in London during winter over a dress and a pair of nice stockings.”

What is her style? Mrs Harrison says it is difficult to describe because the way she dresses “depends on the occasion and situation”.

But, just like the designs from Christopher Guy, she favours elegant pieces that have an edge and tell a story.

“I like classic, quiet luxury designs that rebel subtly against the norm – by way of a loud colour, for instance.”