78 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {home & design} cleanability, durability and kid-friendliness,” Cathie says. She also asks homeowners to share their “pain points,” whether it’s lack of storage, awkward setups for bathing children or something that’s just plain ugly. As a shy Bay Area girl, Cathie expressed herself with a brush and acrylic paints growing up. When life offered her a larger canvas in the form of her first home, it reignited her creative energy. Cathie started studying interior design and taking on projects around her friends’ homes. Their frequent referrals soon filled her artistic hands. “It snowballed really fast from there,” she recalls. “I like a home that’s simple, organized and calm,” says the designer. Cathie Hong Interiors (CHI) has graced the Peninsula with its distinctive work in Midcentury, Japanese, Scandinavian and Japandi styles. She describes Midcentury as a bit bolder in color and form, Japanese as spare and serene, Scandinavian as more playful, Japandi as fusing aspects of the latter two. Yet clean lines, natural materials, muted colors, natural light To create beautiful, familyfriendly homes for her Peninsula clients, interior designer Cathie Hong draws on years of art lessons along with her experiences as a mom with four children. “My understanding of light and darkness, balance of positive and negative space, gradients, colors, layering of objects and use of scale are all skills I honed,” shares Cathie. Recently, she helped three local families reinvent their spaces. “We ask them all kinds of questions about how they live and like to function, about color palettes, materials, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT): COURTESY OF PHOTOFLOOD STUDIO The primary bathroom in this Belmont Hills home features scenic views of the Bay Area through windows on all three walls of a double-shower curbless wet room.
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