Portillo Estudio's store in Shilihe is decorated with furniture and items mostly from Europe. [Wang Jing / China Daily]

Couple offers eclectic home furnishings in new Beijing store

A popular ski resort in Chile and a new home furnishing store in Beijing, share more than just a name. Nico Tee, the owner of Portillo Estudio, says the outdoors and home decoration should be an experience or a journey of one's self.

"For me, decorating a house is an art form that deals with experience and life, just like the interaction with nature when you are skiing, which inspired us to open a store like this," says Tee, 42, who has been fascinated with home design and interior decorating for years.

Tee and her husband, Robert Lo, 43, an owner of a lighting company in Dongguan, Guangdong province, opened the store in September after they found a generous space in Shilihe, a major furnishing market area in southern Beijing.

They invested about 20 million yuan ($3.1 million, 2.2 million euros) in the 2,200-square-meter store that is decorated with furniture and items they have collected mostly from Europe.

High-end furniture brands have been readily available in the Chinese market for years and are set to become the next status symbol of China's super rich. But Tee says customers are looking for quality, not just a name brand.

"There are many small handcrafted furniture manufacturers in Europe. They are less famous and rarely market themselves given that most of them are just family businesses. But they have very exquisite workmanship, passed down through generations," Tee says.

Although the prices may be out of reach for middle-class customers - one living room set costs more than 150,000 yuan - there are many people interested in their products, Lo says. Most of them are interior designers whom he has known for years because of his lighting business.

"I hope our store can offer designers, artists and even home decor lovers a platform to spark their creativity so that they can make their own space that reflects both personality and creativity," Lo says. "What we have here is totally mixed. It can be a fusion of different styles, such as retro, antique, classic, rustic and modern."

As the seasons change, Tee says she likes changing the color of furniture accordingly. She chooses bold, bright, candy-colored items for the summer, and more down-to-earth tones for winter.

When the pair selects furniture for themselves, or in particular for the store, they look for "things that seem to be one of a kind, and that we think are eye-catching, appealing and creative."

As merchandise begins to roll off the showroom floor, Lo says he has several dealers keeping their eyes open for pieces that will fit the store well.

Among the many objects that stand out at Portillo Estudio is a wooden, handmade cabinet that can be transformed into a large piece of luggage; a life-size stainless steel horse sculpture, with amazing attention to details by the young Chinese contemporary artist Ren Zhe; a modern, white sofa from the French brand Sifas that is meant to be placed outside and looks more like a "M" than a typical couch; vintage prints and paintings. And Tee's favorite item which is also in her home - varying sizes of giant golden apples, the biggest too large to wrap her arms around.

Lo says he doesn't worry if the items don't sell immediately because "everything we buy is something that we would like to have in our house. And if customers don't like these items, then they can always go into our house."

But as a newcomer in the home furnishing market in China, the couple thinks there's still a lot to learn about the Chinese market.

"This is a whole new adventure for me, so I'm learning every day not only about what's going on in the market, but how to do business with different people," Tee says. "Here in China people say 'make friends first, then business will follow'. I find that very useful."

And if all goes well, they are planning on opening four more stores, in Chongqing, Shenyang, Changchun and Shanghai.

Tee and Lo met when they were students at the University of Birmingham in England about 20 years ago. Both of them are ethnic Chinese; Lo is from Hong Kong and Tee is from Malaysia.

Lo's lighting company, passed down from his father, produces lamps for many of the world's top brands, such as Armani Casa, Ralph Lauren, Burberry and Baker Interior.

Tee used to work in the purchasing department at her father's real estate company. But now she works full-time as the general manager at Portillo Estudio, a role that she enjoys much more.

"My major in college was banking and finance, but what I like is doing things related to the arts and creativity," Tee says. "Opening such a space made my dream come true."