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diy project: garden-fresh flowers

You don’t need to spend so much on flowers to remember our loved ones this All Souls’ Day. If you have a garden at home, you’ll definitiely find something that can be used for a decent arrangement. For instance, birds of paradise are common in our gardens and they make good cut flowers because they last for a long time (at least a week).

I made this one earlier for our altar–a combination of birds of paradise flowers and a bird’s nest fern leaf.

1. First, I lined the clear vase with a large birds of paradise leaf.
2. Instead of using a floral foam, I just rolled sectioned leaves of the plant and stuff them into the vase until it is filled. These will support the vertical position of the flowers.
3. I then arranged the five flowers in varying heights and stuck a bird’s nest leaf on one side.

If this is too much of a challenge for you, you can just cut ten to fifteen stems of birds of paradise flowers in the same length, remove their leaves, and put them in a nice vase. It’s that simple, but equally charming. 

diy project: harmless monsters

Like our manananggal shadows, these candleholder covers are inspired by a craft project we saw at marthastewart.com (we’re Martha fans!). Follow these steps and make your halloween party extra special:

1)    On a sheet of tracing paper, draw your own harmless monsters with a pentel pen. You can download our template for reference. You can also print our template on tracing paper but this produces smears and blotches.

2)    After the ink has dried, wrap the paper around the glass candleholder. Cut off any excess paper then secure it on the candleholder with double-sided tape.

3)    Light the candle and you’re done.

A few of these plus bowls of candy and you have a fun trick-or-treat centerpiece. Have a happy and harmless halloween!

spacelift: living room makeover

We went all the way to Los Banos to visit a family whose living room just had an impressive makeover. I say it’s impressive because with the use of very simple strategies, a huge change was created, turning the previous lonely living area into a cozy and inviting entertaining space.

The house has a good foundation to begin with—well designed, naturally-lit home interiors. However, their living room furniture was a collection of antique pieces that do not exactly go together, not to mention too bulky (particularly the upholstered sofa and armchairs) for the limited space.

The Solutions:

1) Make the furniture pieces look coherent. Because the wife’s mother was having her home renovated, needing additional furniture to fill up the big house, the couple gave up the antique sofa set. This allowed them to replace it with a less bulky and more contemporary looking fully upholstered three-seater sofa. The wife chose white for the upholstery to provide a clean and basic contrast against the rest of the wood pieces.

2) Improve the furniture layout. The furniture pieces were pulled away from the walls (to open up the view of the windows) and laid out in a closed arrangement to encourage conversations. The existing printed area rug was replaced with a flat weave plain rug in a neutral color. Apart from the new sofa, the rest of the pieces are existing furniture of the family, such as the antique dowry chest (which was made into a seat with pillows) and hunter’s chair, both from Orientique.

3) Add accent lighting. Like what I always say, lighting is everything. It’s one easy way of changing the look of a space. By just adding floor and table lamps around the living area, an interplay of light and shadow is created, introducing depth and drama to the composition.

4) Accessorize. Accessories (or decorations) are like icing on the cake—they make or break the design. Because of the limited budget, the family simply went through their existing stuff to look for things that would go well with the chosen Asian theme. Coffee table books and framed black & white family photos make inexpensive accessories. Cut philodendron leaves and tropical yellow iris from their garden were placed in vases, completing the whole Asian look.

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[Have you given your space (or furniture) a makeover? Share it with us! Email us about it with before and after pictures at mydesignfolder@yahoo.com. ]

conscious living: cool spaces 02 – maximize openings

A green space is a space that is built with the local climate in mind. Our country is a tropical climate. And one of the major difficulties of tropical climates is cooling interior spaces

Cooling a space mechanically generally takes up as much as 50 percent of the electricity bill. By cutting down on your use of the air-con, not only do you save energy and money, but also any greenhouse gases that may have been emitted by the production of electricity. This series looks at the various ways of being comfortable without turning on the energy.

Maximize Openings

Natural ventilation is one of the most efficient ways to cool the interior space. It involves creating internal air movement, just strong enough to feel comfortable but weak enough not to blow all the paper around. By circulating the air inside the space, the hot air is pushed outside and the cool air is carried inside.

Last time, we tackled the proper orientation for your desired space. There are two important directions to consider for our country: northeast and southwest. Generally, at any time of the year, prevailing winds travel from these two points. Northeast monsoon (hanging amihan) occurs during the cold months and southwest monsoon (hanging habagat) starts during the summer months. PAG-ASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) even has localized data on prevailing wind directions specific to cities and municipalities. By having ample windows and openings facing these directions, we can have guaranteed air movement to enter the space.

To maximize ventilation, one also needs to maximize the openings. Having large operable (that you can open) windows is ideal. Increase the size of your windows. Lower the height of the window sill while extend the height of the window up to the ceiling line. Old ancestral houses even have window openings at the top and bottom of regular windows called ventanillas to allow as much air as possible. These can have louvers or screens instead of unobstructed openings to preserve the privacy of the users.

The optimum type of window to specify is the one that maximizes the opening; that means it can be fully opened 100%. Sliding windows for instance can only have a maximum opening of 50%. Awning-type windows have 60-70% openings. Casement types (swing-out like cabinet doors) have 100 percent openings. Jalousie windows or louver types can also have 100% openings, plus having the distinct advantage to adjust the air flow by manipulating the panels.

To screen or not to screen? Common insect screens restrict air flow by as much as 50 percent. There are imported types that impede less, but they are generally more expensive. If the space is not that critical or located atop a high-rise building, I suggest opening up your windows. Use screens only on sensitive areas like bedrooms and nurseries. Besides, there are house plants that deter mosquitoes and other insects.

So maximize natural ventilation for your spaces and minimize your energy costs for cooling.

Previous: proper orientation

Next: cross ventilation, stack effect

diy project: manananggal in the city

We absolutely loved this craft project from marthastewart.com so we decided to make a local version for our halloween DIY. Create your own scary manananggal shadows with these few simple steps:

1)    Draw a silhouette of a manananggal on a black cardboard. If you are not that confident with your artistic skills, you can just download and print the template that we made.

2)    For the stand, cut a 6-inch long wire. Loop both ends, one to hold the card figure and the other to loop around the lip of the candleholder.

3)    Use a votive that is taller than the candle to keep the cutout away from the flame. Adjust the position of the manananggal to make the shadows look bigger or smaller.

Advanced Happy Halloween from the Design Folder team!

i saw design: cebunext

During the Manila FAME show, Cebu’s CebuNext (formerly CebuX) exhibit had a special setting composed of around eight exhibitors, if I remember correctly. Special thanks to CFIF’s Mischelle Ogdoc for being very accommodating, introducing the  team to their designers and exhibitors.

CebuNext was impressive! Their collection of furniture and décor are nothing but world-class. No wonder many of their members are suppliers for many top-of-the-line furniture brands abroad. Their designs are fresh and innovative, combining sleek modern forms with the rich texture of natural indigenous materials, maintaining that Filipino signature in their designs.

Among the exhibitors, here are our favorites:

Accessoria with its appealing mix of indigenous materials.

Nature seemed to be the inspiration for the organic designs of the lamps from Okiberry.

Colorful outdoor furniture, that also come in a smaller scale for kids, are carried by Lauralee.

Sleek and swanky pieces from young designer, Vito Selma, fuse together strong geometric figures with bold colors and natural materials.

His pieces are now available in Manila through Kish in LRI Plaza.

For those of you who want to see more of Cebu’s finest designs, CebuNext will have their tradeshow in Cebu early next year, March 5-8, 2010.

Hopefully, the designfolder team will get the chance to attend that event (and maybe a side trip to Malapascua or Bantayan Island! The Secret!).

i saw design: manila f.a.m.e.

I’m in the design industry for 5 years already but it was just last Saturday (Oct. 17) when I got to attend the Manila FAME exhibition. Either I didn’t have the time or I didn’t have any requirements for a design project. This year, thanks to df, I finally got the chance to see what the Manila FAME is all about.

To those who are not familiar, Manila FAME is a bi-annual trade show organized by CITEM that showcases the latest trends and collections in home and lifestyle products from the country’s best manufacturers.

There is also a special display of designed items from the participants of CITEM’s product development program. This year, it is headed by interior designer, and owner of A-11, Eric Paras, as the program’s design consultant. Seven companies participated in the said program: two from Cebu, two from Iloilo and three from Manila. Aside from being CITEM’s design consultant, Eric also styled the special display booths for the event.

We saw several interesting booths and a whole lot of really good furniture and décor:

…modern vernacular lamps from one of my favorite lamps store, Azcor,

…country style accessories of From The Islands,

 …and interesting pieces made of abaca and beads from Tadeco. I wanted to buy a floor lamp for a client, but it’s not for sale  The company is based in Davao. Some of their pieces (particularly the abaca and beaded pillowcases) are available in Rustan’s. Hopefully they’ll open their own store here in Manila. I really like their stuff.

Seeing all those great designs made us feel proud to be Filipinos! Unfortunately, only a few exhibitors allowed us to take pictures of their booths. We just noted the ones that we love and hopefully we’ll get to feature them here on df.

sale alert!: living space

spacelift: the cradle project

The most significant thing that I learned when I was still a student in interior design is that good design is supposed to be for everyone. It is very sad that in reality, the design practice continues to cater to the elite few of this economically struggling society. I know that having one’s home designed by a professional is definitely not included in the priorities of many Filipino families. I also know that it would be too idealistic to hope that design professionals would lower their design fees so that more people and institutions can afford their services. I only wish that interior designers, and even architects, would organize themselves more often to sponsor (or maybe ask their suppliers to sponsor) projects for the benefit of the less privileged ones. After all, the main thrust of the design profession is to improve the quality of life, right?

Now on its 8th year, the graduating batch of UP Interior Design has been doing design projects to improve facilities of institutions such as public hospitals, public schools, an orphanage, and low-cost housing projects. This is in place of the usual annual design exhibit that most interior design schools organize. UPID thought of this alternative to put the students’ money to a better use. On top of that, it is also meant to support UPID’s advocacy of promoting the value of the interior design as a discipline geared towards improving the lives of people.

This year, the graduating students of UPID, collectively called IDeya (Interior Design by Empowered Young Artists), came up with The Cradle Project, a renovation project for 6 outpatient facilities of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC).

Before the renovation, PCMC looked like a typical public hospital–deteriorated facilities with depressing interiors.

The Cradle Project renovated the following areas: general pediatrics clinic, nephrology, adolescents’ clinic, social services office, nutrition clinic, and children’s library. The design concepts for the areas all centered on creating environments that heal the body, inspire the mind, and uplift the spirit.

Don’t you just love these spaces?! A huge improvement from their previous state. Seeing the renovated clinics is just awe-inspiring. Congratulations to IDeya! I hope that when you go out into the real world, you’ll bring with you the values that you’ve learned from this experience.

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[Have you given your space (or furniture) a makeover? Share it with us! Email us about it with before and after pictures at mydesignfolder@yahoo.com. ]

i saw design: ang pinakamagandang bahay sa balat ng lupa

Green Guide told us about this exhibit in UP Theater culminating the design competition entitled “Ang Pinakamagandang Bahay sa Balat ng Lupa” (The Most Beautiful House on the Face of the Earth). It showcases the winning designs for both the Student and Professional categories, as well as other remarkable entries. A joint project of the UP College of Architecture and Lafarge Semento Pilipinas, the competition aimed to redefine the concept of “the beautiful house”. With a focus on sustainable architecture, entries provided complete architectural designs for a medium-income house to be built on a 200-square meter lot inside the UP Diliman Campus.

Apart from the green strategies that the winning entries consciously incorporated into their respective designs, I also noticed that they all came up with interesting forms for the architecture of the house. I think it was from the book Green Architecture (sorry I forgot the author. Maybe you can help me, Green Guide?) where I read that green designs should not only propose sustainable design techniques and strategies, but should also provide a new face, a new aesthetics to accompany the philosophy. The new visual form makes it easier to promote to everyone the concept of sustainability by becoming a symbol for the message, as well as a source of inspiration.

(The winners for the Professional Category, from left to right: Borloloy House by John Patrick Buensalido, et. al.; EcoKubo by Nestor Arabejo, et. al.; and [X] House by Jose Eduardo Calma, et. al.)

I agree with the judges’ pick for the first place. What I love about its design is its unique form–unpredictable, sculptural, and organic.

(The winners for the Students Category, from left to right: Tulad ng Dati House by Laurence Angelo Angeles, et. al.; Pinakamagandang Bahay by Mark Angelo Virtucio, et. al.; and Cube-O House by Deneice Yuson and Zada Ong.)

Among the winning designs for the Student Category, I especially like the Cube-O House. I can imagine the trellis filled with flowering white thunbergia!

The PMBBL exhibit runs until Oct. 23, Friday, at the Forefront Gallery of the UP University Theater.

*images of the winning entries are from the PMBBL monograph